English Heteronyms

 It’s all English!

Good morning!  This morning I want to introduce you to Heteronyms.  Ever heard of them?  They are those words that are spelled the same, but have a different pronunciation and different meaning. 

For you grammar geeks out there heteronyms may be FUN, but for a non-English speaking person trying to learn our language, they can be a challenge and sometimes weird!  So, here are a few examples…

• On the farm they produce produce.
• He could lead if he would get the lead out.
• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
• They were too close to the door to close it.
• The buck does funny things when the does are present.
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

Let's face it - English is a crazy language…. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.  And yet, it’s all English!  

And that’s the Bottom of our News on this Sept 25, 2015.

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