Photo by Joe Bruno
Heteronyms
Homographs are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning. A homograph that is also pronounced differently is a heteronym. You think English is easy?? Was a retired English teacher bored?Read the PS.................This took a lot of work to put together!
Thanks to Sally Kellock and her stepson in Canada for sending this.
1) The bandage was *wound* around the *wound*.
2) The farm was used to *produce produce*.
3) The dump was so full that it had to *refuse* more *refuse*.
4) We must *polish* the *Polish* furniture.
5) He could *lead* if he would get the *lead* out.
6) The soldier decided to *desert* his dessert in the *desert*.
7) Since there is no time like the *present*, he thought it was time to *present* the *present*.
8) A *bass* was painted on the head of the *bass* drum.
9) When shot at, the *dove dove * into the bushes.
10) I did not *object* to the *object*.
11) The insurance was *invalid* for the *invalid*.
12) There was a *row* among the oarsmen about how to *row*.
13) They were too *close* to the door to *close* it.
14) The buck *does* funny things when the *does* are present.
15) A seamstress and a *sewer* fell down into a *sewer* line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his *sow* to *sow*.
17) The *wind* was too strong to *wind* the sail.
18) Upon seeing the *tear* in the painting I shed a *tear*.
19) I had to *subject* the *subject* to a series of tests.
20) How can I *intimate* this to my most *intimate* friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in a 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 why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
PS.
Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'? AND If a male goat is called a ram and a donkey is called an ass, why is a ram-in-the-ass called a goose?
Tracking the Deer in Rockefeller Park
Photo by Edward Kasinec
If you see deer that appear to be wearing ear muffs, they have been tagged. If you look really closely, you’ll see a number on them.
Art by Hart: For Lois, getting the kids dressed for school was a job and a half
Photo and art by Jane Hart
More KoH Cleaners
Photo by Joe Bruno
Blue Heron in Stream at North End of Rockwood Park
Photo by Caroline Persell
Newspaper Headlines You Wouldn't Want to Miss
Thanks to Sally Kellock for sending them.
Phelps Hospital Vitality October Programs on Zoom
Click here to see the programs. All are free and open to KoH residents.
A Couple of Choice Cartoons
Thanks to Sally Kellock for sending them.
Kendal Gets a Bath
Photo by Margo Berger
And some painting.
Photo by Joe Bruno
Stairway to?
Photo by Edward Kasinec
Tree triming at Kendal.
Art by Hart: Plenty of action and no masks needed— the Spencer kids were seeing the plus side of a big family
Photo and art by Jane Hart
Sharing a yoga mat with Maura brought out every competitive bone in Lulu's body
Photo and art by Jane Hart
Who Knew So Much Meaning Could be Packed into One Word
A reminder that one word in the English language can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb and preposition.
UP
Read until the end ... you'll laugh.
This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as an [adv.], [prep.], [adj.], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.
At other times, this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, the earth soaks it UP. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now . . . my time is UP!
Oh . . . one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?
U
P !
Did that one crack you UP?
Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you look UP in your address book . . or not . . it's UP to you.
Now I'll shut UP!
Thanks to Sally Kellock for sending this in.
Up a Tree
Photo by Edward Kasinec
Concertina Artist Book by Sheila Benedis
Art and Photo by Sheila Benedis
Oral History Project
Photo by Arthur Brady
What You Don't See On the Hudson River, September 23, 2021
Photo by Caroline Persell
How to Update Your iPhone or iPad from Anthony Bradford
Anthony Bradford has written a clear and helpful message about how to get Apple’s new update which deals with the new “no click” virus risk that was in the news recently. Click here to get the rest of it.
Did You See this Beautiful Mystery Plant Carried through the Halls of Robert Fulton in mid-August?
If so, please let us know who was carrying it by posting a message to: webmasterkohresweb@gmail.com
It was given to one of our editors, mysteriously, with a framed statement, but no donor was named. The editor would like to thank the giver.