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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl English is really crazy |
Not so.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl There is no egg in eggplant |
Early eggplants were small and creamy in color, and looked like eggs.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl nor ham in hamburger |
It's named after Hamburg, Germany.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl neither apple nor pine in pineapple |
Pineapples are named because they look like pinecones, the fruit of the pine tree, hence pine-apple.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl English muffins were not invented in England |
But the word muffin was, the phrase was coined by an englishman who moved to America.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl or French fries in France |
French refers to the style of cooking, not to the place of origin. "Frenching".
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl Sweetmeats are candies |
Meat doesn't only refer to the flesh of animals, it can also refer to most foods, including fruits and nuts. Since sweetmeats were orginally candied fruits, this is probably the origin.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat |
Sweet originally meant "pleasing to the senses", rather than the modern meaning. "Bread" originally meant flesh.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly |
"Quick" means alive in this context, not fast.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl boxing rings are square |
Fighting bouts used to be performed in a circle drawn on the ground.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. |
It looks like a pig and it sounds like a pig... the "pig" part is easily explained. In England, "Guinea" was a common name for any foreign land, so may well just indicate that they are from a far-off place.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? |
-arian means "An advocate of". A vegetarian is one is an advocate of vegetables, A humanitarian is one who advocates humanity.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? |
Cargo is defined as "The freight carried by a ship, an aircraft, or another vehicle." This doesn't specifically mean ship. Shipping something is the same deal, it can go by any form of transport.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl Have noses that run and feet that smell? |
I hope this one is plain.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl Park on driveways and drive on parkways? |
Parkways have nothign to do with parking cars, they have to do with the meaning of park as "A piece of land with few or no buildings within or adjoining a town, maintained for recreational and ornamental purposes." A parkway is a street lined with trees. A Driveway is not for parking on, it is for driving into your garage where you park your car. It's your fault if you want to keep tools in your garage and park on your driveway, not the English language's. :P
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same |
Fat chance is the sarcastic opposite of slim chance. Tfe two are used differently.
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? |
They aren't, a wise man is someone who knows a lot. A wise guy is someone who knows a lot and uses it to piss you off!
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| Originally Posted by nicespringgirl When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. |
Out used in 2 different senses, "out in the open" and "off".
How's that? I missed a few out but I hope this helps ;D (yes, I wrote this all out).
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