Tuesday 22 June 2004

Irregular verbs

We've got a lot of these in English, but they don't seem to have put foreigners off learning the language. The ones most of them probably won't get to learn are those which have the sole purpose of enabling one Englishman to feel superior to another:
I am firm, you are obstinate, he is a pig-headed fool
I am Oxford, you are Cambridge, he is London School of Economics
I like boys, you are a scoutmaster, he is in prison


Anybody know any others?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am witty. You are acerbic. He is twisted.


Is that what you mean?
This is fun.

Yetzirah

Tony said...

Yes, that's it. Got any more?

Anonymous said...

I am a traveller

You are a tourist

They are holidaymakers

Am I on the right track?

Anonymous said...

I am honest. You are blunt. He is rude.

And I'll leave it there before I get boring. (The previous Anonymous was me but the next one won't be)

Tony said...

Yes, they're fine, but I was really hoping for some lewd ones.

Anonymous said...

I am lewd

He is lewder

They are lewdest?


PerfectlyVocal

Tony said...

Yes, and there's also:

I am suggestive, you are indecent, he is unspeakably filthy.

Froog said...

In a practice paper for the Oxford Entrance Exam I was once confronted with the essay question 'How would you differentiate between the erotic, the pornographic, and the obscene?'

I wrote, "Only by careful scrutiny."