10 Expressions Coined by William Shakespeare

Original source : http://www.wonderslist.com

Posted : 2014

Author : Oendrila De

English is the third most commonly spoken language in the world. For some, it is the native language, for many it is the first language despite having a different mother-language, while there are many who use it as their second language. Every day, people read, write or speak in English. English is a language with many forms: it can be curt and crisp, it can also be sweet and romantic. In fact, the treasure chest of English literature is filled with invaluable gems. The contribution of William Shakespeare in this regard is unquestionable. But, how many English-knowing people are aware that many of the phrases and expressions that they use on a regular basis have actually been coined by the Bard himself?

Here is a list of 10 such phrases and expressions that were first used by Shakespeare:

Be Careful What You Wish For

This guy’s wife asked for a “run-of-the-mill” birthday party and he happily obliged!

Top 10 Epically Failed Newspaper Headlines

This funny article will shamelessly expose absurdities that have been printed in newspapers throughout the U.S.  Do you want to have some fun yourself, join the fun and find more of those. Meanwhile, read our top 10 hilarious  newspaper headlines.

These Are Real...

Believe it, all these are real and actually published for the public to read. Now I wonder, what is the function of an editor? Beats me....

I Have A Question .... Or Two

Hello... I have a question!

Why isn't the number 11 pronounced  onety-one?

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea... does that mean that one out of five enjoys it?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?

Learn A Word A Day - UP

Think about it.

A two-letter word with many meanings: 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.

Huh? US And British English To Collide At Olympics

by STEPHEN WILSON

LONDON (AP) - The lorry driver taking kit to the football pitch was so knackered he pulled into the lay-by near the petrol station for a quick kip.

Huh?

For American readers, that translates as: "The truck driver delivering uniforms to the soccer field was so tired he pulled into the rest area near the gas station for a nap."

As George Bernard Shaw once observed, England and America are two countries divided by a common language. That trans-Atlantic linguistic divide will be magnified by Olympic proportions this summer when an estimated 250,000 Americans come to town for the London Games.

An American Guide To British English For The London Olympics

By Wendy Carpenter

In 1882, Oscar Wilde wrote about Great Britain: "We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language." That still rings true today. So if you're one of the estimated 250,000 Americans going to the Olympics Games in London this summer, you might want to pack a dictionary - for English-to-English translations.

For example, "The lorry driver taking kit to the football pitch was so knackered he pulled into the lay-by near the petrol station for a quick kip," means this in the United States, according to the Associated Press:

The truck driver delivering uniforms to the soccer field was so tired he pulled into the rest area near the gas station for a nap.

9 Foreign Words the English Language Desperately Needs

As demonstrated before, the English language has some grievous holes in it. We're talking about everyday phenomena that we have all noticed, yet don't have terms for. Fortunately, while we were busy fumbling with hand gestures and illustrations like cavemen, other cultures just made up the perfect words and phrases to encapsulate those little everyday moments filled with ... uh ... je ne sais quoi.

Funny Translations Of Movie Titles

A collection movie titles that got lost in the translation.

Six Naked Pigs

China

Die Hard: Mega Hard

Denmark

Funny Misspelled Billboards

Nice apostrophe!

No exceptions, not even for me!

Top 10 Invented Languages

by Charlotte Coville

Inventing a language from scratch might seem like an odd way to spend your time, but there are good reasons to do it. People create languages for scientific, cultural and artistic purposes: to test theories about how the brain works, to help people communicate, to ‘improve’ existing languages, or because they just need a new language for a book they’re writing. Here are some of the best examples of invented languages:

10. Solresol

Developed by Francois Sudre in the first half of the nineteenth century, Solresol is an example of an international auxiliary language: a planned, deliberately simplified language created in order to make worldwide communication easier. Solresol was the first such language to gain any recognition, but what really made it unique is its musical basis: it contains a total of only seven syllables, made up of the names of the musical scale (do re mi fa so la si).
This arrangement meant that words could be written in musical notation, and that the language could be communicated by singing. Syllables could be expressed in seven colors and easily ‘read’ by the illiterate. Unfortunately, Solresol never really took off, although some devoted fans remain today.

10 English Words With Shameful Past

by Rick Raule

Words. Some of us interact with them almost every day. They’re inexpensive, portable and let us communicate our feelings rather well (like, say, the feeling of wanting sex.) Sure, you could always come up to someone and repeatedly jam your finger through a circle made with your other hand (while furiously raising and lowering your eyebrows) but words are so much more efficient. Unfortunately, it turns out that some of the words that we thought we could trust were lying to us about who they really are. Just like finding out that the lovable elderly man from down the street used to be a Nazi, so will the origins of these 10 English words surprise the pants off of you:

10. Wife

There is something inherently wholesome about the word “wife,” isn’t it? It makes you think of love, weddings, and picket fences or perhaps “wife-swapping,” depending on your preferred life style. (You know, the good things in life.) There’s definitely nothing shameful about being a wife. Or is it?
The precise origin of the word is uncertain, though some linguists have suggested that it might come from the root *ghwibh-, which means “shame,” as in “Dear God, look at yourself, woman. You married ME of all people? You should be ashamed of yourself.” Pretty sure that’s exactly how we got the word.

Don't Die After Reading These

Too Good!!!
China/Korea/Japan are the places to be for English teachers...

WELCOME FOR COMING!?

Exist? Ok ok got it......

10 Foreign Words You Thought Were English

Original source : http://www.toptenz.net 
Posted : July 2010 
Author : Shannon Harris

“English: A language that lurks in dark alleys, beats up other languages, and rifles through their pockets for spare vocabulary.” (Bumper Sticker)

A humorous quote that is quite accurate, actually. Of 80,000 English words, roughly 28% originate from Latin, 28% from French, and 25% from Germanic languages (Pie Chart: Wikipedia). So, to honor those countries that have shared their vocabulary, by choice or by force, here is a list of ten words that native English speakers may not know as foreign. Granted, there are thousands of words to choose from, and to pick ten was difficult. After all, how many know that tycoon comes from the Japanese word “taikun” (great lord)? Or, that gung ho is Mandarin Chinese for “gongye hezhoushe” (work in harmony)?

Impress your friends with your new knowledge of the English language as you explain the interesting origin of words like robot (robota, Czech for “drudgery”), chic (originally schick, German for “elegance”), and kiosk (Turkish for “pavilion” or “palace”):

Misnomer

A misnomer is a term which suggests an interpretation that is known to be untrue. Here are a few examples:

An inchworm is neither an inch long, nor a worm.

Greenland is icy and Iceland is greener

Americanization

Americanization? What's that? Well, its simply speaking up like Americans do... and they are different from the British. Let's take a look:

The telephone is never "engaged", it's always "busy".

You don't "disconnect" a phone, you simply "hang-up".

You never "mess-up" things, you only "screw them up".

You never have a "residence" telephone number, you have a "home" number.

American-British Translation Guide

American English or British English; are they the same? Well, they're not actually the same hence you'd find the choice of choosing either one when using the computer. So what's the difference? The following picture might help you....

American English vs British English

Credit : 2dives.com

10 Common English Language Errors

Because English is such a complex language, it is fraught with traps that we all frequently fall into. With this list I hope to clear up at least a few of the confusing words we use every day. This is a list of some of the more common errors people make with English.

 

1. Practice / Practise

In US English, practice is used as either a verb (doing word), or noun (naming word). Hence, a doctor has a practice, and a person practices the violin. In UK english, practice is a noun, and practise is a verb. A doctor has a practice, but his daughter practises the piano.

LOL English-to-Chinese Translations

Chinese isn’t really that hard once you realize how intuitive it is. Just look at some of these easy-to-remember translations!

1. Are you harboring a fugitive? = Hu Yu Hai Ding?

2. See me A.S.A.P. = Kum Hia Nao