Why is English language so Stupid?

Question

Let's face it, English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant.
No ham in the hamburger.
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England.
And French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted.
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly,
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why didn't the preacher praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play,
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?
How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another?

Answer 1

It is cool isn't it?

My favorite is "a non-stop flight". Trust me, your flight will stop somewhere.

Answer 2

None of the above examples deem English to be a "stupid" language. They are idiosyncrasies that can be explained if you check the origin of the word or phrase. There are plenty of cultural oddities that create the above phrases and intriguing history behind the individual words.

For example:

Hamburger - In the 18th century, the first form of a hamburger was created in none other than Hamburg, Germany. It was created with a form of pork sausage that developed overtime into the groundbeef patty used today.

French Fries - The potato originated in the South American Highlands. There is a long history of it moving to Ireland, Spain, England, etc. But it was a French chemist (Antoine Parmentier) who made it a priority to popularize the tuber. He presented it to the king & queen ( Queen Marie Antoinette even wore them in her hair). It then became a staple in the french diet. It was either in France or Belgium that the first slices of potato were fried. It took another hundred years or so for them to become a fast food staple in America.

The Boxing Ring - Although Boxing as can be traced back to the Middle East about 7,000 years ago (when the sport was still in formation and had no rules) it is not until around 500 B.C. that the Greeks made it sport. They created gloves for use in the sport and around 300 B.C. the boxing ring was developed. A circle was drawn in the dirt that the fighters were required to stay within. It traveled to Rome and was held in the circluar or oval arenas and did not get a squared format until around 1867 when the Marquess of Queensbury created the rule the ring would have to be made of canvas (which was easier to pull taught in the shape of a square.

So, with a little bit of research, you will be able to find that the English language is both intriguing and entertaining to those apt enough not to unduly criticize.

Answer 3

English Is Stupid

Answer 4

I'm not sure it's the "most" (since I only know 6 out of the 7000 languages that there are), but it certainly isn't the easiest. As to the "global thing"..maybe you should join the Esperanto-movement - at least until something even better (by which I mean less european) comes along

Answer 5

'tis because it was invented overnight. Mr King Henry decided he wanted a common language other than that ruled by the church (latin) So he told his local vicar to eff off and commanded the peoples to start talking his way. He led by example and was the first bloke to send war correspodance in english. Thus and behold, in one generation the island of briton did speeketh one language.
Before him the chances of understanding someone from 50 miles away was slim.

Answer 6

Too many adaptations from too many other languages have muddled the English language, and current dumbing-down cultural trends are not helping. The word "D'oh" from the Simpsons is now a bone fide word!

Answer 7

Nothing in this world is stupid.

"If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?"

That right there. Is and example of words in context. They have things like this in EVERY LANGUAGE. Trust me. i speak 2 other than English.

English is not stupid. It is complicated. And if complicated things are "stupid" to you, then ... .... ... ?

No offense to anyone.

Answer 8

the english language is really screwed up and almost IMPOSSIBLE to learn unless you're really determined or you were born in an english speaking country.

most other languages are so much simpler. take chinese for an example. instead of january, february, and so on, they just say "first month, second month, etc."

the english language is probably wierd because we have so many root languages. probably over half of our words come from other languages, for example: latin, spanish, french, italian, etc. but we sometimes use them for different meanings, and thus, we screw it up.

Answer 9

Why is it that most non-english speaking people around the world want to learn english?

Answer 10

Look at all you have learned simply through the use of English. Very smart indeed.

Answer 11

I notice that you've cribbed all of your examples from other people's observations. Perhaps you think English is stupid because you're too lazy to test for yourself what it's capable of.