what is a ghoti?

Answer 1

A fish.

Answer 2

It's, first of all, a JOKE especially associated with George Bernard Shaw, making.fun of the oddities of English spelling (though, incidentally, he probably did not originate it).
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html

It is meant to be pronounced as "fish"
gh = f as in rouGH
o = i as in wOmen
ti = sh as in naTIon
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-articles/199909.htm
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But for what it's worth (at the risk of being a killjoy) -- English spelling is often about the history and relationships of words, not just phonetics... and CONTEXT is critical. Thus:

1) "gh" cannot make the "f" sound at the BEGINNING of a word.. only after "ou" (The "f" is a result of a cluster of sound changes in late Middle English/early Modern English; mainly the "Great Vowel Shift" which contributed to all those troublesome "ough" words)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_consonants#Elimination_of_velar_fricatives_in_English
http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/ling006.html

2) "o" [or other vowels] shifting to an i/e sound in a Germanic language is the result of "i-umlaut", that is, it is caused by adding a suffix with an i/e vowel. You don't have one here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_umlaut

3) "ti" can only become a "sh"-sound when it is a transition between syllables (so there must be another vowel after the i), not at the end of a word

For all its woes, English spelling DOES have rules and if you actually follow those rules, the ONLY possible pronunciation for "ghoti" would be like "goatee"
http://www.zompist.com/spell.html

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On the other hand, if we allow the Shavian approach, there is at least one other answer to the question "how is 'ghoti' pronounced?"

"..." (that is, silence! it cannot be pronounced at all!), thus:

"gh" as in night
"o" as in people
t" as in ballet
"i" as in business
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti

Others claim another 'possible' pronunciation is "huge" (though I'm not sure every part of that one works).
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwhat04.html

See also, the whole discussion of English spelling at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/spelling_mnopspteiche.html

Answer 3

It's sort of a linguistic joke - mocking the crazy rules of the English language.

ghoti would be pronounced "fish"

"gh" makes the "f" noise in "enough"
"o" makes the "i" sound in "women"
and "ti" make the "sh" sound in "ambition"

therefore
gh+o+ti is theorhetically the same as f+i+sh

:D

Answer 4

Old.

It's actually pronounced "fish" - simply because the English language can be a little strange.

Answer 5

Swims in water on the piano in a small bowl.

(gh = /f/ as in cough)

(o = /i/ as in women)

(ti = /sh/ as in action)

You like?? It is a fish.

Answer 6

it also means fish in klingon.