Leap day/year vocabulary

As on any other day a good number of people across the world are celebrating their birthday today (29th February). But what is so special about today? Yes. You guessed it right. It’s 29th February – the unique leap day which comes only once in four years. And the year is called a leap year.

As a matter of fact, I am a leaper. I am what? Yes. I was born on a 29th February. A newborn leap day baby is called a leap year baby or a leapling. Some popular colloquial terms used for a person who was born on a leap day are leaper, leapy, leapster and leapean. The terms can be used not only for children but also for anyone of any age. Many people look at leapers sympathetically . Why? Because they are said to be so unlucky that they can’t celebrate their birthday every year! But the leapers retaliate that they are born in a perfect year (leap year) which has 366 days. Remember a normal year has only 365.25 days. Grrr... you sons of handicapped years out there

Pope Paul III, Morarji Desai (former Indian prime minister) and Gioacchino Rossini (Italian composer) are a few to name among many world famous leapeans. John Byrom, the inventor of the revolutionary system of shorthand was also born on a 29th of February.

A few interesting leap day facts:
According to the Guinness Book of Records, Norway's Henriksen family holds the record for the highest number of children born on February 29 – Heidi (b. 1960), Olav (b. 1964) and Lief-Martin (b. 1968). Believe it or not, Sir James Milne Wilson (a 19th century politician, brewer and landowner) achieved the extremely rare feat of being both born on a 29 February (making him a leapling) and dying on the same date (29 February 1812 – 29 February 1880)!

www.leapyearday.com lists a few interesting words related to this day:

Leap-couple = two leapies married to each other

Leap-twins   = twins born on a leap day

Leapless       = anyone not born on February 29

Leapship      = a friendship or relationship between two leapers.

(Visit the website for more leap day related vocabulary)

USED TO and USE TO...

You can speak about your past habits in two different ways. One using ‘used to’ and the other using ‘would’. E.g. ‘When I was a child I used to swim well’ or ‘when I was a child I would swim well’.

More examples:

Whenever I shouted at her, she would cry. (past tense)

Whenever I shout at her, she cries. (present tense)

I used to speak French fluently in my childhood. (past tense)

I speak French fluently. (present tense)

I would go to gym regularly during my college days. (past tense)

I go to gym regularly. (present tense)

Whenever I asked her any doubt she used to ignore me. (past tense)

Whenever I ask her any doubt she ignores me. (present tense)

Now, the question is, if used to expresses a past habit, can we use use to for a present habit? No. From a structural point of view, used to does not have a present tense form. So, to speak about present habits, we should just use the simple present tense e.g. I swim well (not I use to swim well), She speaks English fluently (not She use to speak…..), Jane gets up late every day (not Jane use to get up late….) etc

What about theses sentence?

'I am used to sleeping late at night'.

Is it a correct sentence? And what tense is it in? Yes. It is a correct sentence in simple present tense. The sentence means I am habitual to sleeping late at night. More examples: Tom is used to talking loudly. We are used to living in such conditions etc. Here do remember the way in which used to is used: [am/is/are+used to+gerund (ing form of verb)]. Compare this formula with the other previous examples and understand the difference.

Types of meats

Here are some words that might interest the non-vegetarians. We all are quite familiar with such words as beef (meat of cow), pork (meat of pig), mutton (meat of sheep) chicken etc. A little more knowledge about meats might be of use.

Beef, as we all know, is the flesh of a cow used as food. Eating beef or even talking about it is considered taboo in some parts of the world like India due to religious reasons. The meat of a bull or ox is also called beef. When the flesh of a young calf used as food it is termed veal. Another delicious meat lamb comes from a young sheep. Lamb also refers to the animal itself.

Though pork and ham are synonymously used by some people, there is a difference between the two. Pork is the flesh of pig used as food, especially when uncured*. Ham (bacon) is a cut of pork that is taken from a pig's upper hind leg. Ham is usually eaten cured*.

Many other birds and animals are also used for food: duck, deer, buffalo, rabbit, and bear – to name a few. While meat of deer is known as venison the other meats have no particular names.

Cure = preserve meat, fish etc by salting, drying, or smoking.

Words containing 'ch' but pronounced 'sh'...

Pronunciation of certain words in English has always been a matter of confusion for many learners of English. Though English is the most powerful language in the world in terms of the number of words and ease of use, its pronunciation rules are often confusing.

The ‘ch’ in cherry is pronounced as it is written but when you say chemistry the ‘ch’ takes a ‘k’ sound. Is that all? No. Another common word chef is neither pronounced as /chef/ or /kef/ but /shef/!

Here are a few common English words with ‘ch’ in their spelling but are pronounced with a ‘sh’ sound. The approximate pronunciation is given between the slashes. Please use a standard dictionary to see the accurate pronunciation.

brochure /broshr/

cache /cash/

champagne /shampain/

chandelier /shandliyr/

chassis /shasee/

chauvinist /shauvnist/

chef /shef/

Cheryl /sheryl/

chevrolet /shevrolei/

chic /sheek/

Chicago /shikaago/

chiffon /shifon/

chivalry /shivlri/

chute /shoot/

cliché /kleeshey/

machine /masheen/

Michelle /mishel/

Michigan /mishigan/

mustache /mustaash/

parachute /parashoot/

 

Though not so common in day-to-day English, the following words also take ‘sh’ in place of ‘ch’ while pronouncing them.

cachet, chagrin, chaperon(e), charade, charlatan, chauffeur, crochet, fuchsia, machete, quiche, ricochet, chaise, chalet, chateau, chemise, douche, charlotte etc

PURSE, WALLET, BAG etc

Besides playing an indispensable role in making our travels comfortable, bags have already become a status symbol for people across the world. Though people use various types of bags in day-to-day life, many are not familiar with their names.

The pocket-sized flat folding case used by men for holding money is called a wallet. In Indian English it is wrongly called a purse. On the other hand, a purse is a small pouch of leather or plastic used for carrying money, typically by a woman. Americans use the word billfold to mean a purse.

A backpack is a bag carried by one strap or two on your back or shoulder. It is mostly used by young people who go to school /college. Backpacks are also the favourite pick of people while traveling with a little luggage.

The most commonly seen large bag which is used for carrying clothes and other personal belongings is termed a holdall. It mostly comes in large rectangular shape with handles and a shoulder strap. As the very name suggests, a holdall can literally ‘hold all’.

What about the huge pack of luggage that you have often seen carried by tourists? Such a bag with shoulder straps which allow it to be carried on someone’s back is called a rucksack, also known as knapsack. Rucksacks are typically made of a strong, waterproof material and widely used by hikers and soldiers.

When you visit an airport, the most commonly seen type of bags are the ones carried around by people which have wheels and a pulled-out handle. These bags are called rolling suitcase or roller suitcase. They are often made of a rough material such as rexin. Rolling suitcases are so helpful to the travelers who otherwise had to carry the entire luggage on their shoulder or head.

New Words of 2011

Are you really annoyed by your helicopter parents?

I’m sure you don’t like to be a boomerang child, do you?

Don’t you think robocalls must be banned by the government?

Well, these are a few out of more than 150 words which secured their place in many of the famous dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, Oxford dictionaries Online etc  in 2011.

The term ‘helicopter parent’ refers to a parent who closely observes whatever their child does such as what they watch/read, who they talk to, where they go, who they befriend etc.

You probably know a young person who moves away from his family in search of a job or to start a business and so on in order to be independent and to earn money. However, he or she comes back to their family after a certain period of time to live with them because all their attempts to be successful failed. Such a person is called a ‘boomerang child’

And what about a 'robocall'? Though you may not know the meaning of this term, I am sure many of you often get such calls. Yes, a ‘robocall’ is a pesky call that you receive on your (cell) phone from telemarketing companies that want to promote their business. Such calls are mostly automated, hence the term ‘robocall’.

Some other interesting popular words of 2011 include bromance (a close but nonsexual friendship between two men), cougar (a middle-aged woman seeking a romantic relationship with a younger man),  fist bump (a gesture made famous by President Obama in which two people lightly tap each other’s fists), m-commerce (a business transaction conducted using a mobile electronic device) and so on.

Suffering from disturbing porn-links on your Facebook wall?

Clickjacking is a malicious technique of tricking Web users into revealing confidential information or taking control of their computer while clicking on seemingly safe web pages.

For example, you find a link on your Facebook wall saying, “Click to know who viewed your profile today”, “Know who deleted you from friend list”, “Who is your secret admirer on Facebook” etc or it can even be a tempting porn link. You click on the link and you are clickjacked! Such links normally take you to another step of action such as clicking on a button etc. Out of your curiosity you keep doing exactly what the hacker wants you to do, ending up in compromising your valuable confidential information such as username, password and so on.

Once you are clickjacked, the embedded malicious code on the link takes control of your account (Facebook, Twitter etc) and starts sending porn or gore links to many of your friends randomly and repeatedly, forcing your friends to think that you are doing all this!

If you are already facing this problem of being accused of sending porn links to your friends on Facebook, there is a solution:

• Go to the Account Settings drop-down menu in the upper right side of your screen.
• From the Account Settings drop-down menu, choose Privacy Settings.
• On the bottom right side of the Privacy Settings Page, click the Apps & websites link "Edit your settings."
• On the App page, next to "Apps you use," select edit settings.
• There you will see the third-party apps that have access to your Facebook profile. Delete any rogue applications. (It's a good idea to check this setting regularly – at least once a week.)

If you are already being looked down upon or humiliated by your friends because of this, change your password immediately besides changing the above-mentioned stetting. Then send an apology (preferably a private message) to all your Facebook friends who may have been tagged, and advise them to do the same.


Simply resharing "ATTENTION FRIENDS, WARNING FRIENDS" stuff will not work!

Wanna, Gonna Gotta.... Part 2

Gonna is another frequently used word widely heard  in informal colloquial English. This phrase is used instead of going to. Though basically a product of American English, gonna has already got worldwide popularity hence used by millions of English speakers all around the world.


Examples:
She's gonna marry him (she's going to marry him).
We're gonna sack Peter (we're going to sack Peter).
It's gonna rain (it's going to rain).
Are they gonna do it again? (are they going to do it again?) etc


Gonna can be used with first, second and third persons.
e.g. I'm gonna teach him a lesson.
We're not gonna attend the party.
You are gonna be all right.
He's gonna come with you.
She's gonna face the music for her actions.
They're gonna launch the product soon. 
Garry is gonna marry Natasha.


Remember that in questions, are is usually omitted when the subject is
(i) first/second person plural (we, you) and
(ii) second person singular (you as plural).
e.g. What ~ we gonna do next? ('are' omitted)
Where ~ we gonna invest it? ('are' omitted)
When ~ you gonna meet us again? ('are' omitted)
Why ~ you gonna take this decision? ('are' omitted)


NB Many learners of English have a tendency to make the awkward sentences of the following kind. Please avoid them carefully...
He's gonna to leave for Australia (incorrect)
He's gonna leave for Australia (correct)
He's going to leave for Australia (correct)


To learn about how to use 'wanna', visit the following link:
http://novaenglishcampus.blogspot.com/2011/10/wanna-gonna-gotta-part-1_7732.html

Wanna, Gonna Gotta.... Part 1

British English aka Queen’s English is still widely accepted as the purest English. However due to the unquestionable role that the United States of America plays in international affairs and the worldwide popularity of American culture, many typical American English terms have crept into the speaking habits of English speakers across the world.

A lot of such Americanisms are frequently heard in the informal written as well as spoken English e.g. wanna, gonna, gotta, kinda etc.

Wanna is the shortened form of ‘want to’ as in

I want to leave now (I wanna leave now)
I don’t want to lose her (I don’t wanna lose her)
Do you want to come with me? (Do you wanna come with me?) etc.

Wanna can be used with all persons - singular and plural, except third person singular.
I wanna (correct)
We wanna (correct)
You wanna (correct)
They wanna (correct)

But...
He wanna (incorrect)
She wanna (incorrect)
Sam wanna (incorrect)

This is because wanna structurally rhymes only with I want to, you want to, we want to, they want to, but not with he/she/Sam wants to where the final 's' is too intrusive. However, crazily enough, even this exceptional rule is increasingly ignored by a huge number of speakers across the world, including the Americans!

While using wanna in interrogative sentences (questions), the helping verbs ‘do’ and ‘does’ are often omitted.

e.g. What ~ you wanna do now? (‘do’ omitted)
~ you wanna fight me? (‘Do’ omitted)
~ he wanna get divorce? (‘Does’ omitted)

(to be contd...)

Words with silent 'd'.

It is common among many learners of English especially those who learn it as a second language to pronounce the words just as they are written. No doubt, English pronunciation system is the most complicated system of pronunciation in the world – in many cases illogical too! The best way to master the pronunciation conundrum is to listen as much good English as possible. The following is a collection of commonly used words in which the sound /d/ is always silent.
The pronunciation of the words using the international phonetic symbols is given between slashes (//) immediately after the words. For those who are unable to understand them, the simplified pronunciation is given in brackets.


Abridge /əˈbrɪdʒ/ (əˈbrij)
Acknowledge /əkˈnɒlɪdʒ/ (əkˈnolij)
Adjacent /əˈdʒeɪs(ə)nt/ (əˈjeis(ə)nt)
Adjective /ˈædʒɪktɪv/ (ˈæjiktiv)
Adjust /əˈdʒʌst/ (ˈəjʌst)
Badge /badʒ/ (ˈbæj)
Bridge /brɪdʒ/ (brij)
Budge /bʌdʒ/ (bʌj)
Cartridge /ˈkɑːtrɪdʒ/ (ˈkɑːtrij)
Drudge /drʌdʒ/ (drʌj)
Edge /ɛdʒ/ (ej)
Fridge /frɪdʒ/ (frij)
Grudge /grʌdʒ/ (grʌj)
Hedge /hɛdʒ/ (hej)
Judge /dʒʌdʒ/ (jʌj)
Knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/ (nolij) NB /k/ is also silent in this word.
Ledger /ˈlɛdʒə/ (ˈlejer)
Lodge /lɒdʒ/ (loj)
Nudge /nʌdʒ/ (nʌj)
Pledge /plɛdʒ/ (plej)
Porridge /ˈpɒrɪdʒ/ (ˈporij)
Ridge /rɪdj/
Wedge /wɛdʒ/ (wej)
Budget /ˈbʌdʒɪt/ (ˈbʌjit)
Fidget /ˈfɪdʒɪt/ (ˈfijit)
Gadget /ˈgadʒɪt/ (ˈgæjit)
Midget /ˈmɪdʒɪt/ (ˈmijit)
Widget /ˈwɪdʒɪt/ (ˈwijit)


In the list given above, the accent mark (ˈ) shows that the syllable immediately after it must be stressed while pronouncing the specific word. æ is pronounced just as ‘a’ in cat, ə is pronounced as ‘a’ in ‘about’.

NEW WORDS FOR THE NETIZENS...

A Netizen is a person who spends a lot of time on the Internet. The term Netizen is a blend of two other familiar words: Internet and citizen. A comparatively young word, Netizen came into English in the 1990s. Netizens spend the most of their time in social networking (on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc) and other forms of online communication.

Netizens are also referred to as cyber citizens. Both Netizen and cyber citizen were coined by Michael Hauben (1973-2001), an American computer specialist and author who was a pioneer in identifying the collaborative nature of the Internet and its effects on the global community.

And now, if you are reading this blog, probably you are a digital native. What does it mean? A digital native is a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and so familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age. The Digital Age began in the late 1960s.

Then what word can best describe the people who were born before the Digital Age, yet adapted to the activities (Internet, social networking and so on) of the digital natives? Well, they are digital immigrants! Interesting, isn't it?

Is it right to use ‘According to me’?

‘According to me’ is one of the most popular usages among the speakers of English in south Asian countries, especially in India. Though beautiful and of course nice to hear, this phrase is un-English.

But why?

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines the preposition ‘according to’ like this: as stated or reported by somebody/something. What does it mean? Well, ‘according to’ should be used to repeat a statement which was made by another, preferably a third person.

Let’s take an example to make it clear:

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration” is a very famous quote made by Edison. When you want to repeat this quote, you may say, ‘According to Edison, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration’. Here you are repeating the statement made by a third person (Edison). So ‘according to’ can be used.

The sentence ‘According to Edison, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration’ means ‘as stated by Edison, genius is……………………’

According to John Keats, ‘a thing of beauty is a joy for ever’

(As John Keats said, ‘a thing of beauty……………………..’)

According to Napoleon, ‘nothing is impossible’

(As Napoleon said, ‘nothing is……….’)

In all the examples above, the statements/opinions were made by a third person (Edison, Keats, Napoleon etc) and we are repeating or reporting them. That’s why we use ‘according to’.

Now, what’s wrong with ‘according to me’? When you say, ‘according to me, she is not reliable’, you are making your own opinion (not reporting a third person’s). Remember that ‘according to’ does not have the meaning ‘in my opinion’.

Apart from a third person, ‘according to’ can also be used with a third source such as a book, newspaper, TV channel and so on. For example, ‘according to BBC, the incident took place at midnight’, ‘According to the Holy Bible, drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of heaven’, ‘according to Bhagvad Gita, man is made by his belief’.

Pleasure, Measure and Vision: Funny Indian pronunciation!

/ʒ/ (the sound of ‘s’ in pleasure, measure, leisure, vision etc) is another sound which is still beyond the reach of many of Indian speakers of English.

The speakers of Hindi and other north Indian languages use something like a ‘y’ in place of the sound /ʒ/. A good majority of them pronounce pleasure, measure, leisure and vision almost as ‘pleiyar’, ‘meiyar’, ‘leiyar’ and ‘viyyan’ .

What about the southern speakers? Their tongues can utter these words only as pleshur, meshur, leshur, vishen etc. The apparent absence of an equivalent to the original English sound /ʒ/ in any of the Indian languages is the culprit in this case as well.

The only way out for those who live in this country yet want to improve their pronunciation is to listen to good English, preferably spoken by native English speakers.

Indian English – North Vs South!

India has already been officially declared as the world’s second largest English speaking country. However, being home land to more than a billion people with noticeable social, economic and linguistic diversity among themselves, there are a number of Englishes spoken throughout this country.

While the people living in the north claim to be comparatively better in pronunciation, those down south of the country boast of their upper hand in grammatical accuracy. Here I am posting a few non-English elements which I came to notice in the speaking habits of both south and north Indian speakers of English.

Many speakers of English in south use /s/ in place of /z/. So ‘Zen’ becomes /Sen/. ‘Jazz’ is pronounced as /jass/. Zigzag is distorted as /sigsag/. ‘Zeal’ is /seal/. Interestingly, many of them pronounce the following pairs of words in the same manner: [sip, zip], [sing, zing], [is, ease], [rice, rise], [C Tv, Z Tv] etc. The apparent reason is the lack of a corresponding sound to /z/ in many of the south Indian languages. So, they naturally tend to manage with its lookalike /s/!

Now, let’s move a little north. Many northerners find it difficult to pronounce the sound /z/. You may often hear ‘jen’ in place of ‘zen’; ‘jeero’ in place of ‘zero’ ‘joo’ for ‘zoo’ and ‘jigjag’ instead of ‘zigzag’! The reason is the same as that of the southern speakers – lack of an equivalent to /z/ in most of the north Indian tongues!

(to be contd…)

Tonic for improving your spelling!

Mnemonics is a system which uses certain patterns of letters, ideas, or associations to help a person to remember something. It is extremely useful for the learners of English to memorize the spellings of confusing words.

Many people are often confused about the spellings of 'stationary' and 'stationery'. It can be sorted with the help of a mnemonic. Stationery has er in it as in the case of paper. So stationery refers to paper, pencil etc!

'Grammar' is another word which many people spell as grammer. Try this mnemonic: ‘Grammar is an art of using a language correctly’. Link the ‘ar’ in grammar with art!

Another widely misspelled word is 'arithmetic'. This word is often misspelled as arithmatic because of its resemblance with the more common word mathematics. So, what is the way out? Learn this simple sentence which is a funny full-form of arithmetic: 'A Rat In The House May Eat The Ice Cream!'

And the next one is ‘separate’. It is often wrongly spelt as seperate. Why don’t you try this interesting mnemonic? There was a farmer named Sep. One day his wife saw a rat. She yelled – “Sep, a rat – Eeeee!”.

What is the opposite of Feminist?

A feminist is a person who supports the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. Feminism refers to all the movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. The feminist activities have undoubtedly helped a lot in changing the position of women in the society.

Well, it is now clear that a feminist is one who advocates equal rights for women. But what about a person who supports and defends the rights of men? The word is ‘hominist’! Don’t think it is a newly invented word; the term was coined by George Bernard Shaw, more than a century ago.

However, the word hominist did not gain much popularity. Now another word ‘masculinist’ (also masculist) is widely used instead.

Poor Silent Letters!! Crazy English Spelling & Pronunciation. Part 3

Here are a few more illogical spelling-pronunciation disparites in English...

Gnat, gnaw, gnome, gnarl, gnat, deign, foreign, reign, sovereign, sign, ensign, design, resign, etc have a ‘g’ in them when they are spelled but the poor ‘g’ is totally neglected when people pronounce these words!

And where did the intruder ‘k’ come from and place its butts at the beginning of these words: know, knee, knife, knit, knickers and knuckle? Linguists may have come up with some theories but they are not at all digestible to the laymen!

Learners of English take weeks, if not months, to be confident enough to spell the following words correctly although they are able to pronounce them:

psychology, psychiatrist, pneumonia, psalm, psoriasis – the list is too long. The letter ‘p’ in all these words stands as a mute spectator of the illogical rules of the English language spelling reforms! Thank God, at least the ‘p’ in psalm got a dumb friend (l) to company with!

Cousin, Second Cousin, Third Cousin, Distant Cousin....

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines cousin as ‘a child of your aunt or uncle’. The word cousin is a neutral term which applies to both males and females. Many people especially in South East Asia incorrectly use this word as cousin brother, cousin sister etc. Remember the word cousin is used to refer to:

1. Your uncle’s son/daughter (uncle can be your father’s brother or mother’s brother)
2. Your aunt’s son/daughter  (aunt can be your father’s sister or mother’s sister)

The listener can understand whether the ‘cousin in context’ is male of female from the pronoun which is used to describe them for example, in sentences like ‘He’s my cousin’, ‘My cousin is coming today with her children' etc. , the pronoun ‘he’ and the adjective ‘her’ clearly resolve the ‘gender confusion’. In some cases, it’s also possible to say ‘male cousin’ or ‘female cousin’ for specification or emphasis.

First cousin is another word which means exactly the same as cousin. Well, a (first) cousin is the child of your uncle or aunty. Who is your second cousin? It’s the grandchild of your grand uncle/aunty*.

Then comes the third cousin: the great grandchild of your great grand uncle**.

Of course the description of relationship tree in words is very confusing. The following graphics will make it a lot easier for you to understand the kinds of cousins:

*brother/sister of your grandfather/grandmother.

**brother/sister of your great grandfather/ great grandmother.

Crazy pronunciation Part 3

Here are a few more examples of illogical inconsistencies in English pronunciation:

The past form of say is said. It is pronounced as /sed/ but the past form of pay and lay are not pronounced as /ped/ or /led/! Rather you have to pronounce them as /peid/ and /leid/.

Bomb is pronounced as /bom/ and comb is pronounced as /com/ but what about tomb? It’s pronounced as /toom/!

Come and some do not agree with dome and Rome when it comes to pronunciation!

There is logic in pronouncing eve as /eev/ but I don’t understand why ewe is pronounced as /yoo/

Curry and hurry are two words that all of you might pronounce with ease. However, bury is a word a good number non-native speakers find difficult to pronounce; it is pronounced /bery/. It is rather crazy!

Crazy English pronunciation. Part 2

When I was in fifth class in which I started learning the spellings and pronunciation of English words, my English teacher used to tweak my ear for mispronouncing the word 'hood'. I used to pronounce hood with a long u – something like /hoood/ instead of /hud/. My budding mind, as in the case of any children, thought all the words with ‘oo’ should be pronounced in the same way as in food, fool, noon, mood, soon, moon, loo etc.

Crazily enough, while a number of common words like moon, food, noon, broom, zoom, boon, proof, roof etc are pronounced with a long ‘u’ sound, so many other words with the same pattern take only a short ‘u’ in pronunciation e.g. book, cook, hood, look, wood, foot and so on.

If you think that the confusion is over just after learning these two rules, what about the words like ‘door’ and ‘floor’? Though they follow the same pattern of spelling, the pronunciation is different!

Is that all? Wait! A fourth small group of words (thank God, only two words in this category!) behaves in a totally different way: blood and flood. The ‘oo’ in them rhymes with the ‘u’ in ‘mud’ ‘thud’ and ‘dull’ !

Isn’t English crazy? Please comment…