"But he's a different kettle of fish altogether...", i explained to WS.
"What? What fish?"
"Kettle! Kettle of fish! No, not 'cattle' - *moo moo* - but kettle, as in 'Polly put the kettle on'".
"But why 'kettle'?????"
And that got me stumped. Why kettle? Who puts fish in a kettle anyways?
Well, i did me research - and what do ya know? A kettle isn't always that contraption Polly used to boil water. In the 18th century, a kettle is used to describe any large "vessel used to boil stuff in". But this was a british thingy. Those days, people will have a picnic next to a river and they'd pitch tents etc, put a large kettle out to boil and throw in live salmon to cook (reference: World Wide Words - see here). But how it became an idiom, nobody knows for sure. Perhaps they used different kettles to boil different kinds of fishes.
There you go! English - just cannot be explained. And different people speak different kinds of English!!!!
I remembered when i was in Paris and i had a what i would like to call, a "Love, Actually" moment. Remember that guy who was amusing the American chicks wif his British accent? Yup, that sorta like wat happenned.
I was sharing this room wif this Irish guy, Danny, and 2 others from the States, Becky and Trevor. It was late in the nite and we were chatting when Becky asked wat was the time. I looked at me watch and said "half-eleven". And that started it all! She was amused at how we - Danny and meself from the UK - tell the time that way - "quarter to", "half past" etc. And that started it all - we started comapring the different way we say things, the accents and the slang! A really funny slang was the irish "craic" - when Danny first told Trevor how he likes to have craic, Trevor was thinking in his mind "Riiight - it's ok. i won't judge you. i'm open minded", thinking Danny meant cocaine!!!
It was really fun meeting them in Paris - one of the highlights of me trip!
That just illustrated how people from different parts of the world can speak English but yet do not understand each other! And i know the biggest culprits are the English themselves - just listen to the way how they pronounce the words. Yes, as the song from the musical, My Fair Lady goes:-
"What? What fish?"
"Kettle! Kettle of fish! No, not 'cattle' - *moo moo* - but kettle, as in 'Polly put the kettle on'".
"But why 'kettle'?????"
And that got me stumped. Why kettle? Who puts fish in a kettle anyways?
Well, i did me research - and what do ya know? A kettle isn't always that contraption Polly used to boil water. In the 18th century, a kettle is used to describe any large "vessel used to boil stuff in". But this was a british thingy. Those days, people will have a picnic next to a river and they'd pitch tents etc, put a large kettle out to boil and throw in live salmon to cook (reference: World Wide Words - see here). But how it became an idiom, nobody knows for sure. Perhaps they used different kettles to boil different kinds of fishes.
There you go! English - just cannot be explained. And different people speak different kinds of English!!!!
I remembered when i was in Paris and i had a what i would like to call, a "Love, Actually" moment. Remember that guy who was amusing the American chicks wif his British accent? Yup, that sorta like wat happenned.
I was sharing this room wif this Irish guy, Danny, and 2 others from the States, Becky and Trevor. It was late in the nite and we were chatting when Becky asked wat was the time. I looked at me watch and said "half-eleven". And that started it all! She was amused at how we - Danny and meself from the UK - tell the time that way - "quarter to", "half past" etc. And that started it all - we started comapring the different way we say things, the accents and the slang! A really funny slang was the irish "craic" - when Danny first told Trevor how he likes to have craic, Trevor was thinking in his mind "Riiight - it's ok. i won't judge you. i'm open minded", thinking Danny meant cocaine!!!
It was really fun meeting them in Paris - one of the highlights of me trip!
That just illustrated how people from different parts of the world can speak English but yet do not understand each other! And i know the biggest culprits are the English themselves - just listen to the way how they pronounce the words. Yes, as the song from the musical, My Fair Lady goes:-
Hear them down in Soho square
Dropping h's everywhere
Speaking English any way they like
Hear a Yorkishman or worse
Hear a Cornishman converse
I'd rather hear a choir singing flat
An Englishman's way of speaking
Absolutely classifies him
The moment he talks
He makes some other Englishmen despise him
One common language I'm afraid we'll never get
Oh why can't the English learn to
Set a good example
To people whose English is painful to your ears
The Scots and the Irish leave you close to tears
There even are places where English completely disappears
In America they haven't used it for years
Oh why can't the English
Why can't the English
Learn to speak!
Anyways, gonna leave you with this passage from the chapter entitled "English: The Krazee Language!" from me TESOL Course Manual:-
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
I'm glad that when i start teaching English, it'll only be to speakers of other languages - i'm sure they won't ask difficult questions!!!
*Her 3rd single from her debut album and her 2nd Top 10 hit on Billboard Hot 100.
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