And sometimes if a person has a speech impediment they can say one thing and others think they've said something else too. I had that problem myself. When I was little I'd say "fork" and on at least one occasion my paternal grandmother had to ask my mom if I'd said what she thought I'd said. Of course I hadn't but the two words were similar enough that she thought I had said something I aught not to. English is among the most complex (if not the most) complex language there is with all the 'borrowed' words there are in it and of course with some words the pronounciation depends on the context as well. Like 'wound' vs. 'wound' for example. One refers to an injury and the other refers to an action, i.e. he wound the clock. Or wind vs wind. One refers to air flow and the other to winding a clock. Or the words that sound the same but have different spellings i.e. to, too, and two, etc.
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Originally Posted by MacEachaidh
It can be a challenge. One tiny example of my own: in high school, I was an exchange student to the US, and my very first day at school there, in my very first class (physics), I asked the girl sitting in front of me in my unfortunately-loud voice if she had a rubber I could borrow. I wanted to correct an error in the graph I'd just drawn; I wasn't to know that the American word for what I was asking for was "eraser".
The story spread like wildfire round the school - it was a kinder, more innocent time than today - and it took me a long time to live it down. Even months later some people would still only half believe that I was genuine in my ignorance. And then I made it worse.
I was giving a talk about Australia - then, a fabled country beyond the "Here be dragons!" line on the map, to most Americans' minds - to a meeting of The Daughters of the American Revolution. When it was opened up to questions from the group, the very first lady who spoke to me fixed me with a steely eye and said, "I'm wise to you. You're the one who spoke dirty to my grand-daughter!" I stammered some attempt at an explanation, but unfortunately said it had made me feel like a twit, which at the time in Australian English meant a bit foolish and without common sense. I'm sure you can guess what they thought I was saying.
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