English is a very PHUNNY language

Don’t give up on English.  French:——-N’est-ce pas ?  English——Right ?ADUMBRATE:—-foreshadow or reveal. to overshadow or conceal, to outline in a shadowy way —or to reveal some, conceal some. 

There are combinations of words that don’t  make sense.  RAISE means to build up.  RAZE means to tear down.  The opposite of FASTEN is LOOSEN but UNFASTEN and UNLOOSEN are the same.  If you look over something, you give it a good look.  If you overlook it, you don’t look at it at all.  If you oversee it, you give it a good look again. 

The word AWFUL used to mean something AWE-INSPIRING, like a Cathedral but the kids who go there on Sundays said, ” You ever see such an awful Church ?”  “No, I’ve seen Churches, but this takes the cake for awful,” and they would make gagging sounds, and the word acquired the meaning it has now. 

According to the rules, you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition.  This is a rule I don’t believe IN.  A preposition at the end, gives a sentence ZING.  English has a rule that says, two negatives make a positive.  This may be alright for maths, but it’s a little unrealistic in practice.  Two words that cause a lot of trouble are LIE and LAY.  You can lay your head down, but you can’t just LAY DOWN.  If you LAY DOWN half a second ago, then it’s alright.  But right now you are not LAYING, you are LYING.  SIT DOWN and SET DOWN are just as bad.  A hen SITS on eggs.  When she’s LAYING, she’s not LYING,—-she’s SITTING again.  The only time a hen LIES DOWN is when IT IS DEAD.