Contemplations of a Writer

Homographs: Contemplations of a Writer

 

Homographs are words that look exactly the same (as do homonyms) yet are PRONOUNCED differently, depending on the context.

I have such a fit
When these words don’t fit!
Like when all through the spring
All the deer jump and spring,
And the lions feel they might
Want to show their strength and might,

When the monkeys swing
From a vine like a swing,
And the roar of the bear
Is too loud for me to bear,
And I can’t try to pet
One, since it’s not a pet!
I’m not trying to be mean,
But what do these words mean?

For example, how to you pronounce “bow”? Well, that depends if you are taking a bow (rhymes with “cow” or “now”) after a performance, or putting a bow (rhymes with “no”) on your dress.

Without actually hearing the sentence, you can’t know what each should be (unless, of course, you KNOW, or you look up each one in the dictionary).

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass (fish) was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting, I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Below are homographs used in sentences. They were sent to me in an email. I have never really thought about how hard the English language must be to learn until I was reading through these the other day. I know they have nothing to do with home remodeling, but I thought they were interesting.

As you may already know, a homograph is a group of words that share the same spelling, but have different meanings. When they are spoken, the meanings may be distinguished by different pronunciations.

Okay, enough explanation. Here are some homographs.

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it homographs and the English language are crazy. There is no egg in eggplant, nor pine or apple in pineapple.

English muffins were not invented in England nor French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat. We take English for granted.

But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers do not fing, grocers do not groce and hammers do not ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

Why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick?"

Homographs - Food for thought!