Essays - oddities
Panama
Posted 2009-07-27 18:29 by manarafo
Read this paragraph forward or backward and get the exact same letter sequence…
"A man, a plan, a canoe, pasta, heros, rajahs, a coloratura, maps, snipe, percale, macaroni, a gag, a banana bag, a tan, a tag, a banana bag again (or a camel), a crepe, pins, Spam, a rut, a Rolo, cash, a jar, sore hats, a peon, a canal—Panama!"
Short version: "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama."
Guy Steele Jr.
A Little Story
Posted 2009-07-27 18:29 by manarafo
This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.
Author Unknown
The English Language
Posted 2009-07-27 18:27 by manarafo
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is neither egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted.
