Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2025
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So thankful I could parse that without thinking on it. Can you imagine learning that shit from scratch?!
English is a pretty simple language to learn, but the pronunciation isn't part of that simplicity. It's especially tough to unlearn wrong pronunciations you've cultivated for years. In my case (for instance), sword (which I pronounced like "word") and realm (re-alm).
sword (which I pronounced like "word")
It’s the honesty of these worlds
Ruled by magic and mighty swords
1:31 & 2:47
I think it says "honesty of these words"
It sounds that way, especially since the next line is pronounced "mighty swerds." 😂 And that's what I thought it was for years. But in the context of the rest of the lyrics "worlds" makes sense.
In any case, Nightwish is no stranger to misheard/pronounced lyrics.
Our Strange Lingo
When the English tongue we speak.
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it's true
We say sew but likewise few?
And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from word.
Cow is cow but low is low
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose, dose,and lose
And think of goose and yet with choose
Think of comb, tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll or home and some.
Since pay is rhymed with say
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood, food and good.
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don't agree.
- Lord Cromer
Beautiful, but is there really a difference in pronunciation of hose and dose? I always pronounce them similarly...
Hose is pronounced /hōz/ and dose is pronounced /dōs/ in "Standard English" (which is a specific and deliberately invented dialect taught to news anchors to try to smooth out all the regional differences), actual english varies so much over time and space that both words have numerous variations - https://www.howtopronounce.com/hose, plus we change our inflection on words depending on where they are in a sentence - and plenty of context can change if the emphasis is on the vowel or the ending consonant: All my hoes know a hose is a hose.
Simply put - as long as people understand the ideas you're conveying, don't worry too much about precise spelling and punctuation - it's literally all made up.
This cat is like on catnip
Zonked
Read and lead don't even rhyme... Same is true for read and lead.
thats actually how i read it the first time
What about wind and wind?
first wind, then wind
This what fascinates me learning about languages. They have their own characters and quirks. Languages are the embodiment of the people's culture and history. That said, the English language shows how messed up its history is.
That said, the English language shows how messed up its history is.
The irony is that Britain is, to the best of my knowledge, the only country other than Sweden whose mainland hasn't been occupied by a foreign invader in over 950 years.
The irony is that Britain is, to the best of my knowledge, the only country other than Sweden whose mainland hasn’t been occupied by a foreign invader in over 950 years.
i mean other than the british
English is a terrible language and I really need to get gooder at it.
*better
*gooderer
If anyone wants to know, such words are called "heteronyms".
Had to look up other examples. Turns out there's a few of those. For example: tear, wind, row, sow, bound.
Ok, class is over.
Wait how else would you pronounce 'bound'?
Bound vs bound
You don't. But it still has double meaning.
Good catch. It might not perfectly fit this list.
Maybe it was a typo and they meant to write 'wound'?
Anyone else pronounce it as reed and leed first?
Yes.
I read it as red and led first. I wonder where this will lead us?
Sean Bean has a lot to answer for!
My stream of consciousness: “What? Reed isn’t pronounced like led. Oh there’s more here… Ohhh, red is pronounced like leed. Er, reed is pronounced like… uhhh… anyway, I get it.”
Which witch switch glitched?
I was like "reed" and "led", went back to "red" and "led", continued to "red" and "lead" and was like OMG I’m such a basic white bitch LOL and took a sip of my pumpkin spice luh-theh.
"Hi guy, try some Thai high pie"
"They're all different spellings!" - Frank Woodley