IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! - THINK Yourself®

Sometimes things don't make sense at all, and we just have to go with it, or we get used to it, learn, and deal with it. This is true for our problems in life as well as for the English language. Watch the video or keep on reading...

As you know, I am French. Building a business in English was a big challenge for me. I had this voice in my head telling me: "What? You want to become a speaker in English? You don't even speak English! You want to write books in English? It's never going to work. You're not good enough!" So, I had to take my own advice to figure out how I could actually become successful in a different language. I still harbor a little bit of resentment about a few things in the English language, so I thought it would be fun to do a blog about it today.

Let's start with a few of the very controversial words for me as a French Canadian. Why does the alarm go "off" in the morning? Shouldn't it go "on"? The alarm goes off? Why does it go off?

But yeah, guess what? You just have to deal with it and say, like everybody else, that the alarm goes off instead of on. It doesn't make sense, does it?

How about "abbreviated"? Why is this such a long word? I can't even pronounce it. This totally gets me!

I was in a hotel, a big chain, and they had a sign in the bathroom saying that if you want to reuse your towel more than once, you can hang it, and they will not take it, allowing you to reuse it a second time to save the environment. On the other side of that little card was the French translation. Do you know what they wrote? That if you wanted to reuse your towel, you should strangle it. Like hang. Very, very bad translation.

Another one that gets me is why what doctors do is called a "practice"? Why do they have to "practice" on us? I don't get it. Why is it called a practice? This is beyond me. I get beyond myself when I hear that.

Then there are contronyms. I'm not sure if you've heard of contronyms. They are words that are the same but mean opposite things. If you "left" the book on the table, the book is still there, but if she "left," she's gone. She's not there anymore. How complicated is that?

The person investing my money is called a broker! Are they ‘broke’? So that’s why they need my money? Why do I trust them if they are ‘broker’ than me? What's the deal?

Or the slowest traffic time of the day is called "rush" hour. Why do they call that rush hour if it's the slowest time of the day?

Then there are "apart"ments. They're called apart. Apart-ments, but they're all stuck together.

And don't get me started on the letter K. Knife, knee, knight... Why is it not nife, nee, night? I don't understand why this letter even exists.

Just to say that sometimes things don't make sense, but hey, everybody knows it. We get used to it and we deal with it. I've learned that we don't pronounce the K in these words, and I've learned how to deal with all these things. We can get used to it and learn things. Sometimes when things don't make sense, it doesn't matter! The proof? Our English language is filled with a whole bunch of things that don't make sense. But guess what? We can live with it.

So, if there are things in your life that are completely inexplicable, just think about the K in the knife and why what doctors do is called a "practice." Then get a good laugh and just live with it. It's going to be okay. We're all going to be fine. Bottom line is, if I was able to become a professional speaker in English, then everything is possible. Whatever your dream is, you can do it!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s light blog, and if you’re able to live and get used to all the complicated twists in the English language, there isn’t a challenge you can’t face!

Embrace the chaos, laugh at the quirks, and keep moving forward. Remember, it’s not about the obstacles, but how you handle them!