Idiosyncrasies of English Idiom, Phrases and Prepositions

This is more or less a continuation of one of my earlier posts.

English displays its inimitable idiosyncrasies when it comes to the usage of idioms, phrases and prepositions in more mystifying ways than one. What else can I say, when it rains heavily it is said to rain cats and dogs? Have you ever seen these animals falling in hordes from the skies? I haven't, of course and not even kitten and puppies. The etymology enthusiast that I am, I started exploring the various possibilities for the origin of this phrase. Thankfully, being the handy aid that the worldwide web is, I came across the following link when I googled for the phrase: http://www.phrases.org.uk/. Although the site does not provide any etymological evidence, it nevertheless puts forth a number of improbable folk etymologies to explain the phrase.

My Love for Language

Being the son of teachers - an English Lecturer and a Telugu Pundit - language, more than science or math, cast its spell on me. I grew up among books, books and more books. It doesn't mean that I have read them all. I've had a sneak peek at some of them. Anyway, while in school, like any other child of that age, my interest lay in comic books and Enid Blyton's Famous Fives. Though my college education dragged me away from them, forcibly diverting my attention towards sciences and mathematics. It felt like I'd landed in a suffocating cul-de-sac, those years. Being the enfant terrible that I was, I failed to live up to my parents' expectations of becoming an engineer. Damp squib was my attempt. And so, back to reading books of interest, drawn by the love for language. Poring through the Random House Dictionary that my father has, was my favourite pastime all through. The syllabic division, pronunciation keys provided alongside each word always held my attention.

My Magnum Opus

One fine morning I woke up with the brilliant idea of penning down a poetic work of epic proportions, the canvas as grand as that of Paradise Lost of John Milton a la

Enigmatic English

English is an enigmatic language, at least for me. And at times, I feel, it really is a funny language. It poses problems aplenty in pronunciations and also in spellings. English spelling is guaranteed to confuse even those who have spoken the language all their lives. When there is no difference in pronouncing see and sea, why are they spelt differently? What do you say about do and go? Why is p silent in psychology and pronounced as f in philosophy, and what about laughter, wherein it is pronounced with an f in it, but slaughter has no such sound?

Mis(dis)use of the Apostrophe

"Its anus". This was written on the vehicle that a lady was driving. "Anus of ...?" I was flummoxed for a while at the brazen attitude of the lady. It then suddenly dawned on me that it was not her outrageous attitude, but the handiwork of a dim witted soul who is appallingly ignorant of the Apostrophe. Yes, it must've been "It's Anu's".