English for Fun

Foreword: English Can Be Fun!

That Sounds Funny …

Funny-Sounding Words – Elephant’s at the Rubbity: Rhyming Slang – “Hasta luego cocodrilo” – Tongue Twisters – Wishy-Washy, Arty-Farty – Smash, Bang, Crash, Plop! – Cows Moo, Do You? – What Snew with You?

Questionable Quotes

Famous Last Words – Bushisms – More Crazy Things People Have Said – Headlines – Bumper Stickers – Silly Signage – Classified Ads – Church Bulletin Typos – Accident Reports – Company Condoms – Pearls of Wisdom – Murphy’s Law

Translations and Other Misunderstandings

Helpful Information for English-Speaking Tourists … – F---Ing Kinky – Marketing Troubles

Colourful Language

Colours – Colour Your World with Idioms – Drunk As a Skunk? No. Sick As a Dog! – Welches Tier gehört zu dir? – Animal Idioms – Collective Nouns – Tidbits – Common Yiddish Words – Let’s Play Ball – Colourful Comparisons … Aussie Style – Just as an aside …

Let’s Get Silly

Books That Were Never Written – Kids’ Riddles + Jokes – Slightly More Sophisticated …

Being Indirect

Euphemisms – Be Careful What You Say

Word Play

Anagrams – Spoonerisms – That’s a Pun, Son … – “Can you give me the … ahh, ummm, the …?” – Playful Punctuation – Persuasive Punctuation – A Proverb for Every Occasion …

A Poem

The English Language

Rules for Writers – Conjugating Very Irregular Verbs – Ghoti and Chips? – I Am So Gruntled! – Word Pairs – X Marks the Spot – Proposals for English Language Reform – Making Simple Things Complicated – How to Say Nothing at All, yet Sound Competent – What Academic Writing Really Means …

The Great Generational Detector Communication Questionnaire

Games

For Further Fun

Editorische Notiz