Amusement

This is the page on which you can pause and perhaps have a chuckle. It is also the place where you can submit examples which you have spotted, where English has been used in an odd sort of way.

All this language stuff can be pretty heavy going, it is true. But does it have to be uphill all the way? No, not at all! We all have a playful side to us and especially like to take a moment off to relax when stuck in front of the computer. Well, this is the place where you can have some quiet fun and the great thing about it is that it will help you improve your understanding and use of English at the same time. Now, who can refuse an offer like that?

We have hunted around and found some really entertaining (and some challenging) games for you to play. We shall start with one of the ingenious games offered by Oxford University on their "AskOxford" website. You can, of course, go direct to that site and take a look around for yourself or you can let us pick some games for you. We shall increase and change the list from time to time so that you always have something different to do.
Homophones

An old joke tells of someone asking the assistant at a paper shop: 'Do you keep stationery?' and she replies: 'No, I wriggle about a bit.' She clearly thought he meant the word that is spelt 'stationary'. There are many pairs of words like this, which sound the same but are spelt differently. They are called homophones.

The Oxford Word Challenge

Identify the pairs of homophones from the following clues.
Example: One word means a place for keeping aircraft; the other word means a shaped piece of wood, metal, etc. on which you can hang clothes. Answer: Hangar/hanger.

1.  One word means simple; the other means an aircraft.
2.  One word means expected; the other word means condensed vapour.
3.  One word is nautical; the other is central to the body.
4.  One word means connections; the other is an animal.
5.  One word means an occasion; the other is a herb.
6.  One word means to hit; the other is a vegetable.
7.  One word means permitted; the other means audible.
8.  One word is a singer; the other is a sum of money.
9.  One word is an animal; the other is an undercover fighter.
10. One word means kind; the other means searched for.
11. One means excluded; the other is a poet.
12. One word is a day; the other is a sweet.
13. One word means pursued; the other means pure.
14. One word means a woolly South American animal; the other means a Buddhist monk in Tibet or Mongolia.
15. These are the names of two particular people; one is a macho man; the other is a poet.

A great alternative source of learning and fun with the English language is The British Council. For details please follow this link.

Please help us enlarge this area of our website and send us your images, audio and video files, examples of poorly constructed English, as well as fun items on the "lighter side" of our subject. You can emaiil us on: corvus@tinyworld.co.uk