h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just found this on the www , written by a 10 year old child:-

Was sitzt im baum macht aha? - ein Kukut mit sprachfehler!

which roughly translates to:-

What sits in a tree and goes "AHA"? - A cuckoo with a speech impediment.

Sounds delightful in German but harsh and cruel in English, I think.

The German form is a poem, the English not.

Well, yes! Really! How do we make sense of those phrasal verbs? Once I heard from a Russian-speaking lady (who tried to teach her child English) - "put off your clothes!" I smiled - "why don't you say "take off?" "Because "put off" is opposite to "put on", isn't it?"
No! But in Russian we also use DIFFERENT verbs for this actions! And just changing prefixes we are changing the sense of those verbs dramatically! (We also have something like phrasal verbs, but instead of prepositions we use prefixes...) And when children experimenting with language learning to speak, they invent quite often their own very funny "phrasal verbs"... I don't think you ever heard about a famous Russian children's writer - Korney Chukowski. (He is famous of course in Russian-speaking environment). He wrote many wonderful nonsense poems for children, but perhaps one of his most known books is written actually for older folks... It is called "From 2 to 5". He collected in this book lots of children's funny sayings and talks... (the title itself sounds in Russian a bit ambiguous - it may refer to a criminal sentence - term of imprisonment...) Many stories in this book contain those funny "phrasal verbs"...

Well, maybe I'll write more today - if I find some time...
I wonder if it would be possible to invent some new funny irregular verbs?

You must write your piece, Alex, and bring it to the "Nonsense Rhyme" page, which has gone quiet for a time. I post in other similar areas, areas that have been established for a while and have a regular group of clever contributors. You might try these yourself, if you are interested in observing how people love to express themselves, using the English Language in an unusual way. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F69196?thread=6410113&show=20&skip=220#pi221 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F2606954?thread=5718865&skip=2740&show=20 I leave you these two links that you may find useful. By all means introduce some new irregular verbs for us to savour. fxx

A local athlete of some renown
Is training to run for the cup.
After his races he always warms down -
It's better than cooling up.