It's weird English time!

[elzoog]

I was wondering, what is the weirdest English sentences or phrases you guys have ever seen in textbooks or handouts?

Some examples I have encountered:

"You can fit in me."

(recently)
Dongho: Ann, where is your sister?
Ann: She is eating lunch with her friends on the grass.
Dongjo: Three girls are eating on the grass.
Ann: She has long curly hair. She is wearing a yellow T-Shirt.

[sambalina]

"The echo faded gradually"
- It was to teach the word 'echo'. Not weird English at all, but complex words just to teach the word 'echo'.
"I banged my head on the desk" - Why was your head down low enough to bang it on the desk?

A: You're joining our club, aren't you?
B: Oh yes, to be sure
or:
B: Oh yes, quite so.
It makes me think of some posh Englishman. Anyone here reply 'yes' by saying "quite so"?

[elzoog]

"The echo faded gradually"
- It was to teach the word 'echo'. Not weird English at all, but complex words just to teach the word 'echo'.
"I banged my head on the desk" - Why was your head down low enough to bang it on the desk?

A: You're joining our club, aren't you?
B: Oh yes, to be sure
or:
B: Oh yes, quite so.
It makes me think of some posh Englishman. Anyone here reply 'yes' by saying "quite so"?

Sounds like you haven't been in Korea very long.   Trust me, you are going to encounter stuff that is way weirder than the stuff you just mentioned.

I was thinking of writing a rock song using some of the weirdest phrases I have encountered in textbooks or handouts.   Was thinking of ending the song with the lead singer, singing alone and loudly, the sentence, "Pick up the apple!"

[#basedcowboyshirt]

"The echo faded gradually"
- It was to teach the word 'echo'. Not weird English at all, but complex words just to teach the word 'echo'.
"I banged my head on the desk" - Why was your head down low enough to bang it on the desk?

A: You're joining our club, aren't you?
B: Oh yes, to be sure
or:
B: Oh yes, quite so.
It makes me think of some posh Englishman. Anyone here reply 'yes' by saying "quite so"?

Sounds like you haven't been in Korea very long.   Trust me, you are going to encounter stuff that is way weirder than the stuff you just mentioned.

I was thinking of writing a rock song using some of the weirdest phrases I have encountered in textbooks or handouts.   Was thinking of ending the song with the lead singer, singing alone and loudly, the sentence, "Pick up the apple!"

Guladan likes this post.

This one is pretty juvenile, but it cracks me up every time. Taken completely out of context: "By the time they reached second base, the three women were laughing together. But the crowd wasn't laughing."

[CAdreamin]

"Let's go with us."

[rach229]

Not weird but hilarious and when my students read it I had the hardest time holding the laughter in.

Let me set this up first... there is a short story called Magical Balls. It is a story about seven princesses and their magical balls. One princess drops her ball in a river and then realizes that experiencing life outside is better than looking at life through the ball. So, she goes back to tell her sisters this and this is what she says:

I can show you a world more wonderful than the one in your balls.

Maybe I'm just dirty minded but I think this is hilarious! Honestly, this story is full of funny things and I have seen a few stories where I think WTH?! Who wrote this and do they realize what they wrote? Is it on purpose or a coincidence?

[tesoljon]

"I banged my head on the desk" - Why was your head down low enough to bang it on the desk?

Why is this strange?

[ramenhairteacher]

From the Dae Gyo books:

Out of context:
Chris: "Eww, it smells terrible."
Jinu: "Yes, but it's delicious."

theyre talking about ginko or chestnuts, something you eat in the fall after roasting.
I wanted to laugh out loud.

another one:
"let's go with us"
which is a typo = let us go with us? does not compute

[fishead]

 What is it?
It's a lizard.
What's it doing?
It's eating cookies.
What color is it?
It's white.

I like to drink soda pop.
You'd better not drink it.
Why soda pop is the best when you're thirsty.
 Drinking soda pop is harmful to our bodies.

What a beautiful doll it is. Thank you for the present
How kind you are.

Are you interested in sports.
What kind of sports do you want to like.

[Chicagohotdog]

Are you interested in sports.
What kind of sports do you want to like.

So I WANT to like?  Well...I want to like football or soccer.  I really do.  They are both so freaking popular and my students reference them all the time, but I just can't.  They are too damn boring.


Sorry, that's what popped in my head and I just had to say it. 


This was in my textbook and it struck me as strange.  There is a picture of a western man sitting at his desk and a Korean student standing in front of him.  The man is looking up at the girl and the book asks, "What is the relationship between the man and the girl?"   I know it's wrong or anything, but there is a clear lack of understanding of context within the English language looking at that phrase.