Husband and I were leaving the grocery store in a snow storm last week when we decided to carry the bags instead of push the cart through the slush. It was then I asked “why is the u in those words pronounced so differently? Why are push, cushion, and bush pronounced that way, and why are slush, brush, and rush pronounced the way they are?”
Husband seems to think that push and cushion are of French origin , and that accounts for the pronunciations. I am not sure. Languages are so interconnected. I know that “Good butter and good cheese is good English and good Fries (West Frisian, as spoken in the northern Netherlands)”. English is just so illogical. I wonder if all languages are mongrel like English, or is English unique?
What words flummox you? What are your favorite and least favorite words.
