Inexplicable quirks of the English language

[kittygilchrist]

I thought it would be fun to post crazy things about the international language.
I often imagine trying to teach a foreigner how English works. Would delight in reading other posts...


Imagine trying to teach some clever underlying linguistic rules about the words:
crotch and crotchety and crochet....
Or explaining the unifying concept behind how "lap" describes an animal drinking water, a runner's goal on a track, and what a person gets when he sits down.

[Pepperhead]

If a train arrives at the station at 1:58 and leaves four minutes later, it was there from two to two to two two.