Those of us who speak English likely feel that we have a fairly good grasp on the language. That is especially true when it is our first language, and we speak it every day, all day.
What may come as a surprise to you, however, is the many different parts of the language that we speak automatically, and we have no idea we are doing it. In fact, the only way we typically know we are doing those things is if someone points them out to us, and that is what this young man did.
A man by the name of Matthew Anderson posted something on Twitter that got a lot of people talking. It is in regards to “word ordering” and it came from a book he was reading on the English language.
Things native English speakers know, but don't know we know: pic.twitter.com/Ex0Ui9oBSL
— Matthew Anderson (@MattAndersonBBC) September 3, 2016
This is so true. You might describe a cat as an adorable, tiny, white cat but you would’t say tiny, white, adorable cat. You do it automatically.
As the tweet went viral, he revealed the source
@MattAndersonBBC @emma_gras where does this quote come from?!
— Samantha Shain (@beet_the_system) September 3, 2016
@beet_the_system @MattAndersonBBC isn't it beautiful! I want to know too
— Open Sourceress Em* (@emma_gras) September 3, 2016
@emma_gras @beet_the_system It's from The Elements if Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase by Mark Forsyth
— Matthew Anderson (@MattAndersonBBC) September 3, 2016
There were soon other gems from the book that came to light.
My gosh, this is a fun read. Thanks for the intro, @MattAndersonBBC. pic.twitter.com/ZPeRhPphIq
— Merlin Mann (@hotdogsladies) September 4, 2016
@hotdogsladies @MattAndersonBBC Requested it from the library. Looking forward to getting it!
— Joe Dixon (@joedixon_) September 5, 2016
Via: Mashable
Be sure to share this with your friends on Facebook
