James GleickExplain to a non-English speaker why “output” means one thing and “putout” means something quite different.
truceburner 
@JamesGleick
Somebody did the #NYTSpellingBee puzzle today.
Dennis Moser@JamesGleick I teach English to German and French (adult) students... I have to do this all the time. 😜
RobertJacksonSee also: Put down vs Put up
Mark Crowley@JamesGleick wjy should they be the same? in chinese much more subtle differences in a phrase can lead to completely different meanings?
LiveByReasonIt's because, you see, English is utterly illogical and you can't make any sense out of it. It is what it is, and you just have to accept it and move on.
jz.tuskI couldn't reply earlier as I was driving on the parkway.
Sally Strange@JamesGleick language. it's weird
Raul@JamesGleick Explain to a non-Spanish speaker why "toro" means one thing and "roto" means something quite different. Same for "roca" and "caro", "besa" and "sabe", "cosa" and "saco", etc. etc. etc. ;)
Ángela Stella MatutinaWho are you and why are you trying to turn my beautifully irregular tongue into Mandarin? 🤣
Aztec4Life@JamesGleick
I hope you don't overlook this thing I sent for you to look over.
I hope you don't overlook this thing I sent for you to look over.
UrsineSee also house cat vs. cat house! (From the novel, A Canticle for Liebowitz.)
FoundOnWeb@JamesGleick It's for the same reason that 'house cat' is different from 'cat house'
Mike J👹🐀 🤘🏻@JamesGleick Because word order is significant in English, and then short words used together are often merged?
WeaselOr why "table the motion" has exactly the opposite meaning on opposite sides of The Atlantic.
Simon@JamesGleick is it because output is a word and putout isn't?
Cat@Simian60 @JamesGleick well if you say it so bluntly, he might feel put out about it
@JamesGleick even allowing a misspelling of put-out or put out, they mean different things because they are different words, handily indicated by their letters being in a different order and sounding different.
That's not even snark, I've been learning Japanese for the last few years, and that has become a top 3 favourite feature of the English language:
David Gerstein@JamesGleick In what language should I explain it?