An "Un-Bearable" Situation...

This is a polite rant, and a bit tongue in cheek as we all make mistakes, myself most humbly, included.

However, there is a grammatical situation I find most "un-bearable" and I am now going to rail against it, by the gods, for it is driving me to a wee bit of distraction!!

We have a homophone problem. There. I've said it. Call me what you will, but I can't bear it any longer!

You see, the words "bare" and "bear" are homophones, and as much as they sound alike, and as much as I respect both words and their meanings, they simply are not interchangeable. "Bear" itself is also a homonym, which causes its own kind of confusion!

When someone says "Please bare with me," I think to myself, "How dare you ask me to remove my clothing, sir or madam! I hardly know you!!" When someone says they "can't bare it any longer," I think, "Well then, that's because you must be naked all the time, asking people to bare with you like that!"

Now, you can bare your skin, give the bare facts, give the bare-bones of a story so we have the outline of it, or bare your soul to a loved one. You can barely get to the bus on time, or barely have time to spare. If you are a hunter, you might be able to bare a bear to have a rug.

That brings me to the other homophone in this pair: bear.
You can see a bear in the wild or in a zoo and you can give that bear a pear (if you have a pair, so I'm told). You can have a Bear Market, where everyone takes their money and hibernates, refusing to invest.

You can bear down hard and grit your way through a task. You can bear a cross. You can bear children in the womb and bear down to birth them. You can have facts that bear directly upon an issue, and you can grin and bear it when times are tough. You can bear the burdens of your life, or you can find them simply unbearable. You can bear a laden tray of holiday goodies and you can bear with your strange Uncle Jerry who bears the family name, which you wish he would bear with more dignity. Sometimes its so hard to get your bearings in this crazy world!

However, if you bare the burdens of your life, then they are out of the closet for good...

I hope I am not alone, and that this rant bears witness to the suffering I've endured regarding this total bear of a problem!

There. I've said all I can bear to say. But truly, I must speak out on behalf of the entire homophone/homonym/homograph and heteronym community. It is time that people besides English teachers take a stand. Flame on, oh homophonic misusers and deniers! I defend the definition rights of ALL Homophones everywhere!! I say, do you have no shame? I say, END HOMOPHONIC-PHOBIA TODAY!!!

Thank you.

peace,
AB

Write on.

a reply to: AboveBoard

You can't say, "homo" anymore.

It's "Alternative-phone"

I am feeling you're pane.

I have been their, wear I can't bare it know longer.

a reply to: AboveBoard

You know whenever I come across words like that in which I'm not sure what to use...I just change the sentence haha.

Did you come up with that all by yourself

a reply to: AboveBoard

You forgot one!

I can't bair it either.

No, really I get it and it bugs me too.

a reply to: beezzer

homogenize, homophobic, what do you change these too?

a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

Oh no! Well, there are so many homophones, it's hard to keep track of them all!!

originally posted by: soulpowertothendegree
a reply to: beezzer

homogenize, homophobic, what do you change these too?

I can't beigher these word issues.

Alternative-genize, Alternative-phobic.

But if "genize" offends people, then we'll have to change that to something "udderly" incomprehensible.

I'd like to add "there" and "their", as well as, "your" and "you're" to the list. Drives me insane when these words are used incorrectly.

originally posted by: AboveBoard
a reply to: soulpowertothendegree

Oh no! Well, there are so many homophones, it's hard to keep track of them all!!

If a gay couple went to Verizon, would they get "homophones"?

a reply to: PrinceJohnson

Yep. Too much time on my hands this morning. Lol!

Have fun !!!!!!!!
Once upon a time, their was a boy named Fred. His hole name was Frederick, but he only liked people to call him Fred. One day, he was very board because it was the winter, and all of his friends were on vacation. He decided too go on a quest. The only problem was Fred didn’t no what to look for on his quest, so he didn’t know where to find it. Then he remembered a story about a terrible creature with huge clause and read eyes. His brother, Allan, had told him the tail when he was much younger. The creature was supposed to hide in the thicket of trees at the end of the street, but you could here him howl allowed in bad weather.
Fred new the story was true because he could hear the creature’s noises during the thunderstorm that past threw the town last week. He decided that he wood find the monster and shoot it with his BB gun to save the neighborhood from the monster’s screeching. However, when Fred finally maid it to the thicket, the woulds were totally bear accept for one chattering squirrel that tried to steel his mittens write off his hands.
“Could this be the monster from my brother’s tail? ” thought Fred. Then it suddenly began to reign, and Fred ran home when he herd the thunder. He didn’t here the creature until he got inside his house, and that made him realize that the noise wasn’t from a monster. Other things could make that noise, to. It was just the wind blowing threw the attic.

originally posted by: beezzer

originally posted by: AboveBoard

If a gay couple went to Verizon, would they get "homophones"?

No, it just means they will get the same phone.

Eye here you Oh Pee.

originally posted by: Greathouse
Have fun !!!!!!!!
Once upon a time, their was a boy named Fred. His hole name was Frederick, but he only liked people to call him Fred. One day, he was very board because it was the winter, and all of his friends were on vacation. He decided too go on a quest. The only problem was Fred didn’t no what to look for on his quest, so he didn’t know where to find it. Then he remembered a story about a terrible creature with huge clause and read eyes. His brother, Allan, had told him the tail when he was much younger. The creature was supposed to hide in the thicket of trees at the end of the street, but you could here him howl allowed in bad weather.
Fred new the story was true because he could hear the creature’s noises during the thunderstorm that past threw the town last week. He decided that he wood find the monster and shoot it with his BB gun to save the neighborhood from the monster’s screeching. However, when Fred finally maid it to the thicket, the woulds were totally bear accept for one chattering squirrel that tried to steel his mittens write off his hands.
“Could this be the monster from my brother’s tail? ” thought Fred. Then it suddenly began to reign, and Fred ran home when he herd the thunder. He didn’t here the creature until he got inside his house, and that made him realize that the noise wasn’t from a monster. Other things could make that noise, to. It was just the wind blowing threw the attic.

This was just mean....and hilarious!! Thanks for the laugh!

originally posted by: KnightFire

originally posted by: beezzer

originally posted by: AboveBoard

If a gay couple went to Verizon, would they get "homophones"?

No, it just means they will get the same phone.

I have the same plan as my wife, guess we have homophones as well.

originally posted by: beezzer

originally posted by: KnightFire

originally posted by: beezzer

originally posted by: AboveBoard

If a gay couple went to Verizon, would they get "homophones"?

No, it just means they will get the same phone.

I have the same plan as my wife, guess we have homophones as well.

That would be "Homo-Plan" unless you have the same phones too. Then, you would have the "Homo-Package" instead of the "Whole package, or in the case of this thread, the "Hole-Package"