Sunday, 7 February 2016

Lost For Words

I read an amazing story on the BBC Website this week. An American Tourist went to Iceland for a holiday, picked up his hire car, programmed the SatNav and drove to his hotel. Except the poor chap has mistyped the address. His hotel was on a major road int he capital of Reykjavik - Laugavegur. Except he typed Laugarvegur . the poor man inadvertently added an extra R. This resulted in a six hour detour and he ended up in the pretty fishing village of Siglufjordur, where there is a road called Laugarvegur. 















It looks a very beautiful place, and he was welcomed and treated royally by the locals. He is now a media sensation in Iceland. It seems that many Reykjavik guidebooks mis-spell this word, so it may not have been his fault [though I wonder why he didn't stop when his one hour drive from airport to city turned out to be so much further]
But it made me think how adding or removing a letter R from a word can completely change its meaning
petty/pretty    small minded, or beautiful
card/cad         an amusing chap, or an unreliable chap
stray/stay       wander, or remain
aid/raid          help. or steal
cook/crook      chef, or criminal
toy/tory         plaything, or politician
lard/lad          fat, or fellow
tire/tie           to wear out, to bind together
work/wok        labour, or chinese cooking pan 
heath/hearth  bleak outdoor landscape, warm fireside
drying/dying   removing of moisture, or ending of life

My final two pairs were inspired by Paul's words in Roman 6
"The payment for sin is death - but God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus"
fee/free and paying/praying

Can you find any more good pairs?

7 comments:

  1. Very, very clever!! I like your pairs! I love the Iceland story too!

    Drip and dip

    drill and dill

    Grin and gin!

    ReplyDelete
  2. frame/fame, crane/cane, marsh/mash, crone/cone, brag/bag.
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. marsh/mash is a good one because they do not rhyme

      Delete
  3. Sow/Stow, crash/cash, dead/dad, mummy/tummy...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wing and wring, trail and tail, frail and fail!

    ReplyDelete

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