Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for July 22, 2013
Transcript:
Phoebe: If laughing is called "laughter," why is coughing not called "coughter?" Marigold: I do not know. Phoebe: I've been asking everybody I see. So far, the unanimous answer is "to make little girls ask questions." Marigold: So just your parents then. Phoebe: Summer vacation is a hard time to learn anything useful.
It should be noted that most of the “weird exceptions” quoted above, like “children” and “mice” are 100% native English. The main effect of all the non-English imported into English has been to make things /more/ regular, starting all the way back in the 800s and 900s when Vikings turned up, speaking Old Norse.