The two homonyms of the headline provide substantial mix-up material for ESL (English-as-a-second-langugae) learners. Pain is the physical or mental feeling of discomfort, while pane refers to the vitrous see-through material in a window that gives flies quite a headache.

Die zwei Homnyme des Titels (gleichausgesprochene Wörter mit unterschiedlicher Schreibung und Bedeutung) stellen für Englisch als zweite Fremdsprache Lernende ein solides Verwechslungsportential dar:

Pain ist die physische oder psychische Abwesenheit von Wohlbefinden, sprich Schmerz, während pane das durchsichtige Material in einem Fenster ist, das Stubenfliegen ziemliches Kopfzerbrechen bereitet.

This was my first blind date, so I took it all really seriously. I was getting all spiffed up and spent more than two hours in the bathroom.  Then, what a dissapointment: the guy I met at the accorded place and time was I complete dork, although the was peacocking, you saw at first glance that he was not exactly boyfriend material. But I thought to myself: what the heck, I might as well chew the fat with him a little. Actually, the evening was quite nice, so I decided to let him get to 1st base, but when he started crawling around in my underwear , I decided to bail out. I am too high maintenance for such a loser, even for a relationship with no strings attached. I think I am just to much of player and I want to play the field a little more.

blind date = romantic meeting of two strangers

to get spiffed up = to embellish oneself for a amorous get-together

a dork = socially challenged person

to peacock = to sport obtrusive garments

boyfriend material = potential partner (male) for a relationship

to chew the fat = to flirt

to get to 1st base = to kiss

to crawl around in one´s underwear = forceful male patting of female body parts

to bail out = to exit

high maintenance = with very high expectations

no strings attached = amorous relations without compromise

a player = involved in numerous sexual relations with varying partners

to play the field = having numerous sexual relations with varying partners

The English speak English, and so do the Americans, but differently. Not only do they use different words and spelling, but the context makes it sometimes hard for the ingenious bystander to follow:

Wie so oft stellt ein unterschiedlicher Buchstabe die ganze Bedeutung eines Wortes auf den Kopf. In diesem Zusammen- hang stellen die beiden englischen Vokalben der Überschrift Deutsche Englisch Lerner for Probleme.

Sham heisst falsch, gefälscht ein Synonym von fake, ein Wort, das mittlerweile auch ein im Deutschen sehr populärer Anglizismus its.

Shame ist das allseits bekannte Gefühl, das unangehme Sitatuationen begleitet, die gegen allgemeingütige Normen sozialer Konventionen verstoßen, besser bekannt als Scham. Kann eigenes Fehlverhalten betreffen, oder auch die Peinlichkeiten unserer Mitmenschen begleiten, was dann als Fremdscham bekannt ist.

Nowadays many peoply may think that with spellcheckers, thorough knowledge in orthography is somewhat superflous, let´s see if you can detect one spelling mistake in each sentence:

1. America is commmitted to sustainable developpment in Barbados.

2. The D.A. adviced me to alter my plea to not guilty.

3. I sincerly regret to inform you that you will have to do it again.

4. What occured is not really known.

5. I can´t bare this noise any longer.

6. My trip to France was an total catastrophy.

7. In principal I agree that drinking beer is harmful.

8. How successfull can you be as an English teacher?

9. His personal affaires are none of your business.

10. The war has lead to dreadful drinking water shortages.

1.) development 2.) advised 3.) sincerely 4.) occurred 5.) bear 6.) catastrophe 7.) principle 8.) successful 9.) affairs 10.) led

One of the mix-ups your spell checker won´t notice:

principle:

1
a : a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption
b (1) : a rule or code of conduct (2) : habitual devotion to right principles
c : the laws or facts of nature underlying the working of an artificial device
2
: a primary source : origin
3
a : an underlying faculty or endowment
b : an ingredient (as a chemical) that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality

source: merriam webster

The English word alien’s claim to fame mostly dates back  to a Sci-fi movie of the eighties, with an lizard like extraterrestrial coming to life in some kind of splatter Cesarean section which still today instills quite shock, even on the battlehardened horror fiend.

For English as a second language learners it is interesting to know that alien in its actual meaning means more something like forein, respectively foreigner.

Sting: I’m an alien I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York

The lips are an important part of the human body, so it is only logical, that they also form part of every day colloquial English.

to pay lip service =  only to agree with words, not with actions

e.g. Don’t just pay lip service, do something about it.

to keep up stiff upper lip = showing persitence in the face of adversity

e.g. Don´t let this get you down, keep a stiff upper lip.

to give sombody a lip = being disrespectful verbally

e.g. Don’t give me no lip, show some frigging respect.

loose lips, sink ships = careless talk can cause damage

e.g. Just shut up, don’t you know that loose lips sink ships.

Autumn winds, with a winter whisper right behind them,  strip trees of their cover, using it as a marvelous landscape’s colorful paint. So it´s no wonder, that leaves also made their way into colloquial Englisch to brighten it up a little:

to turn over a new leaf = start all over again

Let bygones be bygones let´s turn over a new leaf

a fig leaf = to cover up something shameful

The War on Drugs simply provides a fig leaf for covering up drug traffickers‘ dirty practices.

to shake like a leaf = to be very nervous or afraid

Johnny was shaking like a leaf when he had to go to the job interview.

Im Englischen wird im Relativsatz unterschieden, ob die darin enthaltene Information das Subjekt das Hauptsatzes nur nebensächlich beschreibt, oder ob diese zu seiner Defintion unbedingt notwendig ist.  Im ersten Fall, wird der Relativsatz durch Kommas abgetrennt, im zweiten Fall wird darauf verzichtet.

George Bush who was the 43rd President of the United States lived in Texas. (restrictive clause)

Es gibt zwei George Bush, und in diesem Satz dreht es sich um den 43. Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten.

Johnny, who liked fishing, lived in Texas. (non-restrictive clause)

Die Information des Relativsatzes ist nicht unbedingt notwendig, um zu wissen um welchen Johnny es sich handelt.

Als Bauernregel gilt, wenn der Satz Sinn macht, wenn man den Relativsatz wegstreicht, muss man Kommas setzen.