6 Confusing Words: fun & funny, famous & popular, surprise & shock

Commonly confused words! You will maybe mix up words. These words are very

close in meaning, but they're actually different. My name's Ronnie. I'm

going to help you figure out some... six words that are confusing in English,

and you think maybe they're even the same word. They are not the same

word. They are different. They have different meanings. Don't ever get

them wrong again.

Okay, so: commonly confused words. The first one is "fun", and you confuse

this with "funny". I say, what's the difference between "fun" and "funny"?

And you say, "Oh, I know... 'fun' is an adjective." It's the police again.

They've come to get me. We're having too much fun.

And I say, "Well, if 'fun' is an adjective what kind of word is 'funny' then, hmm?"

And you go, "Oh, it's an adjective, too." So what's the difference? The

difference is "fun" means you are -- woohoo -- having a great, great time doing

something. You are having fun. It's great.

Maybe you are drinking. Maybe you are watching English videos. Maybe you

are studying. I really wouldn't think that studying would be fun, but

learning on the internet is fun. Then we have "funny."

"Funny" means it makes you laugh. If something is funny, you will laugh. A

lot of people say "I went to Disneyland and it was funny."

Why, what happened? "We went on a roller coaster." Uhhh, okay, but a roller coaster's not

"funny". If I went to an amusement park, I wouldn't look at a roller

coaster and go... "Hahaha... look at it, it's a roller coaster. It's funny." No, you

would go on the roller coaster and go "Woo hoo!" -- it is fun.

So: difference, "fun" means, basically, a good time -- "I'm having a good

time." -- versus "funny" -- it makes you laugh. This word looks like "la ha uhghhjg"

but the pronunciation is actually "laugh". "Fun" means it's a good time,

like at a party. "Funny" means it makes you laugh. You can have both

together. You can go to a party. The party can be super-fun, and someone at

the party could be funny, maybe there's a clown, clowns can be funny.

The next one is "surprise" versus "shock." I hear a lot of people say, for

example, "I went home last night, and I saw my mom and my dad naked. I was

surprised." Were you having a party? Are you getting out a camera? "Hi

Mom, hi Dad, what's up?" No, no, no, no, you were not "surprised". You

were scarred for life. You were in "shock" or, in the past tense, you were

"shocked".

You weren't happy about something. You were "shocked". So, "surprise" we

always use for a positive event. For example, if you bought a lottery

ticket and you won, "Surprise! You have a million dollars!" Cool! Compared

to "shocking" news.

Let's say that you just got a phone call that your friend is in the

hospital, because they got hit by a donkey. "Surprise! Your friend got hit

by a donkey". No... "I'm shocked! My friend got hit by a donkey."

"Surprise" is always positive.

"Shocked" is always a bad thing, or a negative situation. On to the last

one. "Famous" versus "popular". These are very similar in meaning, but

again, different. "Famous" means many people know you or know someone. So

if you look at an example, you can take any president of the United States

of America.

I would wager a bet, any president, or prime minister in the world most

people would know their name. So if I took the President of Canada... we

don't have a President of Canada. If I took the Prime Minister of Canada...

Nah, I don't want to take him.

If we took the President of America, if we took George W. Bush, the past

president of America, most people have heard of the word "bush" before, mmm-hmm...

George W. Bush. But, many people know this name; many people know the name

"Bush". Popular: do you like George Bush, George W. Bush? I'm sorry.

George W. Bush was very, very famous, but he was not popular. "Popular"

means many people actually like someone.

So people who are popular... they don't have to have a lot of people that

know who they are, but they have to have a couple people who actually like

them. Another example of someone who is "famous", but not "popular" -- again,

it's all about the government isn't it -- would be the famous, but much

hated, Hitler. Everyone knows who Hitler is. I hope people don't like

Hitler. Come on, really? This guy's terrible! So Hitler is famous but not popular.

Maybe when you were in high school, there was the "popular" boy... who talked

like this, and was so popular, okay? Or there was the "popular" girl. People

liked the popular boy or the popular girl.

But if you went to a different school and you said, "Hey, do you know Benny,

the guy that talks like this?" They'd go, "No, I don't know Benny." Benny

is well-liked or popular at your school, but many people don't know who he is.

Famous -- popular. Surprise -- shock. Fun -- funny.

That's all for now! www.engvid.com -- do a quiz. Bye.

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