Why English is Weird: Many Meanings of “BEAR” & “BARE”

Video Description

“Bear” is not just an animal! It can also be a verb and even an adjective! In this lesson, I’ll teach you different meanings of “bear,” including how it can mean “carry,” “endure,” “change direction,” and more. You’ll also learn about the homonym “bare.” After watching, go have a bear steak. https://www.engvid.com/why-english-is-weird-bear-bare/ Take private lessons with me: https://englishwithronnie.com/ More of my vocabulary lessons: Learn 7 ways to use "OFF" in English https://youtu.be/vkk1VvPhzcU 12 Confusing English Words https://youtu.be/_W6uKj9MrZ8 In this lesson: 0:00 BEAR? BARE? 5 Meanings 1:17 bear = carry 2:39 bear = support 3:16 bear = endure 3:55 bear = change direction 4:43 bare = no clothes TRANSCRIPT: This is ridiculous, oh yes it is. I have a poem for you. It's one that I learned as a child. I'm a bear, by the way, and let me share this poem with you. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't very fuzzy. Wuzzy. Okay, so let's get back to the basics here. I'm here to teach you about the word "bear", so that's why I'm dressed up like a bear. Everyone knows, well, some people know that a bear is an animal, right? Like "rawr, I'm going to eat you", or some people eat bears, let's not go there. So, we know bear is a noun, it's an animal, "rawr, look at me". But the funny thing is, too, that "bear" is also a verb. What? And an adjective. But the verb part is, you know, where things get funny, and how we have a sense of humour. Do you know what one of those are? A sense of humour? Do you know what one of those "are" is? Is "are", "are"? To have a sense of humour? Well, let me walk you through it, right? It's playing with words so that the meanings become different. First example. So, "bear" as one verb means to carry, so I'm going to carry something, or we can say - oh man, this is very, I think, our friends south of the border, American. You have the right to bear arms. So, in my brain, I think it's an arm, I think it's a person with bear arms, "rawr", but actually no, it doesn't mean that in this sentence. You have the right to carry arms, and again, arms, but arms are these things. Guess what? "Arms" in this sentence means things like firearms, like guns, or ammunition, all the bad things in the world. Guns are bad. Don't let anyone tell you differently. So, you have the right to bear arms. You have the right to carry weapons. Canada, we can't do this. Yes. You can still have arms of a bear if you wanted to, you could paint them up and, you know, it's almost Halloween where I am. So, "bear" means carry. Another example. "I had to bear my backpack." I have to carry my backpack. This doesn't sound as cool, does it? Next one, very common phrase is "support", I don't know, engineering things. "The bridge", you know what a bridge is? Okay. "The bridge can't bear the weight of cars." Okay, but not the animal, right? It means support. So, I could say, "The bear can't support the weight of cars", or "The bridge can't bear the weight of cars". Fun. See? Why is it a bear? Why can't it be, like, a giraffe? That'd be more fun. "The bridge can't giraffe", now it just doesn't sound as good anymore, okay, "endure", oh, this one's great. "I can't bear the pain", so dramatic. Isn't as effective as "I can't giraffe the pain", so, "I can't bear the pain" means I can't endure the pain, right? "I had to bear seven minutes of talking to someone", oh my god. So, "endure" means to have to do something that you don't like, like studying. Oh man, now I had to endure English class. No, don't even think that. Change direction. So, do you have a car or not, or whatever? And sometimes in the voice that speaks to me in my car, also known as my phone, I didn't know it had this option that it talked. It's crazy. Anyways, sometimes on, like, whatever map thing you're using, it'll say "bear left", and you're like, "There's a bear on the left, what's going on?" There's no bear, because you're driving on the highway, and it basically means change direction or just go, go left. But just to make things complicated and make accidents, they're going to say "bear", "bear left", "bear left", "bear right", "bear", no bear, just change direction and go. Okay. Yeah, this is just weird, isn't it? But again, better than giraffe. Next up, "naked", "nude", "without clothes or", in Fuzzy Wuzzy's case, "without fur". Okay? So, if you're nude or naked, it means you're not wearing any clothes. […]