アメリカの学校では、ハロウィーンなどいろんな行事やパーティがありますが、バレンタインデーは子どもたちが楽しみにしている日のひとつです。
この日は、スクールバスのドライバーさんも子どもたち一人ひとりにキャンディを配ったりして、子どもたちは先生方やお友だち全員にカードと小さなチョコレートやキャンディをプレゼントします。
バレンタインデーのカードによくあるメッセージですが、読めますか?
I ❤ U.
U R Gr8.
Crazy 4 U.
ヒントはHomophoneです。
Homophoneとは同音異義語 で、日本語の橋と箸のように、読み方は同じでも書き方や意味の違う言葉を言います。
Homophoneのhomoの語源はギリシャ語でsame (同じ)、 phoneはvoice(声)やsound(音)を表します。つなげると、同じ音、つまり同音の言葉ということです。
皆さん、すでにおわかりだと思いますが、前出の言葉は上から
I love you. (アルファベットのUと you が同じ発音)
You are great. (数字の8は、eight エイトなので、Grにエイトを足してGreat
Crazy for you. (数字の4と for が同じ発音)
となります。これ以外に、areのかわりにRを使うこともよくあります。短い、限られた字数でメッセージを書く時に、これらの4,U, Rなどが使われます。よく見かけるのは、車のナンバープレートです。’
これらは、全てHomophone(同音異義語)のトリックを使っているのです。
よく使うHomophoneの例
- ate, eight
ate( eatの過去形) | I ate an entire cake by myself and now I am full and sleepy. |
eight | I usually wake up at eight o’clock every morning. |
ここで、子どもたちの大好きななぞなぞです。
Q: Why was 6 afraid of 7? (なぜ6は7を怖がっているんでしょうか?)
A: Because 7 ate 9. (だって7が9を食べちゃったからです。)
わかりますか?答えの Because 7 ate 9. はBecause 7 8 9. と同じ発音になるところに、この面白さがあります。
2. bare, bear
bare | Nancy likes to walk around the beach in bare feet. |
bear | Polar bears are threatened by climate change. |
bare feetとは裸足のこと。bare handsは、素手をさします。
It is said that my grandfather killed a bear with bare hands.
僕のおじいちゃんは、素手で熊をたおしたと言われているよ。

3. buy, by, bye
buy | I need to buy a new computer. |
by | My favorite book is ” The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. |
bye | Adam waved his hand and said, ” Bye, I will call you.” |
4. flour, flower
flour | My mom wanted to make a cake, but didn’t have enough flour. |
flower | Don’t forget to buy some flowers for your wife. |
5. here, hear
here | Please come back here by 5 o’clock. |
hear | I am so happy to hear that you passed the exam. |
6. hour, our
hour | It takes about 14 hours to fly from Tokyo to New York City. |
our | Our English teacher is from New Zealand. |
7. know, no
know | I don’t know what I want to wear. |
no | It is no use crying over spilled milk. |
8. knight, night
knight | My son’s favorite story is about King Arthur and his knights. |
night | I prefer to study at night. It is quieter and I can concentrate better. |

9. meat, meet
meat | Ana is a vegan. She doesn’t eat any meat. |
meet | I am excited to meet some new people when I moved to London. |
10. pair, pear
pair | My sister has 10 pairs of shoes. |
pear | These pears are not sweet. Let’s use them to make a pie. |
11. right, write
right | I should turn right at the corner, right? |
write | You need to write a Thank you letter to your Grandma. |
12. sight, site
sight | Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing when she was 10 months old. |
site | This is a very good site to learn English. |
13. son, sun
son | My Grandparents have three sons and four daughters. |
sun | The sun is too bright. I need to wear sunglasses. |
14. tail, tale
tail | My cat chases his own tail. It is so funny. |
tale | Cinderella is a famous fairy tale. |
15. their, there, they’re
their | Jack and Jill bought their first home. Their house is really cute. |
there | Look at the blue birds over there. |
they’re | I bought some roses. They’re all red. |
16. through, threw
through | We drove through a long tunnel. |
threw (throwの過去形 ) | He threw a stick and a dog caught it with his mouth. |
車に乗ったまま行けるドライブスルーは、英語でもdrive throughです。
17. to, too, two
to | Can you take me to school? I have to be there by 9 o’clock. |
too | This T-shirt is too big for me. Can I try that jacket, too? |
two | There are two seats available for the next show. |
18. wait, weight
wait | The bus came late. I had to wait in the cold for 30 minutes. |
weight | I want to lose weight before summer. |
19. wear, where
wear | You need to wear your best suit and tie for the wedding. |
where | Where is my phone.? I don’t remember where I left. |
20. weather, whether
weather | I saw the news to find out the weather for next week. |
whether | I am not sure whether or not to accept the new job. |
子どもは、Homophoneを使ったジョークやダジャレが大好きです。
では、最後にまたなぞなぞです。
1.What kind of fruit is never alone? 一人ぼっちにならないくだものは何?
Hint: never aloneということは、ひとりでなく二人でいること。
Answer: Pear ( pear 梨と pair 二人組をかけています)
2. Where do medieval soldiers study? 中世の兵士が勉強するところは?
Hint: medieval soldiers は、中世の騎士。
Answer: Knight School (Night school 夜間学校)
3.What do rabbits use to comb their fur? うさぎは何を使って毛をとかすの?
Hint: rabbitの別名はhare。hareの発音は髪の毛のhairと同じ発音。
Answer: a hair brush ヘアーブラシ(hare と hair をかけています)
Homophoneがわかると、ジョークもわかるようになって楽しいですよ。
最後まで読んでくださって、ありがとうございました。少しでもお役に立てたら嬉しいです。
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