30,000 pigs floating down a river - native speakers make mistakes too

[Munch]

I thought teachers and learners of English might find this interesting. It certainly shows how important it is to speak clearly sometimes.

First some background:

• A "sow" is an adult female pig.
• There have been floods in Queensland, Australia recently.

An Australian newspaper reported that 30,000 pigs were washed down a river in the floods. That's a lot of pigs! It turns out the farmer actually told the reporter "30 sows and pigs" were washed away, not "30,000 pigs". Mix up "th" and "s" and you will be off by 29,970 pigs.

Story here and on the ABC television show Media Watch.

A different reporter mixed up -ty and -teen and reported that flood waters might rise 90 metres instead of 19 meters.

Learners, don't feel so bad if you mishear things occasionally.

[probus]

For the exact same phonetic error but much more entertainment see this:

YouTube - improve your english

[Raymott]

For the exact same phonetic error but much more entertainment see this:

YouTube - improve your english

Nah. Truth is always funnier than made up. Still good though.