I was preparing to do laundry and noticed there was a sock missing. Ramesha explained that one was “broken” and my brain went blank for a moment. I realized I was trying to figure out how a sock could be broken, only to come to the conclusion that it can’t; but then I wasn’t able to quickly tell him the correct way of saying it!
This made me reflect on how we take for granted so much about our native tongue and how much I appreciate having a husband who grew up speaking a language other than English. I absolutely love these moments when — completely fluent as he is — something he says will make me stop and really notice my language.
Of course I had to Google it and this is what I discovered:
1. Socks can be torn or ripped, but they can’t be broken. Why?
2. Because something flexible, like paper or the cloth of a sock, can’t be “broken”.
3. Even “tearing” or “ripping” a sock is unusual, because of the knitted material they are made of; tearing and ripping are more likely to happen to woven cloth.
And while it’s not correct to say “broken sock”, you can have a “broken leg sock”; in other words, a sock that’s a cast cover and goes over your foot cast.
Who knew?!?