Toad or Towed?

I’m sure I’ve never seen anyone accidentally mistake these two words, but I saw this sign at the St. Louis Zoo yesterday and it cracked me up!

Toad or Towed? Which Should You Use When?

This just goes to show how many different word choices there are in the English language! 🙂

Just in case you want clarification…a TOAD (noun) is an amphibian. Some interesting facts I learned about toads: females are larger than males. They go through true metamorphosis from tadpole to toad. While they spend the early part of their life in water as tadpoles, they live the remainder of their lives on land.

Toads double in size in the summer and hibernate in groups during the winter to keep warm. Toads hop (frogs jump) and have dry warty skin. But, toads CANNOT give you warts. My kids have spent most of the summer collecting toads in our yard. I never realized the difference between toads and frogs, but if you want to know, just ask. After this summer, I am somewhat of a toad expert. 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cane-toad.jpg

http://route66.backroadsplanet.com/cars-mater.html

TOWED – is the past tense of the verb to TOW. TowMater is brought to you courtesy of one of my kids’ favorite movies.

And that’s your 5 Minute Grammar Lesson! 🙂 More on what we learned in St. Louis about hip dysplasia later. I’m still reeling from the second opinion appointment…