Little Johnny, a curious grade 7 student, was always full of questions for his teacher and loved to explore the peculiarities of the English language.

One day, he approached his English teacher with a puzzle that had been bothering him.

‘Why do we ignore some letters when we pronounce words, like the letter H in Hour or Honour?’ he asked earnestly.

His teacher, with a patient smile, replied, ‘We don’t ignore them, Johnny; they’re just considered silent.’

Despite the explanation, Johnny looked more puzzled than before.

Later that day, during lunch break, the teacher handed Johnny her packed lunch and asked him to heat it up in the cafeteria’s microwave.

Johnny, being the ever-curious soul, took the lunch away. A few moments later, he returned with an empty container, much to his teacher’s surprise.

Confused, the teacher questioned him, ‘Johnny, I told you to heat my food. Why are you bringing back an empty container?’

With a cheeky grin, Johnny replied, ‘Madam, I thought the H was silent!’

This charming little anecdote is dedicated to all the patient and hardworking English teachers out there.