Another ignorant teacher
Aged about 9, asked to name a creature that lives in a tree - 'A flying fox!'
I'd read about these very large bats in the family encyclopedia the evening before and was full of information about them.

No, the teacher said, foxes don't fly! and when I protested that a flying fox was actually a bat, she said 'You said 'fox', not 'bat'!'

Mrs Bosworth, I spit on your grave.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 16:18, 7 replies)

A flying fox
is also a type of fish.

/nerd
(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Tue 23 Mar 2010, 16:21, closed)

Could've had that for the next week's 'Creatures That Live In Water' quiz too then
ah well
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 16:23, closed)

and the following week's
"Fun adventure park activities"
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 17:05, closed)

this reminds me of mrs o'connor
who informed an 8yr old me that no word could possibly have three consonants in a row.

biTCH.
( the brass moustache putting the ass moust in brache since, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 18:18, closed)

you realise
that phonetically, bitch only has two consonants. /bɪtʃ/

Try fifths (3) or sixths (4). There aren't as many as you think. Most example I can think of are compound words, or at least at morphemic boundaries. Eg watchman.

Complex consonantal structures are a feature of Germanic languages. English had many simplified with the Norman invasion; the romantic tongues tending towards VCV or CVCV structures, and our Norman overlords couldn't pronounce them properly (think of words like knight). One of the reasons English spelling is so fucked up.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Wed 24 Mar 2010, 12:43, closed)

Latchstring
Is my favourite multiple-consonant word. In fact, I've got a stiffy just thinking about it.
(Crayola Oblongata Is it Monday?, Wed 24 Mar 2010, 16:04, closed)

the brain is a funny thing
str is pretty common initial consonantal cluster. /spl/ as well. And I just came across glimpsed and angsts although these both have morphemes attached to lengthen the clusters.
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Thu 25 Mar 2010, 11:16, closed)