Our Strange Lingo

by Joe Thorn on April 5, 2006

It’s been a while, so I thought I would put up another poem. This one isn’t deep or profound. But it’s fun.

Our Strange Lingo

When the English tongue we speak.
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew but likewise few?
And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from word.
Cow is cow but low is low
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose, dose,and lose

And think of goose and yet with choose
Think of comb, tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll or home and some.
Since pay is rhymed with say
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood, food and good.
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don’t agree.

by Lord Cromer
Published in the Spectator of August 9th, 1902

I found this and similar poems at spellingsociety.org

About Joe Thorn

I am the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Fellowship in Saint Charles, IL, and author of Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself. Jen is my wife, and Katherine, Elias, Madeline and Kilian are my kids.

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  • Jennifer

    This is a neat poem. I used it in the 3rd grade class I subbed in today. The kids really liked it.

  • http://www.ryandebarr.com/blog Ryan DeBarr

    Actually, this is very deep, for it shows us the violence of the letter. The written word should express the sounded word. The LOGOS should express the PHUSIS. But alas, once thoughts are committed to paper, artistry destroys the PHUSIS.

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