English Is Cuh-Ray-Zee
Composer(s): Richard Lederer
Performer(s): Pete Seeger



English is the most widely spoken language in the history of the planet
One out of every seven human beings can speak or read it
Half the world's books, three-quarters of the international mail are in English
It has the largest vocabulary, perhaps two million words
And a noble body of literature
But face it
English is cuh-ray-zee!
Just a few examples:
There's no egg in eggplant, no pine or apple in pineapple
Quicksand works slowly; boxing rings are square
A writer writes, but do fingers fing?
Hammers don't ham, grocers don't groce
Haberdashers don't haberdash
English is cuh-ray-zee!
If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth?
It's one goose, two geese. Why not one moose, two meese?
The plural of index is indices; should it be one Kleenex, two Kleenices?
English is cuh-ray-zee!
You can comb through the annals of history, but not just one annal
You can make amends, but not just one amend
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one, is it an odd or an end?
If the teacher taught, why isn't it true that a preacher praught?
If you wrote a letter, did you also bote your tongue?
And if a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
English is cuh-ray-zee!
Why is it that night falls but never breaks and day breaks but never falls?
In what other language do people drive on the parkway and park on the driveway?
Ship by truck but send cargo by ship? Recite at a play but play at a recital?
Have noses that run and feet that smell?
English is cuh-ray-zee!
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same
When a wise man and a wise guy are very different?
To overlook something and to oversee something are very different
But quite a lot and quite a few are the same
How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English is cuh-ray-zee!
You have to marvel at the lunacy of a language in which your house can burn down
While it is burning up
You fill out a form by filling it in
In which your alarm clock goes off by going on
If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?
Well, English was invented by people, not computers
And reflects the creativity of the human race
So that's why when the stars are out, they're visible
But when the lights are out, they're invisible
When I wind up my watch I start it, but when I wind up this rap, I end it
English is cuh-ray-zee!