Pall Mall can't spall.
See if anyone remembers that.
This lead me to:
OUR QUEER LANGUAGE
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 a verse,
Cannot cap his 'horse' with 'worse'?
'Beard' sounds not the same as 'heard',
'Cord' is different from 'word';
c - o - w is 'cow' but l - o - w is 'low';
'Shoe' is never rhymed with 'foe'.
Think of 'hose' and 'whose' and 'lose',
And think of 'goose' and yet of 'loose',
Think of 'comb' and 'tomb' and 'bomb';
'Doll' and 'roll' and 'home' and 'some';
And since 'pay' is rhymed with 'say',
Why not 'paid' with 'said', I pray ?
We have 'blood' and 'food' and 'good',
Wherefore 'done' and 'gone' and 'lone'?
Is there any reason known?
And, in short, it seems to me,
Sounds and letters disagree.
- Will (Dragonfly)