Babel

Babel

Good morning, greetings, hello mate
Are the words you use to greet
Any of your English friends
If you meet them in the street

Now most of us learned French at school
And so we all can tell
That if we meet a Frenchman
Bon jour does very well

This was alright years ago
Before man learned to fly
But now we go to foreign lands
What greetings do we try?

Wanna kam if in Ceylon
Sorry that’s now Sri Lanka
Don’t say Ceylon if you go there
Because the Tamils will not thank yer

Even when in Britain
Use Boreh da in Wales
Just to show you care about them
Courtesy never fails

Buon giorno for the Italians
Buenos dias if in Spain
Learning all these languages
Can really be a pain

Guden morgen to the Germans
Gude moron to the Swedes
Dzin dobry when you greet a Pole
The list just grows like weeds

To attempt to simplify this list
Try Bonan matinon this week
But I’m afraid that you will find
It’s a tongue few people speak

Should you ever get out to Japan
Say Konichiwa to whom you meet
Sayonara when you leave them
You’ll be understood a treat

Nearer to home is Thailand
Once there use Sawahdee
I’m afraid I don’t know what it means
It’s how a Thai girl greeted me
Then there’s India and Africa
And Russia don’t forget
With the middle-eastern countries
I can’t even read their alphabets

Three thousand languages in this world
Too many all can see
So why can’t they all speak English
And be like you and me?

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