Meanings

In palaces a courtier makes his bow
The archer draws his bow
But both these words are spelled the same
How do we their meaning know?

An oarsman goes out to row his boat
Two lovers have a row
You can also have a row of shops
I’m getting dizzy now

English is so very strange
It causes me to frown
Now I must cut up the old elm tree
That I have just cut down

Ladies cast off their knitting
Sailors cast off a boat
But cast offs are old clothing
That would never get a vote

Then as you think you’ve mastered it
You might hear a cockney say
“Take a butchers at her barnet”
When a lady goes his way

Then there are foreign languages
If you think English is a curse
Translate a simple phrase to French
The situation gets much worse

Try to tell a Frenchman
By looking in your book
“I would like to buy that chest of drawers
It has a modern look.”

First look up ‘chest,’ poitrine’s the word
And drawers are pantalons
Then ask for the “poitrine de pantalons”
It really is absurd

We’ve covered rough and cough and bough
In that we were very thorough
But I’m more confused, the more I learn
And in just the same old muddle.

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