My favorite movie of all time is "My Fair Lady." The one with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
It's the story of a linguist (Henry Higgins) trying to teach a common flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) how to speak proper English.
I've also read Pygmalion (the original play version by George Bernard Shaw) and it is one of my favorite books. The play was later turned into "My Fair Lady" by Werner and made into a musical.
It's the story of a linguist (Henry Higgins) trying to teach a common flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) how to speak proper English.
I've also read Pygmalion (the original play version by George Bernard Shaw) and it is one of my favorite books. The play was later turned into "My Fair Lady" by Werner and made into a musical.
One of my favorite songs (the other being "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?") is the following, "Why Can't the English?" and it is about the corrupt of the English Language.
...enjoy...
HENRY HIGGINS:
A woman who utters such disgusting and depressing noise, she has no right to be anywhere, no right to live. Remember that you're a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech, that your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and the Bible. Don't sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon.
Ohh! Look at her
A prisoner of the gutters
Condemned by every syllable she utters
By right, she should be taken out and hung
For the cold_blooded murder of the English tongue
Ohh! Look at her
A prisoner of the gutters
Condemned by every syllable she utters
By right, she should be taken out and hung
For the cold_blooded murder of the English tongue
ELIZA DOOLITTLE:
Ohh!
HENRY HIGGINS:
"Ohh!" Heavens, what a sound
This is what the British population
Calls an elementary education
"Ohh!" Heavens, what a sound
This is what the British population
Calls an elementary education
COLONEL PICKERING:
Come, sir, I think you picked a poor example.
HENRY HIGGINS:
Did I? Hear them down in Soho Square dropping "H"s everywhere
Speaking English any way they like
Uh, you, sir, did you go to school
Speaking English any way they like
Uh, you, sir, did you go to school
MAN ON THE STREET:
What do you "tike" me for a fool
HENRY HIGGINS:
No one taught him "take" instead of "tike"
Hear a Yorkshireman, or worse hear a Cornishman converse
I'd rather hear a choir singing flat
Chickens cackling in a barn - Just like this one!
No one taught him "take" instead of "tike"
Hear a Yorkshireman, or worse hear a Cornishman converse
I'd rather hear a choir singing flat
Chickens cackling in a barn - Just like this one!
ELIZA DOOLITTLE:
Garn!
HENRY HIGGINS:
"Garn"! I ask you, sir, what sort of word is that?
It's "ohh" and "garn" that keep her in her place
Not her wretched clothes and dirty face
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak
This verbal class distinction by now should be antique
If you spoke as she does, sir instead of the way you do
Why, you might be selling flowers too
"Garn"! I ask you, sir, what sort of word is that?
It's "ohh" and "garn" that keep her in her place
Not her wretched clothes and dirty face
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak
This verbal class distinction by now should be antique
If you spoke as she does, sir instead of the way you do
Why, you might be selling flowers too
COLONEL PICKERING:
I beg your pardon?
HENRY HIGGINS:
An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him
The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him
One common language I'm afraid we'll never get
Oh, why can't the English learn to
Set a good example to people whose English
Is painful to your ears
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears
There even are places where English completely disappears
Well, in America, they haven't used it for years
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak
Norwegians learn Norwegian
The Greeks are taught their Greek
In France, every Frenchman knows his language from "A" to "zed"
The French don't care what they do, actually, as long as they pronounce it properly. Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning
The Hebrews learn it backwards which is absolutely frightening
Use proper English
You're regarded as a freak
Oh, why can't the English
Why can't the English learn
To speak?
Thank you.
An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him
The moment he talks he makes some other Englishman despise him
One common language I'm afraid we'll never get
Oh, why can't the English learn to
Set a good example to people whose English
Is painful to your ears
The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears
There even are places where English completely disappears
Well, in America, they haven't used it for years
Why can't the English teach their children how to speak
Norwegians learn Norwegian
The Greeks are taught their Greek
In France, every Frenchman knows his language from "A" to "zed"
The French don't care what they do, actually, as long as they pronounce it properly. Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning
The Hebrews learn it backwards which is absolutely frightening
Use proper English
You're regarded as a freak
Oh, why can't the English
Why can't the English learn
To speak?
Thank you.
-
For more information on "My Fair Lady," click here.
(Or go to www.imdb.com/title/tt0058385/)
2 comments:
I am interested in what you have to tell about your Maggini.
As am I. I wrote pretty much all that I knew about the violin in the post about it...the rest is yet a mystery - up to the imagination.
Post a Comment