Saturday Rave: Mad Dogs and Englishmen by Noel Coward

In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire to tear their clothes off and perspire.
It's one of the rules the greatest fools obey,
Because the sun is much too sultry
And one must avoid its ultra violet ray.
The natives grieve when the white men leave their huts,
Because they're obviously, definitely, nuts!

So begins Noel Coward's great song. The rest of it can be found HERE and will, I'm sure, prove a source of enchantment and instruction. Just have a look at the extraordinary rhyming scheme, for a start.

Then how about having a listen to Coward himself singing it at a speech to turn many a rapper faint:

The English tend to find obvious displays of patriotism off-putting, but we do enjoy a well-turned insult. So for us - and I hope for you - this is just bliss.

Word To Use Today: violet. This is a lovely word when pronounced with three syllables, and rather nasty when pronounced with two. It comes from the Latin viola, which means violet. The -et bit means small.