The Rule of the Road Lyrics
Go left and you are right. Go right and you are wrong. This four-line puzzle plays with two meanings of the word right, and it only works in countries that drive on the left.
The Rule of the Road
The rule of the road is a paradox quite,
And custom has prov'd it so long:
He that goes to the left is sure to go right,
And he that goes right must go wrong.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/the-rule-of-the-road/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 6 to 11 years
What Does The Rule of the Road Mean?
A paradox is something that sounds impossible but turns out to be true. In Britain, people ride and drive on the left side of the road, so keeping left is the correct, or right, thing to do, and going to the right side is wrong. The rhyme uses right in both senses: the direction and "correct".
History and Origin
The rhyme appears in Gammer Gurton's Garland, a collection first published in 1784, where it is offered as a lesson to learn before climbing on a cock-horse, a child's toy horse. Britain, Ireland, Japan, Australia and a number of other countries still drive on the left, while most of the world drives on the right.
Learning Activities
- Left and right: practice left and right with hand signals, then say the rhyme.
- Road safety: talk about which way to look first when crossing the road where you live.
- Map it: find countries that drive on the left.