INTERNATIONAL: Human Frailty

Wherever instruments beat rhythms and humans whirl or sway in the dance, brisk tunes appear, engender lively songs, finally graft upon the tongue of man strange but glib phrases. Recent additions:

Spain. "Oh, please don't set the piano on fire!" is heard now in every dance or recreation hall where Spaniards gather to drink hot milk and coffee, to sip gravely a green or golden chartreuse, to listen while supple dancers click their castanets, or to glide through sinuous tangos.

"Oh please don't set the piano on fire!"* has entered Spanish with a colloquial...

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