# Critical rhyming words in English poetry and lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023 "2009-06-26T01:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/1 "2009-06-26T01:49:13Z")
English is sort of a notoriously rhyme-poor language, and I was thinking the other day about how lucky it is for poets and lyricists that the word ‘you’ happens to rhyme with so many other words. For instance: true, do, new, too, woo, rue, etc. Imagine if ‘you’ had been ‘snorlax’ or ‘fiddleesnuffumiphs’ and what a pain that’d be to rhyme anything with. So what other words are there that are pretty critically important rhymes in English poetry and lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/2 "2009-06-26T01:57:14Z")
“Fire” and “Desire”. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/3 "2009-06-26T02:00:41Z")
Moon, June, Spoon, Loon, Spitoon, Poltroon, Soon, Papoon ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/4 "2009-06-26T02:06:11Z")
Anything at all that rhymes with “love.” ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/5 "2009-06-26T02:19:15Z")
“Baby” and “Maybe”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/6 "2009-06-26T02:24:26Z")
Silver wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/7 "2009-06-26T03:07:08Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Silver > wait, what? I always think of silver in combination with “hi yo” and “orange.” ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/8 "2009-06-26T03:40:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Silver > wait, what? To find a rhyme for silver or any rhymeless rhyme Merely takes will, ver- bosity and time. Stephen Sondheim. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/9 "2009-06-26T03:59:18Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > English is sort of a notoriously rhyme-poor language Interesting. I’ve never really thought of English as particularly rhyme-poor. I mean, sure, it’s harder to rhyme than in sonorous Romantic languages, but I don’t feel there’s a particular dearth of rhymes in English. And you don’t want those obvious rhymes, anyway. Love/dove/glove? Please. The joy of a good rhyme often consists of surprise and straying away from cliche. English is a good balance of a large, rich vocabulary with enough sonority to make rhymes not too difficult to find, but not so commonplace as to make them trivial. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/10 "2009-06-26T04:15:43Z")
Do not forget that ‘limpet’ rhymes with ‘strumpet’ in these troubled times. (I didn’t do it. 'Twere Dylan Thomas. It’s all his fault.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/11 "2009-06-26T05:39:29Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > “Fire” and “Desire”. Fire (and its kin) is an important word in received forms less because it can rhyme with desire and more because it can have one or two syllables, depending on what you need. That’s a great word! ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/12 "2009-06-26T11:44:28Z")
The 80’s just wouldn’t have been the same if “on your knees” didn’t rhyme with “begging me please” and its variants. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/13 "2009-06-26T13:59:34Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Moon, June, Spoon, Loon, Spitoon, Poltroon, Soon, Papoon Dream, scheme, beam and gleam. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/14 "2009-06-26T15:17:17Z")
The tune don’t have to be clever, And it don’t matter if you put a couple of extra syllables into a line, It sounds more ethnic if it ain’t good English, And it don’t even gotta rhyme. Excuse me, _rhyne_. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/15 "2009-06-26T15:19:41Z")
‘Orange’ rhymes with ‘door hinge’. Sort of. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/16 "2009-06-26T15:27:00Z")
There once was a man from the sticks who loved writing limericks But he gave up the sport 'Cus he wrote them too short ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/17 "2009-06-26T21:02:02Z")
Remember the episode of _the Flintstones_ where Barney and Fred decide to become songwriters. Fred) OK Barney I’ll start \ Fred) My mother’s hair was orange and now it’s turned to silver. OK Barney your turn. You think of a lot of words to rhyme with orange and silver 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critical-rhyming-words-in-english-poetry-and-lyrics/501023/18 "2009-06-26T21:44:34Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > There once was a man from the sticks > who loved writing limericks > But he gave up the sport > 'Cus he wrote them too short There once was a man from Peru Whose limericks stopped at line two. There once was a man from Verdun.