# Do the words "song" and "long" rhyme? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624 "2014-06-25T17:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/21 "2014-06-25T18:28:22Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > For me, and for most English speakers, all four of those words rhyme, but there are some accents where one or more of them are differentiated. For instance: > I’m also curious to know about **suranyi’s** accent, and **Alessan’s**. My guesses: **suranyi** says “song” and “gong” with a more front, unrounded vowel, closer to “ah”, and “long” and “wrong” with a more back, rounded vowel, closer to “aw”. For **Alessan’s** , I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the three rhyming words are all somewhere between “ah” and “aw”, while “gong” is actually more of an “oh” sound, like “bone”. Did I win anything? > Also, apparently this kind of thing comes up a lot with “[Hop on Pop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=641931)”! You are absolutely right, in the case of how I pronounce the words. I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, by the way. I’m not sure why this needed to be marked as a spoiler though. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/22 "2014-06-25T18:32:08Z")
I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, too, and all those words rhyme, as do prong, dong, kong, strong, bong, belong, prolong, and along. E: And tong and throng. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/23 "2014-06-25T18:37:46Z")
Very interesting. It appears that this is a case of my having a non-standard American accent. Even after living in California for almost 40 years. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/24 "2014-06-25T18:41:07Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, too, and all those words rhyme, as do prong, dong, kong, strong, bong, belong, prolong, and along. > > E: And tong and throng. I also lived in Montreal for some time when I was young. I tried one of those quizzes to place your origin based on your accent and it got me wrong, perhaps because I lived in different places. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/25 "2014-06-25T18:44:58Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I was reading the Dr. Seuss book “Hop on Pop” to my son and on one page it’s apparent that he intends the words “song” and “long” to rhyme. But for me, they don’t. “Song” rhymes with “gong” and “long” rhymes with “wrong”. Is this generally true or is it just my accent? “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/26 "2014-06-25T18:46:48Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. > > But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. All of those words rhyme. > [@](#): > > Words and phrases that rhyme with long: (113 results) > > 1 syllable: > aung, bong, chong, chuang, cong, cuong, dong, fong, gong, hmong, hong, huang, hwang, jiang, jong, juang, kahng, kong, kwang, kwong, kyong, kyoung, maung, mong, ong, pong, prong, quang, rong, song, spong, sprong, stong, strong, thong, throng, tong, truong, twang, vong, wong, wrong, xiong, yong, zhang ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/27 "2014-06-25T18:51:18Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Well, that depends on what the question is. If it’s “Do these words rhyme _as I pronounce them_?” then yes, you need a phonemic system. If it’s “Do these words rhyme _as you pronounce them_?” (which is what I think the OP is really getting at) then everyone can judge for themselves. It doesn’t matter what phonemes they use, they just have to determine whether those phonemes match or not. Stop pointing out the logical flaws in my posts, or the elf dies. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/28 "2014-06-25T19:06:48Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’m not sure why this needed to be marked as a spoiler though. Oh, I was just being silly, really, but I didn’t want you to see what I wrote and think, “Well, that wasn’t how I was going to describe it, but maybe I _do_ say them like that…” Cut to **suranyi** lying awake at 3:00am in the throes of an existential/linguistic crisis, muttering “…song… long… wrong… gong… song… hmm…” > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Stop pointing out the logical flaws in my posts, or the elf dies. I’d love to see this meme-ified, a la “[God kills a kitten](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/God-kills-kitten.jpg)”. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/29 "2014-06-25T19:12:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Song, long and wrong rhyme. Gong doesn’t. Wrong. Song, long and gong all rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/30 "2014-06-25T19:29:20Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. > > But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. This. “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all use the _aw_ sound, whereas as “prong,” “tong,” “thong” and “Hong Kong” sound closer to “prahng” “tahng” etc. And dog (dawg) and log (lahg) don’t rhyme either. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/31 "2014-06-25T20:03:03Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. > > But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. All of those words rhyme to me, at least in my head and how I pronounce them. I grew up in western Pennsylvania, USA. ETA: and yes, dog, log, frog, and other words ending in “og” rhyme to me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/32 "2014-06-25T20:09:09Z")
They all fully rhyme to me. The thing is, even if a set of words don’t perfectly rhyme, what the heck? There’s a thing called slant rhymes (or near rhymes) and they’re used all the time in poetry. Words used in a rhyming fashion don’t have to be exact mirror copies of each other. It’s a moot point. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/33 "2014-06-25T20:13:06Z")
Song, long, gong and wrong all rhyme to me. But they don’t have the _exact_ final sound. Very, very close, so good enough for rhyming at any level of poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/34 "2014-06-25T20:26:14Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I was reading the Dr. Seuss book “Hop on Pop” to my son and on one page it’s apparent that he intends the words “song” and “long” to rhyme. But for me, they don’t. “Song” rhymes with “gong” and “long” rhymes with “wrong”. Is this generally true or is it just my accent? All four rhyme for me (lifelong resident of US west coast). Dog, log, etc., are also rhymes for me. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/35 "2014-06-25T20:35:04Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Also, apparently this kind of thing comes up a lot with “[Hop on Pop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=641931)”! Shouldn’t that be “this kind of **T** hing comes up a lot with _Hop on Pop_”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/36 "2014-06-25T20:49:42Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Closer to “Gahng”, I think. Get it on, bang a gang? 😉 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TVEhDrJzM8E/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgWygnMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBPPF6wevxsO2zCHnZvt1nAHM9wVQ "Bang a Gong (Get It On) by T.Rex") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVEhDrJzM8E) ---
**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 25, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/37 "2014-06-25T20:55:26Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. > > But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. Good example of why these sorts of discussions are tough without a universal system like IPA. All those words rhyme in my Midwest/Great Lakes dialect. “Dog” and “log” rhyme here, too. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/38 "2014-06-25T21:12:41Z")
My mother always pronounced the G in “coat-hanger” the way it is pronounces in “finger” as opposed to “singer”. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/39 "2014-06-25T21:58:42Z")
> [@Weeping\_Wyvern](#): > > “Song,” “long,” and “wrong” all rhyme with each other. > > But “gong” is a totally different sound. “Gong” rhymes with words like “prong” and “tong” and “thong” and “Hong Kong”. I usually think that people are messing with us when they make posts like this. Every single ng word in your post rhymes with all the others. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624/40 "2014-06-25T22:09:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I usually think that people are messing with us when they make posts like this. Every single ng word in your post rhymes with all the others. This is, I think, an example of what is called the cot/caught merger. For most Americans, the phonemes /ɒ/ and /ɔ/, distinct in British English, have merged, so they don’t perceive (or create) teh difference between song & long that suranyi appears to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-words-song-and-long-rhyme/691624.md?page=3)