# Do "thing" and "sing" rhyme to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718 "2012-02-13T16:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/61 "2012-02-13T21:32:27Z")
Atlanta, Georgia here. Yes, they rhyme. Why is \*rhyme \*spelled so weirdly? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/62 "2012-02-13T21:43:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, for me, in my dialect, all those words rhyme. “Airy” rhymes with “ferry” rhymes with “carry.” That seems quite common, particularly in the midwest. So which vowel sound do all these words generally share, would you say? _eh_ (that’s “merry” and “ferry” to me) _ay_ (for me, that’s… sorta… “Mary” and “fairy,” although those words really have a dipthong sound combining ay+schwa) _a_ as in “hat” (for me, that’s “marry” and “carry”) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/63 "2012-02-13T21:46:07Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Bwah? Surely, those words don’t actually rhyme in anyone’s accent, do they? If you do think they rhyme, where are you from? Huh? Both pairs rhyme perfectly. How do you pronounce them such that they don’t rhyme? ETA: British English, probably close to RP. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/64 "2012-02-13T22:24:39Z")
Both sets rhyme in New Zealand. But would probaby sound weird to you guys anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kirk1168](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@kirk1168](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk1168)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/65 "2012-02-13T22:27:19Z")
Pittsburgh. “Get” can be “git” in these parts, too, but both pairs rhyme to me. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/66 "2012-02-13T22:45:05Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > This also might be the closest we’ve come on the Boards to a consensus regarding word pronunciation…at least in the threads it comes up… Usually what happens in this kind of thread is that some people look at how words are spelled and they _ **imagine** _ that they don’t pronounce them the same because of spelling differences. For example, some people will insist that they pronounce _ball_ and _bawl_ differently, though in reality they don’t. This is one situation where spelling can’t be the issue, though, so I don’t know what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/67 "2012-02-13T22:45:14Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Bwah? Surely, those words don’t actually rhyme in anyone’s accent, do they? If you do think they rhyme, where are you from? I’m currently in the Northeast US, but spent half of my childhood in Asia and Europe. Wet and get rhyme with pet. Sing and thing rhyme with king. I’ve heard ‘thing’ pronounced ‘thang’, but always considered it a conscious affectation. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/68 "2012-02-14T00:40:41Z")
Both pairs rhyme – NJ/Philly ---
**Author:** ![Gomi5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@Gomi5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gomi5)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/69 "2012-02-14T00:47:20Z")
> [@LaurenIpsum](#): > > I’m in Buffalo, NY - born and raised here. I tend to pronounce “get” more like “git.” Huh. Born and raised here too, but I say “get” and have never heard anyone say “git” at all, ever, even a little bit. You live in the city? ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/70 "2012-02-14T01:19:00Z")
> [@choie](#): > > That seems quite common, particularly in the midwest. So which vowel sound do all these words generally share, would you say? > > _eh_ (that’s “merry” and “ferry” to me) > > _ay_ (for me, that’s… sorta… “Mary” and “fairy,” although those words really have a dipthong sound combining ay+schwa) > > _a_ as in “hat” (for me, that’s “marry” and “carry”) For me, marry/merry/Mary all have the _ay_ sound. I’m not from the Midwest, but I’m third generation Pacific Northwest. As for the OP, get/wet rhymes and thing/sing rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/71 "2012-02-14T02:27:03Z")
Do you want yet another “me too”? Both of the OP’s pairs rhyme perfectly for me. I grew up in, and currently live in, central Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/72 "2012-02-14T03:06:18Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Mary = rhymes with “airy” or “dairy” > Merry = rhymes with “ferry” or “very” > Marry = rhymes with “carry” or “Larry” Ha! As an Ontarian, I am in complete agreement with this. Yes, there are subtleties in the pronunciations, but they are evident! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/73 "2012-02-14T03:13:37Z")
There were actually a couple of girls in my Minnesotan high school who would pronounce sing as seeng. I, of course pronounce thing and sing so they rhyme. Intellectually get and wet rhyme but I’m quite sure that in casual speech, I always pronounce get as git. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/74 "2012-02-14T03:19:27Z")
> [@choie](#): > > That seems quite common, particularly in the midwest. So which vowel sound do all these words generally share, would you say? > > _eh_ (that’s “merry” and “ferry” to me) > > _ay_ (for me, that’s… sorta… “Mary” and “fairy,” although those words really have a dipthong sound combining ay+schwa) > > _a_ as in “hat” (for me, that’s “marry” and “carry”) Yeah, I’m part of the Mary/merry/marry merger, although I don’t seem to be consistent with how I merge them. I never use an “ay”-type vowel for any of those, but I do go somewhere from a short e to a short a (ae) sound for all those words. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/75 "2012-02-14T03:26:39Z")
Missed the edit, but now that I’m saying it to myself over and over, it seems that sometimes I do distinguish between two of the sounds, but not the third (the vowel in “Mary.”) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/76 "2012-02-14T03:43:46Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Maybe **BetsQ** is from a deep South enclave where thing and sing don’t rhyme in dialect. But she’s gotta know that for most English-speakers that’s an obvious rhyme. I would think so, which makes “Surely, those words don’t actually rhyme in **anyone’s** accent, do they?” surprising. I don’t say drawer like most of you do. It sounds very close to “draw” when I say it, though I feel there’s a different emphasis on the “r” when I say draw vs drawer(likewise borrower sounds a lot like bower when I say it). But I’m _aware_ that I don’t say it in the standard way. And drawer and borrower are heard much less often than any of the words in the OP’s pairings. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/77 "2012-02-14T03:58:03Z")
Yes they rhyme. I was raised in and around the WashMet area, mostly PG County Maryland. > [@](#): > > Oh, good lord. > > I pronounce “get” with a short i sound - “git.” “Wet” has a more standard short e. [I think the OP might be Larry the Cable Guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrbyvmfHG4g). (you tube link) ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/78 "2012-02-14T04:28:39Z")
> [@Homo\_litoralis](#): > > I’m starting to doubt my own ears here. > > I say _theng_. I hear most folks say _theng_. I bet even some of you who’ve posted here to the contrary say _theng_. _Theng_ does not rhyme with _sing_. _Sing_ rhymes with _ring_. > > Now that I think about it, _think_ and _thing_ have the same vowel sound, which is essentially a short _e_ as in _egg_. I wish you could upload audio of you saying these words, because neither of these paragraphs make any sense to me. Does the middle portion of think sound like the word hen for you? I’m also in the Buffalo NY area. Sing and thing rhyme. Get and Wet and Merry/Marry/Mary rhyme too. > [@choie](#): > > That seems quite common, particularly in the midwest. So which vowel sound do all these words generally share, would you say? > > _eh_ (that’s “merry” and “ferry” to me) > > _ay_ (for me, that’s… sorta… “Mary” and “fairy,” although those words really have a dipthong sound combining ay+schwa) > > _a_ as in “hat” (for me, that’s “marry” and “carry”) It’s a combo of ay and a. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/79 "2012-02-14T04:29:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ha! > > As an Ontarian, I am in complete agreement with this. Yes, there are subtleties in the pronunciations, but they are evident! As an Ontarian, all nine words rhyme to me. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/80 "2012-02-14T04:37:55Z")
> [@choie](#): > > That seems quite common, particularly in the midwest. So which vowel sound do all these words generally share, would you say? > > _eh_ (that’s “merry” and “ferry” to me) > > _ay_ (for me, that’s… sorta… “Mary” and “fairy,” although those words really have a dipthong sound combining ay+schwa) > > _a_ as in “hat” (for me, that’s “marry” and “carry”) > [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > It’s a combo of ay and a. I just realized your “a” from hat is probably not the same as mine. Around here, hat sounds sort of like “hayat” if you exaggerated the word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718.md?page=5)