# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/121 "2012-02-15T13:39:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Both pairs rhyme - mid-Atlantic with a touch of Pennsylvania Dutch (to this day I can’t say the word “route” without having a mental argument about the vowel sound). > > I’m in the UK now and recently had a discussion with a friend who pointed out that in his accent “fear” and “year” don’t remotely rhyme (the latter being basically “yuh”). Is he Welsh? Or from Northern England? Incidentally, I saw a BBC news article the other day where they featured a school in Essex that had started giving elocution lessons, as the kids were struggling to learn how to spell. An example they gave was that they think ‘thing’ is spelt ‘fing’ as that’s how they say it. If you want a reference point for the accent, Jamie Oliver is from Essex. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/122 "2012-02-15T13:41:59Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It sounds like you have a stereotypical Mexican accent. Only if it’s not a diphthong. “Keeng” is more stereotypical Mexician (“steenkeeng badges!”). “Keeung” is more Southern (that second sound is probably more schwa than “uh” but you get the idea). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/123 "2012-02-15T13:42:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > \*and to all those who say “You probably don’t notice that you yourself pronounce “singer” and “finger” differently” – Nope. I’ve listened to me. I definitely pronounce them the same way, and see nothing odd about it. Really? In my accent, the ‘g’ in ‘finger’ is stressed/hard, whereas in singer it is virtually silent. Fin-Ger Sing-er ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/124 "2012-02-15T14:01:50Z")
Yes, “thing” and “sing” rhyme. “Thang” does not always quite rhyme with “sang.” “Thang” is a humorous mispronunciation of “thing.” Missouri. ---
**Author:** ![Homo\_litoralis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homo\_litoralis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homo_litoralis)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/125 "2012-02-15T16:39:10Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 😕 Can you record yourself saying these words? Because I can’t even imagine anyone pronouncing them that way. Is there an example on YouTube? I don’t believe I have \*ever \*heard those words said with a long e. (Unless it was in some kind of weird exaggerated Mexican accent.) I think the “exaggerated Mexican accent” favored by movie actors and cartoon characters has an extended long _e_ sound with more nasality (_steeenkeeng badges_). I’m talking about a normal long _e_ as in _keep_. In the sentence, _Three kings sing and drink beer_, I hear long _e_ five times. I say _thing_ and _sing_ exactly as **Polerius** does up there in Post #116, and what I hear is _theng_ and _seeng_. Pretty weird, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/126 "2012-02-15T16:58:15Z")
For most people, singer & finger are “sing-er” & “fing-ger.” N automatically becomes ng before a G or K. (You don’t say “sin·k,” you say “singk,” for instance.) In one-syllable words enging in G, the G got dropped and in some dialect recording you can hear “sing·g” and “king·g,” which sounds really weird to me. Since “finger” isn’t “one who fings,” it kept its “real” G. On the other hand, fing·ger \> fing·er would be a perfectly reasonable sound change and I’m not surprised to hear it’s happened somewhere. Likewise th \> f; it happened in Russia as well as Essex. For the Essex kids, “thing” is a quaint archaic spelling just like “through” for “thru” (or “fru”). It’s natural for them to assume the f- in “thing” is the same as the f- in “fox,” because for them it is exactly the same sound. ---
**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 15, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/127 "2012-02-15T17:03:31Z")
> [@Homo\_litoralis](#): > > I think the “exaggerated Mexican accent” favored by movie actors and cartoon characters has an extended long _e_ sound with more nasality (_steeenkeeng badges_). > > I’m talking about a normal long _e_ as in _keep_. In the sentence, _Three kings sing and drink beer_, I hear long _e_ five times. > > I say _thing_ and _sing_ exactly as **Polerius** does up there in Post #116, and what I hear is _theng_ and _seeng_. > > Pretty weird, huh? Now I really want to hear you speak these words. I listened to **Polerius** ’ audio file and he is pronouncing all four words properly. He is definitely pronouncing “thing” not “theng”. I’m also glad he added his pronunciation of “wet” which would rhyme with “theng”, but his pronunciation of “thing” definitely does not rhyme with his pronunciation of “wet”. Are you saying you cannot hear a difference in his pronunciation of these two words? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/128 "2012-02-15T18:26:49Z")
What is unexpected to me is that someone who says [θæɪ̈ŋ] for “thing” wouldn’t also say [sæɪ̈ŋ] for “sing.” ---
**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 15, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/129 "2012-02-15T18:47:19Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > What is unexpected to me is that someone who says [θæɪ̈ŋ] for “thing” wouldn’t also say [sæɪ̈ŋ] for “sing.” I’ve wondered that too, and I can only surmise that it’s because [sæɪ̈ŋ] already signifies something distinct (namely, the past of [sIɪŋ]). ---
**Author:** ![Homo\_litoralis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homo\_litoralis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homo_litoralis)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/130 "2012-02-15T19:17:40Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Now I really want to hear you speak these words. I listened to **Polerius** ’ audio file and he is pronouncing all four words properly. He is definitely pronouncing “thing” not “theng”. > > I’m also glad he added his pronunciation of “wet” which would rhyme with “theng”, but his pronunciation of “thing” definitely does not rhyme with his pronunciation of “wet”. Are you saying you cannot hear a difference in his pronunciation of these two words? I don’t have sound recording capability, but let’s split these hairs nevertheless. The short _e_ that I hear in _thing_ is the same but slightly abbreviated _e_ that I hear in _wet_. If I say _sing_ with a tongue-tween-the-lips lisp, I hear _thing (theeng)_, but if I say the _word_ “thing,” that vowel sound subtly transitions to a short _e_. _Thin_ and _thing_ have slightly different vowel sounds to my ear, a short _i_ and a short _e_, respectively. Likewise, when I say _something_, it rhymes with _sing_, but if I say _some thing_, it does not. Perhaps, after living in the south for so long, I have unconsciously drifted toward the twangy _thang_ of so many natives, but I’m positive that I haven’t gone all the way yet. Getting back to the OP, hell no _thing_ and _sing_ don’t rhyme! (Unless I’m writing song lyrics, in which case they most definitely would.) I need to track down a mic, and I need to stop enunciating random rhyming syllables in front of my staff. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/131 "2012-02-15T19:22:46Z")
You may be hearing [allophones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allophone), fine distinctions caused by the preceding or following consonant but understood as the same “sound” by most speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Kasper1014](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@Kasper1014](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kasper1014)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/132 "2012-02-15T20:39:09Z")
I’m from south Texas, “sing” and “thing” rhyme. We tend to pronounce “get” git. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/133 "2012-02-15T22:11:03Z")
> [@Homo\_litoralis](#): > > I say _thing_ and _sing_ exactly as **Polerius** does up there in Post #116, and what I hear is _theng_ and _seeng_. > > Pretty weird, huh? Now I really have no idea what you are talking about. \*\*Polerius \*\*pronounces \*thing \*& \*sing \*the way I have always heard them, with an _ih_ sound. He is certainly not saying either \*theng \*or _theeng_. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/134 "2012-02-15T22:38:26Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Midwest. Both sets rhyme. Same for me. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/135 "2012-02-15T22:47:55Z")
Thing and sing rhyme for me. I grew up in the Washington DC area. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/136 "2012-02-16T02:07:13Z")
So – and sorry if I’ve missed it – but after almost three pages, do the pairs _not_ rhyme for anyone but the OP? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/137 "2012-02-16T05:02:04Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Both pairs rhyme for me as well. [Here’s how I say them](http://soundkey.com/h6mead). I’d be curious to hear them pronounced by people for whom they don’t rhyme. You are not pronouncing “wet” and “get” as if they rhyme. You may not hear it, but I hear a very noticeable difference. Your “get” is very close to “git,” though not quite there. You do rhyme “thing” and “sing” to my ears, though, and say them the way I am used to. I’d be curious to hear these people who say “theng” or “theeng,” I’m not even sure what that would sound like. I’m fascinated that people would pronounce “thing” differently from the last part of “something.” I would have assumed they would always rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/138 "2012-02-16T11:27:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You are not pronouncing “wet” and “get” as if they rhyme. You may not hear it, but I hear a very noticeable difference. Your “get” is very close to “git,” though not quite there. I’m curious if other people also find this to be the case. So far, some previous posters who commented on my pronunciation have not noticed what you are claiming. ---
**Author:** ![Saganist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Saganist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saganist)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/139 "2012-02-16T13:13:13Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I’m curious if other people also find this to be the case. So far, some previous posters who commented on my pronunciation have not noticed what you are claiming. You clearly did say theeng (long I) in your recording. However, I also agree with **Homo litoralis** that people are actually saying theng (short E) most of the time. [Here](http://soundkey.com/fo63cp) is me saying both versions with some small context, one naturally and one artificially. See which one sounds more normal. I also include “something” and “anything” said naturally to show the vowel can change in my accent. I was raised in New Mexico (not-hispanic) so I think my accent is pretty general. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718/140 "2012-02-16T13:15:13Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > I’m curious if other people also find this to be the case. So far, some previous posters who commented on my pronunciation have not noticed what you are claiming. I hear a difference, but it’s a very small difference that most Americans won’t catch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-thing-and-sing-rhyme-to-you/612718.md?page=8)