# I bet the French don't sing about gloves and doves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 2, 2023, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946 "2023-08-02T06:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/21 "2023-08-04T02:22:29Z")
If a line ends in “heart”, the subject will be yearning, as the rhyming line will end in “apart”. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/22 "2023-08-04T05:25:56Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > The word in English whose upcoming rhyme is most predictable is not _glove_ but rather _Nantucket_. A poetic young man from Nantucket Tried writing an ode to a bucket: But decided, in time, That the obvious rhyme Was so rude that he’d just have to chuck it. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/23 "2023-08-04T12:16:01Z")
Well, I did not think the girl Could be so cruel And I’m never going back To my old school Steely Dan, “My Old School”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/24 "2023-08-04T12:23:48Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s isn’t the only _actual_ rhyme, just the only one everyone seems to use. Really? I’m struggling to think of a lyric with “school” and “golden rule.” [This site](https://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?typeofrhyme=exa&loc=thesql&Word=school) does list some, but there are a ton of other “school” rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/25 "2023-08-04T18:03:28Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > …“myself”/“somebody else.” Lyricists, take note: they **don’t rhyme**! The vowels _and_ consonants don’t have to coincide. When they do, it’s called a [perfect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_and_imperfect_rhymes) rhyme. I think the quoted example is called an [assonant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assonance) rhyme. About the OP, I imagine there are corny/stupid lyrics in every language. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/26 "2023-08-04T18:31:13Z")
Two real classics in English haven’t been mentioned yet: walk-talk/walking-talking and baby-maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/27 "2023-08-05T16:53:24Z")
Seems like a lot of foreign lyrics just don’t bother to rhyme at all, in that the lines that pair up, the ones that in English would almost demand that the last words be rhyming words - they frequently don’t do that in French (which I know) or Japanese (which I don’t). I guess different cultures have different expectations. But (note to non-Anglophone songwriters), if you’re going to attempt to write songs in English - we don’t like it if the lines don’t rhyme. There are exceptions, but generally if the lines scan in such a way that you expect them to rhyme, don’t do this: Johnny got up to reading the paper Upon a Saturday night I’m moving down the block Trying to find a koko belly Big John said he can amuse me Losing out having no vine I’m gotta get a carnation I wanna have a rocking belly Johnny waking all of the neighbors Get a little peek in the sun A hovin’ and a snovin’ Trying to find a rocking belly _(Rocking Belly, by the Hurriganes, a Finnish band that plays pretty good Chuck Berry-style music if you ignore the words)_ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/28 "2023-08-05T17:18:13Z")
There’s no law that songs have to rhyme. There are numerous non-rhyming songs, though I’m struggling at the moment with an English example. ETA: yup, one came to mind, a great song by Cream. Doesn’t rhyme at all. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/J2CCfxiQ5QY/hqdefault.jpg "Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2CCfxiQ5QY) ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/29 "2023-08-05T19:44:05Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Seems like a lot of foreign lyrics just don’t bother to rhyme at all, in that the lines that pair up, the ones that in English would almost demand that the last words be rhyming words - they frequently don’t do that in French (which I know) or Japanese (which I don’t) I don’t know about songs in Japanese, but for songs in French (and Italian) this is completely false. The overwhelming majority of lyrics in thoses languages definitely rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/30 "2023-08-05T19:58:05Z")
You may be right; I probably listen to too much Plastic Bertrand. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946/31 "2023-08-06T07:12:09Z")
Even he manages a whole rhyming stanza. _Allez hop! Un matin une louloute est v’nue chez- **moi** _ _Poupée de Cellophane, cheveux chin **ois** _ _Un sparadrap, une gueule de **bois** _ _A bu ma bière dans un grand verre en caoutch **ouc** (hou-hou-oou-oou!)_ _Comme un indien dans son igl **oo** _ But indeed, the rest is more hit-and-miss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-the-french-dont-sing-about-gloves-and-doves/987946.md?page=1)