# Nothing Rhymes with Orange. Other useless facts needed... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338 "2003-02-20T15:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/41 "2003-02-20T22:57:40Z")
The chimney swift is thought to be the only bird capable of flapping its wings alternately in flight (left, right, left, right.) The wall-mounted toilet was invented by Frank Lloyd Wright. A purple rhyme? What causes raised eyebrows at a formal dinner? Sometimes a burp’ll do it.:rolleyes: There’s a subtle difference between subtleties and subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/42 "2003-02-20T23:12:34Z")
Who says there are no rhymes for month? I, myself, can think of a tonth. My apologies, it had to be said. ---
**Author:** ![Infectious\_Lass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Infectious\_Lass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infectious_Lass)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/43 "2003-02-20T23:25:22Z")
It’s not true that nothing rhymes with orange. In the north of England somewhere there is a hill called the Blorange, so I understand. Hang gliders say-"my airframe is orange, gonna jump off the-you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![magog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/fbc32d/32.png) [@magog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magog)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/44 "2003-02-21T02:05:00Z")
To find a rhyme with silver takes will, ver- bosity, and time Forget where I heard this - thought it was Nash, but not sure. All witty poems get attributed to Nash. ---
**Author:** ![Kill\_Me\_Now](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@Kill\_Me\_Now](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kill_Me_Now)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/45 "2003-02-21T02:20:12Z")
people who spend more than 2 hours a day on message boards have microscopic penises and gaping canyons of vaginas. its a fact. both of mine fit the stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![jono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@jono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jono)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/46 "2003-02-21T02:22:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MissBungle \* > \*\*WHat rhymes with purple? \*\* Simple! Burp’ll rhyme with purple ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/47 "2003-02-21T02:24:00Z")
How are you defining a rhyme? Orange\<=\>syringe. Last three letters? Yes. Similar termial sound? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![jono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@jono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jono)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/48 "2003-02-21T02:26:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\* > > Isaac Asimov wrote a story predicting that no one would ever reach the top of Mt. Everest. It was published six months after Mr. Everest had been climbed. > \*\* with Mr. Everest’s explicit permission I hope? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/49 "2003-02-21T02:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > How are you defining a rhyme? The generally accepted definition is “the sounds including and following the last \* accented\* vowel in a word.” ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/50 "2003-02-21T02:46:28Z")
> [@](#): > > The northernmost, **easternmost** , and westernmost points in the US are all in Alaska. Umm… is one of the Aleutian Island across the international dateline? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/51 "2003-02-21T03:08:34Z")
Michigan has the most coast line of any of the contiguous states: 3,288 miles. (Alaska is number 1) The only place in the United States where you enter Canada from the _south_ is Detroit. (Via either the Ambassador Bridge or the Tunnel.) In Michigan you are never more than 90 minutes away from a Great Lake. Mickey Mouse’s first name and appearance was in a cartoon called \*Steamboat Willie \*. The former name of \*\*Belize \*\* was the British Honduras. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/52 "2003-02-21T03:25:47Z")
\*\*QANTAS \*\* airlines letters stand for **Q** ueensland and **N** orthern **T** erritorial **A** irline **S** ervice. The Country of \*\*Zimbabwe \*\* use to be called \*\*Rhodesia \*\* Named for **Cecil Rhodes** which the lofty \*\*Rhodes Scholarship \*\* is named for. ---
**Author:** ![Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lathe_of_Heaven)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/53 "2003-02-21T03:31:25Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The northernmost, easternmost, and westernmost points in the US are all in Alaska. > > Umm… is one of the Aleutian Island across the international dateline? Yes. From the [State of Alaska](http://www.dced.state.ak.us/tourism/learn/aboutgeography.htm) : The piece of land with the most westerly longitude is Amatignak Island at 179’10" west, just shy of the 180th meridian. Only 70 miles away, in a westerly direction but on the other side of the meridian, is Pochnoi Point on Semisopochnoi Island, with the most easterly longitude at 179’46" eastt. The snowiest spot in the lower 48 isn’t in New York, Colorado, North Dakota, or anywhere you’d expect. It’s in California. (It’s COLD in the Sierras.) Source: [http://www.bfn.org/~af482/snownonsense.html](http://www.bfn.org/~af482/snownonsense.html) ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/54 "2003-02-21T09:16:01Z")
Doesn’t “syringe” rhyme with “orange?” ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/55 "2003-02-21T10:34:15Z")
Rhyming “syringe” with “orange” is a tricky issue, since it involves what’s called “feminine rhyme.” Basically, “masculine rhyme” is when the final syllables are stressed and rhyme. “Feminine rhyme” is when the final syllables are unstressed, and the final TWO syllables rhyme. Examples: _Flow Snow_ That’s masculine rhyme. _Flowing Snowing_ That’s feminine rhyme. _Shower Number_ In that case, the final syllables rhyme but are unstressed; the second-to-last syllables are the last stressed syllables, and do not rhyme. I think we’d all agree that unless one is Emily Dickinson, “shower” and “number” do not rhyme. And to bring it all home, “syringe” and “orange” do not rhyme at all, at least the way I pronounce them; I put the stress on the final syllable of “syringe,” but on the first syllable of “orange.” (For the record, “masculine rhyme” and “feminine rhyme” are accepted literary terms, and I mean nothing sexist by using them; for more on the subject check [A Handbook to Literature](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0130127310/qid=1045823560/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-1142859-0239312?v=glance&s=books) by C. Hugh Holman and William Harmon; it’s an indispensable reference for literary/linguistic study.) ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/56 "2003-02-21T11:17:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > **The only place in the United States where you enter Canada from the _south_ is Detroit. (Via either the Ambassador Bridge or the Tunnel.)** uhhhh… don’t you mean the only place in the United States where you enter Canada from the _NORTH_? In most maps I’ve ever seen, most of the United States is south of Canada, so you would normally enter Canada from the south, wouldn’t you? But of course, not ALL of the United States is south of Canada. Isn’t Alaska usually considered part of the United States? I suppose if you crossed the border of Alaska going into the USA you would be entering from the north, so I suppose you should ammend your factoid to include only the continental United States. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/57 "2003-02-21T12:16:39Z")
**Science Digest** once ran a story on “Why Stalin may live to be 100”. It hit the newsstands the day Stalin died. (I used to have a copy of this issue) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/58 "2003-02-21T12:51:19Z")
Richard, I am looking for facts to back me up. This is something I grew up with and have always accepted as The Truth. Will post more later. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/59 "2003-02-21T16:44:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mjollnir \* > \*_The generally accepted definition is "the sounds including and following the last \* accented_ vowel in a word." \*\* Accepted by whom? ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338/60 "2003-02-21T17:58:39Z")
This easily checked useless fact has stuck with me for over 20 years: There are roughly (to four significant figures) pi times 10 to the 7 seconds in a year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nothing-rhymes-with-orange-other-useless-facts-needed/156338.md?page=4)