# Rhyming “lawyer” and “warrior” **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805 "2018-05-25T15:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/21 "2018-05-25T23:27:57Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > In my very lazy Northern California accent, they are a perfect rhyme: > > (first syllable rhymes with toy, second syllable rhymes with her) > > loy - yer > woy - yer > > I would call the local basketball team the Woy-yers. I’m on the east coast, and this is how we say both words too. I didn’t realize there are people who are somehow pronouncing warrior with three syllables… ---
**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:** [May 25, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/22 "2018-05-25T23:38:09Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I’m on the east coast, and this is how we say both words too. I didn’t realize there are people who are somehow pronouncing warrior with three syllables… What do you mean “somehow,” like it’s a stretch to imagine how that would be possible? I mean, it has three vowels there! [listen to the sound sample here](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/warrior?s=t). Or, [this iconic line from the movie](https://youtu.be/aRM2YcGpmxg?t=70). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/23 "2018-05-25T23:56:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What do you mean “somehow,” like it’s a stretch to imagine how that would be possible? I mean, it has three vowels there! [listen to the sound sample here](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/warrior?s=t). > > Or, [this iconic line from the movie](https://youtu.be/aRM2YcGpmxg?t=70). 🙂 In fairness, he also says “play” with three syllables, so holding up Luther as the standard for pronunciation doesn’t serve us well. 🙂 But other than that, I agree with you completely. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/24 "2018-05-26T00:08:57Z")
There once was a half-witted warrior Who hired a terrible lawyer The lawyer failed The warrior impaled The lawyer in the front of the foyer. Not really seeing it. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/25 "2018-05-26T01:19:25Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > In fairness, he also says “play” with three syllables, so holding up Luther as the standard for pronunciation doesn’t serve us well. 🙂 What, you don’t pronounce “play” as “pleh-ee-ay?” 😕 😃 OK, fair enough. How about [Patty Smyth](https://youtu.be/vJ68ovUkw58?t=56)? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/26 "2018-05-26T02:37:00Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The lawyer in the front of the foyer. I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be funny or not. If I stretch out the first syllable in lawyer and/or condense the second syllable in warrior, they’re very, very close. Definitely close enough for bad poetry. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/27 "2018-05-26T05:02:09Z")
Warrior has an R in the middle. Some people pronounce Rs in sich a way that they can put one in there, and some don’t. To me, lawyer rhymes with destroyer. “Warrior love” would rhyme with “for your love”. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/28 "2018-05-26T05:44:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What, you don’t pronounce “play” as “pleh-ee-ay?” 😕 I have heard some British and Australian speech patterns where they turn “no” into a three syllable word – near as I can tell, they are putting something in their mouths to do it. Perhaps a big wad of marmite? > [@](#): > > OK, fair enough. How about [Patty Smyth](https://youtu.be/vJ68ovUkw58?t=56)? Alluded to above. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/29 "2018-05-26T05:56:32Z")
As a point of interest, foyer is pronounced “FOY-eh” in Canada, as it should be. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/30 "2018-05-26T07:41:38Z")
Or fwa yeh, if you’re one of those Canadians. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/31 "2018-05-26T07:53:41Z")
In US English, I usually hear “foiYAY”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/32 "2018-05-26T10:03:21Z")
Here are the pronunciations given by Google’s dictionary and [merriam-webster.com](http://merriam-webster.com) respectively. Each dictionary has a Listen icon; Google pronounces each word similarly to me; Merriam pronounces each word differently from me: it has the first syllable of lawyer as ‘law’ vs my ‘loy’; it has three syllables for warrior vs my two (very slurry) syllables. ˈloiər \ ˈlȯ-yər , ˈlȯi-ər \ ˈwôrēər \ ˈwȯr-yər , ˈwȯr-ē-ər , ˈwär-ē- also ˈwär-yər \ (But the Listen icon gives the 2nd of these, not the first. 😕 ) In my dialect, while the pronunciations do not rhyme perfectly, they are close enough for expert poetry IMO. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/33 "2018-05-26T12:13:22Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Alluded to above. :smack: Missed the parody! Well done. > [@eschereal](#): > > In US English, I usually hear “foiYAY”. I remember “foi-YAY” (or, actually, with pretty even stress on both syllables) being somewhat popular when I was a kid (80s), but I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard it that way. It’s been pronounced unFrenchified for awhile around at least the people I normally talk with. (And, yes, it is a word that comes up reasonably often enough.) ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/34 "2018-05-26T12:42:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > :smack: Missed the parody! Well done. > > I remember “foi-YAY” (or, actually, with pretty even stress on both syllables) being somewhat popular when I was a kid (80s), but I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard it that way. It’s been pronounced unFrenchified for awhile around at least the people I normally talk with. (And, yes, it is a word that comes up reasonably often enough.) I will always and forever pronounce it foi-YAY because, as a child of the 90s, Raul Julia as Gomez in the Addams Family movies said foi-YAY. I was charmed enough by him that it apparently imprinted on me. And poll: Close enough for poetry, and if I get lazy with pronunciation (not that that’d EVER happen :: Cough :: ), they can rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/35 "2018-05-27T00:54:32Z")
I’m not a big fan of slant rhymes in poetry, but I’ve seen them a lot worse than that. As long as there are enough strong rhymes to establish the pattern, it’d work. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805/36 "2018-05-27T01:00:41Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Or fwa yeh, if you’re one of those Canadians. 🙂 That sounds wrong. If it was “foi-”, it would be “fwa”, but it is “foy-”, so the pronunciation is more phoneticky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rhyming-lawyer-and-warrior/814805.md?page=1)