# Riddle or Rhyme????

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 17, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783 "2000-07-17T01:50:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![VexPrime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/74df32/32.png) [@VexPrime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VexPrime)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/1 "2000-07-17T01:50:33Z")

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Hello, i’m a newbie here, just thought i’d post a question up here, that has stumped me for years. I had a History teacher is High school, that once asked me, if i knew what rhymed with “Orange.” At the time i had no clue, i knew lots of rhyming words, but not this one. I askes him to make sure this wasn’t a lame joke. He then said, “Yes, there is one word in the english language that rhymes with orange.” To this day i had no clue what the heck it was or what he was trying to ask me, i had no clue, and neither did anyone else in the class i was in. Thing is, someone also told me it’s an old riddle, then i started thinking, but still no help. I was hoping to get an answer, but i’ve asked dozens of people and they don’t know! Can someone help please?  
P.S.= I also got friends in chat rooms asking around if anyone knows a rhyme for “Purple” also…LOL

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**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/2 "2000-07-17T02:29:46Z")

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No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. Or if it does, I don’t use it in my intimate conversations.

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**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:** [July 17, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/3 "2000-07-17T02:51:31Z")

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There’s plenty of words for which there’s no rhyme in the dictionary, and “orange” is generally considered to be one of them. of course, with enough ingenuity, you can come up with a (contrived) rhyme for any word. My favorite example, which I first saw on _Animaniacs_, but which probably predates the show, is:

Roses are red,  
Violets are purple  
Sugar is sweet  
And so is maple surple

I can’t remember any good ones for “orange”, but the topic has come up here before. Try searching for “rhyme”, “orange”, “purple”, “silver”, and “eloquent” all in the same thread.

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**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/4 "2000-07-17T03:10:09Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Chronos \*  
> \*\*My favorite example, which I first saw on _Animaniacs_, but which probably predates the show, is:
> 
> Roses are red,  
> Violets are purple  
> Sugar is sweet  
> And so is maple surple  
> \*\*

Incidentally, Roger Miller uses this little rhyme as part of his song, “Dang Me.” The song was written in the early sixties. So, yes, it predates _Animaniacs_.

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**Author:** ![VexPrime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/74df32/32.png) [@VexPrime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VexPrime)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/5 "2000-07-17T03:10:36Z")

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Will do, Chronos. In fact i hope to find an answer some day, as for a riddle, i don’t know what he meant. I’ve been trying to e-mail Cecil about this, but no go so far. If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to post it, i’d like to hear what others are thinking. After all i would like to go back to my old History teacher and tell him about it, just to see him smile and wonder how the heck i knew…🙂

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/6 "2000-07-17T03:47:22Z")

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I’ve seen people suggest _doorhinge_ as a rhyme to _orange_.

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**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/7 "2000-07-17T05:17:26Z")

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**Flange?**

I guess it depends on your accent, and how you pronounce _Orange_.

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**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/8 "2000-07-17T13:27:19Z")

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This is from the sci-fi writer James. P. Hogan’s website:

[http://www.jamesphogan.com/archives/jokes.html#rhyme](http://www.jamesphogan.com/archives/jokes.html#rhyme)

I especially like the rhyme with “purple”!

The animalth rathed three timeth latht month,  
The hare won twithe and the tortoithe oneth.  
An Irishman Green,  
Can take the potheen.  
But an Irishman Orange  
Ends up on the flooranj’  
Ust doesn’t seem able,  
To stay at the table

When you’re choking,  
Turning purple,  
A hearty slap and one good burp’ll  
Usually fix it.

Gold and silver  
presents willvir  
Ginity tend to  
Put an end to.

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**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:** [July 17, 2000, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/9 "2000-07-17T13:52:08Z")

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Well, there was that nasty grape drink in the early 90s called “Burple” if anyone remembers (better to forget.) 🙂

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**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/10 "2000-07-17T17:52:59Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by **Apollyon** \*  
> **Flange?**
> 
> I guess it depends on your accent, and how you pronounce _Orange_.

Hell, depending on how you pronounce them, orange and purple both rhyme with silver. Unless you pronounce them so that they rhyme with month and eloquent.

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**Author:** ![VexPrime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/74df32/32.png) [@VexPrime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VexPrime)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/11 "2000-07-17T20:50:59Z")

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I don’t think it’s the accent, what i meant was English language, no accent involved. Just as i was reading these reply’s, i decided to pull out my mother’s “Webster’s New World Dictionary: 3rd Edition.” Come to find out there are 12 words with orange in it, if you have this book turn to page 952. If not i’ll list what i got, it’s kinda weird, check it out!

or|ange (ôr’inj, är’-; often ôrnj, ärnj) n.((OFr orenge \<  
Prov auranja(with sp. influ. by L auram, gold, & loss  
of initial n through faulty seperation of art. un) \<  
Sp naranja \< Ar naranj \<Pers narang \< Sans naranga,  
prob. akin to Tamil naru, fragrant))1.A reddish-yellow,  
round, edible citrus fruit, with a sweet, juicy pulp  
2.any of various evergreen trees (genus Citrus) of the  
rue family producing this fruit, having white, fragrant  
blossoms and hard, yellow wood. 3.any of several plants  
or fruits resembling the orange. 4.reddish yellow -Adj.  
1.reddish-yellow 2.made with or from an orange or  
oranges 3.having a flavor like that of oranges.

Or|ange (ôr’inj, är’-)name of the ruling family of the  
Netherlands:see Nassau -Adj.of or having to do with  
Orangemen.

Or|ange (ôr’inj, är’-;also, for 3&4, Fr ô ränzh’) 1.((prob.  
named for the orange groves there))city in SW Calif.:  
suburb of Los Angeles:pop. 111,000 2.river in South  
Africa, flowing from NE Lesotho west into the Atlantic:  
c.1,300 mi.(2,092 km) 3.former principality of W Europe  
(12th-17th cent.), now in SE France 4.city in SE France  
:pop. 27,000

or|ange-ade (ôr’inj âd’) n. ((Fr:see orange & -ade)) a drink  
made of orange juice and water, usually sweetened.

Orange Free State  
Province of South Africa, west of Lesotho:formerly a  
Boer republic (1854-1900)& then a British Colony  
(Orange River Colony, 1900-10): 49,418 sq. mi.  
(127,993 sq. km);pop. 1,932,000;cap. Bloemfontein

\*orange hawkweed  
DEVIL’S PAINTBRUSH

lol runnin out of time here, i’ll just list the rest not the explanation.

1.Or|ange-man  
2.orange pekoe  
3.orange rough|y  
4.or|ange|ry  
5.\*orange stick  
6.or|ange-wood  
7.or|ang|y or or|ang|ey

Lots of words here, but still looking for the right answer, or the old riddle or whatever…Just want an explanation.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/12 "2000-07-17T21:10:30Z")

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From [A Collection of Word Oddities and Trivia, Page 3](http://members.aol.com/gulfhigh2/words3.html)

(read these pages of information maintained by Jeff Miller to see explanations of the abbreviations used.)

> [@](#):
>
> Bruce Todd points out that the final syllable of CITRANGE is pronounced identically with the final syllable of ORANGE, and W3 shows an alternate pronunciation of SYRINGE which is also identical in the last syllable. BLORENGE (a 1,833 ft. hill near Abergavenny, Wales) is given in O. V. Michaelsen’s book Words At Play. SPORANGE looks as if it rhymes, but the word, which is short for sporangium, is pronounced spuh-RANJ. Ng Boon Leong says that as English is pronounced in Singapore, RANGE, STONEHENGE, and DERANGE all rhyme with ORANGE. Bruce Salvisberg says the French given name SOLANGE rhymes with orange.
> 
> Some other words difficult to rhyme are MONTH, SILVER, WASP, and PURPLE. The rec.puzzles archive has (n + 1)th to rhyme with MONTH, and words such as SEVENTH, ELEVENTH, and THOUSANDTH could be considered rhymes. Ted Clarke provides CHILVER (British dialect for “ewe lamb” or “ewe mutton” and a surname) and GRUNTH (an alternate spelling of GRANTH) which rhymes with MONTH in one of its pronunciations. HIRPLE is a British word meaning “walk lamely” or “hobble.” HERPAL means “related to herpes” and is a Hindu name. WILVER is a given name; the best-known Wilver is baseball player Wilver “Willie” Stargell.

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**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/13 "2000-07-17T22:09:13Z")

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Question about rhyming:

Why is it so hard to rhyme silver and purple? Does it have something to do with definition of rhyme relating to the accented syllables or something? Because my notion of rhyming is it just matches the _last_ syllable in sound.

Purple - people, apple, dimple, example, etc  
silver - liver, oliver, over, never, etc.

Orange - flange, syringe, lozenge (depending on how you pronounce orange) I do like “door-hinge”.

month would be the hard one.

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**Author:** ![VexPrime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/74df32/32.png) [@VexPrime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VexPrime)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/14 "2000-07-18T18:34:05Z")

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Hey Thanks Arnold, you must of done alot of searching for that one, i’ve had a tough time doing it myself. I added the page to a Favorite bookmark, i’ll print it out later. I sure hope this is what i’m looking for, if not, hope is not lost. All you can really do to impossible rhyming words like these is give it your best shot, and ask “What do i win for doing so much hard work for one simple word?” 🙂

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**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:** [July 20, 2000, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/15 "2000-07-20T13:21:36Z")

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irishman – yeah, you got it. the strict notion of rhyme would mean the accented syllables and the ones following have to rhyme. otherwise, “jumping” and “interesting” would rhyme, which technically, they don’t.

this is not to say that the examples you brought up aren’t poetically useful, because they are. They’re just not traditional rhymes.

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**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:** [July 21, 2000, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-or-rhyme/25783/16 "2000-07-21T06:45:47Z")

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Hold on… I think I’ve figured out the answer that your teacher wanted, at least. He said that there’s one word that rhymes with orange, _not_ that there’s two. In that case, the answer would be “orange”.