# Should Bill Nye and Bill Nighy rhyme? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454 "2017-04-14T17:26:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/1 "2017-04-14T17:26:10Z")
The OP is the question. Are they homonyms? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/2 "2017-04-14T17:30:35Z")
No. Nighy is pronounced “Nī-hee.” (Source: Shaun of the Dead DVD.) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/3 "2017-04-14T17:32:28Z")
[http://www.contactmusic.com/bill-nighy/news/nighy-accepts-surname-mispronunciation\_1001294](http://www.contactmusic.com/bill-nighy/news/nighy-accepts-surname-mispronunciation_1001294) > [@](#): > > [Nighy] has often stated that his name is pronounced ‘nye’ yet he often smiles sweetly whenever someone mispronounces his name and shrugs it off. So yes. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/4 "2017-04-14T17:37:42Z")
No. The initial consonant is identical in each case. If the part after the N is pronounced identically they’ll be homophones rather than rhymes. Unless the N is pronounced differently, which I doubt. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/5 "2017-04-14T17:39:36Z")
> [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > No. The initial consonant is identical in each case. If the part after the N is pronounced identically they’ll be homophones rather than rhymes. > > Unless the N is pronounced differently, which I doubt. Yeah, sorry - in attempting to be cute, I used the word incorrectly. I think you all get my question though. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/6 "2017-04-14T21:45:39Z")
Bill Nighy says they do, so yes. I was at an event he was at a couple weeks ago and he introduced himself as “Bill _Nye_.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/7 "2017-04-15T05:34:25Z")
They aren’t perfect rhymes, as defined by English poetry, but they are identical rhymes, which is used in at least some forms of art. I mean, there’s a means by which sweaty and bread rhyme, as argued by those who investigate the rhyming in modern rap. (These are not usually used for end rhymes, but internal rhymes. [Eminem apparently uses it a lot [video]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooOL4T-BAg0)). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/8 "2017-04-15T05:46:50Z")
Nighy isn’t quite Nye, it’s more Nyee. I think. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/9 "2017-04-15T06:18:15Z")
Disappointed that they weren’t forming a rap supergroup. Yes, they do sound the same as I understood it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/10 "2017-04-15T10:39:32Z")
“Bill Nighy the Science Guy” Hmm. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/11 "2017-04-15T14:05:48Z")
No relevance to the rhyming / pronunciation issue; but the only Bill Nye I (non-American) have ever heard of, is a character in Bret Harte’s ballad _The Heathen Chinee_. Is there a more modern Bill Nye – or even more than one thereof? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/12 "2017-04-15T14:10:13Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > No relevance to the rhyming / pronunciation issue; but the only Bill Nye I (non-American) have ever heard of, is a character in Bret Harte’s ballad _The Heathen Chinee_. Is there a more modern Bill Nye – or even more than one thereof? Bill Nye the Science Guy: [Bill Nye the Science Guy - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nye_the_Science_Guy) An SDMB fighter of ingnorance honorary member. Has been a strong advocate for climate change and evolution/anti-creation and the impact of this on public education. A good guy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/13 "2017-04-15T14:22:51Z")
Bill Nyee the Science Guy-ee 😉 Goin’ back to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/14 "2017-04-15T16:09:32Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Bill Nye the Science Guy: [Bill Nye the Science Guy - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nye_the_Science_Guy) > > An SDMB fighter of ingnorance honorary member. Has been a strong advocate for climate change and evolution/anti-creation and the impact of this on public education. A good guy. Thanks. I feel that my foreign-ness furnishes some excuse for my hitherto ignorance, now amended. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/15 "2017-04-15T17:55:12Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > “Bill Nighy the Science Guy” > > Hmm. > > 😉 My BIL pranked me by showing me a video on youtube called that, convincing me that there was actually a show called this.:smack: Member of The Knights who say Ni-ghy. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/16 "2017-04-16T11:28:51Z")
Its really fascinating to me from a neurological (?) standpoint that viewing that spelling practically _forces_ my brain to add a little “ee” to Nye for Nighy - as others have spelled out “Nyee”. Even reading Nighy himself state unambiguously that it’s Nye, I see that spelling and my brain still mutters “it’s still Nyee…” 😉 It feels like that same type of neurological tick that folks write about when they show us trick illustrations and throw our brains off. We know those two lines are the same length but the one with the arrow bits splaying outward makes our brain insist it’s longer. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/17 "2017-04-17T13:00:34Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Its really fascinating to me from a neurological (?) standpoint that viewing that spelling practically _forces_ my brain to add a little “ee” to Nye for Nighy - as others have spelled out “Nyee”. Even reading Nighy himself state unambiguously that it’s Nye, I see that spelling and my brain still mutters “it’s still Nyee…” 😉 > > It feels like that same type of neurological tick that folks write about when they show us trick illustrations and throw our brains off. We know those two lines are the same length but the one with the arrow bits splaying outward makes our brain insist it’s longer. The thing is, the vowel sound that we usually call “long I” is actually a diphthong, written as [aɪ] in IPA, a combination of the “ah” sound followed by the “ee” sound. So “Nye” already ends in “ee.” I personally don’t perceive a lot of difference between what people are transcribing as “Nye” versus “Nyee.” The only real difference in the latter would be to draw the vowel sound out for a slightly longer time. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/18 "2017-04-17T13:03:27Z")
All good; my point is that my brain strongly resists pronouncing them the same way and adds a bit to the end of Nighy even if I don’t want it to! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/19 "2017-04-18T13:01:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Bill Nye the Science Guy: [Bill Nye the Science Guy - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Nye_the_Science_Guy) > > An SDMB fighter of ingnorance honorary member. Has been a strong advocate for climate change and evolution/anti-creation and the impact of this on public education. A good guy. I used to think so until I saw the trailer for [“Bill Nye Saves the World”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-_HKOcYBK8). Looks okay, if a little glitzy but then, the lumpenproletariat needs to have the wonder of science glitzed up. Then at the end, he does a mic drop. Sorry, Bill, but as the owner of a mic, I just put you into the category of pretentious asshole who doesn’t dive a damn about expensive things that don’t belong to you. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-bill-nye-and-bill-nighy-rhyme/784454/20 "2017-04-27T15:35:29Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > I used to think so until I saw the trailer for [“Bill Nye Saves the World”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-_HKOcYBK8). Looks okay, if a little glitzy but then, the lumpenproletariat needs to have the wonder of science glitzed up. I started watching one episode of BNSTW last night, and it was _spectacularly_ terrible. Absolutely horrendous. I felt embarrassed for the entire production staff.