# Songs rhyming homonyms

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 18, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826 "2015-06-18T05:41:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/1 "2015-06-18T05:41:51Z")

</div>

Most of us agree that it’s stupid if a song rhymes a word with itself, but what about in the case of homonyms? For example:

Generals gathered in their masses,  
just like witches at black masses.

or

Didn’t take too long 'fore I found out,  
What people mean by down and out.

Or, maybe not exactly a homonym

The logical progression on a the timeline  
The separation narrowed down to a fine line

To be honest, because the second word doesn’t mean the same as the first, I give it a pass. It doesn’t bother me at all. What about the rest of you?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/2 "2015-06-18T06:36:41Z")

</div>

> [@Nobody](#):
>
> Generals gathered in their masses,  
> just like witches at black masses.

By the same band:

What you gonna do?  
Time’s caught up with you  
Now you wait your turn  
You know there’s no return

It does sound rather clunky.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/3 "2015-06-18T06:37:39Z")

</div>

Those aren’t homynyms. They are the same words.

“I just can’t wait  
To lose all this weight”

would be a rhyming homynym.

Your third example sounds fine to me. It’s English after all, not French. You got to take the rhymes that there are.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/4 "2015-06-18T06:44:15Z")

</div>

> [@drad\_dog](#):
>
> Those aren’t homynyms. They are the same words.
> 
> “I just can’t wait  
> To lose all this weight”
> 
> would be a rhyming homynym.

[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Homonym)

> [@](#):
>
> In linguistics, a homonym is a word that has different meanings. In the strict sense, one of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/5 "2015-06-18T06:45:37Z")

</div>

> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> By the same band:
> 
> What you gonna do?  
> Time’s caught up with you  
> Now you wait your turn  
> You know there’s no return
> 
> It does sound rather clunky.

Yeah, that example does sound pretty bad.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/6 "2015-06-18T20:18:27Z")

</div>

Stone Sour has this rhyme in “Through Glass”

It’s just a different scene  
Remember it’s just different from what you’ve seen  
If you accept homophones as homonyms.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-rhyming-homonyms/722826/7 "2015-06-18T22:26:45Z")

</div>

> [@california\_jobcase](#):
>
> Stone Sour has this rhyme in “Through Glass”
> 
> It’s just a different scene  
> Remember it’s just different from what you’ve seen  
> If you accept homophones as homonyms.

Good example, and yes, homophones count.  
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Homonym)

> [@](#):
>
> homonyms are simultaneously homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of their pronunciation) and homophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of their spelling).