# What rhyme can be started with the most letters of the alphabet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284 "2007-06-25T04:16:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/1 "2007-06-25T04:16:47Z")
I don’t know how to put it better than that. For example, …unk: bunk chunk dunk funk, flunk gunk hunk junk klunk lunk monk punk sunk, stunk The …unk rhyme can be started with 12 of the 26 letters of the alphabet (if you accept klunk:)). Is there any rhyme that can start with all 26? ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/2 "2007-06-25T04:22:54Z")
At, bat, cat, drat, fat, gnat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, that, vat there’s half the alphabet, anyway ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/3 "2007-06-25T04:24:26Z")
Well it all depends on how far you want to go to rhyme and what you’d consider a rhyming word. For example, would you think that “debunk” would go into your example? But that aside, I think that either -ight or -ed would probably take the cake for most rhymed words. -ow (read: owe) would work out well and probably be the most rhymed if we were, again-- like I asked above, including very LONG (yet still rhymable) words like “although” and “arrow” and any other very, very long word as long as it ended in that sound. If that doesn’t count though, I’d have to stick with -ight or -ed (these are just guesses, however). ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/4 "2007-06-25T04:27:37Z")
Well, I don’t know, and it’s sort of inherently fuzzy, but here’s a large one (I assume you only want one syllable words): Aye, bye, cry, die, eye, fly, guy, hi, I, lie, my, nigh, pie, rye, sigh, tie, vie, why That’s 18, and maybe people can fill in some for some of the letters I missed. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/5 "2007-06-25T04:28:34Z")
I vaugely remember an alphabetical rhyme book. I think it was pink, about 100 pages, and hardcover. It purportedly was the “biggest rhyme book ever” (or something to that affect). Since it’s alphabetical, it should have the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/6 "2007-06-25T04:32:37Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Well, I don’t know, but here’s a large rhyme class: Aye, bye, cry, die, eye, fly, guy, hi, I, lie, my, nigh, pie, rye, sigh, tie, vie, why That’s 18, and maybe people can fill in some for some of the letters I missed. [/QUOTE] This makes me wonder again if the OP would include any rhymed words as long as they ended in the same rhyme. Because then the list would just go on with words like: Verify and multiply and stupify and beautify and etc. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/7 "2007-06-25T04:34:17Z")
[QUOTE=Idle Thoughts] This makes me wonder again if the OP would include any rhymed words as long as they ended in the same rhyme. Because then the list would just go on with words like: Verify and multiply and stupify and beautify and etc. [/QUOTE] Oh no, you’ve caught my quote in the flux between edits! That means you’ve captured my soul, or something. 🙂 As you can see, in the latest version, I note that I’m working with a one syllable restriction. (Also, none of the new words you propose would actually add new letters to the list, but, yes, on the same principles, we could easily blow it up) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/8 "2007-06-25T04:38:52Z")
Well okay. 🙂 In that case I see your one syllable rule and raise you a spy, spry, and ply! ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/9 "2007-06-25T04:41:12Z")
Yeah, and dry, fry, the dreaded “gry”, etc. We could characterize by initial consonant clusters, and I think this class would still do pretty well. But I think the OP is concerned only about characterization by initial single letters. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/10 "2007-06-25T04:48:34Z")
Okay, I gotcha. I get what you’re saying and it does seem that way rereading the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/11 "2007-06-25T05:00:38Z")
bay, bray, cay, clay, day, dray, fey, flay, fray, gay, gray, hay, jay, lay, lei, may, nay, neigh, pay, play, prey, pray, say, stay, stray, sleigh, slay, tay, tray, way, weigh. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/12 "2007-06-25T05:08:17Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] bay, bray, cay, clay, day, dray, fey, flay, fray, gay, gray, hay, jay, lay, lei, may, nay, neigh, pay, play, prey, pray, say, stay, stray, sleigh, slay, tay, tray, way, weigh. [/QUOTE] That’s 14 distinct initial letters. We can toss in “a” and “eh” and “ray” and “yea” to make it 18. And there’s the word “quay” for 19, but it’s sort of uncommon. And perhaps you’ll count “kay” (as in the letter), to make it 20. Just missing I, O, U, V, X, and Z, then. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/13 "2007-06-25T05:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] That’s 14 distinct initial letters. We can toss in “a” and “eh” and “ray” and “yea” to make it 18. And there’s the word “quay” for 19, but it’s sort of uncommon. And perhaps you’ll count “kay” (as in the letter), to make it 20. Just missing I, O, U, V, X, and Z, then. [/QUOTE] X-ray? 😃 (I hate how that’s the example of a word that starts with “X” in so many alphabet books. It’s even the X word in “radio code.”) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/14 "2007-06-25T09:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] That’s 14 distinct initial letters. We can toss in “a” and “eh” and “ray” and “yea” to make it 18. And there’s the word “quay” for 19, but it’s sort of uncommon. And perhaps you’ll count “kay” (as in the letter), to make it 20. Just missing I, O, U, V, X, and Z, then. [/QUOTE] Islay. Okay Quay is pronounced like key, so that doesn’t count. Would ‘Oy Vey’ count for V? Continental Europeans often pronounce ‘They’ as ‘Zey’. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/15 "2007-06-25T12:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Well, I don’t know, and it’s sort of inherently fuzzy, but here’s a large one (I assume you only want one syllable words): Aye, bye, cry, die, eye, fly, guy, hi, I, lie, my, nigh, pie, rye, sigh, tie, vie, why That’s 18, and maybe people can fill in some for some of the letters I missed. [/QUOTE] There’s also “Y”. And although they aren’t new initial letters, it’s worth considering different initial phonemes, like chai, shy, thy, thigh. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/16 "2007-06-25T15:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=Idle Thoughts] This makes me wonder again if the OP would include any rhymed words as long as they ended in the same rhyme. Because then the list would just go on with words like: Verify and multiply and stupify and beautify and etc. [/QUOTE] But those don’t rhyme with the one-syllable “eye” words.. At least they’re not what are known as “perfect” rhymes, which is what I assume most people talk about when they talk about rhyming in general. A typical percect rhyme is one in which the last _stressed_ syllable and any following unstressed syllables, contain the same sounds. For example, “Audible” and “laudible” are perfect rhymes, while “audible” and “kibble” are not. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/17 "2007-06-25T16:10:28Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Islay. Okay [/QUOTE] As I noted, I’m working under a one-syllable restriction. > [@](#): > > Quay is pronounced like key, so that doesn’t count. That’s one pronunciation, but according to [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=quay) it can also be pronounced as “kay”. > [@](#): > > Would ‘Oy Vey’ count for V? I considered that, but decided it wasn’t really reasonable to classify “vey” as an English word. > [@](#): > > Continental Europeans often pronounce ‘They’ as ‘Zey’. Yes, but they certainly don’t spell it that way, and it seems to me this thread is all about spelling, having its focus on initial single letters rather than initial phonemes. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/18 "2007-06-25T16:20:08Z")
What about plain old “ee”? There’s bee, brie, dee, eee, gee, glee, he, key, lee, me, knee, pee, re:, see, she, tee, thee, tree, vee, we, ye, and zee. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/19 "2007-06-25T16:25:37Z")
air bare, bear care, chair dare fair, fare, flair, flare glare hair, hare,heir lair mare pair, pare, pear rare scare, share, snare, spare, square, stare, stair, swear tear, there, their, they’re wear, where ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284/20 "2007-06-25T16:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=dwc1970] air bare, bear care, chair dare fair, fare, flair, flare glare hair, hare,heir lair mare pair, pare, pear rare scare, share, snare, spare, square, stare, stair, swear tear, there, their, they’re wear, where [/QUOTE] George Carlin fan? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-rhyme-can-be-started-with-the-most-letters-of-the-alphabet/409284.md?page=2)