31 Mar 18 - 05:53 AM (#3914214) Subject: good rhyming words From: Andy7 I think the best rhyming word for songs (and poems) must be the word 'again'. It can be pronounced (in southern England, at least) either as 'agenn' or 'agayn'; and the 'enn' and 'ayn' endings both include lots of useful, common words. Added to which, the word 'again' is itself a common and versatile word, which is easy to include in a song. Any other candidates for good rhyming words? |
31 Mar 18 - 07:42 AM (#3914230) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf Squilver. Hirple. There are 3 words in the English language for which there are no rhymes (allegedly). I can do nothing about orange, but I can save the others. "Hirple" is a word that Kipling used. It gives you a rhyme with purple. Then there's "Squilver". Hereon hangs a tale... ;-) Once upon a time, many years ago... (Alas, definitely in my time, since I was there; therefore in the time of many of you) There is an event known as FATE - Festival At The Edge. The Edge in question being Wenlock Edge in Shropshire. Cutting out some verbiage, 'twas there I met the gorgeous & also completely wonderful Val Littlehales (also Gene Tudor who, I am sure, many of you know). I explained that I'd been on a minibus trip up & around Long Mynd, At one point we passed a road sign (a couple of years later, I passed it myself when it was just me driving around) which read as "The Bog Squilver"! It was on two lines: The Bog Squilver Two separate places. But at that point in my tale, Val exclaimed "I was born in The Bog!" And then realised what she'd just said... :) It ought to be a story or a song, oughtn't it? "The Bog Squilver"... It isn't, but thus I give you two good rhyming words - good because how otherwise would you rhyme them? Hirple for purple; Squilver to match silver. Can't do anything as regards orange... |
31 Mar 18 - 08:35 AM (#3914239) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST There is a vitamin supplement brand called Haliborange, which I believe is a perfect rhyme for orange! Disclaimer: I am not recommending this brand, just pointing out its existence! |
31 Mar 18 - 12:11 PM (#3914301) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf It isn't a rhyme though, is it? Again is not a rhyme for again. It's just the same word repeated... |
31 Mar 18 - 01:33 PM (#3914320) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,jim bainbridge where would Irish song be without Cork and New York? |
31 Mar 18 - 04:45 PM (#3914354) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Sol I hear there's a place in Wales called Blorenge that is looking for a word that will rhyme with itself. |
31 Mar 18 - 05:04 PM (#3914359) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Andy7 Actually, ‘haliborange’ does rhyme with ‘orange’, just as ‘bale’ rhymes with ‘ale’. |
31 Mar 18 - 05:08 PM (#3914361) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Joe_F "The Bold Soldier" has it both ways: Then he took her to the church, and of course home again. There they met her father and seven armed men. "Let us fly!" said the maiden. "I fear we shall be slain." "Hold my horse," said the soldier. "Never fear again." I dare say that adds to the fun. |
31 Mar 18 - 06:46 PM (#3914381) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Tattie Bogle There's a line in the song by "Scotland the What", since you're talking of oranges, the song being "Our Glens" extolling the virtues of guid Scottish malts: Glenglassoch, Glen Lossie, Glendullan Glenmorangie I prefer them to Cointreau which I find far too orangey. |
31 Mar 18 - 09:34 PM (#3914405) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: McGrath of Harlow There use to be a department store in London called Gorringes, but it's gone now. Myself I think there's no point in worrying too much about full rhymes. Near rhymes, and often pretty far rhymes can serve just as well. Getting a perfect rhyme can involve using words that come across as very artificial, clearly brought in just to make a rhyme. That's ok when you're writing a funny song, where that's part of the humour, but it’s dodgy in a serious song. One trick which can help you get away with a slightly outré word is to stick that in first, with the standard word coming in as the rhyme, rather than the other way. Another trick can be to get a rhyme by ending a line with the right vowel, and starting the next with the right consonants that when spoken or sung together they give you the required rhyme. And of course you can pretty well always rewrite a line so that it ends with an easier word for a rhyme. |
01 Apr 18 - 12:27 AM (#3914411) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,.gargoyle What you want to achieve is not related to rhymes. Your Poem, Man . . . by Edward Lueders (1923-2010) unless there's one thing seen suddenly against another--a parsnip sprouting for a President, or hailstones melting in an ashtray-- nothing really happens. It takes surprise and wild connections, doesn't it? A walrus chewing on a ballpoint pen. Two blue tail- lights on Tyrannosaurus Rex. Green cheese teeth. Maybe what we wanted least. Or most. Some unexpected pleats. Words that never knew each other till right now. Plug us into the wrong socket and see what blows--or what lights up. Try untried circuitry, new fuses. Tell it like it never really was, man, and maybe we can see it like it is. Sincerely, Gargoyle first Sunday after the first full moon, after the sun crosses the equater. |
01 Apr 18 - 01:28 AM (#3914414) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mr Red there is a mountain - well a big hill really - near Abergavenny called the Bloringe, and a surname which I encountered when in Malvern - Doringe, and another which might be derivative Goringe. And if we are stretching things for comedic effect more orange becomes oringer which rhymes with porringer (wot u neffer herd of 1?) and arrange can be mangled to fit! (or did I mean arranged?) Then agenn - in the Francis Stillman rhyming dictionary it offered blancmange - which is good in American English! answering the OP - anything ending in tion/sion has a plethora of possibilities. IMNSHO it depends on the context, bad rhymes can be funny, eye and near rhymes don't always jar. Take Carol King's Just call out my name and you know wherever I am the music and sentiment just make it perfect. Just! |
01 Apr 18 - 05:08 PM (#3914559) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Gallus Moll orangery - could that be rhymed with something? |
01 Apr 18 - 07:08 PM (#3914563) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry Surely name and am are not ‘bad rhymes’ at all, but rather an example of consonance, ie. words that do rhyme, but in their consonants rather than their vowel sounds. Another example would be: In the warm hold of your loving mind.....ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind. |
01 Apr 18 - 07:44 PM (#3914565) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST Communicate -FIRST Even "the Master" was more consumed with meter than vowel sounds.O https://947freshfm.radio.com/blogs/joe-hyer/what-are-most-awkward-rhymes-modern-music-history .......... Pecular....so many OF the BBC |
01 Apr 18 - 08:39 PM (#3914575) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Captain Swing I should think I'm not the first to have noticed that two great songs, "Dirty Old Town" by Ewan MacColl and "America" by Paul Simon do not contain rhymes and yet "Nothing Rhymed" by Gilbert O'Sullivan does contain rhymes. |
02 Apr 18 - 12:33 AM (#3914590) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mike in Brunswick I put the following in the Perfect Couplet thread but didn't emphasize the "rhymes with orange" aspect. From Dave Carter's The River, Where She Sleeps Professor come to burst my bubble, says that girl is bound for trouble Serves me solace in a paper cup But it looks a bit like agent orange and when he leaves he slams the door and just about that time she phones me up. Mike |
02 Apr 18 - 02:15 AM (#3914595) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 "orangery - could that be rhymed with something?" How about Tom an' Jerry? |
02 Apr 18 - 11:10 PM (#3914809) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,SpellPolice GARGOYLE: your funky feint smallfont has a typo—equatOr, dude |
03 Apr 18 - 05:07 AM (#3914837) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Richard Mellish The OP pointed out that "again" offers two possibilities, 'agenn' or 'agayn'. Sadly I very often hear a singer use the wrong one. I put it down to failure to engage brain. |
03 Apr 18 - 05:50 AM (#3914848) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Gerry Tom Lehrer might say that "ability" is a good rhyming word: An awful debility A lessened utility A loss of mobility Is a strong possibility In all probability I'll lose my virility And you your fertility And desirability And this liability Of total sterility Will lead to hostility And a sense of futility So let's act with agility While we still have facility For we'll soon reach senility And lose the ability. |
03 Apr 18 - 07:27 AM (#3914872) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mooh Matrimony, acrimony, alimony, usually in that order. |
03 Apr 18 - 07:35 AM (#3914874) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Tunesmith Don't get hung up on "perfect" rhymes. For example, Bob Dylan is probably considered the greatest lyricist in modern times but in the first verse of his classic "Blowin' in the Wind" he rhymes "man" with "sand". |
03 Apr 18 - 12:34 PM (#3914952) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST Gargoyle tinfoil and, what Tunesmith said about perfect rhyme, but despite the Nobel, I would temper the superlative: one of the greats, absolutely; ~est? More possible than probable. |
03 Apr 18 - 02:05 PM (#3914968) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 Certainly it would be difficult for me to consider Dylan the greatest lyricist of modern times, as I rate my own lyrics above his! ;-) |
03 Apr 18 - 03:44 PM (#3914986) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Dave the Gnome Kipling had a very open mind when it came to rhymes. I left my cap in a public-house, my boots in the public road, And Lord knows where, and I don't care, my belt and my tunic goed If it's good enough for Rudyard, it's good enough for me :-) DtG |
03 Apr 18 - 04:05 PM (#3914992) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry It’s very easy to be precious about perfect clean rhymes, but the sung word is often different to written word, so it is more about sounds that rhyme rather than spellings that chime (sorry). When I first heard the following song I thought the rhymes were a bit lazy, but actually they work perfectly well when sung in a laid back drawl, plus however you pronounce the word “again”, it rhymes with one of the earlier lines: I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend But I always thought I’d see you again. |
03 Apr 18 - 04:53 PM (#3915002) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 One thing that I find grates a bit is names of people that conveniently rhyme. For example: "Well how do you do, young Willie McBride? Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?" "They say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown, But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down." |
03 Apr 18 - 05:23 PM (#3915007) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mr Red "man" with "sand". assonance. a perfectly good technique. It is less punchy than a full rhyme. You have to take it in context. It can be clunky in the wrong hands. road goed - gawd that was a ruddy-hard rhyme. But they ain't gonna tek yer seriously with that technique. It is played fer laffs innit? |
03 Apr 18 - 06:22 PM (#3915016) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry I always thought these were dodgy rhymes, but yes the first is assonance and the second one just tongue in cheek: I’m thinking and a wondering all way down the road I once loved a woman, a child I am told It’s too late for turning in your light, Babe The light I never knowed It’s too late for turning on your light, Babe, I’m on the dark side of the road. As for Willie McBride, I thought that was actually a genuine name from a war grave, albeit a great one for rhyming possibilities. |
03 Apr 18 - 06:44 PM (#3915019) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 Yes, 'McBride' was apparently the name of more than one real person who very sadly died in the horror that was the First World War. But it still seems to me a little bit wrong, to pick out that name for a song, just because it happens to rhyme with 'graveside'. Why not pick the name of another fallen soldier at random, and write the song slightly differently? |
03 Apr 18 - 07:04 PM (#3915021) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Kristoffer Ross Hi, Andy, Although this was obviously not intended by Eric Bogle, I try to draw a parallel in introductions between Arthur and Willie MacBride. Yes, they were from far different times, but both had the same possible fate: a death on the Green Fields of France. The times haven't changed as much as we like to think sometimes. ~Kristoffer |
04 Apr 18 - 06:52 AM (#3915084) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Dave the Gnome Of course you could do like Arthur Conley and end every line with "Y' all" :D tG |
04 Apr 18 - 10:55 AM (#3915159) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Nigel Parsons Never mind finding obscure proper nouns to rhyme with 'orange'. What's wrong with 'lozenge'? Both, as I say them, rhyme with hinge, whinge & minge! |
04 Apr 18 - 11:48 AM (#3915167) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: BobL Why not pick the name of another fallen soldier at random, and write the song slightly differently? If your randomly chosen name had an appropriate rhyme, you'd still be in the same boat. For all we know, perhaps Pte. McBride was just such a random soldier. |
04 Apr 18 - 12:08 PM (#3915169) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry Lozenge is a good one, because it’s a feminine rhyme (two syllables), but hinge, whinge, etc. do not qualify since they are male rhymes (monosyllabic). I suppose you could have a sore minge, but I wouldn’t recommend it. |
04 Apr 18 - 12:18 PM (#3915171) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: The Sandman Kipling had a very open mind when it came to rhymes."was it his diet? too many cake? |
04 Apr 18 - 02:35 PM (#3915194) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Jos Jerry, So "door hinge" would count as a rhyme for "orange"? |
04 Apr 18 - 02:52 PM (#3915197) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 "Jerry, So "door hinge" would count as a rhyme for "orange"?" Nice one! With a dropped 'h' - "door 'inge" - it's a perfect rhyme for 'orange'! |
04 Apr 18 - 04:16 PM (#3915210) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry Yes, it would count, and I did think of that one after I posted, not that you’ll believe that. Dropping the h is even better though, because it makes it two short syllables. Now let’s see if we can nail a rhyme for purple. |
04 Apr 18 - 04:54 PM (#3915218) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST,Jerry OK, hirple works, but as a Scottish dialect word it doesn’t mean much to other people, and sounds more like a tactical manoeuvre in a Liverpool brawl. Whirlpool, maybe? |
04 Apr 18 - 05:07 PM (#3915222) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 chirp'll (chirp will) ... burp'll (burp will) ... Not much use at all for poems or lyrics, though! |
05 Apr 18 - 04:43 AM (#3915282) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Nigel Parsons Rhyming 'orange' with 'Haliorange' is a bit of a cheat. Haliborange tablets take their name from 'Orange' anyway. They are Halibut liver oil capsules flavoured with orange. A good way for giving children fish oil without the accompanying taste of fish oil. Back in my childhood they were a great improvement on 'cod liver oil' capsules. |
05 Apr 18 - 03:47 PM (#3915442) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf As I said before, Nigel, I don't regard Haliborange as a rhyme for orange. Then again, I have issues with several of the proposed rhymes for various given above, including your suggestions for orange. I don't know what precisely the theoretical basis of a rhyme is (and right now, I can't be bothered to look for one), but for me, it must one that works spoken, rhythmically & syllabically. Kipling's 'goed / road' works. It wasn't that he had an open mind when it came to rhymes (although he most certainly did); he had an open mind when it came to language. He often wrote colloquially in stories & poems, attempting (for purely artisitic purposes) to represent the speech of those he was presenting. So 'goed' is not grammatically correct (we say 'went'), but it is, linguistically, a valid past particple of 'go'. And it's a single syllable rhyme. Orange is a two syllable rhyme - 'or-inj'. So whinge, hinge & minge are all faulty because they are only one, and 'loz-inj' fails because 'loz' doesn't match 'or'. I have a couple of rhyming dikkers somewhere (the gods alone know where!). At least one of them is not merely arranged by rhyme but by number of syllables in the rhyme. Stable rhymes with table rhymes with Mabel rhymes with Babel. "In the Tower of Babel, Mabel was stable on the table." But she wasn't eatable. Eatable is a two syllable rhyme & the rhythm of it is wrong. Apologies to any ladies who may be foolish (or ghoulish! But not ghoulash) enough to be reading this but, In the Tower of Babel, Mabel was stable on the table. She was eatable & she was beatable; in the end, she was undefeatable." Is exceedingly bad impromptu poetry! But each line rhymes internally (eat - beat - feat on the second), without ever remotely rhyming with each other, despite the apparent similarity in table / stable. Anyway, Andy is being his usual Provocateur (no, secateur is not a rhyme!) self. He did not define 'good'. You might take 'good' as being a word that has rhymes aplenty, twenty or more... Or you might think a word which rhymes with only one other; job done, brother! Not sure why so many of you have chosen to get hung up on orange... ;-) |
05 Apr 18 - 04:48 PM (#3915448) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Steve Shaw The mountain in South Wales called The Blorenge has a name that rhymes with orange. I was up there one day in 1979 showing some sixth-formers the depth of a layer of blanket peat that was 11000 years old. I did it by plunging my walking stick into the layer. If anyone finds a ferrule buried five feet down in peat on The Blorenge, it's mine. |
05 Apr 18 - 04:50 PM (#3915449) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Andy7 Yes, I agree, we shouldn't get too hung up on finding rhymes for 'orange'. I've never yet felt the need to use the word 'orange' at the end of a line in a lyric or poem! By 'good' rhyming words, I meant words that are themselves useful for poems/lyrics. As a negative example, 'anti-inflammatory', having a very specific meaning and being difficult to rhyme, is a pretty useless rhyming word, unless used for comic effect in a lighthearted poem. Whereas 'again' is a versatile word which rhymes with many other common - and also versatile - words. |
06 Apr 18 - 04:17 AM (#3915520) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf Sorry, Andy. My fault, which I have attempted to correct! ;-) Incidentally (and let's please make this the last orinj!), unless I've missed one... Yes, Blorenge & Gorringe both rhyme (two syllables & blor- gor- or- all match), but also both are Proper Nouns i.e. names spelt with an initial capital. I think the point of what I read many years back is that there are no regular words that rhyme with purple, orange or silver. Hmmmm... I've just realised - all colours. Coincidence?! I think not!! ;-) |
06 Apr 18 - 05:15 AM (#3915533) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mr Red Nice one! With a dropped 'h' - "door 'inge" - it's a perfect rhyme for 'orange'! not perfect. door rhymes with awe. The O in orange is assonant with Oh (with a glottle stop). imperfect rhymes a fine for comic effect, but need more care for anything serious. If it sticks out too much, it distracts from the sentiment. I'm sure Cole Porter new this well. He loved enjambed rhymes, it puts the flow back in. |
06 Apr 18 - 06:24 AM (#3915548) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Jos "door 'inge" works better in some accents than others. I think some well known person brought the subject to the public's attention (Les Barker? Billy Connolly?), which is why people keep trying to find one. Proper nouns such as place names are useful for limericks - 'There was a young lady from Blorenge ...'. |
06 Apr 18 - 06:55 AM (#3915558) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf Jos - the temptation to descend into the gutter... There was a young lady named Gorringe* Whose favourite fruit was an orange Though she squeezed & she squeezed, Though she wheezed & she wheezed, And I'm not finishing this but you can bet it was 'minge'!! ** *Blorenge being a mountain rather than a place! ** My favourite limerick ever (with appropriate implied pauses): There was a young lady from Bude Who went for a swim... ...in the pond A man in a punt Stuck his pole in... ...the water And said "You can't swim here, it's private!" P.S. Good grief, folkies! No more oranges!! It's not the only fruit. If you want to discuss rhymes, at least think apples & pears... ;-) |
06 Apr 18 - 07:06 AM (#3915559) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: GUEST Raedwulf, you made my day! For some reason I never happened to hear this one and no, I did go to school:) My colleagues and I sometimes get to rhyming all the nonsense we can get with, when our magnifiscent reviews on edubirdie.com get rejected but I can't remember any right now. Have to write them down next time. |
06 Apr 18 - 08:14 AM (#3915570) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Steve Shaw Leave Bude out of this. Steve (in Bude) |
06 Apr 18 - 08:18 AM (#3915573) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Raedwulf Why should I, Nu, sorry, Bude Steve? You stick yer oar in everywhere else, yer Scouse (or was it Manky? I've forgotten again...) git! ;-) |
06 Apr 18 - 05:11 PM (#3915706) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Snuffy I remember this c-rime from the 60s There was an old man of Dundee Who was stung on the knee by a wasp When asked if it hurt He said "no, not at all It can do it again, if it wants" |
07 Apr 18 - 06:03 AM (#3915761) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Richard Mellish Another version is There was an old man of Dundee Who was stung on the (arm?) by a wasp When asked "Does it hurt?" He said "No it don't I'm glad it wasn't a hornet" |
08 Apr 18 - 03:38 AM (#3915810) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mr Red If you want to discuss rhymes, at least think apples & pears... grapples & tears? |
08 Apr 18 - 07:18 AM (#3915841) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Bonzo3legs Cruise fuse Jews muse loose booze !!! |
09 Apr 18 - 06:53 PM (#3916209) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: oldhippie i was far away, so far when i heard what she had done but it was not my star laid out on the horizon only half have the nerve only half have the heart only half get what they deserve out on that boulevard Jack Hardy |
11 Apr 18 - 10:55 AM (#3916592) Subject: RE: good rhyming words From: Mr Red Keep young and beautiful, it's you duty to be beautiful Keep young and beautiful, if you want to be loved. In the wrong hands that would be clunky, but it generates its own rhythm, and the song was supposed to be light and fluffy. Jobs a good'n. |