Rhyme & Reason

Tiny hamster. Strong opinions.

RhymeHamster
New in Merriam-Webster
cake pop
\ ˈkāk-ˌpäp \
noun
A bite-size ball of cake and frosting on a stick, dipped in a candy coating.
So what rhymes with it?
rhymehamster.com
Latest
RhymeHamster
Rhymes in the wild
“Lose Yourself”
Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto · 8 Mile · 2002
The rap song that won an Oscar. Listen to how it rhymes.
rhymehamster.com
Latest
RhymeHamster
Myth or fact?
“Only five words in English have no perfect rhyme: orange, silver, month, pint and ninth.”
Well?
rhymehamster.com
Latest
RhymeHamster
Myth or fact?
“Marry, merry and Mary all sound the same.”
Well?
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
New in Merriam-Webster
cold brew
\ ˈkōld-ˈbrü \
noun
Coffee steeped in cold water for hours. Smoother, stronger and somehow pricier.
So what rhymes with it?
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
Rhymes in the wild
“50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”
Paul Simon · 1975
The chorus started as a rhyming game with a three-year-old.
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
New in Merriam-Webster
cuff·ing sea·son
\ ˈkə-fiŋ-ˌsē-zᵊn \
noun
The chilly months when single people suddenly want someone to hunker down with.
So what rhymes with it?
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
Rhymes in the wild
“Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”
George and Ira Gershwin · 1937
Shall We Dance
A song where the rhymes only work if two people disagree.
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
Myth or fact?
“Social rhymes with antisocial.”
Well?
rhymehamster.com
Myth or Fact
RhymeHamster
Myth or fact?
“Social rhymes with antisocial.”
Well?
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
Myth
Same word, plus a prefix. That’s an identity, not a rhyme.
It sounds like you ran out of words.
rhymehamster.com
RhymeHamster
Why it clunks
A rhyme is two different sounds arriving at the same ending: local and vocal, or mellow and yellow.
Social and antisocial arrive at the same ending because they’re the same word.
Your ear doesn’t hear a rhyme. It hears a repeat.
Strip the prefixes and social has no perfect rhyme at all. The closest stretch: gauche’ll.
rhymehamster.com

The Hamster Papers

Longer reads from a very short desk.