Nothing Rhymes With Nothing

By: Wanda Campbell

It’s said that there is no word that rhymes with orange. Rhyming can be a bit controversial because sometimes rhymes depend on pronunciation, accent, and whether you use multiple words. For example, you can force orange to rhyme with door hinge, but what most people expect is a perfect rhyme.

A perfect rhyme is one that occurs between words like trickle and pickle. They are perfect rhymes because the final stressed vowel sound and all the sounds afterwards are identical. The word identical doesn’t rhyme with pickle or trickle because even though they all end with the sound “ickle” the stressed pronunciation is in the wrong place for identical. In order for it to rhyme, you would have to pronounce it “I’-den-TICK-ul.”

With that in mind, orange does have a perfect rhyme. The word just happens to be extremely obscure. Blorenge is a prominent hill which overlooks the valley of the River Usk in Monmouthshire, southeast Wales. Silver which is also widely considered to have no rhyming word, also has its perfect rhyme; a chilver is a female lamb.

But even if these words didn’t have a rhyme, it wouldn’t make them special. Sure, monosyllabic words tend to rhyme with other words. It’s believed that there are only about 100 single syllable words that have no rhyme. Words like wolf, sixth, depth, and filmed. But when you consider words of all lengths, it has been calculated that most English words don’t rhyme with anything. Words like comment, husband, sandwich, liquid, penguin, chimney, and empty all have no rhyming word. And of course, nothing rhymes with nothing.

What is next?

November 1 – Friday Night Movies: Special Effects of the 20th Century, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
With the release of the new Joker movie, now is the time to look back on The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) reinvented a classic Batman villain and won him rave reviews from critics. The film was the second of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, falling between Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). We will talk about Nolan’s use of special effects in the film.

November 8 – Community Breakfast with Michael Durant, 8:30 to 10 a.m.
Please join us for a Community Breakfast featuring Michael J. Durant, CW4 (Retired). Durant is best known for his experience during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, where he was shot down and held as a prisoner of war by hostile Somali militia for 11 days. His injuries included gunshot wounds and broken bones in his back, leg, and face. His prisoner-of-war image was broadcast on television and media outlets around the world, as well as on the cover of Time, US News and World Report, and Newsweek. His story is recounted in the best-selling book by Mark Bowden and also inspired the Academy Award winning film, Black Hawk Down. His conduct during captivity now serves as a benchmark for today’s military. Durant served for more than 22 years in the Army, 13 years as a Night Stalker, and accumulated over 3,700 flight hours. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, 3 Air Medals, Prisoner-of-War Medal, and numerous other honors and achievements. He is currently the president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Solutions.
By: Wanda Campbell
Center for Lifelong Learning – 121 South Marion Street, Athens, AL 35611 – 256-233-8262