Talk:List of English words without rhymes/Archive 2

Wolf
In the North of England, "gulf" rhymes with "wolf". Epa101 (talk) 03:13, 28 May 2010 (UTC) "Gulf" rhymes with "wolf" in the US too (at least here in the northeast). And "golf" sometimes. 68.63.95.177 (talk) 01:44, 29 May 2010 (UTC)

I think they should both be removed from the list then. Epa101 (talk) 07:50, 7 June 2010 (UTC)


 * No, we go by RP. And even in GA they are not rhymes. — kwami (talk) 08:17, 7 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Is in accordance with NPOV to be based on RP? That's only spoken by about 0.01% of English-speakers worldwide.  Epa101 (talk) 18:46, 9 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Sure. What would you base it on? The list is dependent on which dialect we choose, and the original ref'd list was based on RP. "Friend" rhymes with "pin" if you choose the right dialect. We'd have angst - thanks, breadth - meth, fifth - with, glimpsed - wimps. That doesn't help much. — kwami (talk) 22:48, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

What was the original reference(s)? I can understand why it would be impractical to exclude words if they have a rhyme in the dialect of a small area, but something like gulf-wolf is widespread: half of England and a large area of Ireland say these words as rhymes. That's more than one dialect: I'd estimate 30 million people. Personally, I'd allow a word to have a rhyme in one dialect-area to prevent gutting the article, but would exclude those that have rhymes in more than one dialect. Epa101 (talk) 18:21, 10 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Footnote 9, 'Refractory Rhymes'. They gave pork as refractory, which it only is in very conservative RP. I started with their list of 55 or so, and removed words I could find a rhyme for in the OED. We may have added a monosyllabic rhyme or two, but only if verified in the OED.
 * Quite a few of these words rhyme for me as well. There are probably also 30 million people who rhyme angst and thanks. How would we determine which words were rhymed by enough people to be removed from the article? How would we ever settle an argument over whether a word has a rhyme or not, when someone comes here and insists that it rhymes for them, and that should be good enough?
 * If you rhyme gulf and wolf, do you also make the fur-fir-fern distinction? That might introduce some new refractory rhymes. — kwami (talk) 19:28, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Ok, I see your point, forget about it. I don't make the fur-fir-fern distinction. I think that's confined to Ireland and Scotland. Epa101 (talk) 18:26, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Sorry for digging up such an old thread, but I was wondering about "folf"/"pholph", a fictional animal that is a cross between a fox and a wolf, which appears in the furry fandom. Would this count or is it too obscure? Link to WikiFur ISD (talk) 11:31, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Purple
Purple does in fact have a rhyme, Hirple, ref: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561509841/hirple.html I'll leave it to somone else to validate this and update the main page.

I've also read a poem which was specifically written to spite the purple-naysayers, where it was rhymed with "burp'll" (contraction of "burp will"). But I don't recall where I read this.


 * Burp'll is not strictly one word, so it doesn't count :) SGGH speak! 22:12, 16 June 2007 (UTC)
 * That poem that uses “burp’ll” is in the book Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar. It’s featured in the third chapter, “Poetry”. Without having looked up the words, I think the poem goes like this: “The baby is crying / His face is turning purple. / What’ll cure him? / I bet a burp’ll.” – Rory O&#39;Kane (talk) 02:51, 14 January 2021 (UTC)
 * That poem that uses “burp’ll” is in the book Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar. It’s featured in the third chapter, “Poetry”. Without having looked up the words, I think the poem goes like this: “The baby is crying / His face is turning purple. / What’ll cure him? / I bet a burp’ll.” – Rory O&#39;Kane (talk) 02:51, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Purple rhymes with people.


 * What about empurple? It's mentioned by Merriam Webster's Rhyming Dictionary. -- 213.6.22.41 (talk) 23:13, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Purple rhymes with qurple.

Please cite a reference for qurple.

And what about turtle, and circle? --92.249.158.93 (talk) 18:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

I don't know how or where to add this, but it seems noteworthy to include the fact that Roger Miller rhymed purple using poetic license in his song "Dang Me". "Roses are red, and violets are purple. Sugar's sweet and so's maple syrple." Steve8394 (talk) 02:42, 19 September 2014 (UTC)