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Pedants' corner

These words do not rhyme and I object to them pretending to.

91 replies

SirDigbyChickenCaesar · 24/04/2008 10:02

Laugh and Scarf
Roar and Paw

every flipping night i read stories to DS that contain these words and get mightily pissed off.

yes, I know there are difference dialects and accents and people pronounce words differently but FGS if you are going to write a rhyming poem or story you have to realize that not everyone speaks like you.

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 24/04/2008 10:15

ah now the smartest giant in town rhymes scarf with giraffe

does that fail too?

Cappuccino · 24/04/2008 10:17

my Irish friend once sent me a rhyme

You work all day
for the sugar in your tea

hatwoman · 24/04/2008 10:19

the smartest giant in town can be forgiven. in fact it makes me think you can have a good rhyming book with a couple of stretching-a-point rhymes - and they just make you smile. but a shite one is shite. and there are more of the latter than the former

nickytwotimes · 24/04/2008 10:19

Is that not assonance? (sp?)

SirDigbyChickenCaesar · 24/04/2008 10:21

scarf and giraffe do not rhyme.
not in my mouth anyway. see there's an R in scarf that in not there in Giraffe.

OP posts:
cupsoftea · 24/04/2008 10:23

rhymes if you say the second word lightly

cupsoftea · 24/04/2008 10:23

like the irish poem

SirDigbyChickenCaesar · 24/04/2008 10:23

everytime i read the one story (with the offending scarf/laugh combo) i think of MNers posting larf. but it still isn't right!

OP posts:
beansmum · 24/04/2008 10:23

they rhyme when I say them, and I can't work out another, non-rhyming, way.

lulu25 · 24/04/2008 10:23

where does scarf not rhyme with giraffe?

Twiglett · 24/04/2008 10:24

roar and paw do rhyme

laugh and scarf don't .. but down here do

CountessDracula · 24/04/2008 10:24

err

how do you pronounce laugh then? and scarf?

Uriel · 24/04/2008 10:25

How is it not possible to get roar and paw to rhyme?

CountessDracula · 24/04/2008 10:25

I guess some people would think garage and marriage rhyme

I wouldn't!

Uriel · 24/04/2008 10:26

That would be laff, cd.

sleepycat · 24/04/2008 10:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Twiglett · 24/04/2008 10:27

laugh is short 'a' sound

I don't get how roar and paw don't rhyme either tbh

lulu25 · 24/04/2008 10:27

i think i might have spent too much time with a small child, but i get the roar and paw one because i can no longer say roar without actually roaring

cupsoftea · 24/04/2008 10:27

larfff and skarfff

lulu25 · 24/04/2008 10:28

oh i see

do you say "bath" to rhyme with "maths" as well?

CountessDracula · 24/04/2008 10:28

laff?

my mother irritates me by saying Graff instead of Graph

She is australian though but has lived here since the late 50s so should have integrated better by now imo

SirDigbyChickenCaesar · 24/04/2008 10:28

again it's the R thing isn't it. there's no R in paw.

laugh = Laff (see no R)
scarf = scaRf

oh bloody hell. forget it. you all talk funny. i'll go back to my own country.

OP posts:
CountessDracula · 24/04/2008 10:29

you'll probably find someone somewhere pronouces paw "pow"

cupsoftea · 24/04/2008 10:30

lulu - bath & maths don't rhyme for me but could in northern accent - bath & math

Twiglett · 24/04/2008 10:30

pow as in ow?

no I don't get any pronunciation of paw that isn't pore stylee

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