Rhyming Rules

I really like car games. I came up with a fun one this weekend as Jen and I drove back and forth from a family party. The goal was simply to try and name as many rhyming rules as possible.

Example:

lefty loosey, righty tighty

I thought we’d come up with tons! But we only came up with a handful:

I before E except after C… something about neighbors.

The silverware had a fight! The knife and the spoon were right, the fork left, bereft.*

Quickly it became apparent that we needed a distinction between rhyming rules and rhyming advice. Rules must give some sort of life instruction when presented with a binary situation: a right and wrong way of doing something. For example:

Leaves of three, let them be. Leaves of four? Eat some more!

It’s an easy way to learn to avoid poison ivy but it’s not a rule outright. It’s really just advice.

I am sure that you, good readers, have more in the memory banks. Any contributions?

*Alicia thought to add this word at the end. Awesome!

5 thoughts on “Rhyming Rules

  • 5/29/2012 at 8:19 am
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    I before E except after C,
    Or when sounding like “A” in Neighbor or Weigh.

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  • 5/29/2012 at 8:57 am
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    There’s the one about the snakes:

    If red touches black, you’re okay Jack; if red touches yellow, you’re a dead fellow.

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  • 5/29/2012 at 8:58 am
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    And also the booze rule:

    Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re all clear.

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  • 5/29/2012 at 8:59 am
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    And from Chemistry:

    Little Jimmy took a drink, but he shall drink no more. For what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

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  • 5/29/2012 at 6:35 pm
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    A shotgun a day keeps the zombies at bay. No wait, that doesn’t seem right. Steer clear of flambé if you wear a toupée? Hrm, no. Oh wait! Don’t waste half your day with half-witted word play. That’s got to be it.

    Reply

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