Really, Truly---There Is Nothing that Rhymes with "Orange"...

I got an email from my brother this morning stating that my 14-year-old niece insists that "door hinge" rhymes with "orange."

Here's what self-proclaimed word nerd Hope Vestergaard has to say:

That wannabe rhyme is listed on some Internet sites. I actually addressed it in one of the sidebars in Nothing Rhymes with Orange.

Orange is a word that is pronounced different ways regionally.

Some of the common ways to pronounce orange:

• OR -(un)j,
• OR-(in)j,
• ORNJ
• or, if you're in New Jersey: "R"-(en)j. (no apparent vowels at all!)
  

The difference between orange and door hinge is that the I in hinge is pronounced, while the vowel in orange's second syllable, no matter where you live, is not pronounced. (Orange doesn't rhyme with grunge, either, for the same reason).

So--it's a near rhyme. Legit only in an emergency or to purposely create dissonance.

So there you have it, Maddie!

New Book for Rhymers: Nothing Rhymes with Orange...

What do you get when you add a slate of fun and helpful articles on aspects of craft to a good rhyming dictionary? You get Nothing Rhymes with Orange which is a modern update of the classic Capricorn Rhyming Dictionary by children's author (and frequent CWIM contributor) Hope Vestergaard. The book, which will be released November 4, has a great cover and cool new features including:

• Close, But no Cigar: Near Rhymes vs. True Rhymes
• Partners in Rhyme: Polishing Your Poetry
• All Stressed Out? How to Use Meter
• You Say Poe-tay-toe, I Say Poe-tah-toe: Regional Dialect in Rhyme
• Nothing Rhymes with Orange: Near Rhymes vs. Non-Rhymes
• Blinded By The Light: Avoiding Misheard Song Lyrics

From the cover blurb:

Whether you’re a poet looking to complete your rhyming epic, a song-writer composing your next Top 40 hit, a children’s writer penning the perfect board book, or a word geek who loves browsing language references, you’ve found the right book.

Nothing Rhymes with Orange...helps anyone looking for a rhyme find exactly the right word-–right at their fingertips. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover easy-to-reference rhymes, as well as sample phonetic spellings to indicate how each group of words should be pronounced and a rhyming sounds cross-reference to help less phonetic folks navigate. Nothing Rhymes with Orange will help you hone your craft along the way.

Says Perigee editor Meg Leder: “I was so excited to work with Hope, because she took a previously old-fashioned reference and streamlined it for the modern audience, making it very useful for today’s rhymers. Plus, she knows her rhyming stuff! The book was in great hands.”