National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day

If you are a fan of this website, you know we celebrate all sorts of traditional, non-traditional and downright wacky holidays. In a word, today’s special occasion makes no sense at all! Sept. 1 is National No Rhyme (nor Reason) Day, also known as No Rhyme or Reason Day. While the origins of this holiday are unknown, the day celebrates words that don’t rhyme or things that have no purpose, meaning or explanation – kind of like this particular holiday! The English language has a plethora of examples.

Idioms are words that can’t be understood by the actual word or words. According to Dictionary.com, an idiom is “an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements.” Examples include “Frog in your Throat” (one obviously doesn’t have a frog in their throat), “Green Thumb” (refers to ones ability to make a garden, plant or flower grow – not the color of a person’s digits) or “Raining Cats and Dogs” (which refers to a torrential downpour – not furry friends falling from the skies.)

Oxymoron's are figures of speech that contradict each other. Examples include “Pretty Ugly” (how can something ugly be pretty?), “Death Benefits” (how does one receive benefits if dead?), “Bitter Sweet” (how can one be bitter and sweet at the same time?), “Old News,” “No News is Good News,” “Only Choice,” “Original Copy” and so forth. You get the picture, right?

Or if those don’t float your boat, how about coming up with a few words that don’t rhyme with any other word in the English language? Can you come up with words that rhyme with bulb, burden, chaos, month, nostril, toilet, to name a few?

However you plan on celebrating the occasion, happy National No Rhyme (nor Reason) Day!