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Some words do rhyme like 'mate' and 'hate' or 'boot' and 'shoot'. But there are other words whose spelling suggests that they should rhyme, but they don't. Examples include: 'hull' and 'pull', 'blood' and 'brood', 'but' and 'put' etc.

I have been wondering about these words a lot recently. Is there any specific name for these words?

ColleenV
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Meh
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    Of interest: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/426965/terminology-what-do-you-call-two-words-that-rhyme-but-whose-endings-arent-spel – Sarthak Katiyar Mar 05 '21 at 12:26
  • Bear in mind you get a misleading impression of what English is all about if most of your interaction with it is through *text-based websites. In the real* world, way more than 99% of all "language" is in fact *spoken*, so in practice "eye rhymes" aren't something people would often think or talk about. But even if they've never heard that two-word collocation before, the meaning would probably be obvious in any given context. – FumbleFingers Mar 05 '21 at 13:16
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    Out of interest where do hull/pull or but/put not rhyme? Both those pairs rhyme here (Scotland). – Toby Speight Mar 05 '21 at 21:02
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    I'm from the midwest US and to me hull/pull completely rhyme, but but/put don't. ('but' rhymes with putt, mutt, and cut, but 'put' has a different vowel sound that rhymes with soot and foot, which is going to be real confusing to anyone in the british isles.) – Darth Pseudonym Mar 05 '21 at 21:53
  • @DarthPseudonym - sure is. All those rhyme to me, N BrE, but wouldn't to a Southern BrE speaker. – DoneWithThis. Mar 06 '21 at 07:57
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    @TobySpeight et al: southern BrE speaker here. Neither of those pairs rhyme for me. But/put are exactly as Darth states (/ʌ/ and /ʊ/, I think); for hull/pull, "hull" has the same vowel as in "but" /ʌ/ - but that vowel may well be a different one for northern BrE speakers! Meanwhile, "pull" has the same vowel as "book" or "foot" /ʊ/. – Steve Melnikoff Mar 06 '21 at 17:18
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    @SteveMelnikoff - All we need now is a Lancastrian with loook & boook rather than luck & buck & we've got the set;) I'm Yorkshire, but living in London for 30 years I still find it slightly odd that people here can rhyme cup with hat :P – DoneWithThis. Mar 06 '21 at 17:25

1 Answers1

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They are called eye rhymes (or visual rhymes or sight rhymes). Other examples are Sean Bean (pronounced Shawn Been), love and move, wood and food, come and home, bough and though mind and wind (movement of air) etc.

Void
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