Many of us know that "brown bread" is Cockney rhyming slang for dead, "china plate" for mate, and "bubble bath" for laugh. But how many know the meaning of the phrases? The historic native wit of this ...

Rhyme thrives at both poles of literature. It is the material of a greeting card—“Roses are red / Violets are blue / Sugar is sweet / And so are you”—and the high-tragic language of Racine. Rhyme ...

The way we talk and chatter really seems to matter. If our words are a delight, people think that we are right. You might shudder at my clumsy attempt at poetry above, but research suggests that there ...