Re: Re : Irritating word puzzle.

John Cowan wrote:

> Rhyming poem with "month" in it:
>
> "The answer, then", said Doctor Brown,
>
> Who's worked on it a month,
>                n
> "Isn't merely x ,
>       n+1
> It's x   ."
>
>                                       n
> (This trick depends on the fact that x  in English is pronounced
> "x to the enth".)
And that might have won the contest, if the protagonists of
the story had ever taught algebra; but they accepted another
trick answer instead. They were a pair of poets who made money
by tutoring in any subject; they would learn the first week's
lessons, then always stay a step ahead of the students.

They decided there was no perfect rhyme for the "onth".
Then one commented "'Tis a poor language that can't
rhyme the onth in a month." Then they both re-agreed that
since onth was now a word, it had become the missing rhyme.
Poets have a special word "license" for such cheating.