This is a list of phrases made of pairs of words that rhyme. In the most interesting cases, neither of the words is "really" a word, in the sense that they are never used except in this phrase, as in helter skelter. In other cases, one or both parts of the phrase have been modified to improve the meter or rhyme. In other cases, one of the words doesn't really add anything to the meaning of the phrase, but rather seems to have been used to allow the sound of the other word to be repeated, as in even steven. The astounding preponderance of initial "H's" remains to be explained. The technical term for the way many of these phrases are formed is "reduplication" which is itself an example of redundancy.
Ab Fab ("Absolutely Fabulous", a British sitcom)
Abe's cabe (a five dollar bill)
Aga saga (a popular novel form of the domestic and emotional lives
of semirural people)
air fare (the cost of an airplane ticket)
airy fairy (flighty, impractical)
Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace, once home to the BBC)
analysis paralysis (the endless series of self reviews into which any
sufficiently complex bureaucracy can be driven)
anchor clanker (a sailor)
ant's pants (something stylish or fashionable)
ape drape (the mullet haircut, short in front, long in back)
argle bargle (jargon; gibberish)
argy bargy (noisy argument)
arsy varsy (backwards)
artsy fartsy (culturally pretentious)
arty farty (culturally pretentious)
ashcash (a doctor's fee for a cremation certificate)
backpack (a torture device designed to wreck your back; for some
reason, designed for two shoulders and usually worn over one only)
backtrack (to reverse one's steps)
Bahama mama (an unatractive heavyset woman)
bandstand (a platform for musical performances)
banyan (a kind of tree)
bar car (the most popular car in the train)
barmy army (a group of cricket team supporters)
battle rattle (military body armor)
bawling squalling
beaucoup (very much)
bed head (the irreparable hair disarray occuring during sleep)
bed spread (a thin decorative covering for a bed)
beddie weddie (baby talk for "bed")
bedstead (a bed frame)
bee's knees (something stylish or fashionable)
belly telly (a television set small enough to sit on one's belly)
bhani ghani (a greeting)
big dig (the massive highway project undermining Boston)
big rig (a large tractor trailer)
big wig (an important person)
bird turd (an annoying person)
bitchen twitchen (most excellent)
black Jack (a nickname for General Pershing)
blackjack (a card game; a policeman's night stick)
blame game (the search for scapegoats)
Blow Joe (an enlisted man)
(to) blow snow (to snort cocaine)
blue flu (a fraudulent claim of illness for a sick-out)
bog wog (an Irish person)
Boney Maroney (heroine of an early rock 'n' roll song)
boo hoo (the stylized representation of loud crying)
boob tube (television)
Boogie Woogie (a music and dance style)
boomba loomba (a man's admiring comment on an attractive woman)
boozy woozy (mildly intoxicated on alcohol)
bot spot (the user on a MUD with the longest connect time, who
appears at the bottom of the list)
Bott's dots (raised reflective pavement markers)
boulder holder (a bra)
bow wow (the sound a dog is supposed to make)
boy toy (a male who is kept for mild sexual interest)
boz woz (bragging)
bozo (a clown; a fool)
brain drain (the emigration of talented, intelligent people)
brag rags (fancy clothes for show)
breadhead (someone whose only concern is amassing money)
breast rest (a prolonged stare at a woman's breasts)
bright flight (brain drain)
bull's wool (stolen clothes)
bum chum (a homosexual's partner)
bum numb (buttock anesthesia from prolonged sitting)
bumper jumper (a tailgater)
bunch punch (group sex; a gang bang)
bungdung (a large firecracker)
busy Lizzy (a kind of flower)
cagmag (inferior, particularly of meat or a person; to argue)
case ace (the last ace, after three have been dealt or exposed)
cawquaw (the Canadian porcupine)
cellar dweller (a low-ranking team)
chalk talk (a straight lecture with no slides or overheads)
charivari
cheerful earful (good news)
cheat sheet (illicit written material smuggled into a test)
cherry merry (a gift of money)
chick flick (a movie full of relationships and devoid of
explosions)
chill pill (a joking reference to a mythical pill that will cure
one's nervousness)
chiller diller (a scary thing)
chop shop (a junk yard; an illegal business that dismantles stolen
cars)
chrome dome (a bald head)
chuckluck (a banking game using three dice)
chummy wummy (very friendly)
claptrap (nonsense; a brothel where you're liable to get a
disease)
classy chassis (a desirable car; an attractive woman)
clean Gene (the nickname for Eugene McCarthy in 1968)
clone zone (a gay cruising area)
cobber dobber (an informer)
cock block (to interfere with a man's amatory pursuits)
cock gawk (a prolonged stare at a nude man's penis)
cock rock (rock and roll music with more than the usual macho
strutting)
coddy-moddy (a gull)
colly molly (melancholy)
cookbook (a recipe book)
cop shop (police station)
county mounty (a highway patrol officer)
crack back (a retort; an outlawed football tackle aimed at the
knees)
creature feature (a horror movie)
creepie peepie (a handheld camera used for live action shots)
creepy weepy (a pop fiction genre combining gothic horror and
romance)
crisco disco (a gay nightclub)
crop top (a shirt that exposes the belly)
crumb bum (a low despicable person)
cuddle puddle (group grope and hug sessions induced by Ecstasy)
cugger mugger (whispered gossip)
culture vulture (a determined devourer of art)
cum drum (the "reservoir" in some condoms)
curliewurlie (a twisted or curled object or ornament)
cutesy-wootsy (referring to excessive or affected cuteness)
date bait (an attractive person)
date mate (a person of the same sex on a double date)
deadhead (idiot; a Grateful Dead devotee; to remove dead blooms)
dead sled (an abandoned or nonworking car)
deep creep (a stealthy attack on another submarine at maximum
depth)
Delhi belly (traveler's diarrhea)
des res (a desirable residence)
dim sim (testicle)
dirty Gertie (a lascivious or filthy person)
dizzie Lizzie (a scatterbrained person)
dizzy wizzy (a narcotic in pill form)
dope slope (a beginner's ski slope)
double bubble (double overtime; a fuselage whose cross-section
is halved by the floor; a difficult mathematical minimization
problem)
double trouble (a pair of difficulties)
downtown (the business area of a town)
drack sack (an unattractive woman)
draggin' wagon (a car used for racing; a tow truck)
drape shape (a severely draped garment, such as a zoot suit)
dream team (a group composed of the best players)
drink shrink (an alcoholic's therapist)
droop snoop (the adjustable nose or wing flaps in a plane)
drop top (a convertible car)
dropper popper (a semi-spherical plastic shell toy that is everted,
and suddenly pops up)
drunk funk (a cabin situation requiring the captain to leave
the cockpit to sort out)
dry fly (a fly fishing lure that is not meant to go below
the water)
ducky wucky (fine, OK)
dumb chum
easy peasy (not difficult)
eenie weenie (tiny)
eensy weensy (tiny)
eggy peggy (a code language in which "egg" is inserted before
each vowel)
etsi ketsi (feeble; indecisive)
even steven (a fair division of money or goods)
face case (an ugly person)
fag bag (a woman married to a homosexual)
fag hag (a woman who prefers the company of homosexuals)
fag mag (a pornographic magazine for homosexuals)
fag tag (the loop on the back of a shirt)
fair share (a just division of goods)
fake bake ("bronzing" oils that darken the skin)
fan tan (a card game>
fancy nancy
fanny nanny (nonsense)
fat cat (a rich and pampered person)
fave rave (infatuation with a pop star; a special favorite)
feebee (the FBI)
feevee (pay television)
fender bender (a minor car accident)
Fiji (a Pacific island)
fill mill (a bar)
fin-syn (FCC rules on financial interests and syndication)
fine line (a border easily crossed by accident)
finger wringer (an overactor)
flat chat (as fast or as quickly as possible)
flat hat (to fly very low)
Flavr Savr (a trademarked name of a genetically engineered
tomato)
flec spec (flexible market specification)
Fleet Street (once the location of Britain's newspaper
publishers)
fling wing (a helicopter)
floor whore (a salesman who only works on the show floor)
flopper stopper (a brassiere)
Floradora
flower power
flub dub (awkard amateurism; a printer's dingbat; overblown
language)
fluff stuff (snow)
flyby (a flight path that comes near some place)
fog dog (a "fog bow"; also, bright spots of light in fog)
footsie wootsie (uncontrollable foot play by loving couples)
four door (a car with four doors)
frame dame (a woman admired for her body)
frat rat (a member of a college fraternity)
freak beak (a big nose)
freaky deaky (very surprising or strange, unheard of)
freebie (an item of merchandise given away)
freevee ("free" television)
fronton (a pediment; the wall against which pelota is played)
froyo (frozen yogurt)
fuddy duddy (irrelevant superannuated relic)
fudge nudge (anal intercourse)
funny money (counterfeit money; money not properly accounted for)
fusty dusty
fuzzbuzz (commotion)
fuzzy guzzy (a balsamweed)
fuzzy wuzzy (a nickname for someone or something that is fuzzy)
gainpain (a kind of gauntlet)
gal pal (a female friend with no specific sexual role)
gang bang (a group rape; a gang fight)
gawky pawky
gay day (a day at Disneyland for gay visitors)
geek chic (when fashionable people pretend to admire technical
people)
geek speak (slang used by computer programmers)
gender bender (someone of ambiguous gender; an electrical
adapter)
Georgie Porgie (a nursery rhyme hero)
get set (the last warning before a race begins)
gob job (oral sex)
God squad (a hospital ethics team)
goof proof (designed to withstand common errors)
gowrow (a dangerous monster that lives in the Ozark hills)
grandstand (raised seats for an audience)
Greek Week (a college fraternity celebration)
green bean (an inedible vegetable)
green queen (someone who prefers sex in the outdoors)
gruesome twosome (a steady couple)
guru
habdabs (the heebie-jeebies; great anxiety)
hab nab (by one means or another)
habble gabble (to throw money into a crowd)
hack rack (a taxicab stand)
hairum scairum (harum scarum)
hairy Mary (a male homosexual)
half staff (how flags are flown during a period of mourning)
handsome ransom (a large sum of money)
handstand (to "stand" upside down, supporting oneself on the
hands)
handy andy (a person who is able to repair things, or who is
conveniently nearby)
handy dandy (convenient)
hanky panky (shenanigans; misconduct)
hanky spanky (dashingly well-dressed)
happy clappy (Christian groups with enthusiastic and spontaneous
worship)
hapus capus (a self taught prison lawyer)
hard card (a permanent bingo card)
hardy dardy (foolhardiness)
hari-kari (a common misspelling of hara-kiri)
harum scarum (disordered; at random)
hash bash (a rally for marijuana legalization)
havey cavey (helter skelter)
healie feelie (belief in healing through holding crystals)
healy feely (belief in healing through holding crystals)
heavy bevvie (hard drinks; heavy drinking)
heebee jeebee (a feeling of dread or fear)
hell's bells (an exclamation)
helter skelter (all at once; chaotic)
hen pen (a girl's boarding school)
Herkimer Jerkimer (a humorous name, a rustic, a stupid man)
herky jerky (spasmodic)
heyday (a time during which something flourishes)
hibber gibber (gibberish)
hick dick (small town policeman)
hickery pickery (hiera picra, a purgative)
hickory dickory (a nonsense phrase from nursery rhymes, possibly
related to an old shepherd's system for counting)
hicra picra (hickery pickery)
hiddy giddy (giddy)
hifi (a high fidelity music system)
higgledy piggledy (chaotically, disordered)
highty tighty (hoity toity)
hinch pinch (a rustic game)
hinky pinky (a rhyming definition game)
hipper dipper (superb)
hippy dippy (moronic; dopy)
hirdie girdie (topsy turvy)
hirdum dirdum (uproar)
hob job (a clumsy job; an odd job)
hob nob (to socialize with)
hob's knob (the rich part of a town)
hobby bobby (a parttime policeman)
hobo (a vagrant; a shiftless wandering person)
hobson jobson (the process in which foreign words or phrases
are adapted into English)
hocker mocker (hugger mugger)
hockey dockey (a shoe)
hocus pocus (a magical incantation>
hoddy doddy (an insignificant person; an awkward person; a small
snail shell)
hodge podge (mish mash)
hogan mogan (hogen mogen; a Dutchman)
hogen mogen (high and mighty)
hogo (a distinctively strong smell)
hoity toity (pretentious)
hojo (a nickname for the Howard Johnson chain of restaurants
and hotels)
hoker moker (hugger mugger))
hokey cokey (a Cockney dance with lyrics prescribing body
movements)
hokey pokey (a dance; cheap candy for children)
holly golly (noise; nonsense)
holy moley (an exclamation of wonder)
holus bolus (the whole thing at one time)
hoodoo (mystification; voodoo; bad luck)
hoop coop (bush clover)
hooper dooper (uproarious)
hoopoo (the hoopoe bird)
hooroo (goodbye)
hootchie kootchie (a mildly lascivious striptease show)
hoovus-goovus
hot bot (a compulsively promiscuous person)
hot lot (a degenerate)
hot pot (an electrically heated pot for coooking and warming)
hot shot (a person for whom talent is exceeded by self-promotion)
hot spot (an unusually active place)
hot squat (the electric chair)
hotch potch (a jumbled mixture))
hotsy totsy (an expression of delight)
hottie tottie (a hot water bottle)
house mouse (a desk officer)
hubble bubble (a hookah; a dish of baked beans and leftovers)
hubbub (commotion)
huckmuck (a strainer used in brewing)
hudder mudder (concealment)
huddle duddle (a decrepit old man)
huff duff (High Frequency Direction Finder)
huff muff (a braggart)
huff snuff (a swashbuckler; a conceited person)
hufty tufty (bragging, swaggering)
hug drug (the drug Ecstasy)
hugger mugger (slovenly; confusedly; concealed; a pickpocket
who embraces women as he robs them)
hull gull (an Appalachian game of guessing the number of items
in someone's hand)
hully gully (a dance; nonsense; noise)
hum drum (rote; routine)
hum strum (a hurdy-gurdy)
humble jumble (a muddle)
hummum (a Turkish bath; a brothel)
humpty dumpty (worthless; flimsy)
humpy pumpy (sexual intercourse)
hunkie dunkie (fine, OK)
hunkum bunkum (fine, OK)
hunky dunky (fine, OK)
hurdy gurdy (a portable organ operated by a grinder)
hurly burly (disordered and chaotic activity)
hurr burr (the burdock)
hurry burry
hurry durry
hurry scurry (a rapid and disorganized activity)
hustle bustle (rapid, purposeful, complex activity)
ill will (resentment)
incy wincy (= eensy weensy)
inky dinky (tiny; a very dark person)
itsi-gitsi (so-so; same old same old)
itsy bitsy (tiny)
itty bitty (tiny)
the Jail Trail (the nickname of a Pittsburgh biking trail that
starts near the jail)
Jap crap (a disparaging term for Japanese goods)
jake flake (a narcissist)
jeepers creepers (an expression of surprise)
jeezy peezy (an expression of surprise or disgust)
jelly belly (a flabby stomach; a fat person)
jet set (rich fashionable people)
jiggledy wiggledy (in a state of confusion)
jingling (the sound of small bells ringing)
Joe Blow (a humorous name)
Joe Schmo (a humorous name)
jookerie cookerie (tricking, swindling)
joy boy (a person who pursues enjoyment)
jug mug (a convict)
kanban (a specification sheet used in manufacturing)
ken ten (a lamp used to prepare opium for smoking)
khaki wacky (infatuated with soldiers)
kick stick (a marijuana cigarette)
kickie wickie (a wife)
kicky wicky (the penis (Shakespeare))
kid vid (children's movies)
killer diller (the best)
kinchin (thieve's slang for children)
kingling (a petty king)
kiwi (a flightless bird of New Zealand)
knob job (masturbation)
kowtow (to prostrate oneself as a sign of obedience)
kunumunu (a stupid man)
large charge (a thrill; an important person)
lay day (a day scheduled for loading or unloading of a ship)
lazy dazy (lazy)
lead head (a stupid, unimaginative person)
lean green (money)
legal beagle (a lawyer)
legal eagle (a lawyer)
lilly pilly (an Australian hardwood tree)
lit crit (literary criticisim)
local yokel (a rude unlettered idiot populating the burg)
loco foco (a self-lighting cigar; a friction match; a radical NY
Democrat in 1835)
loosey goosey (informal; slipshod)
louse house (a bed-bug infested dwelling)
love dove (the drug Ecstasy)
love glove (a condom)
lovey dovey (romantically affectionate)
low blow (a devious or unfair attack)
low mow (a variety of slowly growing grass that requires little
mowing)
lowpo (low spirits)
low pro (a low profile)
lum tum (a person in fashionable society)
lush mush (good food)
maintain (to preserve or keep steady)
Malay (a native of Malaya)
mall crawl (a slow walk through a mall looking for friends,
or hanging out)
mama jama
manny hanny (Manufacturer's Hanover Trust Company)
master blaster (a large amount of cocaine)
Maui wowie (a potent brand of marijuana)
May Day (the first of May; a distress signal)
mean bean (an expert)
mean gene (a postulated gene for violent behavior)
mean green (money)
melee
mellow yellow (dried banana skins, an imagined psychedelic)
mewling puling
mifky pifky (hanky panky, fooling around)
mod squad (an interracial couple or group)
mojo
moo poo (cow manure)
moptop (a boy with a Beatle haircut)
Moss Bross (the nickname of Moss Brothers, a Covent Garden dress
clothes store)
motel no-tell (a seedy motel used for nooners and other flings)
motion lotion (a lubricant for those personal activities)
motor voter (a law allowing voter registration at the DMV)
mouse house (a car dealership in which a customer is handled
by an "assembly line" succession of service people)
mud bud (homegrown marijuana)
muk luk
multi culti (multicultural)
mumbo jumbo (mysterious nonsense)
mushy gushy (sentimental)
nablab ("near beer", "Non Alcoholic Beer, Low Alcohol Beer")
nag drag (a three month prison term)
Nagger Staggers (a nickname for "The New Statesman")
namby pamby (for Ambrose Phillips, poet mocked for verses to
babies)
name game (a competition to name impressive friends; a rhyme song
using a person's name)
nastie pastie (a despicable person)
naysay (to deny or refuse)
near beer (low alcohol beer)
neo creo (a neo-creationist)
neo-Geo (a style of abstract art, emphasizing geometric shapes)
nerd bird (a plane flight frequented by computer programmers)
nibby jibby (having a narrow margin)
nifty fifty (masturbation; 50 dynamic companies of the 1960's)
night flight (nocturnal aviation; a much-missed show on the old
USA network)
night light (a dim light for use at night)
niminy piminy (finicky)
nipperty tipperty (silly, trifling)
nippity tippity (silly, trifling)
nit wit (moron, idiot)
nitty gritty (rough, low level)
niz priz (a legal writ of nisi prius)
no go (a cancellation)
no show (an absent person)
nolens volens (willy nilly; whether one wants to or not)
noncon (a science fiction meeting too small to be a convention)
nookie bookie (a pimp)
no pay, no play (pay first or you won't be served)
no way, Jose (it ain't gonna happen)
the nude dude (a nickname for Christian Curry, an investment analyst
fired after his nude pictures appeared in a magazine)
nut cut (to castrate)
occ doc (an occupational disease and injury doctor)
odd bod (a strange person: what are YOU looking at?)
okey dokey (yes)
okie dokie (yes)
old gold (a color reddish-yellow in hue, low in saturation, and
medium in brilliance)
ooey gooey (disgustingly slimy)
oofty goofty
ooly drooly (puppy love)
Oshkosh
pack rack (a car roof rack)
packsack (a travel carryall)
Pall Mall (a part of London containing many clubs)
pall mall (an early form of croquet)
palsy walsy (warm and friendly)
pan man
party hearty (the high school creed)
pax wax (neck ligament)
pay day (when salaried workers get paid)
pecker checker (a urologist)
Pee Dee (a river in North Carolina)
peek freak (a voyeur)
peepie creepie (a portable TV camera used for closeup shots)
peetweet (the spotted sandpiper)
peewee (a small creature or person)
peg leg (a wooden leg)
pell mell (in a jumble; suddenly and awkwardly)
pen yen (opium)
peter eater (a fellator)
peter meter (a device for measuring penis size)
phonus balonus (fake; fraudulent)
phony baloney (fraudulent)
Pickwick (the central character of Dicken's "The Pickwick
Papers")
picnic (an outdoor meal)
picric (a strong toxic yellow crystalline acid used in
explosives)
piggy wiggy (a childish term for a pig)
ping wing (an injection of narcotics into the arm)
pink ink (romance novels)
pinyin (a system for transliterating Chinese)
placket racket (the penis)
plain Jane (a plain-looking woman)
plaster caster (groupies who recorded rock star penises)
plumbum (lead)
pocket rocket (penis; a short surfboard)
pogo (a presidential possum; a hopping stick)
polehole (the vagina)
poopsie woopsie (a sappy term of endearment)
poppa stoppa (a smart or effective old man)
popshop (a pawnshop)
pot shot (a careless or idle attempt)
pout out (engine failure in a hot rod)
pow wow (a conference)
prime time (the time during which the greatest television audience
is available)
proddy woddy (a Protestant)
projo (a projectile)
pseudi tudie (a fake Tudor architectural style)
ptomaine domain (a cafeteria)
purple nerple (a nipple twisting torture beloved by school kids)
queer beer (bad beer)
quite right (exactly!)
rabbit habit (sexual intercourse)
racket jacket (a zoot suit)
rag bag (a bag for rags)
rag tag (tattered and threadbare)
the ragin' Cajun (Clinton thug James Carville's nickname)
raggle taggle (slovenly)
ram stam (headlong)
range change (a kind of gearbox)
raw jaw (the act of stealing narcotics from a pusher)
razzle dazzle (glitter; spectacle)
real deal (a genuine article)
red bread (money made by selling one's blood)
red lead (ketchup)
red ned (cheap red wine)
reet pleat (a long narrow pleat in a zoot suit)
reg neg (regulatory negotiation)
rep dep (a military personnel replacement depot)
repple depple (a military personnel replacement depot)
reppo depot (a military personnel replacement depot)
rich bitch (an unpleasant moneyed woman)
ridgie didgie (genuine)
righty tighty (a mnemonic for the direction of screw tightening)
rinky dinky (cheap; low-class; unsophisticated)
ring ding (a fool)
roach coach (a snack truck; a flight to the tropics)
rock jock (a mountain climber)
rock 'em sock 'em (violent; action-filled)
rocket docket (the expeditious federal courts of eastern
Virginia)
roger dodger (yes)
rogum pogum (the goat's beard plant)
roley poley (quite fat)
rolle bolle (a lawn game combining some features of bowling
and horseshoes)
rolly polly (quite fat)
ronyon (an animal with bald patches, raw and crusted patches
of skin)
rootin' tootin' (boisterous; adventurous; daring)
rory tory (dashing; gay; showy)
rosy posy (cheerful; optimistic)
rough stuff (rowdy or rude behavior or material)
round pound (the penis)
row dow (jazz or ragtime played with exaggerated syncopation)
rowdy dowdy (boisterous; rowdy)
rug bug (a crawling child)
rugger bugger (a tough soccer/rugby/football player)
rum dum (drunkard; a run-of-the-mill)
rumpy pumpy (sexual intercourse)
rusty dusty (the buttocks)
sag bag (a bean bag)
Sark lark (the proliferation of company directorships on Sark,
a channel island with little corporate regulation)
scag hag (a fag hag)
scene queen (someone who enjoys dominating public events)
scifi (science fiction)
screamie meemie (a screaming child)
screw you (a common imprecation)
scrub club (a group of ineffectual people)
scrub dub (a group that has had many failures)
Sea Bee (a member of the Navy Construction Brigage)
scud stud (a nickname for Arthur Kent during the Gulf War)
sewer chewer (a butt licker)
shady lady (a mysterious or unseemly woman)
shagbag (a promiscuous woman)
shaggin' wagon (a car much used for sexual intercourse)
shaggle baggle (an affectionate nickname)
shagrag (ragged, rascally, shaggy, unkempt)
shame game (stylized actions or words meant to shame another)
shareware (software distributed freely, but with a recommended
payment)
shit fit (blind fury or exasperation)
shit wit (a stupid person)
shock jock (a radio host famous for outrageous behavior)
short snort (a quick drink from a flask)
shout out (a message of support or complaint)
Show Low (a town in Arizona, named for a card game)
shrewd dude (a well-dressed man)
shy guy (a withdrawn or bashful man)
silly billy (a foolish person)
sin bin (the penalty box in hockey; a car used for sexual
intercourse)
Skategate (the 2002 Winter Olympic ice skating scandal)
skid bid (time served in prison)
skid lid (a motorcycle helmet)
skill drill (a repetitive learning exercise)
skunk drunk (very intoxicated)
slampamp
slick chick (an attractive woman)
slick trick (an impressive flashy performance)
slim jim (a thin metal tool)
slo mo (a slow motion effect in movies)
slumdom (slums; the physical world of the urban poor)
Smurf Turf (the mocking nickname for the blue-turfed playing field
in Boise, Idaho)
snail mail (the Postal Service)
sneak peek (an advance or unauthorized look)
sneaky peaky (a hidden video camera)
snit fit (a sulk or fit of petty anger)
soogie moogie (a soap and caustic soda mix used to clean painted
surfaces)
soul roll (intensely emotional sexual intercourse)
space base (a combination of crack and PCP)
space case (a "space cadet", an airhead, a fool)
space race (the US/Soviet astronatutical competition of the 60's)
sped ed (special education)
speed read (to read rapidly)
spit bit (smooth, persuasive talk)
spring fling (manic, romantic behavior, blamed on spring)
the Spruce Goose (the huge wooden plane that Howard Hughes built)
squaw law (a law restricting the use of the word "squaw" in place
names)
squawk box (one of those tinny speakers in high schools or airplanes
which "reproduce" the human voice)
squee gee (a sponge, often on a stick, for cleaning)
stage rage (fury, during a theatrical performance, at noisy or
unruly patrons)
stag mag (a pornographic magazine)
stall ball (defensive football, intended to run out the clock)
steer clear
stench trench (the vagina)
stew zoo (an apartment where stewardesses live)
sticker licker (a traffic cop)
stinkin' thinkin' (bad thought patterns)
stinky pinky (a rhyming definition game; manual stimulation of
female genitals)
stormin' Norman (General Normal Schwarzkopf's nickname)
straight eight (an engine in which the cylinders are in two
parallel rows; an eight hour police shift with no overtime)
study buddy (a fellow student with whom one studies)
stuff cuff (a padded cuff on the pants of a zoot suit)
stumble bumble (barbiturates)
stun gun (a gun that delivers a paralyzing shock)
sujee mujee (a soap and caustic soda mix used to clean painted
surfaces)
sump pump (a pump for emptying septic tanks or drains)
super duper (excellent; thrilling)
sure cure (a certain remedy)
sweetmeat (a candy or sweet item to eat)
swing wing (a plane with movable wings)
tabnab (a cake or pastry)
tambo bambo (Caribbean music played on bamboo rods)
Tamiami
tec spec (technical specifications)
tech mech (an engineer who sold out to the military or a
large corporation)
tech wreck (the collapse of technology stocks in 2000/2001)
teenie weenie (tiny)
teensy weensy (tiny)
teenzine (a magazine targeted at teenagers)
teepee (an Indian shelter)
Tex-Mex (a hybrid Texan/Mexican cooking style)
thigh-high (a kind of high boot)
thrill pill (a barbiturate)
thriller diller (exciting)
Thule coolie (military personnel stationed at Thule, Greenland)
tie dye (a method of dyeing shirts)
tirra lirra (nonsense words used as a musical refrain)
titbit (a tidbit)
tittle tattle (idle gossip)
tizz whizz (a tizzy, a flurry of excitement)
todo (ado; excitement)
Togo (an African country)
tohu bohu (a Hebrew term from the opening of Genesis, meaning
utter chaos (but isn't it "tohu wa bohu"?)
tol-lol (pretty good)
toner phoner (a telemarketer who offers an apparently attractive
price for printer toner)
Tony's cronies (friends of Tony Blair, who're sure
to get their share)
tootsie wootsie (an affectionate diminutive nickname)
Tora Bora (a town in eastern Afghanistan)
torn porn (extremely graphic videotape of tornados)
tory rory (dashing; gay; showy)
totty-potty (a child's toilet)
tragic magic (heroin)
Tramp Camp (a homeless shelter in Minneapolis)
trash cash (advertising flyers that look like money)
trick flick (a pornographic movie)
tricky Dicky (our late and sorely missed Mendacitor-in-Chief)
trouser Schnauzer (penis)
true blue (loyal)
tubaruba (television)
tussie-mussie (a small bunch of flowers)
tutti frutti (Italian style ice cream with bits of fruit)
tuzzy muzzy (a wreath or chain of flowers)
ubble gubble (gibberish)
under chunders (underwear)
undie grundie (to grab and twist a victim's underwear)
vee wee (a Volkswagen)
vid kid (a compulsive TV watcher)
Vomit Comet (an airplane used to simulate weightlessness)
Wacko Jacko (the British tabloid nickname for Michael Jackson)
wagger pagger (a wastebasket, sometimes a "wagger pagger bagger")
walkie talkie (hand-held two-way radio)
wang tang (sex)
Wavy Gravy (a minor figure of the sixties)
waylay (to ambush)
whack shack (a place where men can array an "underwear modeling
session")
wham bam (describing something that is brusque and rough)
wheeler dealer (a person who makes grand but shady transactions)
whing ding (an affair)
whipper snipper (a lawn trimmer)
white flight (when white people move out of a neighborhood)
white knight (a savior; a blameless person)
whity tighty (a disparaging name for men's briefs)
whooper dooper (a spree)
whopper stopper (a cork)
wi-fi (a wireless networking standard)
willy nilly ("will he, nill he", whether he wants to or not)
wing ding (a seizure caused by narcotics; a spree; a party)
winker stinker (the anus)
wizmo gizmo (a gizmo, a fancy mechanism)
wonton (a kind of Chinese dumpling)
wowie zowie (a mocking expression of amazement)
yank tank (a lumbering overbuilt American car)
yellow fellow (a mulatto)
yoohoo (a greeting)
yuppie puppie (the child of yuppies)
zoot snoot (a big nose)
zoot suit (a flashy clothing style of the 1940's)
Zulu
Almost any word can be made into a rhyming phrase using the "shm" prefix, as in "fancy-shmancy", "artsy-shmartsy", "happy-shmappy" and so on. (Oddly enough, this construction figured in an argument that English was not a context-free language.)
Not quite a rhyme:
bone dome (a thick protective airman's helmet)
eager beaver
lame brain
meter reader
screw loose
skinflint
quick fix
We have our doubts about:
Cocky Locky
eenie meenie
Henny Penny
Nutty Buddy
Piggly Wiggly
Quick Draw McGraw
ramble tamble
woolly bully
We're sure we're not interested in:
achy breaky
Betsy Wetsy
liddle kiddle
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Quiet Riot
Ram Jam
umma gumma
yabba dabba (doo)
Some words with the same pattern:
horror
sardar - a leader
torpor
Back to the wordplay page.