They’re a bit of a challenge, those two-syllable English words that end in “age”, but have the emphasis on the first syllable. The ones pronounced in the French manner, like corsage, rhyme handily with others pronounced in the French manner, such as barrage, or ’80s group DeBarge.
“Marriage” is OK because, as Sammy Cahn pointed out, it goes with love like a horse and carriage, and it’s an institute you can’t disparage.
So, in honour – sorry, honor – of US foreign policy since about 1901, I present the word “hostage”. Imagine this little-known chapter in the Iran-Contra affair:
A hostage Ollie North
Would cost a jolly penny in ransom.
We let him go, July 4th,
‘Cos he was so damn handsome.
July 5, 2009 at 9:47 pm |
Reminds me of a joke my father used to tell about the IRA offering to help out when US Embassy officials were held hostage in Iran … only trouble was, their maps were wrong … they ended up hovering in helicopters over Tehran Zoo and came back jubilant at having rescued 50 American ostriches …
July 6, 2009 at 12:57 am |
Until that story got to the last word, it sounded frighteningly real …
July 14, 2009 at 7:58 am |
[...] Rhyme Challenge: luggage I mentioned in an earlier post that 2 syllable words ending in ‘age’, emphasis on the first syllable, don’t get [...]