New York Times – The Answer Wall

Read all the [?] in today's New York Times. Is this a false rhyme? — Read all the [?] in today’s New York Times. Is this a false rhyme?

Yes. Of a sort. It is obviously not a perfect rhyme, which means it falls into the category of imperfect rhymes – for which there are many names (false rhyme, slant rhyme, near rhyme, etc.). Depending on how the lines are arranged, it could also be an internal rhyme. Not to judge anyone’s artistic abilities, but as a rhyme goes, this one seems to be a stretch. “By lines” has two syllables and the consonant before the rhyme is different from “New York Times”. You wind up having to speed up “New York” and stressing the word “York” awkwardly in order to make the meter work.

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.