rhyme or reason
(Redirected from without rhyme or reason)
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editCalque of Middle French n'y avoir ryme ne raison (Eustache Deschamps), attributed to the poet Edmund Spenser in a conversation with Queen Elizabeth I.[1] (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
Pronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
edit- (idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) Logic; common sense.
- Prices vary considerably from one town to another with no apparent rhyme or reason.
- He would often fly into an unexpected rage without rhyme or reason.
Usage notes
edit- Almost always used in a negative form, particularly with no and, adverbially, without. May also occur as rhyme nor reason, e.g. after neither.
Translations
editlogic or common sense
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References
editFurther reading
edit- Gary Martin (1997–) “Rhyme or reason”, in The Phrase Finder.