Without rhyme or reason

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Meaning

With no discernible logic, orderly pattern, sensible motive, or consistent explanation. Rhyme is figurative: the phrase asks for coherent pattern as well as logical cause. Regional use: Late Middle English with a French antecedent; now widespread.

Origin

English paired rhyme and reason by about 1460. John Russell's Boke of Nurture has as for rhyme or reason, while the fully negative neither rhyme nor reason becomes common in the sixteenth century. The pairing probably follows older French expressions contrasting poetic form with rational content. The modern without form is later still. The medieval evidence is therefore the durable pair of concepts, not the exact present preposition.

Research Sources

  1. Phrase Finder: Rhyme nor reason Phrase Finder
  2. Cambridge Dictionary: be no or without rhyme or reason Cambridge University Press
  3. OUPblog: English spelling, rhyme, rime, and reason Oxford University Press

Variants

  • Neither rhyme nor reason

Usage Examples

  • Files had been renamed without rhyme or reason.
  • There was neither rhyme nor reason to the seating plan.
  • The prices changed from one street to the next without rhyme or reason.

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