rhyme or reason

== English == === Alternative forms === rhyme nor reason === Etymology === Calque of Middle French n'y avoir ryme ne raison (Eustache Deschamps), attributed to the poet Edmund Spenser in a conversation with Queen Elizabeth I. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced? Particularly: “contradicting sources”) === Pronunciation === === Noun === rhyme or reason (uncountable) (idiomatic, chiefly in the negative) Logic; common sense. ==== Usage notes ==== Almost always used in a negative form, particularly with no and, adverbially, without. May also occur as rhyme nor reason, e.g. after neither. ==== Collocations ==== to see no rhyme or reason for something ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === Gary Martin (1997–), “Rhyme or reason”, in The Phrase Finder.