That's icky ... .

Ick.

Though it's not a word as such, it's an expression we all know.

An "exclamation used to express disgust" -- that's according to the Oxford American. (It's in the dictionary, so I guess some might say that makes it a word.)

Now, think of how many famous rhyming poems you know right off the top of your head that use -ick as a rhyme sound.

OK, get an anthology and look through it. See how many you find rhyming -ick.

Not having an anthology to hand, I'll stick my neck out and say, "not many." (I'm sure when I do check, I'll be somewhat surprised. But I'll welcome that.)

My point is that just because a word rhymes doesn't make it a good one. "Euphony" -- yes, that's part of what I mean. But also, "association" -- that is, what the reader is likely to associate with the word or the sound itself, if anything.

Sick, trick, flick, pick, slick, stick, kick, d--- , chick, brick, lick, hick, quick, tick, wick and ... yick (OK, not a word). Et cetera.

Clique, pique, meek, sleek, reek, geek, creek, etc. for slant rhymes.

See what I mean? If you're not going for overall humorous effect or satiric bite, you're going to have to justify using that rhyme sound somehow. And there might be very good reasons, beyond the two I've mentioned. But they're probably going to need to be specific.

There are other sounds in this category, BTW. I've just picked (ouch!) an obvious one.

And, there are ways to get away with using some of them, if necessary. Maybe I'll get into that another day.

P.S.: If you look at this post carefully, (including the title), you'll spot two easy "get-arounds."