A Riddle

[tinx]

Shit isn't it.

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

mungry

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I don't think the question was properly phrased.

What Superphil meant to ask was:-

"Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is."

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

howgry.

 

[tinx]

OK, OK, I get it. But I though that point was that it was spelt with "gry" and it was the third word, following the sentence in which 'angry' is the third word. This is because of what linguists call 'cohesion' - the phrase 'the third one' represents an ellipsis of the noun phrase and post modifier 'words in the English language / that end in"gry"'. Thus it has to refer (if this is 'good' English) to a word that ends in "gry". Thus, the third sentence refers paratactically back to the first sentence, but (necessarily) hypotactically to the second sentence - therefore it is the third word of the second sentence, which does actually end with "gry", and it is thus 'angry'.

The answer's language. The bit in the middle is just to throw you off the scent and cofnuse ou which it seems to have done quite successfully. If you ignore the bit in the middle the quesiton is:-

There are three words in the english language....

what is the third word?

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

Languagegry?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

This is crap. Yhe answer doesn't make any sense. Are you sure you worded the riddle correctly?

 

[Superphil]

Wot I meant

I don't think the question was properly phrased.

What Superphil meant to ask was:-

"Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is."

Nice one Ed, yes, this is what I meant, howeer, if I had put it like that then everyone would have got it!

 

[fatbadger]

The answer's language. The bit in the middle is just to throw you off the scent and cofnuse ou which it seems to have done quite successfully. If you ignore the bit in the middle the quesiton is:-

There are three words in the english language....

what is the third word?

I appreciate that - what I am saying is that it is worded wrongly - there is a postmodifier in the first sentence that, if this is good English (which is what I would a riddle, of all things, must be!) then it IS material to the question.

I think Lord Bracknell's re-wording is much, much better. Like it or not, the answer to the version we were originally given is 'angry'.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Languagegry?

LMFAO

 

[Superphil]

The question was, however, worded correclty, the answer is Three, the question has nothing to do with angry, hungry, or any of the many other obscure words that end in 'gry', it is a simple question asking you what the third word in the sentence is. As you take tests, remember this."

 

[tinx]

I appreciate that - what I am saying is that it is worded wrongly - there is a postmodifier in the first sentence that, if this is good English (which is what I would a riddle, of all things, must be!) then it IS material to the question.

I think Lord Bracknell's re-wording is much, much better. Like it or not, the answer to the version we were originally given is 'angry'.

bollocks, the answer is Language...

 

[Superphil]

In short, the "answer" to the question is liable to be any of the following words:

language
three
what
one
say
or possibly, just possibly
meagry, which is a real word!!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Try this one:-

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in.

What should have he said?

 

[Superphil]

Alternativley I am unconvinced by suggested answers to the problem ('language', 'say', 'three' and so on) and that much of the wording is irrelevent.

That would not be very elegant.

Also, statements of the problem like the one below been rephrased to ensure this these are even possible solutions:

"Think of words ending in -GRY. Angry and hungry are two of them. There
are only three words in the English language. What is the third word? The
word is something that everyone uses every day. If you have listened
carefully, I have already told you what it is."

The original (shorter) conundrum, as I know it, is:

"There are three words in the english language that end GRY. One is angry, another is hungry.
The third word is something that everyone uses. If you have listened carefully, I have already told you what it is!"

The answer is 'every', and the logic is as follows:

There are three words, ending G, R and Y.

The first is 'fuming', ending in 'G' and meaning angry.
The second is 'eager', ending in 'R' and meaning hungry.
The third is 'every', ending in 'Y' and clearly something that the word 'EVERYone' uses. Also, you have been told it, if you listened carefully.

This solution also works for many of the re-phrased conundrums, without dismissing the other parts of the clue.

 

[Superphil]

aggry: Coloured and variegated glass beads of ancient manufacture, found buried in the ground in Africa. A word of unknown origin. Seemingly always used attributively, as in aggry beads.
braggry: A variant form of braggery. Obsolete.
conyngry: An obsolete dialectal variant of conyger, itself an obsolete term meaning “rabbit warren”.
gry: The smallest unit in Locke’s proposed decimal system of linear measurement, being the tenth of a line, the hundredth of an inch, and the thousandth of a (“philosophical”) foot. Also the grunt of a pig, an insignificant trifle, or a verb meaning to roar. Obsolete.
iggry: Egyptian colloquial Arabic pronunciation of ijri: “Hurry up!”, brought back after the First World War by members of British and Australian forces who had fought in Egypt.
meagry: Having a meagre appearance. Obsolete.
nangry: A variant form of angry. Obsolete.
podagry: Dodder, or the condition of a plant infested with it.
puggry: A variant form of puggree, a light turban or head-covering worn by inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Try this one:-

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in.

What should have he said?

Three?

 

[tinx]

Try this one:-

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in.

What should have he said?

Three?

 

[Superphil]

Try this one:-

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened. A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six " and was let in. A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in. The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said ,"ten" and the man replied, "five." But he was not let in.

What should have he said?

3?

 

[CHAPPERS]

Five, but he wasn't a mamber so was rightly refused entry.