I've decided to break my personal rule of not asking people puzzles that I haven't figured out and pose this one to my fellow wordaholics. I mentioned the game earlier (
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=123834
), and I have been trying to solve one instance for a few weeks now. SO...I ask you all: can you find an English word (no proper nouns) that has the letters A-B-F in order, but not neccessarily consecutively?
EDIT: Thanks, Consuelo! 
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=123834Now you can remove the longer url and narrow the page again. You're welcome
*a*b*f*
you mean like 'abaft' or did you have something more obscure in mind such as 'labefaction'?
http://tinyurl.com/4lkkrDoes it have to be in English? How about
Abfahrt or
abhelfen?
When I was in the fire department many many years ago, we were debating buying a new fire engine, and we finally decided on a cabforward design, which has the cab in front of the engine. For the life of me I cannot remember what we called the design which had the engine out front like most cars and trucks.
Nor can I remember the argument in favor of the cabforward design, unless it was that this design enabled the engineers to put two jump seats facing backward behind the main cab, one on each side of the engine.
When I started with the fire department the driver and the officer sat up front in the cab, while the firefighters rode on the back step, holding on to a grab bar. Later they required that these people have a safety harness and now it is apparently illegal to ride back there at all. Probably a good thing, because I can remember one time when I was riding the rear step and the engine went into an uncontrolled skid in the rain, ending up skidding backwards for a hundred feet or so in the oncoming lane. About the time the engine got sideways in the road though, I had bailed off into the weeds, not wanting to take my chances on getting crushed between the fire engine and an oncoming car. I got yelled at by the officer who said I should just have climbed on top. Easy for him to say he was all nice and cozy and dry up front (well I guess in back at that point).
How about gabfest? Not sure if it is in the dictionaries but it is rather common in oral speech.
Wow...you guys never cease to amaze. Sorry AnnaS, my (self-imposed) rules say English only. Extra points to TEd for the...interesting story.
Points to belMarduk as well for pointing out such a common word (I don't care if it's in the dictionary, it's still a word, right?)
Now I'll just keep working down my list (yes, that would be all 17 thousand-and-something three-letter combinations) until I really get stuck again...so be ready!
TEd's whole post had me on the edge of my brain waiting for the dog to come shag me.
I feel like I've been stood up!
been stood up
Kind've like expecting to get up side the head by a brickbat and then nothing happens.
