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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Can someone explain this riddle? #184410 04/21/09 02:44 AM 04/21/09 02:44 AM Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &... L latishya OP enthusiast latishya   OP enthusiast L Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &... I just read a riddle and I am not ablre to understand its answer. Quote: Q. How many letters are there in the correct answer to this question? A. Four. - Explanation: Four is the only number with the same amount of letters as the word it is from. Can someone explain how the answer can be deduced? Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: latishya] #184413 04/21/09 02:59 AM 04/21/09 02:59 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass very poorly worded; four is the only number, expressed as an English word, with the same number of letters as its value. -joe (four has four (count 'em) letters) friday Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: tsuwm] #184414 04/21/09 03:04 AM 04/21/09 03:04 AM Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &... L latishya OP enthusiast latishya   OP enthusiast L Joined: Nov 2007 Posts: 390 कहीं &... Originally Posted By: tsuwm very poorly worded; four is the only number, expressed as an English word, with the same number of letters as its value. -joe (four has four (count 'em) letters) friday Thank you but it must be beyond my English. I still can not see how that answer is suggested by the question. I searched on google and the same phrasing is used repeadtedly except sometimes the word puzzle is used instead of question. Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: latishya] #184416 04/21/09 03:56 AM 04/21/09 03:56 AM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Z Zed Pooh-Bah Zed   Pooh-Bah Z Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada You have to figure out an answer that tells you how many letters are in the answer. 7 wouldn't work because the answer (seven) has 5 letters. The number of letters does not agree with the word. 5 has 4 letters (five) so it doesn't work. The only number in which the word (the answer) tells you how many letters it has is four. PS I can figure it out in reverse I would never have gotten it on my own. Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: Zed] #184417 04/21/09 06:58 AM 04/21/09 06:58 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague You mean like octobass? link Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: latishya] #184421 04/21/09 10:50 AM 04/21/09 10:50 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: latishya I still can not see how that answer is suggested by the question. The classic riddle would often be obscurely, if not misleadingly, worded. Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: latishya] #184452 04/23/09 04:37 AM 04/23/09 04:37 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia D doc_comfort addict doc_comfort   addict D Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia Q. How many letters are there in the correct answer to this question? A. 0 A. There are twenty-five letters. A. One possible answer to this question is that there are fifty. Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: doc_comfort] #184453 04/23/09 06:05 AM 04/23/09 06:05 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass Q. How many letters are there in the correct answer to this question? A. Four. this is a self-referential construct, as are doc_comfort's examples. Q. How many consonants are in the correct answer to this question? A. one or, A. two or, A. three this is a variation, of sorts, on the "this sentence" theme: 1. This sentence contains five words. 2. This sentence no verb. 3. This sentence is false. -joe (autological) friday Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: tsuwm] #184456 04/23/09 11:16 AM 04/23/09 11:16 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: tsuwm Q. How many consonants are in the correct answer to this question? A. one or, A. two or, A. three You'll want to be careful with this one. You might face the wrath of Geoff Pullum. He'll come down on you with both feet and a prepositional bush. Linguistically one has two consonants, two has one and three has two. Re: Can someone explain this riddle? [Re: Faldage] #184466 04/24/09 05:30 AM 04/24/09 05:30 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm   Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass Originally Posted By: Faldage You might face the wrath of Geoff Pullum. He'll come down on you with both feet and a prepositional bush. But it seems to me that, protests of the academic linguistic world notwithstanding, most people in normal spoken or written English are pretty comfortable using the word "consonant" to refer directly to written letters of the alphabet. -Craig Russell (from your link) 1. An alphabetic or phonetic element other than a vowel; an elementary sound of speech which in the formation of a syllable is combined with a vowel. Applied both to the sounds and to the letters (the latter being the historically prior use). [OED2] -joe (bring it on, Geoff) friday Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. 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