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A voice recognition software crashes from using the letter "b", but you need to test it. You have to speak continuously for about an hour, using meaningful words, but you cannot repeat words, and you can't use the letter "b".

How can you solve this problem if no one gives you such a text and you have no time to pre-write it and you have to start speaking right away?

The answer is only one word, which shows that you can be sure to speak without the letter "b" for a long time without thinking and repeating.

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    $\begingroup$ Greek???? $\endgroup$
    – user1717828
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:29
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    $\begingroup$ Alternate solution: Fix the major bug in your software $\endgroup$
    – Jon
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:30
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    $\begingroup$ What counts as repeating? Is there a certain number of phonemes in a row you can't reuse? Or is it just that you can't use an infinite loop? Counting might seem intuitively okay to some, but if you started the count at $10^{10^{10}}-1$ and used scientific notation, I doubt it'd feel okay, even though it theoretically stops being "nine nine nine nine nine" at some point. (Also, this is going to be a very useless test.) $\endgroup$
    – user2357112
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 3:13
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    $\begingroup$ Use a Finn and replace all bs with ps. He will talk pack to you in the same way, and you will pee understood. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 9:26
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    $\begingroup$ "You can't say the letter b?" "It was all due to a trauma I suffered as a schoolcoy. I was attacked by a cat." "A bat?" "No, a cat". $\endgroup$
    – Todd Wilcox
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 11:45

3 Answers 3

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You could count upwards from 1, because none of the numbers less than a billion contains the letter "b".

However, this might be repeating words if "101" is considered to contain "one". (The version I've seen before is "Provide 100 words that don't contain the letter 'a'.")

If you happen to have the system memorized, you can use polygon names instead.

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    $\begingroup$ This is probably the intended answer ("The answer is only one word" = "count"), but I agree that the "but you cannot repeat words" makes it sort of confusing. $\endgroup$
    – glibdud
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 13:08
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Given the hint of one word, I'm guessing the full chemical name for titin, which is 189,819 characters long and does not contain the letter "b". It takes roughly 3 hours to finish. It is one word so it doesn't repeat anything. Although it is questionable whether if it is meaningful

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    $\begingroup$ I like this, but do you have it memorized?! "no one gives you such a text and you have no time to pre-write it, you have to start speaking right away" $\endgroup$
    – APrough
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 17:52
  • $\begingroup$ I didn't read it as the speech is one word, more the method of the solution can be described in one word. Interesting though! $\endgroup$
    – Raystafarian
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 17:53
  • $\begingroup$ @Aprough I don't think it is that unrealistic, as some individuals have been officially recorded to recite tens of thousands of digits of Pi over the course of several hours. $\endgroup$
    – The Anathema
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 18:04
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    $\begingroup$ @TheAnathema - true, but those people have practiced/are interested. As a QA tester for an obviously defective voice recognition product, I am not sure that I have the gumption to memorize it. $\endgroup$
    – APrough
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 18:15
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    $\begingroup$ @APrough I don't think he needs to memorize it, the word exists on internet on a lot of different places, a quick Google search can find the word. Unless there's no internet or looking it up is banned. I interpret no-time to write it as no time to write it yourself from scratch, but you can do a quick search for existing one. $\endgroup$
    – Yaze
    Commented Oct 12, 2015 at 20:08
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put your fingers in your mouth as if your trying to pull your mouth open sideways so your lips can't touch making the b sound. Then you can speak whatever you like, even words containing the b because you won't make the sound. A lot of sounds will be deformed but I think most sounds will be recognizable.

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  • $\begingroup$ Similar answer: Ventriloquism $\endgroup$
    – Set Big O
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ Just as long as you don't try and say "I live on a pirate ship"... (Getting people to pull their mouth open sideways and say that phrase was what my peers thought was entertainment when I was 8 years old...) $\endgroup$
    – AndyT
    Commented Oct 13, 2015 at 14:22
  • $\begingroup$ That won't work because the computer will not be able to understand what you are saying. Plus, you cannot express it in one word $\endgroup$
    – Javi Martínez
    Commented Oct 14, 2015 at 10:58

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