15
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You arrive home after an exhausting day. Tossing your bag in a corner of the room, you greet your roommate, who is lounging on the sofa playing a video game.

"Any messages?" you ask.

"Just one," he replies. "I answered the phone and the person on the end just started spouting gobbledegook. I wasn't sure if it was important, so I tried writing it down as best I could, but it made no sense at all." He gestures toward a notepad next to the telephone.

You pick up the paper and read the message he's written:

Gem a pellet one A just week elk urn key con S eight own Amelia vent on seal view played a Monday Louie dumb apple ay O seat oak a pass E blah detail we duh mutt allophone neigh as ankh sank dew eat wheat D snuff say rosy set mares see.

You stare at the paper in perplexity for a few minutes, and then suddenly it begins to make sense. A big grin begins to form on your face. You quickly jot some numbers on the pad, and pick up the phone.

What did the note say?
Who are you phoning?

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1 Answer 1

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17
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The note is

An English phonetic rendering of French

and it really says

Je m'appelle Antoine et je suis quelqu'un qui connaissait ton ami il y a vingt ans. S'il vous plait demandez lui de m'appeler aussitot que possible. Dites à lui de me téléphoné à 552-881-9067, merci. (Thank you M Oehm and Anton and Business Cat)

Incidentally, all the message is saying is that your friend Antoine of 20 years is calling and would like to be called back as soon as possible.

Sacre bleu!

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7
  • $\begingroup$ D snuff = dix-neuf ie 19 $\endgroup$
    – Business Cat
    May 20, 2016 at 19:39
  • $\begingroup$ For the record, @MOehm, I appreciated it. Anton helped me in the chat as well. $\endgroup$
    – question_asker
    May 20, 2016 at 19:45
  • $\begingroup$ I originally intended to make the name as you have it, but then somehow ended up making it "Etoine" instead, which isn't a real name. The "dix neuf" was just oversight on my part -- not thinking too closely about it that 10 is not a single-digit number. $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    May 20, 2016 at 20:24
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    $\begingroup$ Also, note that assuming he's calling from France, the number would typically be listed in pairs of digits. $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    May 20, 2016 at 20:26
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ Shouldn't you include the English equivalent of whatever this means in the answer? $\endgroup$
    – ffao
    May 21, 2016 at 4:10

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