I am something. Take away a letter and I'm still such a thing. Take away another and I'm still such a thing. Take away another and I cease being such a thing. What am I now?
Hint 1:
I wasn't a word initially.
I am something. Take away a letter and I'm still such a thing. Take away another and I'm still such a thing. Take away another and I cease being such a thing. What am I now?
Hint 1:
I wasn't a word initially.
This fits
I am something. Take away a letter and I'm still one.
Alone ->Lone
Take away another and I'm still one
Lone->One
Take away another and I cease being one.
One->on
So you're now the word on.
Explanation
The initial something is the word alone.
(The 'still' in the next phrase indicates you were one/singular earlier too.)
Taking away the letter a, you're now the word lone, which essentially signifies singularity.
Taking away the letter l, you're now the word one.
Taking away the letter e, you're now the word on, and no longer one.
Is it:
Postman with 3 letters to deliver?
Because:
Take one letter, take 2 - he still has a letter to deliver. Take away third, and he isn't a postman with letters anymore.
A very long shot !
You are nothing
Initially you were a phase "is a"
Take away a letter "a", "is" refers to singular
Take away another letter "s", "I" refers to singular
Take away another letter "i", you are now Nothing
I am not sure. But I think, you were (Updated after hint)
A Noun or Xoun (Taking any letter as the first which doesn't give a word $\rightarrow$ as per hint)
I am something.
NOUN is something. It's a word and is used to define class of things.
Also, XOUN is gibberish. And gibberish is something.
Take away a letter and I'm still one.
Noun $\rightarrow$ Uno $\rightarrow$ One in Italian
Xoun $\rightarrow$ Uno $\rightarrow$ One in Italian
Take away another and I'm still one
Un
o$\rightarrow$ UN $\rightarrow$ One in French
Take away another and I cease being one
Un $\rightarrow$ U/N stops being one. And, now you are just a letter U or N. :-)
You are a
bee
take a letter away
be
and another
b
and another
You are
IIII
Based on the hint, you aren't a word initially.
Take away any letter, you get III. Take away any other letter, you get II. Take away a third letter, and you get I. You have transitioned from nonsense to nonsense to nonsense to a word.
You are a
Sword (something that causes pain)
Take away one letter
Word (Can also cause pain)
Take away another letter
Ord (Old English for spear point) (Can also cause pain)
Take away another letter
Rd which means nothing
The hint:
The "such a thing" refers to something that inflicts pain. It initially wasn't a WORD but a SWORD (This may be a stretch)
Are you a
Postman
Explanation:
Based on answer by @Zizy, "Postman with letters" was almost correct. The question asks "what am I now" - now I am a "postman without letters" or just postman. But if this is correct, I think Zizy's answer should really get the points.