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I am something which is often used.
I can be light blue, light red, or light green.
I can be put up or taken down.
I can hurt you, but I can also help you.
But I am never in one piece.

Many people study my kind
Many more use us frequently
But there is one sure thing
You find us more than thrice in this question.
What am I?

Hint:

In the first set alone there are more than three of us.

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  • $\begingroup$ As no one has answered this riddle correctly yet, Can you please add a few more details to it? $\endgroup$
    – Syeda Zunaira
    Commented Apr 4, 2017 at 7:14
  • $\begingroup$ Seems like he left us: "Last seen May 19 at 13:00" =( $\endgroup$
    – Cockabondy
    Commented Oct 4, 2017 at 15:16
  • $\begingroup$ @Cockabondy I'm back! There is no correct answer yet, the closest is K. Styles's. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Commented Oct 12, 2017 at 14:37
  • $\begingroup$ @user_194421 Oh well, if it's something related to grammar, the I'm out :D My native is Ukrainian. It's kinda hard to get used to all wordings in English. $\endgroup$
    – Cockabondy
    Commented Oct 13, 2017 at 8:18

11 Answers 11

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Are you...

Light?

I am something which is often used.

Used in lasers, TV, computers, projectors...

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

Light can be any color and can be divided in RGB components.

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

UV rays can cause cancer or hurt your eyes. Can be useful in many ways like tanning or removing hair permanently with lasers etc...

But I'm never in one piece.

Light is not tangible and is easily refracted.

Many people study my kind

Many kind of scientist have studied light, to make lasers, light speed, etc...

Many more use us frequently

Most of us watch TV, use a PC, smartphone or something that requires light!

But there is one sure thing, You find us thrice in this question.

Yup. 3 times.

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  • $\begingroup$ more than thrice, not thrice $\endgroup$
    – NexusInk
    Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 22:14
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Are you...

Conjugation words?

I am something which is often used.

We say them all the time

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

I think green = and, red = but, blue = or
green = and because the components agree/complement each other and green is usually the color of affirmation
red = but because the two components contrast with each other and red is usually the color used to show disagreement
blue = or is a bit of a stretch, but the components can either complement or contrast and blue is a bit more neutral color

I can be put up or taken down.

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

But I am never in one piece.

You can either use them and join two sentences or take them down and break the sentence into separate ones. Sometimes this makes the sentence better and sometimes worse. The pieces are the parts it connects.

Many people study my kind

Many people study grammar

Many more use us frequently

Don't need to study them to say it

But there is one sure thing

You find us more than thrice in this question.

I think I count 5 uses.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling! This looks like a nice answer, but can you justify the red/blue/green = and/but/or correspondence? I would hope that symbolism like this would be more than just arbitrary in a decent riddle. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 22:38
  • $\begingroup$ Sure, I'll edit my explanation to clarify it a bit more. $\endgroup$
    – K. Styles
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 23:23
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    $\begingroup$ It was edited from thrice to more than thrice after someone gave an answer for thrice. $\endgroup$
    – K. Styles
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 5:14
  • $\begingroup$ Clever thinking, but I can just change the colours and the answer will be the same. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 6:43
  • $\begingroup$ @boboquack You might need to clear your cookies ;) $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 7:37
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Probably a bit of a stretch but could you be looking for

eyes?

I am something which is often used.

When ever they're open and working correctly.

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

Pale Blue/Green eyes, and pink-eye?

I can be put up or taken down.

Can't think of a fit I'm completely happy with for this...

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Eyes help with most things but you're eyes can 'hurt you', as in "My eye's are hurting!".

But I am never in one piece.

Eyes, plural, would refer to more than one eye, typically/commonly a pair.

Many people study my kind

Opticians etc.

Many more use us frequently

Sighted people

But there is one sure thing You find us more than thrice in this question.

There are multiple "I"s in the question.

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Are you...

Traffic Signals

I am something which is often used.

Used on road ...

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

Color of Signals

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

If you dont follow the signals you can hurt or you need to wait so you are hurt . But of course they help us to avoid accidents

But I'm never in one piece.

there are always moe than one color of signals

Many people study my kind

it could be about any other kind of signala like electromagnetic

Many more use us frequently

we use traffic lights frequently

But there is one sure thing, You find us thrice in this question.

Yup. 3 times.

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Welcome to Puzzling. That's a nice first answer :) $\endgroup$
    – ABcDexter
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 7:44
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Nice :-) One of my kinds may be talking about any other kind of signal like electromagnetic :-) $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 7:51
  • $\begingroup$ I've never seen a light blue traffic light. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 9:19
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    $\begingroup$ @user_194421 They do exist, I know some countries use blue instead of green. $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 9:28
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    $\begingroup$ @user_194421 There are also special blue railway traffic signals in some countries – see Czech and Polish Wikipedia. :) $\endgroup$
    – CiaPan
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 15:25
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The last attempt went in vain when OP edited the riddle to make thrice as more than thrice which Brent has nicely found here

Another possibility,

You are a

CAN

I am something which is often used.

Often used everywhere.

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

A can comes in many colors.

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

You may hurt your fingers while opening it, once opened, it serves with the inner fluid which makes you happy :-)

But I'm never in one piece.

Now a can may come with a straw, an opener and off course whatever it is filled in with.

Many people study my kind

Tin can's are mostly studied by the manufacturing industries.

Many more use us frequently

Yes, many do that.

But there is one sure thing
You find us thrice in this question.

Can appears exactly 4 times in the riddle.

The last line gave away the obvious answer already given by stackreader here but I came up with another possibility -

Are you

Colors

I am something which is often used.

Often used everywhere.

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

All these are colors

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Some colors can cause headaches and irritation in eyes

But I'm never in one piece.

Colors are formed of multiple things.

Many people study my kind

CHROMATICS is a study of colors. Things like color spectrum is studied by scientists, different colors are studied by artists across the globe.

Many more use us frequently

A lot of people use it quite frequently.

But there is one sure thing
You find us thrice in this question.

There are 3 colors in the riddle $\rightarrow$ light blue, light red, or light green.

Improve this answer
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1
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I'm gonna try as well

Are you

A button?

I am something which is often used.

On the web the buttons are pretty much everywhere

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

You can style your buttons (Bootstrap default buttons are light blue, light red, or light green)

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Maybe that is because on SE if you press DownVote you lose 2 points, but if you get UpVote you gain 10 points. Anyway it is helpful to get feedback

But I'm never in one piece.

Not sure, but it could be that buttons have a lot of configurations? (Like hover, focus etc.)

Many people study my kind

Web designer have to study the buttons style and position to have a good graphic interface

A lot of people use it quite frequently.

Using buttons is a must on the internet. And on SE it is very important press the vote buttons to get feedbacks

But there is one sure thing You find us more than thrice in this question.

There is the upvote, downvote, favourite, share / edit / flag and more, which are anchor tag but used like buttons, i guess

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  • $\begingroup$ I mean in the text, not its surroundings. So the upvote, downvote, etc. don't count. $\endgroup$
    – user351579
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 10:05
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Air

I am something which is often used.

Obviously, we use it all the time.

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

Colors of the sky(or air). Light blue during the day, light red during the sunset and light green is a reference to northern lights. The list doesn't include black since it's not a color.

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Air keeps us alive, but it can also be poisonous(toxic gases)

But I'm never in one piece.

The composition of air consists of several gases, mainly nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, argon, and carbon dioxide.

Many people study my kind

People studying Earth's atmosphere, weather etc.

Many more use us frequently

Obviously.

But there is one sure thing, You find us more than thrice in this question.

Air can also mean empty space. There are 6 spaces in just the first line of the question.

Hint

There are 6 spaces between the words of the first line.

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You are

screen pixels

I am something which is often used.

on screen

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

RGB color model

I can be put up or taken down.

Pixels are ligthed or not

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

What you can see on a screen

But I am never in one piece.

One pixel alone is not a picture element, it's a picture

Many people study my kind

everyone who use color

Many more use us frequently

everyone who use a screen

But there is one sure thing
You find us more than thrice in this question.


What am I?
Improve this answer
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1
  • $\begingroup$ According to of the comments: " Clever thinking, but I can just change the colours and the answer will be the same. – user_194421 Mar 23 at 6:43" $\endgroup$
    – Cockabondy
    Commented Oct 17, 2017 at 13:32
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Are you

a can?

I am something which is often used.

Cans are used often, such as containers

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

Cans do have different color

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Metal cans can hurt you because the edges do cut, but usually are helpfull to contain food or other materials

But I'm never in one piece.

There is the body of the can and also the top to close it

Many people study my kind

People do study cans to have a better quality, i suppose

A lot of people use it quite frequently.

Most of the people do use it as food container (canfood)

But there is one sure thing You find us more than thrice in this question.

You wrote the word 'can' four times only in the first set alone

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2
  • $\begingroup$ Oh, I already answered that here $\endgroup$
    – Techidiot
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 18:58
  • $\begingroup$ @Techidiot ops, didn't notice, i'm sorry $\endgroup$
    – Dr. Roggia
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 21:36
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What am I?

The words I CAN

I am something which is often used.

The words I CAN are used together quite often

I can be light blue, light red, or light green.

These two words may come in many colors as print or type face.

I can be put up or taken down.

Two options here, either lowercase and uppercase characters being put up and taken down. Or the two words put up on a post of somekind then later taken down.

I can hurt you, but I can also help you.

Saying the two word I CAN may hurt you. For example, I CAN jump over that fire... In turn, the two words may also help give you the courage to succeed with a challenging task.

But I am never in one piece.

The words always has a space between the I and CAN.

Many people study my kind

Many people study words an grammer.

Many more use us frequently

They are said together by many people quite often.

But there is one sure thing You find us more than thrice in this question.

The two words I CAN appear together 4 times in the riddle.

Shot in the dark... Great riddle.

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CORRECT ANSWER

Phrase.

Explanation:

1st line: Obviously, phrases are frequently used in everyday speech.
2nd line: "Light blue", "light red", and "light green" are adjectival phrases. 3rd line: "Put up" and "taken down" are verb phrases.
4th line: Some phrases can hurt someone, but some can help someone express an idea. 5th line: Phrases are groups of words (or at least letters).
6th line: Grammarians.
7th line: Phrases are frequently used in everyday speech.
8th-9th line and hint: Not less than 5, as has been showed in this answer.

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1
  • $\begingroup$ The color phrases reminded me of this xkcd. Can I cut your arm now? $\endgroup$
    – ibrahim mahrir
    Commented Jan 19, 2018 at 16:26

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