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I was hiking in the desert this weekend and saw two people coming the other way. We nodded and smiled as we passed, and, as sometimes happens in these situations, I overheard a snippet of their conversation.

Person 1: Granite is not nice.

Person 2: I think granite is lovely.

Person 1: Me too.

I couldn't make head or tail of this. What could they possibly mean.

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3 Answers 3

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Person 1 is taunting Person 2 for

Having a less thorough understanding of Geology, via the phrase Granite is not Gneiss (a metamorphic rock that is sometimes formed from Granite) Person 2 is reasonably confused by the homophone, and even more confused by Person 1's response.

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  • $\begingroup$ Huh. I always that it was pronounced like the French city. $\endgroup$ Apr 17, 2017 at 4:56
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What you didn't hear:

The actual beginning of Person 1's first statement.

Person 1: Some people think granite is not nice.

Person 2: I think granite is lovely.

Person 1: Me too.

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  • $\begingroup$ The wordplay tag means that there is wordplay, this is just modifying the snippet, not playing with its words at all. $\endgroup$
    – EKons
    Apr 16, 2017 at 21:13
  • $\begingroup$ @ΈρικΚωνσταντόπουλος Of course it is: It's reinterpreting the first "sentence" as a content clause! Wowee! $\endgroup$
    – Sneftel
    Apr 16, 2017 at 21:17
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I believe they were talking about what a great rock granite is for climbing. Because its good weathering, the diverse challenges and degrees of difficulty it poses for a climber, it is considered one of the best kind of rocks for climbing.

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