Questions tagged [language]
A puzzle that heavily depends on linguistic features; for instance it may concern foreign languages, or only work in some particular language, or be built around a peculiarity of the English language.
348
questions
15
votes
1answer
486 views
Stupor automobile-correct
I recentle bought a new phon. I cet the local tew Auctralee, and auph I went. It wauc good tew hav a new phon. I wauc then praumpted and wethe I wanted predictiv tecct, and the trabl ctated.
Every ...
8
votes
1answer
480 views
Why should we all run away?
1̡̻̜͎̰͍̺̞̦̗͔̣̘͕͇̩̦̩̽͛̒̅̅̉̉̋͟-̨̧̬͈͓̲̰̦̙̺͙͚̩͈ͦͤ̂̂͂ͦ̾ͨ͆͗̔ͧ͘5̸̸̹͚̬̠͕̞̖͎͚͔̖͍͑͊̂̇ͯͪ̀͠͝ͅ-̶͓̫̝̗̞͚̲̯̹̼͑̐͂̃ͭ̍͆̃͒ͥͭ͊͝1̷̶̛̪̝̺̗͚̮̥͎͇̰̣̻͍̰͕̭ͨ̀͋ͣ̈́ͥ̿̽͑͐̊ͩ͊̅̓͞ͅ;̸͖͈͖̯̦̝̞͚̄̎̆̄̔ͧ̋̿̀͞ ...
-4
votes
7answers
3k views
What's the longest sentence you can make using only 2-letter words? [closed]
The sentence has to be grammatically correct, and probably shouldn't be too nonsensical. Here are a few examples:
Is he in on it?
Is it to be me?
Ma, Ed is in my gi!
Note: This puzzle ...
14
votes
12answers
4k views
A Palindrome Challenge
Write a sentence that has the following properties:
Is a palindrome
Is true
Can be used as a template to generate an infinite number of sentences which are both palindromes and true
As a bonus, ...
6
votes
7answers
3k views
What kind of people can answer this riddle?
What kind of people can answer the following riddle?
Call a=1, b=2, and so on. What is the longest common English word that can be made from only prime letters?
25
votes
1answer
1k views
Insecurity to the Party
Lord Gray has invited you to the annual ball at his mansion.
But being a socially awkward person, there's nothing you could dread more than being called upon to dance in a huge bright hall filled with ...
7
votes
3answers
283 views
Nested Analogies
Your puzzle is solving a nested analogy, where the goal is to find the word that fills in the final blank, based on the answer to the analogy in parentheses.
An example:
sky:blue::(bird:worm::cow:...
-3
votes
1answer
173 views
Japanese puzzle 2
My name is Stack reader.
Let's have a talk!
こんぐらじゅれしょんず！ ゆうかんなうこみゅにけついんじゃぱにず。
Wait, you didn't understand me?
I thought I was speaking properly but I guess I still have to work on my ...
-5
votes
2answers
176 views
Japanese puzzle 1
Here are 3 Japanese symbols.
竜 : Dragon
昇 : Rise up
拳 : Fist
Can you find the video game related word I am looking for by using only these 3 symbols as clues?
-1
votes
2answers
215 views
How to read English words, written in cirilic?
I met this picture on Youtube. There are Cyrillic letters, which doesn't fit into any Cyrillic language I've seen.
First, I thought it is just random letters combinations, but then I noticed that, ...
2
votes
1answer
301 views
Michel's cryptic kana
My friend Michel is at it again. Today I found this email in my inbox:
Subject: おいじゃくしゃあむう いみしゃあ りょん ぎをえしゃきょお
てば おんない あきわんのんこお しいしゅう ぞびいけえ るう りゃいじい るう りょん わぐ えきゃ。お うてにょいつ うた ごりゅえや ごんをいれんや ...
13
votes
2answers
677 views
Paragraph curiosity
What is curious about this paragraph? Alright, I'm not going to make it lipogrammatic: 'Here, have seven e's!' Just in case, I'll put every letter in - ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ! So, it must be ...
9
votes
2answers
270 views
Word connection squares!
This puzzle is in the spirit of Word connections, but is a more elaborate version of the same idea.
In each puzzle, you have a square of seven words of the following form:
...
6
votes
1answer
147 views
More Russian Nesting Words
Consider the words he, mother, and smothered. These words form a series, each nested in the next:
he, mother, smothered.
Such a series can be encoded with a clue consisting of the following:
...
4
votes
4answers
379 views
Word connections
I am trying a new kind of puzzle so feel free to leave constructive comments and opinions! Thank you!
The objective of this puzzle is to connect 2 words by using a chain of words that connects each ...
8
votes
11answers
1k views
Magic Time-travelling Baktun Wheel
I have an ancient mayan friend who emailed me the other day:
From: BalajChanKawiil@google.az
To: puzzleguy@google.com
Subject: Hey!
Hey how are you!
I was wondering if you were ...
13
votes
3answers
2k views
Russian Nesting Words
Consider the words a, rat, and aerate. These words form a series, each nested in the next:
a, rat, aerate.
Such a series can be encoded with a clue consisting of the following:
synonyms of the ...
7
votes
1answer
994 views
A fish story on aymara language
Interesting story I stumbled upon:
Aymara is a South American language spoken by more than 2 million people in the area around Lake Titicaca. Among the speakers of Aymara are the Uros, a fishing ...
3
votes
1answer
139 views
No strings attached? Think twice! Which music video features a bird tied to a string?
It's 198-two.
I might be a white cocka-two.
Feeling caged, I try to brake free, from the 19th to the 21st: two seconds.
Only one thing on my mind, not two; stupid line between me and my cage too:
...
13
votes
2answers
860 views
A Christmas rebus
-Overheard at a party last night-
"First, to my French friends: I wish you a "Joyeux Noël"!
- ...
- ...
- ...
- And finally, to my Spanish friends: "Feliz Navidad"!
- Oh, and to you, ...
16
votes
1answer
3k views
What was the child sent to buy?
One day Mrs Busy was throwing a dinner party for her friends with tastes as refined as hers. Amid preparations she noticed that she was missing a few important things, but didn't have the time to go ...
1
vote
1answer
169 views
The professor's mouthful
"I beg your pardon?" I spluttered. "You study what?! That sounds like a tongue-twister."
She repeated it, and I asked what it meant.
"I study the cause of the naming conventions of insects."
What ...
18
votes
3answers
676 views
Vacation at P.U.Z.Z.L.E
An entry in the 19th fortnightly challenge (language + visual).
All you can think about since your last P.U.Z.Z.L.E. operation, is a well deserved vacation. Fortunately there is currently a prize ...
12
votes
4answers
2k views
Words that are both anagrams and synonyms of each other
The puzzle is to find pairs of English words (A,B) such that A and B are both synonyms and anagrams of each other.
For example, theater and theatre (which are the British and American spelling of the ...
1
vote
2answers
256 views
4
votes
5answers
637 views
The Framework of a Riddle
I am a single word.
one of me is spelled the same as many of me
but many of me is said differently than one of me.
8
votes
12answers
2k views
One syllable words with many vowel sounds
I'm not entirely sure how to word this, but what is the largest set of one syllable words you can find in which every phonetic sound is the same except the vowel? For example, 'arc', 'orc', and 'irk' ...
7
votes
10answers
3k views
Word with the largest number of different phonetic vowel sounds
Which English word has the largest number of different unique phonetic vowel sounds in it?
I will only count one vowel sound per syllable.
To make it more like a competition, if two people get the ...
5
votes
4answers
592 views
Largest number of eɪ sounds in a word
This is a simple puzzle about English words.
Which English word has the largest number of eɪ sounds in it? The phonetic sound /eɪ/ is the same as the letter "A" or the "ay" in day or the "eigh" in "...
4
votes
3answers
211 views
Confusing holidays
Tired of playing games, you decide to take a holiday.
You first location, you wander about for a bit, completely lost in the crowds until finally the relative you were supposed to meet spots you. ...
-1
votes
1answer
246 views
Demons' Dungeon
After winning the Fairy Logician's competition, you are reverse-summoned to a room with 5 portals at equal distances from each other. They are all locked,but fortunately, there is a logical demon in ...
3
votes
1answer
144 views
What do a House, a Garden, and a River all have in Common?
What do a house, a garden, and a river all have in common?
The answer should be clear, as you think on it every night.
14
votes
1answer
1k views
What is a Veteran Word™?
If a word conforms to a certain rule, I call it a Veteran Word™.
Use the following examples below to find the rule:
Here is a CSV version:
Veteran WordsTM, Not Veteran WordsTM
AGENT, ASSISTANT*
...
0
votes
1answer
274 views
Can you name this town? [closed]
I am a town in the state of Karnataka in India.
The first two syllables of my name means 'man, hero or a person' in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.
The next four syllables translate to 'lion' ...
12
votes
3answers
664 views
Waiting for . . . Godot?
A Discovery
In Samuel Beckett's absurdist play, Waiting for Godot, two characters wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. His identity has long been the point of ...
17
votes
2answers
386 views
A deeper phrase of the linking tongue - a Quest through the Mind of a Respected Madman
These words! --they come falling free;
speech: daft here, deft there,
in that old, linking tongue.
We take these precious signs and tones,
play them on our organs grand,
sing them in our voices ...
7
votes
1answer
586 views
Trivial cipher + some linguistics
I think that the title says enough. I would like to apologise for probable mistakes, but I hope I did not do them in the cipher and they should not matter much in the second part.
What does it mean?:
...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Where I am going for vacations?
"Yes we can"
More personal
In another language
Which country am I going to for vacations?
Hint 1:
Hint 2:
Hint 3:
7
votes
2answers
633 views
The hangman game backward #10
Hangman game backward #10 - guess what was the question:
fill in "t" - I'm common among human; not quite among animals.
fill in "p" - I'm related to things you dream of: car, money, summer!
fill in "...
-1
votes
1answer
229 views
-3
votes
1answer
165 views
28
votes
1answer
1k views
A-maze-ing Wordsearch
This is an entry to the 12th fortnightly challenge
You and your party realize that you possibly shouldn't have crossed the mad wizard at the black tower when all your vision goes pink and pale. When ...
9
votes
11answers
2k views
Self Answering Puzzles [closed]
Give the right guess in an English sentence self answering puzzle offer that contains eighty four words, one hundred and nineteen syllables, ten As, two Bs, five Cs, seven Ds, fifty nine Es, fifteen ...
11
votes
1answer
716 views
A tour around the world - what am I in America?
In the Netherlands, I am a symbol of religionBut in Germany I would decayIn France, if I move you, I am dishonestAnd in Sweden, I like to fish all day
But what am I in America?
9
votes
1answer
365 views
Youre a big drinker right? Can you interpret for the drunk?
Be gentle! I'm trying something new... I'd like a full translation/interpretation, and bonus points if you spot the pattern. I expect it'll be easy as pie so think of it as a race.
A VERY drunken, ...
11
votes
1answer
334 views
-2
votes
6answers
4k views
An Amazing Palindrome
My friend told me she was thinking of a word.
It can be seen left to right, right to left and upside down by the English, French and Japanese and still be palindrome (A sequence of characters which ...
18
votes
12answers
6k views
English is so confusing! Can one word have two opposite meanings?
Having just recently moved to the United States from Japan with her family Miyo has been working hard trying to understand the English language. Miyo's parents encourage her to focus on reading and ...
3
votes
2answers
259 views
3
votes
3answers
480 views
Mother in law is the daughter of mother in law
A Male and a Female were sitting on a bench in a garden. The Gardener asked the Male, "What is your relation with this Female?"
the Male replied, "Her mother-in-law is the daughter of my mother-in-law....
