The Most Difficult Riddle I've Ever Faced

[Adumbros]

Know now that I have procured the answer many years past; but once upon a time, back in the early stages of high school, someone posed me the following, which took me three whole years to correctly cipher.


There are three words in the English language that end in the letters 'gry'. The first two are angry and hungry. The third is something that you use every day. The answer is in the riddle.



Let me know what your individual take/s on this is/are. If it goes as distant as I think it will, I may be tempted to offer a reward for the first correct answer.

[Bev Vincent]

http://www.fun-with-words.com/word_g...ry_hungry.html

[NemelChelovek]

The answer to the riddle is "language," but the way it's phrased here makes that answer make less sense. The way you usually here it is "Think of words ending in the letters 'gry.' Two of them are 'angry' and 'hungry.' There are three words in the English language. What is the third?" Worded that way, it's two separate thoughts grafted together that seem to be related. "Language" is the third word in 'the English language,' making it the correct answer, because the question is simply "What's the third word in 'the English language,'" though it looks like you're asking for the third word that ends in 'gry.'

That's the way I've always heard the riddle. If you were looking for a different answer, well...um...*runs*

[Adumbros]

actually there are indeed multiple versions of this riddle, most of them worded absurdly or with inane answers. however, the way i worded it is closest to the original version, as it is first recorded in print circa 1975. the answer is most assuredly NOT something as simple as anything thus far posted. if it were, i wouldn't have bothered to share.

[Adumbros]

btw, NC...youre SN is a riddle unto itself. Doesn't it translate roughly to "Unintelligent Human being?"

[Brice]

And the answer isn't on that page Bev linked to?

[NemelChelovek]

I heard it translated to "Big Man," but I didn't know that when I chose the name. I got it from the name of a sorcerer in a Russian fairy tale.

[The Lady of Shadows]

if i'm right nemel is the name of the uncle and chelovek is the town or city wherein he's from. it would translate to nemel of chelovek in english. of course, i could be completely insane.

[NemelChelovek]

Hmmm...the place where I read the story explicitly said his name meant "The Big Man," so I don't believe it was referring to his place of birth.

[John_and_Yoko]

I think Marilyn vos Savant said it was "aggry," but I could be mistaken....

[Jon]

I am confused. Is this riddle about nemel's name???


J/K



Thank you Adumbros!

[Adumbros]

no its not about nemel's name...although i am quite certain that chelovek is "human being." what little other russian i know includes such words as 'zec' and 'gulag', zec meaning prisoner. ne ways...

And the answer isn't on that page Bev linked to?

'fraid not. the sad thing is, even though this version is probably the most difficult of them all, the answer is literally staring you in the face.

btw...aggry and meagry
are no longer in the common american lexicon. which is how this riddle came about, with the defunctity of those two words. were they still in the american language dictionary, we would technically have four words, not three.

[jayson]

I'm breaking my brain trying to figure this one out. I'll probably want to smack myself when you (or someone else) reveals the answer. Much more difficult than "why is a raven like a writing desk"

[NemelChelovek]

Oh, I think I get it.

The answer to this riddle is "in the riddle," isn't it?

[Adumbros]

no, as painfully obvious as that would be...

[Adumbros]

clue time, riddleslingers:

think of something the average human being uses every day that is also used in the riddle itself. It does indeed end in g-r-y, and the letters are indeed in that exact order. It's just not what you at first would think.

I'm surprised Brice of all people hasn't smacked this like a Mark McGwire steroid-ba....er, home run.

[The Lady of Shadows]

three




ETA: there are only two common words in the english language that end in g-r-y in that order. if the answer isn't three or one of the other ones posted than perhaps we are all misinterpreting it?

[gsvec]

The letters g, r, and y?

[leaveittobeezer]

are there any letters between the g-r-y (i.e. alleGoRY)?

[The Lady of Shadows]

he said the letters are in that exact order but he didn't say anything about them having or not having a letter in between them. but how does allegory fit into the riddle as originally posted?

[Gaberax]

Hmmm....

[gsvec]

Hmmm....

That's the same link that Bev posted above . . . and apparently doesn't contain his answer.

[Brice]

clue time, riddleslingers:

think of something the average human being uses every day that is also used in the riddle itself. It does indeed end in g-r-y, and the letters are indeed in that exact order. It's just not what you at first would think.

I'm surprised Brice of all people hasn't smacked this like a Mark McGwire steroid-ba....er, home run.

I am not so good at the riddles.

[Jon]

clue time, riddleslingers:

It does indeed end in g-r-y, and the letters are indeed in that exact order.

This statement could mean "ggry" or "gryy"


Just a thought.

[jayson]

clue time, riddleslingers:

It does indeed end in g-r-y, and the letters are indeed in that exact order.

This statement could mean "ggry" or "gryy"


Just a thought.

Don't think it could mean "gryy" as he said it ends with "gry"