Technobabble I
The following are colloquialisms/idioms written in their literal form. Try to find all four.
Example: A Panthera Pardus is incapable of altering its texture. (A leopard can't change its spots)
1. Revert to the first quadrilateral of equal sides and angles.
2. One suffering from Macular Degeneration guiding one with less than 1/10 of normal vision.
3. Restrain your multiple Equus caballus.
4. The writing utensil containing small amounts of ink is more puissant than the iron hand-held weapon.
Answer
1. Back to Square One--A term meaning to go back to the beginning, or the original idea.
2. Blind leading the blind--Term which means the person in charge knows no more than the person or people he is leading.
3. Hold your Horses--Meaning be patient and to wait.
4. The pen is mightier than the sword--A phrase that means you can get more accomplished by solving your problems in a calm way, than resorting to violence.
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Comments
umhlobo  
May 12, 2005
| Lots of fun, not difficult. These teasers are great, bring 'em on!  |
Ozymandias
May 12, 2005
| Easy, but fun!  |
markmonnin  
May 12, 2005
| Awesome! I got them all |
sueintexas
May 12, 2005
| Easy and entertaining  |
renae 
May 12, 2005
| Nice one! A great way to start the day! I actually know people who speak like that, so I got them!!! |
Maimai
May 12, 2005
| I'm so smart.. I couldn't get any of 'em, except #4. That's odd.. (not really...) Anyway, make more! That was fun! Thinking.. that...#1 was a triangle... for pool... gah... |
iluvkip
May 14, 2005
|  that was hard! at least i think it was! it was fun though you should make more! |
Javian
May 20, 2005
| great teaser! easy and fun! |
kgripp
Jun 14, 2005
| That was great. Thanks!! |
(user deleted)
Jun 14, 2005
| Those were really good !!!! Thanks  |
Evolution682
Jun 14, 2005
| I would of liked a few hard ones in there, but they were fun all in all |
dogboy
Jun 14, 2005
| i missed the 2nd one but after i saw the answer it made sense and i thought the 4th was too easy as soon as i saw writing utensil i knew the answer..overall a good teaser |
tequila_roze
Jun 14, 2005
| call me stupid, but tha only one i got was tha horse one.. |
wolfy68
Jun 14, 2005
| Easy, but fun and the simple maxims were beautifully rewritten by you! More, please and Thanks!  |
Darveed
Jun 14, 2005
| i didn't get #3, but after reading the answer equ-whatever was blatantly horses. *slaps head* |
deadeye823
Jun 14, 2005
| Hard one, but good! |
mikeydoo
Jun 14, 2005
| apex of the pile!  |
MESNDBLUES
Jun 14, 2005
| too simple. btw, my answer to yesterdays "sinking row boat"...FIX THE LEAK!!! |
skimela
Jun 14, 2005
| simple but fun! |
Kukmiester
Jun 14, 2005
| Great teaser!!!! That was alot of fun and there should be more like it! Thanks!!!! |
autumnparalegal
Jun 14, 2005
| I guess I need to brush up on my language skills a little bit. I got 1 and 4, and I kinda got 2, but not quite. I was thinking something along the lines of "hindsight is 20/20." I was off, but it was a good teaser, I liked it a lot. You should really do some more. |
caleenda85
Jun 14, 2005
| That was great! I got stuck on #3. Over all very cute |
JCDuncan
Jun 14, 2005
| not really challenging enough to be fun, but a good idea. More latin might have made it more difficult. |
Aarghonauts
Jun 14, 2005
| I thought I'd get them all but I missed one. Dang. Guess you shouldn't "ennumerate one's incipient chickens prior to their self-liberation by pecking with their beaks from the inside"  |
patellison42
Jun 14, 2005
| I got all of them but hold your horses...Those were fun! |
PCDguitar
Jun 14, 2005
| these r really fun teasers it was a good way 4 me to test the stupid names i no 4 stuff great teezer |
redneck_woman
Jun 14, 2005
| I got them all but #1, but I was on the right track thinking "back to the drawing board". 
This was a fun one, and like everyone else, I say MORE PLEASE! |
court1579
Jun 14, 2005
| It's hard enough to stump the world genuis! |
tamjp
Jun 14, 2005
| Very clever, intelligent and FUN! I thought they were pretty easy and got cocky and snap guessed that #3 was "hold your tongue" Got the rest.
More of these please |
FeaerFactorY666
Jun 14, 2005
| This was a great teaser!! I even knew some of them!! |
plain17jane
Jun 14, 2005
| wow im not good at thoughs at all.lol. oh well its the summer. if i new thoughs thing s i might have ben better at them. |
mzbhavin
Jun 14, 2005
| I got all 4,but not because they were easy. Well done,good job,do more. |
LIL_envy_GIRL
Jun 14, 2005
| ya im kinda stupid so...  these are really cool the make me want to learn more so im not so clueless then they get me sad cause im not as smart as all of you guys  BUT PLEASE MAKE MORE..I LIKE TO LEARN AND LAUGH AT MYSELF |
Frogtvjr
Jun 14, 2005
| Very well done, I would like to see more. |
CPlusPlusMan
Jun 15, 2005
| I have made more! http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/teaser.php?id=23058 and http://www.braingle.com/brainteasers/teaser.php?id=23527
By the way, does HTML work on these comments? |
horse_luver
Jun 15, 2005
| Cute and fun, got all but #4 (don't know the expression). I got "a pen is more powerful than....?" Anyway, thanks for that! |
riddlelover
Jun 17, 2005
| I got the one...Very funny! |
OldChinaHand
Jun 15, 2006
| Enjoyable exercise. |
rhmaustin
Jun 15, 2006
| Got 'em all. But technically, they're not colloquialisms or idioms, they're aphorisms -- classic sayings. But no quibbling, they were enjoyable. Thanks. |
syracuse945
Jun 15, 2006
| nys... very clever... i only got, lyk, haf of m cuz it's l8 n i want 2 sleep... well, th@'s my xcuse... haha... good job! |
marschie
Jun 15, 2006
| Much too easy -- even I got them all! |
azbee123
Jun 15, 2006
| i didnt get the blind one... but it was really fun!!! |
temisho
Jun 15, 2006
| way to tired to think about one like that! gnite y'all |
starnz
Jun 15, 2006
| Fun stuff!! Thanks --- |
nellie188
Jun 15, 2006
| it was half hard fo0r the first three
but he 4th one was easy that is an old one. |
Badger
Jun 15, 2006
| Easy, but fun. I think cplusplusman must be an attorney!
Well written, thanks. |
nameisie
Jun 15, 2006
| hehe, i finally got all of them, which i never do, well, i partly got the first one, and i didn't get the one about the horses... i just really stink at figurin things out. |
bradon182001
Jun 15, 2006
| I liked this one, fun teaser.Made ya think, but not too hard. |
luigibabe
Jun 15, 2006
| Easy and fun... maybedo the same with proverbs from other countries... they would not be so familiar, but still possible to figure out |
bogie
Jun 15, 2006
| Very good, although I really blew it on the horse thing |
cassiemark
Jun 15, 2006
| I liked that one - the horse one completely threw me!!! |
locutus13ds
Jun 15, 2006
| Good one- i got 3 out of 4. Missed the horse one |
maka10
Jun 15, 2006
| Very nice! Fun! Keep up the good work! |
stang99
Jun 15, 2006
| WoW!!!! That was awesome pal. |
nu_rob_roy
Jun 15, 2006
| I knew equus referred to horse, the rest I figured out. Good teaser.
Does anyone know from where the first expression, 'square one' originated? |
MurfQ
Jun 15, 2006
| Got them all instantly but still great fun. I must admit I would not have known that term for horses had I not come across it elsewhere this very day. Nice job! |
vlerma
Jun 15, 2006
| Missed the back to square one - guess geometry wasn't my best suit. I was thinking along the line of the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so I was at least in the right area, do I get half sorce for that? This was a great teaser Enjoyed it very much. More please? |
Neek
Jun 15, 2006
| I loved those. I got all of them and wish there were more. Good job! |
xeses
Jun 15, 2006
| thanks for a great puzzle. more medical terms! |
Cableguy
Jun 15, 2006
|
Lots of fun, but easy. |
Reeneymonkey
Jun 15, 2006
| I love this. It was a great way to start the day. Please add more like this |
Trishgal
Jun 15, 2006
| Great morning and great puzzle Eazy, but since I got all of them I am pleased. They were well thought out . and fun too solve. I looked up words I didn' understand instead of just giving in. |
Pizzazz2u
Jun 15, 2006
| Gets you to use that thinking machine of yours..very entertaining Way to go! |
horse_luver
Jun 15, 2006
| Simple, but cute. |
AwwwSweet
Jun 15, 2006
| Good job, nice writing on these. |
iteachkids
Jun 15, 2006
| LTSA FUN!!! |
billhardy
Jun 15, 2006
| why not write in plain english ? wouldn't be any more obvious. |
shawneeo
Jun 15, 2006
| ^whuh?
I got em all, I got em all, lalala, la lala la la, ha haha ha haaa haaaa!!!!! obviously this doesn't happen every day!
This was good, very fun, there coulda been more, twice as many and it would not be boring. I didn't exactly agree with your def. of "pen mightier than...". I always thought it to mean: you can reach more people, and be more influential, by communication of ideas, especially writing in books, newspapers, etc., than by trying to overpower people with brute force and strength. Not that yours is wrong, just seemed like it was missing part of it. (OK, yes, I am a big smarty pants and I always think I know everything!) Good job, thanks!
btw, I always thought "Back to square one." means either back to the bottom left-most square on a graph, the lower left corner, or back to the first square on a crossword puzzle, but it could be something else entirely!
|
pagan_mom
Jun 15, 2006
| I only just joined a few days ago and this is my first comment, but I just had to. This one was great fun. I'd love more with medical terms in them, as that is my specialty. I'm going to check out the link to the others that you put up as well. This is my kinda puzzle. Thanks, and keep 'em comin'! |
tonjawithaj
Jun 15, 2006
| Very nice! Can't wait to read the rest! |
tonjawithaj
Jun 15, 2006
| Very nice! Can't wait to read the rest! |
BadBunnee02
Jun 15, 2006
| Very good teaser!!
And (to rhmaustin - several lines above);
Although most of these could be classified as aphorisms ("old sayings"), they are also distinctly idiomatic; the meaning cannot necessarily be discerned just from a literal and direct translation. Do a quick run through most any list of idioms on the web and you'll find them listed as such. The writer was correct, therefore, in the designation. They could also be considered "colloquial" in that they are still used by certain sub-groups of a language-family, but not necessarily by all.
Well done!! Hope to see more. |
nightowl19
Jun 15, 2006
| Those were a lot of fun. I would like to see more of this kind available. Keep it up! |
kcheer2493
Jun 15, 2006
| For this kind, I like lookin at the answers and comparing them. I don't enjoy this kind that much though  Good job anyway |
POPS
Jun 15, 2006
| Got two right That was fun |
(user deleted)
Jun 15, 2006
| The pen is mightier than the sword does not mean to solve your problems calmly, it means: Words can affect people more broadly than an act of violence.... |
jabdr
Jun 15, 2006
| Great teaser! I struggled with #1, got the next 3 quickly which helped me then get #1. Bring on some more.. |
utnative
Jun 15, 2006
| really enjoyed this teaser i got 2 and 4 right, maybe that means i still have one or two brain cells left.
more please, |
nickigrl
Jun 15, 2006
| ok |
nickigrl
Jun 15, 2006
| didn't get it. |
scallio
Jun 15, 2006
| I found these to be rather easy, surprisingly. On first glance you might suspect they'd be difficult. The 3rd one took some time and I only got it by assuming Equus was related to Equestrian or Horses. The rest came naturally.
I sure enjoyed this. Thanks so much for the time you spent to entertain us!
|
patm
Jun 15, 2006
| Easy but great fun! Adamron is right about the meaning of #4; a seeming paradox that yields to sound reasoning. Let's have more of these. |
Musikman212
Jun 15, 2006
| Cute teaser. I'm not sure I agreed completely with some of the definitions, however. |
tdbrsun
Jun 15, 2006
| I had a good time with this one. Thumbs up for your entry. |
common-sensei
Jun 16, 2006
| A leopards spots are as smooth as the rest of its fur, therefore it has
no "texture". The word you should
have used is pattern.
The more common way of interpreting "the pen is mightier
than the sword" is that sometimes
words cut deeper and inflict more
pain than a sharp weapon, or that
sometimes wars ( like the Cold
War ) can be won with treaties or
threats instead of bombs. |
RRAMMOHAN
Jun 16, 2006
| Excellent teaser! Got all except #3. Keep them coming. |
kvthegreat
Jun 15, 2009
| excellent
i started laughing when i read the example |
wordmama
Jun 15, 2009
| I got all four VERY easily, but enjoyed it for the moment it took to do. |
brain23
Jun 15, 2009
| "Blind leading the blind?" Never heard of that one. |
emu77alu02
Jun 15, 2009
| Good and pretty easy. I thought the first one was "back to the drawing board" |
smiley435
Jun 15, 2009
| fun teaser pretty easy but real fun |
auntiesis
Jun 15, 2009
| I really enjoyed this one. I got them easily, but it was fun. |
UptheHill
Jun 15, 2009
| Nice 1!!! |
craniac
Jun 15, 2009
| The one about "equus caballus" refers to only one horse, since equus is nominative singular in Latin for "horse". The phrase should refer to "equos caballos", which is accusative plural -- "hold your horses". But this is just a small quibble. I enjoyed this teaser the second time around as much as the first. Thanks. |
bluefever101
Jun 15, 2009
| Yay! I Figured all of them out! (even though I had to look up a few words) |
doehead 
Jun 15, 2009
| Oldie but still a goodie. |
Kean_Giledaks
Jul 10, 2009
| I love this as entertaining "tasks"!!! Great stuff!
Common sensei said:"The more common way of interpreting "the pen is mightier
than the sword" is that sometimes
words cut deeper and inflict more
pain than a sharp weapon, or that
sometimes wars ( like the Cold
War ) can be won with treaties or
threats instead of bombs. "
THE ORIGINAL MEANING IS OLD AND MEANS THAT YOU CAN OBTAIN MORE ABSTRACT POWER BY THE WRITTEN WORD THATN THE SWORD THROUGH AFFECTING GENERATIONS |
Babe
Jun 15, 2012
| Nice one! Got them all but # 1
Enjoyable to solve and good brain exercise |
JQPublic
Jun 15, 2012
| This is an interesting teaser. I've never heard of the second one. Also, I only got the horses one after searching for that Latin name. |
Maggiethe8th
Jun 15, 2012
| Wonderful way to start the day for me! I had just enough pondering before getting ready for work! Thank you!!! |
dsjt
Jun 15, 2012
| You must be a political speech writer. |
brains2beauty96
Jun 15, 2012
| I need to brush up on my S.A.T practice vocab. words |
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