Brain Teasers
Largest Pair
Language
Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.Language
What is the longest pair of English words that are pronounced exactly the same but share no letter in common?
Answer
Ewe and YouHide Answer Show Answer
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if you don't think it works, just try saying them out loud
Did you also notice that ewe is typed with your left hand, while you is with your right AND both are on the top row of letters? Good one to share, thanks.
Very good. I could have thought of words all night and still not gotten it. I thought the puzzle name, "largest pair" and the puzzle question about the "longest pair" might contain some hint since largest and longest aren't necessarily the same.
For a cryptic crossword fan like me, this poser proved to be reasonably easy. It is a very interesting puzzle and sure to exercise the minds of people interested in words and wordplay. Thanks for the research.
I got "I and eye" but alas i was bested
Excellent teaser. I could live to be 100 and not gotten it, but it's very artistic.
I also thought it could have been
I and eye.
I and eye.
wow I actually figured that out in like 5 secs... it was easy to me!
In the Texas dialect I speak, ewe and you aren't pronounced exactly alike. You has an initial "yuh" sound that ewe lacks.
I never would have gotten this one right. I was thinking weigh and way, but they both start with w. Good teaser. Thanks for posting.
Nice one - thought provoking!
Some of the best teasers are some of the older ones.
I am glad tosee I wasn't the only one that thought I and eye. Great challenge.
I'm trying to understand how craniac pronounces 'ewe'; even the letter 'u' starts with that 'yuh' sound! How do you omit it!??
I agree wordmama. Craniac, how do you pronounce "ewe"? oo?
I kept trying to think of longer words. Good teaser!
I kept trying to think of longer words. Good teaser!
What about "hear and here" or "threw and through"?
GLOR: They share letters so don't meet the criteria.
I drew a blank. That was great!
So I thought to myself, how is this even possible? Even spelling "t" as "pt" (e.g. "pteranodon") or "n" as "pn" ("pneumatic") or "gn" ("gnarly") or "kn" ("knave"), doesn't change letters, but adds or removes letters, keeping one in common. What then? Simple, it had to have as few consonants as possible. After that, I found a possible solution that worked perfectly! Thing is, I didn't know if it was good enough because it was only three letters, but apparently it was! (Not that I could come up with any others anyway.)
God i feel dumb!!!!!!!
LOL X1,000,000
LOL X1,000,000
AWESOME!!!!!!!
i got thrown off when it said "longest"
i thought i had to think of long words
i thought i had to think of long words
Here in New England, ewe and you are pronounced exactly the same way. But I still didn,t get it.
Didn't get it !!
Longest & Largest ??
Longest & Largest ??
Great teaser. Didn't get it right but it was fun anyway
Ditto Dana. And jcann & I are still waiting to hear back from craniac! Well, maybe jcann's moved on, but being a word-mama, I'm still very curious!
i actually pronounce ewe and you a bit differently myself. its a bit hard to explain in writing. i guess i sort of pronounce ew sor tof like "eww" like you would say if you were growsed out, but not really.
still, i thought this was a very good teaser!
still, i thought this was a very good teaser!
Jun 05, 2010
I am stunned by the number of readers who accpet this error! "Ewe" is pronounced as 1. "ay'-way" or alternatively 2. "ay'-vay".
It is nowhere close to "you".
It is nowhere close to "you".
Technically, you're right, codedaddy, but ewe in this case is not referring to people of Togo and Ghana. Ewe is actually referring to a fully mature female sheep.
But I expect you were just being an intelligent donkey.
But I expect you were just being an intelligent donkey.
Thank goodness, mrschmooshies, you were there to explain what codedaddy was talking about! And I learned something new! Thank you!
Good one I kept trying to think of words that began with 'c' and 's', or 'g' and 'j' but couldn't get anywhere, so I gave up rather quickly. And I'm glad I did - don't think this one would have come to me any time soon.
When all I could come up was i and eye and knew that couldn't be right, I was looking for it to be a trick question.
Thanks for the explanation as to ewe being a person from Togo. I had no idea what codedaddy was talking about.
Thanks for the explanation as to ewe being a person from Togo. I had no idea what codedaddy was talking about.
Nice puzzle. My favorite word is Honorificabilitudinitatibus the longest word in English comprizing of 27 alternating consonants and vowels. Very unique.
I kept trying come up with words that began with "ph" and "f." Hard to believe there isn't a combo that matches the conditions longer than 3 letters!
Terrific puzzle. Loved it. Gave it max fun points.
AND ... (note) ... around twenty or so comments on its initial posting.
(cutebug also take note). I did NOT comment on EITHER the teaser OR the comments.
Do I get a kudo for that?
BB02
AND ... (note) ... around twenty or so comments on its initial posting.
(cutebug also take note). I did NOT comment on EITHER the teaser OR the comments.
Do I get a kudo for that?
BB02
(there's a secret hidden here)
Glad to have company in getting off course with the word 'longest' -fun teaser!
I had heard this once before, but could not remember it. Must be old age for sure.
Well, though I commented on this teaser exactly 3 years ago, when it was apparently last used as TOTD, I will post a pointless comment that is meaningless and says nothing just to appease BB02.
Remembered this from Readers Digest many years ago.
Good job today BBO2. I'll take you out to dinner tonight. Where do you want to meet?
Good job today BBO2. I'll take you out to dinner tonight. Where do you want to meet?
nice one...
Hey, cutebug ..... yer ON !!
I hear there's a GREAT taco place that just opened in Kowloon.
But .... um, er ,,, your "I'll meet you there" STRONGLY indicates you ain't gonna pop for airfare.
WOW ... maybe we can invite HABS and use their Bombardier ..
ummmmmmmmmmm ... zooooommmm .. zzzoooommmmm
BB02
I hear there's a GREAT taco place that just opened in Kowloon.
But .... um, er ,,, your "I'll meet you there" STRONGLY indicates you ain't gonna pop for airfare.
WOW ... maybe we can invite HABS and use their Bombardier ..
ummmmmmmmmmm ... zooooommmm .. zzzoooommmmm
BB02
Well, cutebug and BB02 - I think we have a match! You're probably soul mates! If you DO meet, I think one of you might be surprised!
As for the teaser, I thought it was a great one - loved the previous comments and how the word "ewe" is pronounced differently depending on the location of the speaker.
Thanks for posting!!
As for the teaser, I thought it was a great one - loved the previous comments and how the word "ewe" is pronounced differently depending on the location of the speaker.
Thanks for posting!!
I doubt either of my Bombardier vehicles would be of much use right now. Sure technically you could use the Ski-doo without snow, but it is really hard on the engine to ride it on grass. And still a bit chilly to be riding the Sea-doo. While the air is plenty warm, the water in any of thee Great Lakes is still frigid.
... tsk, tsk ..... HABsie .....
You are not too adept at hiding your assets !!
What about THIS one ?
http://aviationweek.com/site- files/aviationweek.com/
files/archive/cmsfiles/media/images/
fullsize/BusinessAviation/
Bombardier/Global6000- BOMBARDIER.jpg
...hhhmmmmmmmm ?????
We might even have room for Babe and GW ....
(PS when you run the URL above, take out the spaces)
You are not too adept at hiding your assets !!
What about THIS one ?
http://aviationweek.com/site- files/aviationweek.com/
files/archive/cmsfiles/media/images/
fullsize/BusinessAviation/
Bombardier/Global6000- BOMBARDIER.jpg
...hhhmmmmmmmm ?????
We might even have room for Babe and GW ....
(PS when you run the URL above, take out the spaces)
Or .... (better, still) .....
punch in
Bombardier Global6000
in any graphics/image search engine
punch in
Bombardier Global6000
in any graphics/image search engine
You and eye are the only 2 actually
Knew and gnu?
Oops, guess they share 'n'
I was expecting the answer to be longer than 3 letters. That made me overthink it.
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