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This is Why We Have to Take English Class...
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Language brain teasers are those that involve the English language. You need to think about and manipulate words and letters.Language
A long time ago there was a king named Joe. Joe was the king of Persia and he was angry at the king of Greece. One day Joe sent a messenger to go to Apollo's Oracle at Delphi (a prophet) to find out if he should go to war with Greece. When the messenger returned he received this message:
To war you shall go.
From war you shall return.
Never because of war shall you perish.
1 year later, after hard fought battles, Joe loses the war and is captured in battle. The King of Greece is going to have him executed, however, Joe asks him one thing: "How is it that I am about to die, when the prophet told me otherwise?" (assume the prophet is never wrong)
To war you shall go.
From war you shall return.
Never because of war shall you perish.
1 year later, after hard fought battles, Joe loses the war and is captured in battle. The King of Greece is going to have him executed, however, Joe asks him one thing: "How is it that I am about to die, when the prophet told me otherwise?" (assume the prophet is never wrong)
Hint
A grammatical error.Answer
To war you shall go.From war you shall return
never; Because of war shall you perish.
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Comments
I figured that the oracle was talking specifically about the messenger. The messenger should have asked what would happen to the king.
... either way, you need another oracle to figure out what the first oracle was saying. Why are oracles never straight with you?
... either way, you need another oracle to figure out what the first oracle was saying. Why are oracles never straight with you?
Clever!
Sweet! I got it. I enjoyed it much.
very very clever
May 12, 2005
You could also say:
To war you shall go (he did)
From war you shall return (in a box)
Never from war shall you perish (because you will die form being executed)
To war you shall go (he did)
From war you shall return (in a box)
Never from war shall you perish (because you will die form being executed)
Very clever and well written. Add tricky to that and you have a hit!
The answer put a smile on my face. Please submit more teasers!
I got this. When you think about it, it was the only way the Oracle could have been right on all counts .. since Joe wouldn't have went to war if the message hadn't been improperly punctuated .. and the Oracle would then be wrong, so it wasn't the messangers fault, right? Thanks for this one .. fun
great teaser, i thought that it ment "go to war once" like he went once (that we do not know about) and then the time he got executed, i guess i over thunked it. good job though
great teaser, i thought that it ment "go to war once" like he went once (that we do not know about) and then the time he got executed, i guess i over thunked it. good job though
Good One! More please!
That was awesome! You should do more!!!
I had to look at the hint first to make sure but this was a good one.
Very good play on words - again it's all about how carefully you read it.
ill remember to skip your teaser next time i see u have published one
burned!!
burned!!
dude truthman most your comments were negative w/o reason.. thats not nice
srry geez, he is my brother
hmphhh
hmphhh
srry geez, he is my brother
hmphhh
hmphhh
I thought this was difficult because of the punctuation...I think it would be more effective without it as it would be more easily understood and still tricky...or maybe it's better spoken in true tongue. I mean, to me, the period at the end of a senstence means the end of a sentence, statement or thought. What does this mean to you? I have not understood. The statment in this teaser is difficult. To understand is to defy all mankind. ??? Maybe I'm overthinking....
never mind in some case...I guess I should've looked at the hint first (though I, personally, don't like to).
i thought at first the oracle was intended for the messenger, and then after seeing the hint, i realised it! great teaser, so simple yet so tricky
I kinda begs the question, "What was the King of Persia doing sending a messenger into enemy territory to ask advice of one of their Gods?"
Aside than that, I though it was a pretty poor teaser.
Aside than that, I though it was a pretty poor teaser.
Your use of two different punctuation marks...a period and a semi-colon...changes the meaning of your 3 sentences each time. This is difficult, if not impossible, to solve unless one really is an oracle...
Boo... had potential but that period after never changed everything.....
OOps.. I meant the period after return...
I liked it!
I liked it, I over thought it though. I figured he got caught for something other than the war, like stealing or something. After reading the hint I got it. GOOD JOB!!!!
Not one of my favorites.
i got this one right bc i am at the top of my english class so it wasnt hard but i really liked it!
Hmm. I didn't realize you could dispaly something and than change its grammar to make it a teaser. Oh well, knowing is 1/2 of the battle. Well done.
WOW-THIS ONE IS GREAT!
Good one! i love it! to the faves list even tho i didnt figure it out
Nice one... even though it's not really a teaser....
Hey I loved it! Good job.
Here's my beef with this one: Joe is the king of Persia, right? He sent the messenger to an oracle in Greece, right? So the oracle's message would be written in either Greek or Persian, right? So, just because it was "grammatically incorrect" in English doesn't necessarily mean it was incorrect in Greek or Persian, RIGHT?!?!? Anyone? Anyone?
Well, nice teaser, but the title and hint gave it away.
btw Fulitani, or whatever, I really do not care about some minor technicallity
I'm with fulanitoGM, the idea of a king sending a note to an oracle in the opposing country threw me off.
Beyond that, just to be picky (my favorite past-time) your answer really includes two grammatical errors. The first is the changing, and moving of a puntucation mark. The second is in capitalization.
But, then again, it's all Greek to me
Beyond that, just to be picky (my favorite past-time) your answer really includes two grammatical errors. The first is the changing, and moving of a puntucation mark. The second is in capitalization.
But, then again, it's all Greek to me
I thought right away of punctuation errors because I was pretty sure the oracles spoke their prophecies, not gave them in written form, so the messenger could easily have written it down wrong. ESPECIALLY since the prophecy was given in a language that hadn't yet developed, and wouldn't reach its present form for thousands of years.
i should have paid more attention in english class myself it stumped me. even after i saw the answer i had to think about it. i am not dumb just better with numbers and such. i liked it n e way.
Sorry, this teaser was way, way too easy. Try more difficult ones.
luv ya
luv ya
This is the easiest/dumbest teaser ever...why did you even try it?
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