Brain Teasers
Hyp-hens II
Newspapers sometimes hyphenate words in the wrong place with humorous results. Even placed correctly, some hyphens can twist the meaning of a sentence.
Each of the sentences below has a missing hyphenated word. The numbers in parentheses give the length of the hyphenated word parts. See if you can figure them out!
For example:
The mime had to permanently retire after he was accused of (4-8).
The answer is "mans-laughter"; the sentence makes sense with either "manslaughter" or "man's laughter".
1. The podiatrist loved my stories, but once he cut me off right in the middle of a (3-3).
2. The patron deserves (4-3) for having hot coffee spilled on him.
3. That designer is cursed, he has been making bad (3-5) for a long time.
4. The prisoners were all involved in the (4-6), which included making illegal copies of software.
Each of the sentences below has a missing hyphenated word. The numbers in parentheses give the length of the hyphenated word parts. See if you can figure them out!
For example:
The mime had to permanently retire after he was accused of (4-8).
The answer is "mans-laughter"; the sentence makes sense with either "manslaughter" or "man's laughter".
1. The podiatrist loved my stories, but once he cut me off right in the middle of a (3-3).
2. The patron deserves (4-3) for having hot coffee spilled on him.
3. That designer is cursed, he has been making bad (3-5) for a long time.
4. The prisoners were all involved in the (4-6), which included making illegal copies of software.
Hint
Here are additional clues to both the complete word and the two hyphenated parts.A clue for mans-laughter is: murder = male's-humour
1. fable = appendage-finish
2. equity = exclusively-frozen water
3. clothes = males-curse
4. plot = prisoners-illegal copying
Answer
1. leg-end2. just-ice
3. men-swear
4. cons-piracy
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