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        riddles >> what happened >> Hellraiser: twists of friendship
        
(Message started by: alien on Sep 6th, 2006, 11:27am)
Title: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 6th, 2006, 11:27am
http://www.geocities.com/alien624837/Demon.gif
1. John and Mark are relaxing in a pub, playing cards on the table positioned against the wall. John finished his whisky, and Mark almost finished his drink, that is, there is still a finger of water in his glass. He probably ordered just water because of his loans to John, or maybe because of house of cards he started building just now. But John asks Mark to lend him 500$ again. Mark says: 'What is the least number of these playing cards needed to reach the height of 40 centimeters starting from the top of the table? You may use items on the table, and if you answer correctly, I will lend you the money.'


2. Mark and John are playing soccer. Mark says: 'It is about to rain heavy, and a few raindrops have already fallen. You have a date with a fair woman, and you don't want to be late and bedraggled because you want to propose her. She awaits you in the restaurant, which is 200 meters distant from the parking lot where you parked your car, sitting at the table in front of it, under the awning. The trucker, a friend of yours who owes you a favor from before, parked his truck near your car, which is transporting a variety of balls. He says that you can choose a ball, which will be subtracted from his salary, as a way of saying thanks. If it is understood that any ball you think of can be found in this truck, so can you improve your chances of proposal?'


http://www.geocities.com/alien624837/puzzle_box1.jpg

3. They stumble on each other in a shoe store. Mark senses John wants to ask him about the money because he is fidgeting, so he says: 'How could a person who has a shoe size 10 wear and walk in size 15 without discomfort and complaint?'
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 6th, 2006, 1:30pm
1 [hide]You don't need any cards to reach, just put up your hand[/hide]
3 [hide]If the reverse was the case, I could imagine it'd hurt, size 15 feet in size 10 shoes is cramp. But why would size 10 feet in size 15 shoes hurt? It's just a bit roomy. Just put on a dozen pair of extra socks, or put in some straw..[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 6th, 2006, 2:50pm
1.) [hide]I'd say John should use the water as a form of measure. Still not sure how.[/hide]
2.) [hide]I'd say the woman is at the top of the stadium, watching the game. Perhaps you want to present her with the game ball.[/hide]
3.) [hide]Not sure on the actual conversion, but someone could be wearing size 10 men's shoes and still fit into women's size 15. [/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 6th, 2006, 3:15pm
No to all of the above.   8)


You were right about pain though, so I replaced it with discomfort.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Grimbal on Sep 6th, 2006, 3:19pm
1. Is it 40 cm up or down?

2. Maybe these small sillicon balls you can get implanted to make it look like you have 3. (or whatever number is appropriate for aliens +1).
Or maybe [hide] a ball like in ballroom dancing [/hide]

3.  Size 15 is in inches?  That should be fine.  Unless he has short legs.  Then he should be careful not to step on it.


By the way, what is all this about balls and improbable lengths and things that can be up or down?  Can't you come up with a decent riddle?  There are young people around here.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by graphia on Sep 6th, 2006, 3:29pm
The ball is a [hide]diamond[/hide]?
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 6th, 2006, 5:59pm
Maybe you want a ball you can roll down the hill or something? I have no idea. Something that might go trigger a bunch of fireworks to shoot off and say "will you marry me" or something.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 7th, 2006, 5:34am
No to everything.   8)




on 09/06/06 at 14:50:21, cchris wrote:
[hide]Not sure on the actual conversion..[/hide]

It is always the same thing with John and Mark. John owes money to loan shark and Mark likes riddles. So if John solves his riddle, Mark lends him the money.



on 09/06/06 at 15:19:35, Grimbal wrote:
By the way, what is all this about balls and improbable lengths and things that can be up or down?  Can't you come up with a decent riddle?  There are young people around here.

Witty as always.  :P




I made a small change in the riddle, by replacing the slight slope with a road on the plain. ::) Of course, these are the final versions of riddles, so no more annoying changes.     :)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Sameer on Sep 7th, 2006, 9:02am
1. [hide] Needs only 1 card. He can use rest of the things on the table to go till 40 cm?? [/hide]
3. [hide] the person with shoe size 10 is wearing a size 15 dress?? [/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 7th, 2006, 9:43am

on 09/07/06 at 09:02:16, Sameer wrote:
1. [hide] Needs only 1 card. He can use rest of the things on the table to go till 40 cm?? [/hide]

No because I specified [hide]that playing cards must reach that height, not glasses, toothpicks or whatever else might be on the table. Nevertheless, in a twisted way you might be on the right track, but that is al right because these are twisted riddles.[/hide]  :P


Quote:
3.[hide] the person with shoe size 10 is wearing a size 15 dress?? [/hide]

No dresses, just shoes.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Sameer on Sep 7th, 2006, 1:32pm
ok in that case 3. [hide]he has uneven feet; one is size 10 and the other is size 15  ;D[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 7th, 2006, 2:53pm
Nope.


Keep guessing riddlers.   :)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 7th, 2006, 5:18pm

on 09/07/06 at 05:34:56, alien wrote:
It is always the same thing with John and Mark. John owes money to loan shark and Mark likes riddles. So if John solves his riddle, Mark lends him the money.


Actually by [hide]conversion[/hide] I meant [hide]how you would convert women's shoe sizes to men's.[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by GeMsToNe on Sep 8th, 2006, 6:13am
3.Maybe instead of shoes he's talking about slippers?  :P Lame idea from me.

2.Maybe he can't... because he HAS a reason, I mean, it's going to rain. Or this certain ball is a pearl necklace... or a pearl ring that would make his proposal better.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 8th, 2006, 7:16am
I thought you said conversation cchris. Anyway, not the answer I have in mind.  




on 09/08/06 at 06:13:36, GeMsToNe wrote:
Or this certain ball is a pearl necklace... or a pearl ring that would make his proposal better.

Actually, he already has a diamond ring so do not concern yourselves about that.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Bamaboys on Sep 8th, 2006, 2:32pm
1. [hideb]  5 cards.A playing card is about 8 and half cm long . 5*8.5=42.5. Of course, this would only work if there was some tape on the table that Tom could tape them together so they would not fall, or if John was just really good at balancing cards.[/hideb]

2.[hideb] Why not just ask the driver to take you to the woman you want to propose to? That way you won't be late, or bedraggled.   [/hideb]

3.[hideb]  Maybe the sizes are for different countries, or whyever on some shoes it says USA:12 EURO:40, etc...A size 10 in America may be a size 15 somewhere else, or vice versa.  [/hideb]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Roy on Sep 8th, 2006, 2:39pm
They're positioned against the wall, let them lean on it. it refering to the wall and them refering to the cards to be balanced, possibly by leaning against said it.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Grimbal on Sep 9th, 2006, 8:52am
3. [hide] could it be that USA shoe size 15 is 10 inches (25 cm)? [/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Icarus on Sep 9th, 2006, 3:43pm
No - USA shoe sizes are in inches (at least for men - I've never paid much attention to women's shoe sizes).
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 9th, 2006, 4:05pm
Maybe [hide]the person doesn't have any legs, and can't walk, or has prosthetic legs[/hide] for 3.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by graphia on Sep 10th, 2006, 4:38am
I have to wonder if 3 is a matter of grammar - I'm not sure how someone with a shoe-size 10 could be comfortable in a 15, but someone [hide]with a shoe, size 10, could be perfectly okay.  After all I still have some size 5 shoes around somewhere but I'm a 10 now[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 10th, 2006, 1:02pm
3) He may [hideb]usually be wearing size 10, but he lost a foot/leg in an accident and his prosthetic leg is size 15[/hideb]?
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 10th, 2006, 2:29pm
Welcome back DeMark :)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 10th, 2006, 8:08pm
What's up, Iceman...

1. [hide]Assuming the wall is somewhat smooth, John could wet the cards with his water and stick them to the wall.  Then it would only take the height of a few cards to reach 40 cm.  Alternatively, he could just use one card, as he has not been required to stack them on top of each other, only to reach 40 cm.[/hide]

3. [hide]Maybe he has size 15 pants.[/hide]

Number 2 makes me think about a truck driver's balls more than I care to, so I have no suggestion.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 10th, 2006, 8:10pm
Actually, I would ask for a [hide]"Grimball"[/hide].  Then, since he's an uberpuzzler, I'd let him figure out how I would look nice for the pretty lady.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 11th, 2006, 12:37am
Thanks, Towr  :)

And what's with that John chap anyway? Doesn't he have a job? Is he a gambler? A shopaholic? Has a shopaholic wife?  ::)
Does he ever return the money?

Mark must be a very bored rich man if lending large sums of money just for correct answers to his riddles  ::)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by GeMsToNe on Sep 11th, 2006, 5:04am
DeMark's right... heehee~!

2.[hide] A ball that could be thrown so far that it would reach the woman he's meeting? He can right a message on it...[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 11th, 2006, 7:24am

on 09/08/06 at 14:32:48, Bamaboys wrote:
3.[hideb]  Maybe the sizes are for different countries, or whyever on some shoes it says USA:12 EURO:40, etc...A size 10 in America may be a size 15 somewhere else, or vice versa.  [/hideb]

No. It is the same country, the same shoe sizes, the same money, and the same language. Suddenly I feel the need for diversity.



on 09/08/06 at 14:32:48, Bamaboys wrote:
2.[hideb] Why not just ask the driver to take you to the woman you want to propose to? That way you won't be late, or bedraggled.   [/hideb]

The ball is the only thing at his disposal on the way to the restaurant.



on 09/09/06 at 16:05:50, cchris wrote:
Maybe [hide]the person doesn't have any legs, and can't walk, or has prosthetic legs[/hide] for 3.


on 09/10/06 at 13:02:11, DeMark wrote:
3) He may [hideb]usually be wearing size 10, but he lost a foot/leg in an accident and his prosthetic leg is size 15[/hideb]?

No because he is a sprinter.




on 09/10/06 at 04:38:07, graphia wrote:
I have to wonder if 3 is a matter of grammar - I'm not sure how someone with a shoe-size 10 could be comfortable in a 15, but someone [hide]with a shoe, size 10, could be perfectly okay.  After all I still have some size 5 shoes around somewhere but I'm a 10 now[/hide]

I don't follow so let me get back to you. The riddle is well written though.


on 09/10/06 at 20:08:18, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
1. [hide]Assuming the wall is somewhat smooth, John could wet the cards with his water and stick them to the wall.  Then it would only take the height of a few cards to reach 40 cm.[/hide]

I've decided to accept your neat answer  :o [hide](5 cards). It works only if the wall is smooth, like you said, so what if the wall weren't smooth?[/hide] I am sure Maverick can solve this one easily.  ;)



on 09/10/06 at 20:08:18, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
What's up, Iceman..

I slept 27 hours straight because I've attended a wedding and drank the whole bottle of white vine. I forgot that I drank my medicine before, so this made a nice little buzz. But a good night and day sleep cured me. How about you, any new maneuvers?    



on 09/11/06 at 00:37:38, DeMark wrote:
Is he a gambler

That's it.



on 09/11/06 at 00:37:38, DeMark wrote:
Does he ever return the money?

Sometimes. ::) He is lucky to have an understanding friend like Mark.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 11th, 2006, 9:56am
No new maneuvers, but I did have a similar weekend, although it was a birthday with carbombs instead of a wedding and wine.  :-/

As to number 3, I believe that he [hide]wears both sizes at once, with the size 10 shoes inside the size 15s.[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 11th, 2006, 10:20am

on 09/11/06 at 07:24:24, alien wrote:
I've decided to accept your neat answer  :o [hide](5 cards). It works only if the wall is smooth, like you said, so what if the wall weren't smooth?[/hide]
[hide]You could tear or cut small inscissions in the cards, such that you can slide them into eachother and make a large strip out of several cards. Then you can prop the strip up against the wall.
Actually, you could tear one card up and get pretty high that way, finishing if you must with a whole card. (stability may be an issue due to topheaviness)[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 11th, 2006, 10:41am
In a very similar vein (sorry for stealing your idea, towr) one could [hide]wet the cards and stick them to each other, then lean a long line of them against the wall.[/hide]  It just seems [hide]tearing them[/hide] as you said would be too crude a connection to be stable.  Although, I guess if you were very, very methodical, as you might well be, it could work, and the rough wall could hold it in place more securely.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 11th, 2006, 1:13pm
For 3:

1) He's [hide]a clown[/hide].

2) [hide]Shoe-size 10, socks-size 15?[/hide]   :P
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 11th, 2006, 2:30pm

on 09/11/06 at 10:41:56, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
It just seems [hide]tearing them[/hide] as you said would be too crude a connection to be stable.
Actually, it's quite stable. In fact, you could even do it so that you can reliably hold up the strip by one card.
Trying it with paper, I can even get it to just stand up on its own (by tearing and bending a few bits of the bottom card)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 11th, 2006, 2:50pm
I wear size 16 shoes in some brands, and some I can fit into 12. I think it could just be a difference in sizes. Nike shoes, for example, are always smaller fitting than another shoe of the same size.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by graphia on Sep 11th, 2006, 7:17pm

on 09/11/06 at 07:24:24, alien wrote:
I don't follow so let me get back to you. The riddle is well written though.


I reword the riddle like so:

[hide]3. They stumble on each other in a shoe store. Mark senses John wants to ask him about the money because he is fidgeting, so he says: 'How could a person who has a shoe that is size 10 wear and walk in size 15 without discomfort and complaint?' [/hide]

I wonder what happened to [hide]the other shoe?[/hide]

Also, is what Mark says the only important part of the question?
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 12th, 2006, 4:17am

on 09/11/06 at 10:20:13, towr wrote:
[hide]You could tear or cut small inscissions in the cards, such that you can slide them into eachother and make a large strip out of several cards. Then you can prop the strip up against the wall.
Actually, you could tear one card up and get pretty high that way, finishing if you must with a whole card. (stability may be an issue due to topheaviness)[/hide]

Nice try, but these are not credit cards, so cutting them is not allowed. They are also John's lucky deck.




on 09/11/06 at 10:41:56, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:
In a very similar vein (sorry for stealing your idea, towr) one could [hide]wet the cards and stick them to each other, then lean a long line of them against the wall.[/hide]

You got it. Alternatively, you could [hide]put the cards in the freezer first. Either way, the cards stay leaned against the wall for about two minutes.[/hide]




on 09/11/06 at 13:13:39, DeMark wrote:
For 3:

1) He's [hide]a clown[/hide].

Very good,  8) but your answer is the winner for a similar riddle, worded just a bit differently, which I wanted to post after someone solves the 3rd.  ;) Since you beat me to the draw,  :o the 3rd riddle is not over, where there are no [hide]clowns[/hide] involved.       ;)




on 09/11/06 at 19:17:51, graphia wrote:
is what Mark says the only important part of the question?

Always consider what Mark says since John is more of a gambler than a riddler.  :P






The sizes of [hide]clown's[/hide] shoes puzzle me. ???  :)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 12th, 2006, 4:28am

on 09/12/06 at 04:17:09, alien wrote:
You got it. Alternatively, you could [hide]put the cards in the freezer first. Either way, the cards stay leaned against the wall for about two minutes.[/hide]

Like that wouldn't ruin John's lucky deck  ::)
And I have to question the adhesive properties of water (since there's no freezer on the table)..
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Grimbal on Sep 12th, 2006, 5:20am
You could put something heavy on the table, wash your hands and leave the room.

How does that help?  You "forget" to close the tap.  The room fills with water until the cards float 40 cm over the table top, which cannot float due to the heavy stuff you put on it.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 12th, 2006, 6:01am
Imaginative, but John doesn't want to flood his favorite pub.  :P







on 09/12/06 at 04:28:02, towr wrote:
Like that wouldn't ruin John's lucky deck  ::)

Not sure about this, but if we are talking about cheap cards, then water will probably ruin them.



on 09/12/06 at 04:28:02, towr wrote:
And I have to question the adhesive properties of water (since there's no freezer on the table)..

The freezer is not important, really, but I asked myself the same question, that is, does the way riddle is worded disallow freezing the mentioned items. Since you brought it up, I guess it does.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 12th, 2006, 6:47am
If you were allowed to bend the cards, you could also get up to 40cm quite easily.. Of course, John might not like that either.
(Although possibly, you could curve the cards, rather than fold them, and later bend them back without damage)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 12th, 2006, 8:07am
I still believe I posted the correct answer to the shoes riddle, although it may have been overlooked, as it was not mentioned in Iceman's post.  If this is the case, I will repost it here.   I think he [hide]wears the size 10 shoes inside the size 15 shoes.[/hide]  If this is not the intended answer, I believe that it could still be a possible answer.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 12th, 2006, 9:33am
It is not comfortable like that, especially if he is strolling.    ;)  8)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 12th, 2006, 11:04am
[hideb]Well, I didn't think this was what you intended, but I guess he could wear them on his hands.  Or, as the clown idea got me thinking along the lines of The Ministry of Silly Walks, he could wear them on his feet and walk on his hands.  Or, to approach it more from a pun perspective, he could be "wearing" the shoes, as in wearing them out.  My uncle does this for movie props by beating them with hammers.[/hideb]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 12th, 2006, 11:17am
Not bad but I hadn't that in mind. The riddle is [hide]straightforward[/hide].   ;)  8)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 12th, 2006, 12:26pm
Hey, guessing in advance, without even seeing the riddle- beat that! ;D

Joking. But I believe that [hide]clowns' shoes are small- I mean small enough to fit- inside[/hide], yes.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 12th, 2006, 2:21pm
Me too, but what does it mean?  :(  :P  [hide]Clowns[/hide] confuse the hell out of me.  ;D
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 12th, 2006, 2:42pm
I [hide]hate bloody clowns. Creep the hell out of me.[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 12th, 2006, 9:33pm
You should love this picture of John Wayne Gacy then.



http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Johnwaynegacyclown.jpg
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Roy on Sep 13th, 2006, 1:16am
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just expressing my opinion, i hate clowns also.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 13th, 2006, 1:55am
squeak  :-[

Joking. I have a problem with living clowns, not with pictures. Thank God.


For 2: he brought her a globe and said marry me, and you'll have the whole world under your feet  :P
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 13th, 2006, 3:33am
Romantic,  :-* but not the answer I want.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by TomC588 on Sep 14th, 2006, 7:39am
1. [hide]1 card. Rip it in half. 1 part on the top of the table and the other 40cm above.

2. He should get the balls to propose to her.

3. Stuff the shoe with some soft material to fit the spaces between the foot and the shoe. the material is soft and will keep the foot comfortable.[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on Sep 14th, 2006, 8:26am
By the by, I was thinking along the lines of Tom's answer to number two, but I felt it might be a little too "dirty" to post.  Now that someone else has broken the ice though...  ;)

[hideb]Mark already has one ball, a soccer ball.  Any puns ivolving a man's cojones can surely fill out the rest of the riddle.[/hideb]

Requesting a flyby...
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 14th, 2006, 10:59am
Negative. And don't bust the tower.




on 09/14/06 at 07:39:41, TomC588 wrote:
3. Stuff the shoe with some soft material to fit the spaces between the foot and the shoe. the material is soft and will keep the foot comfortable.[/hide]

No. Just socks.



This maybe a turn off, but there are no sexual connotations regarding balls in the truck. Sorry.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by TomC588 on Sep 14th, 2006, 1:07pm
By [hide]balls [/hide] I meant guts.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 14th, 2006, 1:33pm
Are we talking about shoes? I mean, just shoes, no skis or something like that?

And for number 2, is this a play on words in English or can I think in my lovely language?  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 14th, 2006, 1:42pm

on 09/14/06 at 13:07:29, TomC588 wrote:
By [hide]balls [/hide] I meant guts.

Not bad, but he decided to propose her today, and he just wants to improve his chances, if possible.




on 09/14/06 at 13:33:16, DeMark wrote:
Are we talking about shoes?

Yes.



on 09/14/06 at 13:33:16, DeMark wrote:
And for number 2, is this a play on words in English or can I think in my lovely language?  ;)

No play on words. Use your imagination.  :o
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 14th, 2006, 1:59pm
As for our language being lovely, I wouldn't bet on it. I prefer French myself. Anything you say sounds good, even if you don't know what you are saying.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 14th, 2006, 4:18pm
Whereas in German, everything that's translated into english as something romantic sounds like you're angry and want to kill someone.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 15th, 2006, 1:25am
Well, I speak French, and I can tell you it takes time to get to the point where you sound good when talking. And when you get to that point, suddenly you can't stand listening to people who don't know what they're saying but only try to speak cause it sounds good. I've been through that, believe me.

As for German, yes, it's pretty brutal. But it's probably the easiest language to learn, after English.

I also like Italian. Probably going to college there.  
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 15th, 2006, 2:47am

on 09/15/06 at 01:25:00, DeMark wrote:
As for German, yes, it's pretty brutal. But it's probably the easiest language to learn, after English.
With all those different noun cases? Accusative, Dative, Genitive, Nominative.
It's horrible.. (Admittedly some languages get up to twenty, so it can be worse)
Mind you, it doesn't need to sound brutal; it sounds sweet enough in the Sissi movies (which is nevertheless the only instance of german I've come across that I could stand).
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 15th, 2006, 10:28am
Eh, once you learn some other languages, it's not too hard.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 15th, 2006, 10:45am
Towr, in my language there are seven noun cases. German is a piece of cake for me ;)


But if you think that's hard, would happen if I mentioned Russian or Ukranian?  ::)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 17th, 2006, 1:34pm



on 09/15/06 at 10:45:48, DeMark wrote:
But if you think that's hard, would happen if I mentioned Russian or Ukranian?  ::)

What ever you do, do not.......... mention............ Ukrainian.........





I always thought that languages are a big confusion, and that how many languages are being used in the world, that is how many problems there are. Needles to say, I like the Esperanto idea, which went bust. Still, one might argue that English has replaced Esperanto. But I suggest implementing a single mother tongue in all countries, be it Esperanto, English or some other language, forcing all other active languages to retire. And now I tell you why: I go to Sweden, and I don't understand one word coming from their mouth. Then I visit China, and I don't get what's going on, where am I, what planet this is, what year it is, all that.. I think that, if Esperanto resurrects, other practical things will follow. But I suggest we stop this discussion and get back to riddles, since there is a forum for general discussion and chatting, and this one ain't it.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 17th, 2006, 2:34pm

on 09/17/06 at 13:34:01, alien wrote:
But I suggest implementing a single mother tongue in all countries, be it Esperanto, English or some other language, forcing all other active languages to retire.
I don't think it's necessary to make the other ones retire. Just have one common language, and however many regional ones people of a region are willing to learn.
Bilinguality is good for the mind anyway. (According to some research)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Icarus on Sep 17th, 2006, 7:07pm
Alas, I must join in the thread hijacking (okay, "must" isn't true, but I'm going to anyway). I think the world would be much poorer if we only had one language - even english, which I personally love. Our very thoughts are shaped and formed by the language we use to express them. If we only had one language, we would cut ourselves off from the cultures and concepts that gave rise to the others.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 17th, 2006, 7:47pm
Well, along with the proposition of getting rid of other languages, let's just dye all people white, make their hair blonde, and change their eye color to blue.



[/sarcasm]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 18th, 2006, 7:14am
God no! One of the greatest things about this world is the number of existing languages and the diversity they ensure. Esperanto would be a big problem 'cause there are no native speakers. Besides, I don't get the idea of inventing new languages, no matter how practical/simple they may be, when we already have hundreds of them.

I adore foreign languages. I speak two fluently, am learning another two, and planning to take on two more in a few years' time. Yeah, I know, just call me freak.  ::)

As for English, I love it for its simplicity. And it sounds nice.


Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 18th, 2006, 10:21am
You saw the [/sarcasm] tag, right?
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 18th, 2006, 11:30am
Yes, that God, no part wasn't meant for you  :)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 18th, 2006, 1:13pm
Yes, relax cchris, because it was meant for me.  :-[ You sure know how to make an alien feel good DeMark.  :P But really, this drifting from the topic is not because you are out of ideas?  :'( I thought there were riddlers on this forum..  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 18th, 2006, 2:23pm

on 09/18/06 at 07:14:53, DeMark wrote:
Besides, I don't get the idea of inventing new languages, no matter how practical/simple they may be, when we already have hundreds of them.
There a number of reasons. First, some people just think it's fun. Fun to make, fun to learn, fun to annoy other people with, etc.
Then there's practical reasons. Natural language is inaccurate, ambiguous, etc. If you take loglan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loglan) as an example, it is aimed exactly to be precise; there is no ambiguity there. Which might make it an ideal language for human-computer interaction. And other artificial language tackle other (perceived) problems.
There's also art and literature; take for example Eldarin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldarin) created by Tolkien for Lord of the Rings, or  e.g. Loxian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loxian)  which Enya uses in song on the album Amarantine.
And of course, there's simple academic pursuit. Studying languages is one thing, but to really test you know what makes up a language, you have to, well, make up a language.

I hope to make my own language some day. And then use it in creating a computergame; give people something to puzzle over (with some interesting bonusses when they reach a certain level of understanding)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Sameer on Sep 18th, 2006, 3:12pm
Comeon towr how can you forget Klingon=http://www.kli.org/ ;-)

Besides anyone here have tried Sanskrit? you can combine words to make longer words... ugh.. i had to study it for 5 years in high school.. luckily i don't have to speak it.. one of my ukranian friends told me that they also have something similar.. so some old language might really have lot of commonality than we would like to believe.. either way i can speak 3 languages and understand 2 more.. and if you count computer languages well..  ;) ;D ... anyways here's a calvin and hobbes cartoon on language...

http://look.onemonkey.org/verbing_sm.jpg
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 18th, 2006, 3:41pm

on 09/18/06 at 15:12:04, Sameer wrote:
Comeon towr how can you forget Klingon=http://www.kli.org/ ;-)
I didn't, I willfully didn't choose it as an example. :P


Quote:
Besides anyone here have tried Sanskrit? you can combine words to make longer words...
You can do that in most germanic languages as well. You can make arbitrarily long compound words. Which is great for scrabble..
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by cchris on Sep 19th, 2006, 10:06am
Well I arbitrarilied a few words in my day.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 19th, 2006, 10:39am
Oh, Alien, no hard feelings, ok? :)

Towr, you got me a bit wrong; I just don't like the idea of inventing a new language that would replace all the wonderful ones we already have. It scares me a bit, you know? It's... somewhat  mechanic. Just a few more centuries- hell, less than that... imagine the technology and everything. It wouldn't surprise me if we were completely under control. Excuse me, I'm not sure how to explain  what I feel.  :)

Speaking of Enya, I adore that woman.

Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 20th, 2006, 12:07pm
Cheers DeMark.   :)



Just so you don't have to go through all the pages, 2nd and 3rd riddle is still unsolved. Still, it might be a good idea to glance at the pages in question, because maybe someone has already proposed your idea. Don't you like mixed messages..    ::)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by DeMark on Sep 20th, 2006, 12:57pm
3) [hide]Ballet-shoes? They're a bit bigger on the outside than on the inside. Or flip-flops, maybe. You can wear bigger sizes without discomfort.[/hide]

A klompe?  ::)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Sameer on Sep 20th, 2006, 1:13pm
Actually I forgot to mention that Madras is the former name of India's top 4 metropolitan now known as chennai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 21st, 2006, 4:52am
Go with the mattresses though.   ;D




on 09/20/06 at 12:57:51, DeMark wrote:
3) [hide]Ballet-shoes? They're a bit bigger on the outside than on the inside. Or flip-flops, maybe. You can wear bigger sizes without discomfort.[/hide]

No. It is [hide]the same type of shoes[/hide].



on 09/20/06 at 12:57:51, DeMark wrote:
A klompe?  ::)

Clogs? Nah.  ;)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by ChunkTug on Sep 21st, 2006, 5:11am
Ok, guesses for the shoes.
[hide]1. If you had no shoes would you compain about being offered those that were too big?
2. Using them as snow shoes.
3. Stuff them with something.[/hide]
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by graphia on Sep 21st, 2006, 2:50pm
Could we maybe have a hint for the shoes? I think everyone must be looking in the wrong direction.
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by alien on Sep 23rd, 2006, 3:44am

on 09/21/06 at 05:11:00, ChunkTug wrote:
[hide]1. If you had no shoes would you complain about being offered those that were too big?[/hide]

...............but discomfort would remain.  ;)




on 09/21/06 at 05:11:00, ChunkTug wrote:
[hide]3. Stuff them with something.[/hide]

Negative.  





on 09/21/06 at 14:50:45, graphia wrote:
Could we maybe have a hint for the shoes? I think everyone must be looking in the wrong direction.

I'm afraid you are on your own, in unknown puzzling territory. Improvise, overcome and adapt.  8)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by Miles on Sep 27th, 2006, 2:28pm
Cheeky of a newbie, but I've continued this in a new thread (with an obvious title).

On the plus side, I have tried there to summarise all the answers so far.  8)
Title: Re: Hellraiser: twists of friendship
Post by towr on Sep 27th, 2006, 2:42pm
Cheeky indeed

I suppose people may like a link (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=riddles_whathappened;action=display;num=1159392293) to the new thread (http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=riddles_whathappened;action=display;num=1159392293)


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