# 14 k of g in a f p d **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 29, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249 "2006-11-29T21:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/141 "2006-12-03T19:27:33Z")
Just a passing thought, perhaps it’s 14 in a system other than decimal. Obviously binary is out, but how about octal or hexidecimal? ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/142 "2006-12-03T19:30:41Z")
That would be lame, but if you can think of anything that makes sense of “k of g in a p f d,” I’m happy to torture the numbers to make it fit. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/143 "2006-12-03T19:35:25Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Just a passing thought, perhaps it’s 14 in a system other than decimal. Obviously binary is out, but how about octal or hexidecimal? [/QUOTE] I tried many lame combinations on the supposition that “14” = “one for”. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/144 "2006-12-03T20:39:41Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] 14 kings of \_\_\_ in a full Ptolemy dynasty? [/QUOTE] Giza? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/145 "2006-12-03T21:15:46Z")
[QUOTE=if6was9] Giza? [/QUOTE] Hmmmm…not bad. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/146 "2006-12-04T00:18:07Z")
[QUOTE=mittu] meep!! I never expected all this from an innocent question. Apologies for abandoning the thread but I have had a lot of computer problems recently so my access is erratic. I’m afraid I can’t shed any more light on the question, a friend of mine sent it along with others to me in a text message, they were all easy to answer except that one. I believe that he got them in a list from his work, I am seeing him later this afternoon so I will make sure that there isn’t a typo in the message he sent me. I would think he will be able to get the answer from whoever gave him the list at work so one way or another we should find an answer eventually. [/QUOTE] Sigh. Ugly International Incident avoided. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/147 "2006-12-04T13:36:02Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] 14 keys…? 14 knives…? Just trying to come up with some more Ks that haven’t been thought of. [/QUOTE] 14 kegs of Guinness in a… 14 kilos of grass in a… ah, nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/148 "2006-12-04T13:53:04Z")
Well, I’m a Brit who tends to do reasonably well with this kind of puzzle, and I’m no closer than any of you Yanks, so I don’t think it’s a Britishism. Of course, it could be one that I’ve never heard of :). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/149 "2006-12-04T13:56:13Z")
[QUOTE=Walter Windchill] That would be lame, but if you can think of anything that makes sense of “k of g in a p f d,” I’m happy to torture the numbers to make it fit. [/QUOTE] k of g immediately gives me Kingdom of God in my head. But p f d…I keep making it pdf in my head OR I keep changing it into v f d (because I am reading the last Lemony Snicket aloud to my youngest). But, in looking in the dictionary, I DID find the coolest word for today’s current admin etc. It’s kakistocracy: government by the worst men in the state. 😃 14 kakistocracies in a pretty fucked democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/150 "2006-12-04T14:07:28Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Cat] Well, I’m a Brit who tends to do reasonably well with this kind of puzzle, and I’m no closer than any of you Yanks, so I don’t think it’s a Britishism. Of course, it could be one that I’ve never heard of :). [/QUOTE] Whew! I was worried that it was 14 knackers of gobsmack in a fettled petrol dodgem, or something… ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/151 "2006-12-04T14:59:57Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Fourteen karat gold would seem to be a natural, except for the unnatural necessity of saying 14 karats of gold. [/QUOTE] It sounded awkward to me too, but on the off chance that it may be “official language” in the world of precious metals I exact-phrase-googled it and found that there were a few people who phrased it in that way, but nothing immediately apparent in any official context. It was worth a try anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/152 "2006-12-04T15:15:14Z")
As an FYI, I’ve seen these puzzles referred to as “ditloids”, which may help any further web search attempts. Just wondering if this becomes the new “three words which end in -gry”? ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/153 "2006-12-04T15:53:56Z")
hungry, angry, and… hm. What’s the third? Kidding, kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/154 "2006-12-04T16:01:03Z")
Interesting… I quickly learned by googling that word (“Ditloid”) that this puzzle was invented by Will Shortz, now editor of the NYT crossword puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/155 "2006-12-04T18:36:02Z")
Could it be 14 kinds of gas in a flat panel display? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/156 "2006-12-04T19:06:27Z")
[QUOTE=Walter Windchill] hungry, angry, and… hm. What’s the third? Kidding, kidding. [/QUOTE] [Nugry](http://catb.org/jargon/html/N/nugry.html). ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/157 "2006-12-04T19:23:39Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Could it be 14 kinds of gas in a flat panel display? [/QUOTE] Could be, except that it makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/158 "2006-12-04T19:25:11Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] [Nugry](http://catb.org/jargon/html/N/nugry.html). [/QUOTE] That’s excellent. It will be more excellent if it catches on and actually becomes a word some day. Then, the puzzle will just be a straight up puzzle with no stupid trick language, and will eventually move into oblivion because it is too mundane. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/159 "2006-12-04T21:04:55Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] [Nugry](http://catb.org/jargon/html/N/nugry.html). [/QUOTE] gryphon (you didn’t say WHICH end) ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249/160 "2006-12-04T21:51:34Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] gryphon (you didn’t say WHICH end) [/QUOTE] That has to be the best answer I’ve ever seen to that “puzzle.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249.md?page=9)