# A language question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 12, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586 "2002-07-12T08:10:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586/1 "2002-07-12T08:10:41Z")

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I got an email stating that there were only 3 words in the English language that ended in “gry”. Two of them are “angry” and “hungry”, but almost nobdy knows the third. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I don’t know, can anyone help me?

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**Author:** ![Neptune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@Neptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptune)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586/2 "2002-07-12T08:16:05Z")

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[http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/taylor/topics/grypuzzle.htm](http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/taylor/topics/grypuzzle.htm)

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**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586/3 "2002-07-12T08:16:20Z")

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Take my advice:  
send a mail to our mods to have this thread removed without a trace!

You don’t want to be seen as the poster with almost 3k posts, who asks _that question_!  
Please search the archives!  
[sub](OK, while there are a few more rare words ending in -gry, that’s not the answer to the riddle. What you heard was a mangled version of the original riddle, that answer to which was ‘language’)[/sub]

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-question/118586/4 "2002-07-12T09:48:05Z")

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BTW, the cite linked to mentions “original wording.” To date, there hasn’t been a credible cite for a reference to the riddle with “original wording.” That supposed explanation to the riddle did not start showing up until some years after the riddle first apeared.

It might be true, but there’s just not the evidence to support it.