# A Word Puzzle **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [September 18, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658 "2017-09-18T18:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/1 "2017-09-18T18:49:19Z")
I made a little word puzzle. Since I’m not very good at this sort of thing it might not be very good but I don’t know what else to do with it so I’ll post it here: Determine the word that goes in the blank. I can’t say for sure that what I typed is spelled correctly because I sounded it out phonetically. But I am sure of the spelling of the answer. How is who Who is we We is why Why is \_\_\_\_\_ ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/2 "2017-09-18T19:04:10Z")
Can I ask if it’s related to German somehow? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/3 "2017-09-18T19:09:58Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > Can I ask if it’s related to German somehow? I can neither confirm nor deny this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/4 "2017-09-18T20:26:24Z")
OK. In an attempt to move things along I’ll answer **snoe’s** question as no, but you’re getting warmer. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/5 "2017-09-18T23:07:45Z")
Alright, one other thing. I wish I had wrote the description of the puzzle differently but it was all I could think of. The part about the spelling is not because I’m a lazy idiot but is actually part of the puzzle. But if I admit that, then it kinda becomes too easy (I think). ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/6 "2017-09-19T00:14:47Z")
What ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/7 "2017-09-19T03:52:01Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > What No. That’s not it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/8 "2017-09-19T21:58:56Z")
You ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/9 "2017-09-19T22:02:45Z")
Well, if it rhymes, the answer would be: Me. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/10 "2017-09-20T01:40:38Z")
I had a feeling this might not work real well but I was so excited at coming up with this little thing. Maybe I should have started a thread asking for help in making a word puzzle out of the stuff I came up with. I don’t want to give up yet… I’m pretty sure that if someone with the right kind of knowledge comes across this they will get it pretty easily. that’s why I thought the SDMB would be a good place for it. I’ll try to give more hints. One thing is: some of the words in the puzzle are phonetic representations of other actual words. They are homonyms. That’s why I wrote about the spelling possibly being incorrect. ETA: also, you can think of “is” as an equal sign. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/11 "2017-09-20T13:24:34Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > How is who > Who is we > We is why > Why is \_\_\_\_\_ Acronym route: how = hau; who = hoo; we = oui, wee; why = y, wi Based on absolutely nothing, is the answer woe? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/12 "2017-09-20T14:07:56Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/13 "2017-09-20T17:51:23Z")
I meant homonyms before but now that I think about it, are these words acronyms or abbreviations? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/14 "2017-09-21T02:28:26Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I meant homonyms before but now that I think about it, are these words acronyms or abbreviations? No. Hint: the answer is a foreign (non-English) word. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/15 "2017-09-21T14:32:16Z")
More clues!!! The column of words on the left are English (how, who, we, why), the column on the right (who, we, why,) are a single different language but spelled phonetically in English as homonyms of the foreign words. The answer is in that same non-English language and does not have an English homonym. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/16 "2017-09-21T16:13:27Z")
is the non-English language French? Spanish? German? Italian? Greek? Portuguese? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/17 "2017-09-21T18:30:00Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > is the non-English language French? Spanish? German? Italian? Greek? Portuguese? well, that would maybe be too much information. i guess i hoped that someone could figure that out by the way the words sound. “who”, “we”, and “why” are homonyms of three different words in one language that is not English. i guess i have botched this whole thing. but if i say the language that would make it too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/18 "2017-09-21T19:58:34Z")
If this requires any degree of fluency in another language beyond the speaking ability of a three-year old, I’ll never get it. “We” could be the French word “oui,” but I haven’t a clue for the other two words. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/19 "2017-09-22T16:20:21Z")
Yes, I’d ask OP if the puzzle can be solved by someone unfamiliar with his target foreign language. If it requires knowledge of a language other than English, French or Thai, leave me out. The /hw/ sound in ‘why’ is fairly uncommon in non-English languages, I think. Is that a clue? If ‘why’ is pronounced /wai:/ instead of /hwai:/, then Thai has common words for each homonym ‘who,’ ‘we,’ ‘why,’ but I don’t see the connection among them. (And strongly doubt the puzzle is intended just for Thai speakers!) ---
**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:** [September 22, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658/20 "2017-09-22T17:23:47Z")
My guess is that the language is Chinese or Japanese, but I don’t know enough about either language to guess the actual answer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-word-puzzle/796658.md?page=2)