# Analogy Help
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 14, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727 "2006-09-14T18:54:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Terd\_Ferguson\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terd_Ferguson_1)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/1 "2006-09-14T18:54:57Z")
This is from another message board, but since you guys are smarter đ I thought maybe you could shed some light. Thanks in advance.
Smilie
1. frog:dinosaur:đ
a. mouse
b. snake
c. fish
d. bird
1. passive:completion::active
a. inertia
b. energy
c. peanut butter
d. corvette
---
### Author:  [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/2 "2006-09-14T18:57:09Z")
> [@Terd Ferguson](#):
>
> This is from another message board, but since you guys are smarter đ I thought maybe you could shed some light. Thanks in advance.
> Smilie
>
> 1. frog:dinosaur:đ
>
> a. mouse
> b. snake
> c. fish
> d. bird
Iâd say âa.â A frog is a modern descendant of a dinosaur. A whale is a modern descendant of a creature that resembled a mouse. Closest I can get.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/3 "2006-09-14T19:00:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Iâd say âa.â **A frog is a modern descendant of a dinosaur.** A whale is a modern descendant of a creature that resembled a mouse. Closest I can get.
We will begin our lecture today by examining whether a amphibian can be a descendant of a reptile. What effect have the works of Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg had in confusing modern people?
---
### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/4 "2006-09-14T19:11:21Z")
I donât think either one of those can be solved without resorting to flawed facts or stretched connections. I am sure that we can make any of the answers work with enough effort but I think they are really just crappy analogies without an answer.
---
### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/5 "2006-09-14T19:20:13Z")
#1 is snake. Frogs have four legs as did dinosaurs. Whales have no legs, like snakes.
#2 isnât clicking for me yet.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/6 "2006-09-14T19:26:54Z")
> [@Terd Ferguson](#):
>
> This is from another message board, but since you guys are smarter đ I thought maybe you could shed some light. Thanks in advance.
> Smilie
>
> 1. frog:dinosaur:đ
>
> a. mouse
> b. snake
> c. fish
> d. bird
I would suspect that the answer they were looking for here is âmouse,â but as has already been pointed out this is incorrect. Whoever framed the analogy probably thought that frogs were members of the same group as dinosaurs (in the same way that whales and mice are both mammals). Frogs are amphibians, while dinosaurs have traditionally been considered to be reptiles. (However, it might be worth pointing out that, of all the animals listed, birds are the closest relatives to dinosaurs.)
If I wanted to make some strained analogy, both âsnakeâ and âbirdâ could be construed as a correct answer. This is because frogs belong to a group (Amphibia) that is a sister-group to a group that dinosaurs belong to (Reptilia). Whales belong to a group (Mammalia) that is a sister-group to a group that both snakes and birds belong to (Reptilia).
But I think whoever made the analogy up had no idea what they were talking about.
---
### Author:  [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/7 "2006-09-14T20:43:30Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#):
>
> Iâd say âa.â A frog is a modern descendant of a dinosaur. A whale is a modern descendant of a creature that resembled a mouse. Closest I can get.
I donât believe that a frog is a modern descendant of a dinosaur. I thought that amphibians came first and reptiles branched from them and then had a branch that became dinosaurs.
---
### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/8 "2006-09-14T21:00:09Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#):
>
> #1 is snake. Frogs have four legs as did dinosaurs. Whales have no legs, like snakes.
Remind me. Do fish have two legs or six legs?
---
### Author:  [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/9 "2006-09-14T22:53:20Z")
> [@Terd Ferguson](#):
>
> 1. passive:completion::active
>
> a. inertia
> b. energy
> c. peanut butter
> d. corvette
My inital guess was c, because the first question was already nutty.
But then I wondered if thereâs a typo, and they mean passive: contemplation? Then Iâd go with b - doesnât really fit the analogy, but the only one that makes sense to active, given the choices.
What is this test suppose to measure, anyway? And who designed it?
Stupid thing. Reminds me of the IQ test I hated because one question was to relate things to a âGasometerâ. Since I didnât know what a [Gasometer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasometer) was, and had never heard of that thing (they are common in the industralised middle part of Germany, I live in the south in Bavaria), I had no idea.
And the correct answer was briefcase. Why? Because both are containers.
I think questions like these donât measure intellegince, but wooly thinking (like fuzzy logic, only less exact).
[Cecil doesnât think too highly](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/051223.html) of dumb tests, either. [Or bad analogies.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_266.html)
---
### Author:  [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/10 "2006-09-14T22:56:02Z")
> [@Terd Ferguson](#):
>
> 1. frog:dinosaur:đ
>
> a. mouse
> b. snake
> c. fish
> d. bird
Maybe itâs c - both live in water? :dubious:
---
### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/11 "2006-09-14T22:56:23Z")
The first analogy makes no sense. If I had this on a test Iâd pick âmouseâ, since Iâd guess thatâs what the person who dreamed up the question wanted me to pick, a frog is a small member of group X, while a dinosaur is a large member. So a mouse is a small member of group Y, while a whale is a large member. Still sucks, since frogs are not reptiles. And if we insist that there be a phylogenetic group called âreptilesâ, dinosaurs, snakes, mice, whales and birds would be members, only fish and frogs would not be members. Or put another way, any sensible group that contains both dinosaurs and snakes must also contain mice, whales and birds. If the analogy was bird:dinosaur:đ, then the correct answer would unambiguously be âmouseâ.
Now:
1. passive:completion::active
a. inertia
b. energy
c. peanut butter
d. corvette
Iâd guess a, inertia.
Peanut Butter and corvette make absolutely no sense, so theyâre out. Energy doesnât seem to have any connection either. But if you are passive, what you wonât get is completion. If you are active, what you wonât get is inertia.
---
### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/12 "2006-09-14T23:08:10Z")
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> And if we insist that there be a phylogenetic group called âreptilesâ, dinosaurs, snakes, mice, whales and birds would be members, only fish and frogs would not be members.
To nitpick, whales and mice are not a member of the phylogenetic group Reptilia. The synapsid ancestors of mammals branched off from the other early Amniota before any âreptilianâ group. Although synapsids have traditionally been referred to as âmammal-like reptiles,â they are not actually part of the clade that contains Reptilia. See [here](http://www.tolweb.org/Amniota).
But I canât imagine the person who composed that test being aware of that kind of distinction.
> [@constanze](#):
>
> Maybe itâs c - both live in water?
But that has no relation to the first part of the analogy. Frogs live partly on land and partly in the water; dinosaurs lived mostly on land.
---
### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/13 "2006-09-14T23:22:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> To nitpick, whales and mice are not a member of the phylogenetic group Reptilia. The synapsid ancestors of mammals branched off from the other early Amniota before any âreptilianâ group. Although synapsids have traditionally been referred to as âmammal-like reptiles,â they are not actually part of the clade that contains Reptilia. See [here](http://www.tolweb.org/Amniota).
[neo]
Whoa.
[/neo]
---
### Author:  [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/14 "2006-09-14T23:29:02Z")
> [@Terd Ferguson](#):
>
> This is from another message board, but since you guys are smarter đ I thought maybe you could shed some light. Thanks in advance.
> Smilie
>
> 1. frog:dinosaur:đ
>
> a. mouse
> b. snake
> c. fish
> d. bird
Dinos are much larger than frogs. Frogs and dinos are each often thought to be members of a particular group which in fact frogs are _not_ a member of, namely, the group âreptiles.â (In fact, dinos arenât reptiles either, but most people still think of them that way.)
Whales are much larger than fish in general. Whales and fish are each often thought to be members of a particular group which in fact whales are _not_ a member of, namely, the group âmammals.â
So my guess is for choice C.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. passive:completion::active
>
> a. inertia
> b. energy
> c. peanut butter
> d. corvette
I cannot fathom this one. âpassive:completionâ I imagine is making some reference to the fact that in English, superficially similar constructions can stand both for the passive voice and for completed action. (âIt was finishedâ is an example of a sentence which could be read both ways.)
But I canât imagine how âactive:inertiaâ or âactive:energyâ could be analogous to that connection. And surely peanut butter and corvette are right out, I hope.
The best I can imagine is that the author has in mind a construction like âI am walkingâ which is both active and denotative of continuous action. That would make âintertiaâ the right candidate. But thatâs a weird way to think about it.
-FrL-
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/15 "2006-09-14T23:45:34Z")
Unless itâs a word puzzle? Meanings are meaningless, and it has to do with letters or vowells or etymology or something?
(And re: the fish answer, I donât think so. âFishâ is the group whales are erroneously believed, by some, to be a part of. So if that were the parallel, it would be âreptiles:dinosaurs:đwhales.â
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/16 "2006-09-14T23:48:34Z")
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> . . . Energy doesnât seem to have any connection either. But if you are passive, what you wonât get is completion. If you are active, what you wonât get is inertia.
Thatâs as close as I came to a solution too, but itâs not a very satisfying one.
---
### Author:  [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/17 "2006-09-14T23:57:05Z")
> [@lissener](#):
>
> Unless itâs a word puzzle? Meanings are meaningless, and it has to do with letters or vowells or etymology or something?
>
> (And re: the fish answer, I donât think so. âFishâ is the group whales are erroneously believed, by some, to be a part of. So if that were the parallel, it would be âreptiles:dinosaurs:đwhales.â
Sorry, thereâs some kind of typo in my post. Iâll come back to it tonight to try to recall what I meant to type.
-FrL-
---
### Author:  [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/18 "2006-09-15T01:05:55Z")
How about
1. frog:dinosaur:đ
_ **a. mouse** _
b. snake
c. fish
d. bird
frogs & dinosaurs both hatch(ed) from eggs; whales & mice are born live, unlike (most) snakes, fish & birds
---
### Author:  [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/19 "2006-09-15T01:25:39Z")
No help, but I have to admit that Iâm still laughingâmostly over the question from **tomndebb** to **QED** about how many legs fish have.
---
### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/analogy-help/372727/20 "2006-09-15T02:09:51Z")
> [@Twoflower](#):
>
> How about
>
> 1. frog:dinosaur:đ
>
> _ **a. mouse** _
> b. snake
> c. fish
> d. bird
>
> frogs & dinosaurs both hatch(ed) from eggs; whales & mice are born live, unlike (most) snakes, fish & birds
Well, since many fish and snakes are, in fact, liveborn, I donât thatâs probly the solution either.
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