Constructing valid words ending in -gry.

Factual Questions
1

(Mods: searching the hundreds (thousands?) of posts in multiple threads on the subject of -gry was too much to even consider. If this question has been answered already, a link would be gladly accepted.)

OK, so there are only two words in English that end in -gry: angry and hungry. My question is, could you invent a word ending in -gry that is correct by the same rules of grammar that yielded angry and hungry? As far as I can tell, the basic rules would be: a noun denoting a quality or state of being ending in -er, used to construct an adjective ending in -gry. There might be more to it than that if you go back all the way to the original ME and OE words and rules of construction. Does the suffix -iness turn the adjective back into the noun? Are “anger” and “angriness” synonyms, or do they mean slightly different things?

2

I think it would have to be one ending ~ger - the g is preserved when converting to ~gry. It might even need the N as well.

3

Are “angry” and “hungry” corruptions of “angery” and “hungery?” Is a singer singery? A banger bangery? Therefore “singry” and “bangry?”

4

Or is a situation where danger is present “dangry”?

5

Why would you consider there to be a constraint around any neologism?

There is not some codified set of “rules of grammar” that “invented” angry and hungry, nor is there any set of (consistent) rules to which new words must conform before they are released to the polloi.

6

There is a set of “rules” that show how words *were *formed, however, and can be used to form neologisms. In this case, adding a “y” and (apparently) dropping an “e.”

7

Augury

8

That’s gury, not gry.

9

I’m sure I’ve read there’s a third word that ends with -gry, but I can’t for the life of me think what it is. :confused:

10

“nagry” - what happens when one is too NAGRY to spell right.

11

The -gry word puzzle is tired and old, and a bit silly.
Here is a reasonable write up on it: Gry Riddle: Words that End in Gry

12

Does anyone else find it amusing that Chief Pedant actually provided a link in response to Siam Sam’s whoosh?

13

Obligatory link to Unca Cece’s words of wisdom on the subject:

What are the three English words ending in -gry?

14

I don’t know, but I’m going to work that word into my vocabulary. :smiley:

“I’m not going in there! It looks dangry!”

15

Obligatory link to XKCD on the subject.

16

Maybe in Pee Wee’s Playhouse…

17

I thinking of a variation on the once perfectly acceptable word niggard: niggry.

18

I ought to keep my mouth (fingers?) shut and let everyone think it really was a whoosh, but it was not. I knew I’d read it somewhere, but forgot it was a Dope column. :smack:

19

Ah. Oops. :smiley:

20

Yes, the quaint -gry question. I was just telling my shrink yesterday that youngsters with new Christmas computers tend to drop in at this time of year to post questions we all know by heart, and never want to hear again. I don’t think she believed me. This year, Lumpy has pre-empted the clueless newbies with a query about neologisms that would answer the hide-bound riddle.

Let’s make the most of this. Instead of the usual :smack: “Oy veygry! Not this again!,” we have a chance for a little amusement. Thanks,** Lumpy.**

A bakery sells bread, and we go to an eatery for dinner. Do you go to a Lawry for legal advice? No, it’s a steakhouse, an eatery. However:

Gröggry, a place to drink grögg.
Singingry, a karaoke joint.
Bangry, in the UK, a place to buy sausage.
Yinglingry, a place to buy a certain beer, or a certain sailboat.
Shagry, a bordello.
Stingry, a US sports car with a letter broken off.

Now, it’s your turn.