# \-gry threads **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 1999, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879 "1999-11-17T23:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/1 "1999-11-17T23:34:00Z")
Please don’t flame me. I got the -gry question in e-mail today, and I’ve been searching for old threads where it has been cussed and discussed in the past, but I can’t find them. I can’t get the search to work for me today. Is there someone with more luck or patience than I who can find some links for me that I can refer this e-mailer to? Thanks ever so much. Please don’t flame me. * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy [The Kat House](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/home.htm) [Join the FSH Webring](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/fshwebring.htm) ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/2 "1999-11-17T23:42:00Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003406.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/003406.html) i won, whoo hoo. * * * We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/3 "1999-11-17T23:56:00Z")
“She’s a troll! Burn her! Burn her!” …just kidding. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 1999, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/4 "1999-11-17T23:59:00Z")
You don’t need no stinking threads. Cecil himself answered this one. [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_251.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_251.html) * * * “Well, walk it off! And next time, _stretch_ before you ovulate.” – Al Bundy ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 1999, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/5 "1999-11-18T00:11:00Z")
Thanks, and I’m sorry I didn’t realize there was such a new thread on this topic (guess it’s now pathetically obvious how often I check General Questions). Thanks for the help, and an especially big thanks for not flaming me 🙂 * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy [The Kat House](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/home.htm) [Join the FSH Webring](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/fshwebring.htm) ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 1999, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/6 "1999-11-18T00:12:00Z")
HEY, yall watch your language! I don’t think this thing needs another gry. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**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:** [November 21, 1999, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/7 "1999-11-21T17:25:00Z")
BTW, I have found the third “-gry” word. A Japanese friend told me that he considered a certain actor to be very “ugry.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/8 "1999-11-22T06:39:00Z")
Language is dynamic. I think we’re approaching the point where **gry** takes on its own meaning and becomes a word in and of itself. So, what’s the definition? ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 1999, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/9 "1999-11-21T20:31:00Z")
> [@](#): > > So, what’s the definition? According to [What are the three English words ending in -gry?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_251.html): > [@](#): > > A gry was a hundredth of an inch and a thousandth of a “philosophical foot.” Too bad Locke’s idea didn’t catch on; the thought of measuring things in philosophical feet has an ineffable poignance. The Oxford English Dictionary says gry is also an obsolete verb meaning to rage or roar. I think we should start a petition requesting the OED to add an additional definition: “The third English word ending in -gry.” * * * Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99. Semper Ubi Sub Ubi ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/10 "1999-11-22T00:31:00Z")
I hesitate to get involved in this again. I got involved in it over at the HO joke board and there were still at least 50 people asking “what is the third word?” after four of us posted the whole story. The only thing is I went to the above link and( are you sitting down?) Cecil is WRONG. First of all there are at least a dozen English words ending in gry. They are archaic or extremly obscure but real words. @nd the original riddle has become garbled, even when Cece tried to duplicate it he got it wrong. To truly work the riddle should be spoken as when it is written it becomes obvious as you will see. basically this is the original riddle; Angry and hungry are two words in the English language that end in GRY. There are three words in “the English language.” Can you name the third word in “the English language”? Now there maybe more after the question about how i have just shown you the answer etc. but that is the riddle. The sentence about Angry and hungry is a red herring. The question I asked is Can you name the third word in “the English language” ? the answer is “language” Not GRY not three LANGUAGE When it is spoken you can’t see the quotes. Can we put this to rest now? Email this to ALL your friends.When I get angry I get hungry and all I got in the house is red herring. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**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:** [November 22, 1999, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/11 "1999-11-22T00:37:00Z")
What is the earliest citation that the phrase “original question” has become garbled? I’ve seen that in a number of places, but no one has yet come forth with a source. I have a book that is dated 1982 (long before Al Gore invented the Internet), which says that the MW people have been getting that same question for many years, and they don’t know where it came from. So, can anyone actually show that that is the way the question was originally worded? If they can, then OK. If not, then we can just assume that this question was dreamed up by some yo-yo. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/12 "1999-11-22T02:25:00Z")
OOOPS ! I garbled it myself make it read “there are ONLY three words in ‘the English language’” now: “… the -gry question is one of the most outrageous and time-wasting linguistic hoaxes in our nation’s history. The poser slithered onto the American scene in 1975 on the Bob Grant radio talk show on WMCA in New York City…There are at least 50 -gry words in addition to angry and hungry…” [http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/gry.htm](http://pw1.netcom.com/~rlederer/gry.htm) for other sites just go to google and search for gry. Are you suggesting,Mj that in 1975 there was ONLY one other word that ended in GRY, but since then 49 other archaic/obscure words evolved? That’s the only way the riddle would work as it is usually written IE. “What is the 3rd word in the English language that ends in gry?” Look this is NOT a knowledge tester, to see if you know any archaic words. it is a joke riddle. When one hears the answer of "language’ one is puzzled, perplexed. Then when it is explained, “DOHH!” ’ There are 4 common two letter words that end in E, in alphabetic order three of them are BE, HE,and ME. What is the fourth word in our everyday English language?’ “WE” ‘no’ “then what is it?” "Language HA HA HA’ Now shoot the riddle please. * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx ---
**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:** [November 22, 1999, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/13 "1999-11-22T14:08:00Z")
Mr John: I think you misunderstood my post. In **no way** is there anything in it that implies that I believe there is a “third word.” I know there are about 100 words in OED. I’ve seen the list–a _long_ time ago. My post was about the claim that the question has become re-worded. I have yet to see some credible evidence that the original question was worded to be a trick question, and that the wording has changed over time such that it’s no longer answerable. Failing the discovery of a plausibel source, I am inclined to believe that it (the original wording) was just a wild goose chase, sorta like Fermat’s “Last Theorem.” ---
**Author:** ![deus\_ex\_machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@deus\_ex\_machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deus_ex_machina)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 1999, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/14 "1999-11-22T14:28:00Z")
Joining in hijack… Fermat’s was proved a few years ago, by Andre Weil, see Annals of Mathematics 141 (3), May 1995. Apparently the proof has been accepted by the mathematics community, although it is not considered elegant. ---
**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:** [November 22, 1999, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gry-threads/4879/15 "1999-11-22T15:53:00Z")
Fermat’s “Last Theorem” was proved, at least to the satisfaction of the tekkies. However, _Fermat’s_ “Last Theorem” has to this day **not** been proved–or at least discovered. He said that it was a simple theorem. He also lived many years after he said that he had found it, and he never documented it anywhere. Two probabilities: 1. Fermat _thought_ he found the theorem, but further investigation showed that it had flaws–so he never documented it. OR 1. He was just pulling our leg. He didn’t have a proof, but he thought, “Boy, they’ll have fun figuring out this one!” I go with Option #1.