# Make or Break **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 24, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002 "2011-05-24T12:49:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/1 "2011-05-24T12:49:27Z")
I came up with a new (I think) game on the way to work this morning. I’m calling it “Make or Break”. It’s pretty simple: make a rule, and provide five examples that fit the rule. Then someone else has to think of an example that breaks the rule, and make a new rule. If no one can come up with a example that breaks your rule, you win - _if, and only if,_ you can provide a counterexample of your own. So the strategy is not just to create a rule with no exceptions (that would be pretty boring), but to create one with just one or two little-known exceptions that you hope no one else knows. I’ll start with an easy one: Rule: All fast food chains in the U.S. have names with at least two syllables. 1. McDonald’s 2. Burger King 3. Wendy’s 4. Kentucky Fried Chicken 5. Taco Bell Break it! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/2 "2011-05-24T16:52:09Z")
I can’t think of any national chains that have one syllable. I can think of a few local chains, but I don’t think those count. Do you have a counter-example in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/3 "2011-05-24T17:02:41Z")
Moe’s. (Mexican-ish) ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/4 "2011-05-24T18:20:42Z")
Oh, fer cryin’ out loud. Way to go, me. I screwed up the game on the first round. ::rolleyes:: My counter-example was “Carl’s” - I even took Hardee’s off my list of 5 so as not to give a big hint. But of course, there is no “Carl’s” - only “Carl’s Jr.” However, **Paintcharge** gave a perfectly acceptable answer with “Moe’s”, but unfortunately neglected to post a new rule. So here goes another shot: Rule: No Spanish loanwords (or words of Spanish origin) in English begin with a vowel sound. 1. barbecue 2. chihuahua 3. garbanzo 4. lasso 5. mosquito ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/5 "2011-05-24T20:19:18Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Oh, fer cryin’ out loud. Way to go, me. I screwed up the game on the first round. ::rolleyes:: My counter-example was “Carl’s” - I even took Hardee’s off my list of 5 so as not to give a big hint. But of course, there is no “Carl’s” - only “Carl’s Jr.” > > However, **Paintcharge** gave a perfectly acceptable answer with “Moe’s”, but unfortunately neglected to post a new rule. So here goes another shot: > > Rule: No Spanish loanwords (or words of Spanish origin) in English begin with a vowel sound. > > 1. barbecue > 2. chihuahua > 3. garbanzo > 4. lasso > 5. mosquito Yucca? ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/6 "2011-05-24T20:33:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yucca? Not one of the ones I was thinking of (adios, avocado, hombre, etc.), but it works. So… what’s your rule? You broke the old one, now you have to make the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/7 "2011-05-25T13:36:47Z")
☹ Okay, I’ll give this one more shot, and then I will give up and leave you nice people alone. I promise. Here’s how the game should go: [QUOTE=Heat to Doneness] Rule: All U.S. Presidents were 50 or older at their inaugurations. 1. George Washington - 57 2. John Adams - 61 3. Thomas Jefferson - 57 4. James Madison - 57 5. James Monroe - 58 [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Subterrainbow] “All U.S. Presidents were 50 or older at their inaugurations.” I can break that. Ulysses S. Grant - 46. New rule: All Disney characters have single or alliterative names: 1. Mickey Mouse 2. Donald Duck 3. Minnie Mouse 4. Goofy 5. Pluto [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Poke In The Eye With A Sharp Stick] “All Disney characters have single or alliterative names.” Ha! Broken: Scrooge McDuck (and if he’s Scottish, shouldn’t he be _Mac_Duck?) Here’s the new rule: No conifers are native to the southern hemisphere: 1. White pine 2. Blue spruce 3. Lebanon cedar 4. Japanese yew 5. California redwood [/QUOTE] Got it? So let’s proceed with **PITEWASS’s** rule, “No conifers are native to the southern hemisphere.” Can you break it? And remember, if you do, you have to make a new rule. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/8 "2011-05-25T21:16:25Z")
Are we allowed to research, or just off the top of our heads? ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/9 "2011-05-25T21:27:52Z")
I was wondering that too. I found an answer to **PIKEWASS** ’s question, but I’ve been holding off because I can’t think of a new question… ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-or-break/583002/10 "2011-05-26T21:02:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are we allowed to research, or just off the top of our heads? > [@CaveMike](#): > > I was wondering that too. I found an answer to **PIKEWASS** ’s question, but I’ve been holding off because I can’t think of a new question… Absolutely! Please feel free to research, both to make rules and break them. That’s how I’ve been coming up with the rules so far: I think of something that seems universal, and then if I can’t think of an obvious exception off the top of my head, I check to see if there are any exceptions. If not - or if there are a bunch - I modify the rule slightly. Also, I realized I should put a time limit on breaking the rule; otherwise it could sit out there forever. So let’s say this: you’ve got 72 hours to break a rule. If it goes unbroken, that rule-maker wins, after they reveal their exception. Or, if you think there really are no exceptions, you can challenge the rule-maker at any time within those 72 hours. If they can’t break the rule, you win. Sound fair?