# Riddle me this!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989 "2009-03-02T10:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/61 "2009-03-04T21:49:45Z")
**Kilobyte70** , you are not breaking any rules and no one will make you leave. We like people whose first language is not English. What a lot of us don’t like or dismiss as stupid are internet/texting abbreviations such as “u” for “you” or “r” for “are.” You will not be taken seriously if you use that kind of thing. This is not personal. It’s the culture of this board. I guess it’s that we feel if it’s important enough to post, it’s important enough to take a little extra time so that we all can read it readily. I’m not talking about typographical errors, and some abbreviations are completely expected and accepted. Certainly you will not be mocked if it’s clear that English is not your first language - for the kind of error that not speaking the language fluently leads to. l33t-speak isn’t one of those kinds of errors. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/62 "2009-03-05T00:30:07Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > **Kilobyte70** , if you’re planning to spend any time here, stop with the net abbreviations and tighten up your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I’m saying this, fully aware of the irony that I’m further contributing to the hijacking of this thread - If you’re going to be a force for change on the boards, may I humbly suggest that you advise those people hijacking threads to nitpick minor grammar errors and chastise offhand humorous references to IQs to mend their ways rather than their victims? Because those posters are, in my opinion, both much more obnoxious and a bigger destroyer of threads. And a slight laziness of writing from a poster is just not in the same league as mixed case 733T speak, and as pointed out, is often actually a case of ESL. And may I suggest to those nitpickers, at the risk of seeming like a junior mod, that rather than waste our time with your vitriol, that you link to a pit thread instead? ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/63 "2009-03-05T02:39:10Z")
The mute guy is the blind guy. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/64 "2009-03-05T02:43:49Z")
Then who is the third guy? The OP specifically said three men. My mistake the OP said three women and said all 3 were married. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/65 "2009-03-05T02:54:52Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > **Kilobyte70** , if you’re planning to spend any time here, stop with the net abbreviations and tighten up your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Otherwise any thread you participate in will turn into a discussion of some aspect of your abbreviations, spelling, grammar, or punctuation or any combination thereof, and nothing you actually say will be taken very seriously. We will mock you and ride you ceaselessly on this; it is an integral part of our culture here. If you don’t like that, shape up or don’t let the door hit you on the way out. > > I don’t mean you any harm; I’m telling you this for your own sake. Most new posters here have lurked long enough to know this before they start, but any who haven’t are hounded until they either leave or straighten up and fly right. Way to lay down the law, **Oy!**. ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/66 "2009-03-05T03:08:24Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > Then who is the third guy? The OP specifically said three men. > > My mistake the OP said three women and said all 3 were married. I think that’s an error in wording on the OP’s part. I know this riddle, and the answer is that the blind man is the mute man. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/67 "2009-03-05T03:13:22Z")
I suspected as much. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/68 "2009-03-05T03:53:43Z")
Or, there’s another possibility. > [@Kilobyte70](#): > > The mute guy can’t hide this from his friend and wants to tell him. The question is how. He needs to open his freakin’ mouth and tell the blind man. He may not be physically capable of doing this, but that’s what he needs to do. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/69 "2009-03-05T04:27:13Z")
[Moderating] Ok, let’s please drop the bickering about grammar, IQ, and whether nitpickers or 733T speakers are worse and try to get back to the OP. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/70 "2009-03-05T04:38:32Z")
Hmm… in cases like this, are we sure that the OP got the exact wording of the riddle correct? In riddles, there’s usually some twist or trick involved. Or if someone comes up to you and says “I bet you I can tell you where you got your shoes.” (the answer being, you got them on your feet, a common attempt at tricking tourists out of money in New Orleans) doesn’t work when you state it like this “I bet I can tell you where you bought your shoes.” I don’t think that in riddles (usually) that an approach that is crunching out an answer (can’t they just draw pictures? Act it out, etc) is usually the way to go. You have to think of wording (puns, double-meanings like the cabin in the woods/airplane cabin) and logic. So, I think we need to try that direction. ---
**Author:** ![Lyanthya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lyanthya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyanthya)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/71 "2009-03-05T06:04:58Z")
OK, I think my second solution is the one the OP is looking for, but the wording of the riddle could have been better. The mute guy needs to speak to tell the blind man what happened. > **[World of Warcraft Forums](https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/?topicId=6440896720&sid=1)** I’ve heard it with the other solution, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/72 "2009-03-05T06:45:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > whether nitpickers or 733T speakers are worse and try to get back to the OP. Colibri iz teh totul suxx0rs! Iz ‘L33t’ not ‘7eeT’ newb. ---
**Author:** ![Kilobyte70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@Kilobyte70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilobyte70)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/73 "2009-03-05T11:33:14Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > **Kilobyte70** , you are not breaking any rules and no one will make you leave. We like people whose first language is not English. What a lot of us don’t like or dismiss as stupid are internet/texting abbreviations such as “u” for “you” or “r” for “are.” You will not be taken seriously if you use that kind of thing. > > This is not personal. It’s the culture of this board. I guess it’s that we feel if it’s important enough to post, it’s important enough to take a little extra time so that we all can read it readily. I’m not talking about typographical errors, and some abbreviations are completely expected and accepted. Certainly you will not be mocked if it’s clear that English is not your first language - for the kind of error that not speaking the language fluently leads to. l33t-speak isn’t one of those kinds of errors. If I may so, the sentence that spawned so much debate was this: > [@Kilobyte70](#): > > Sorry but you assuming that I found that from an online test is completely wrong. which as you can see has no form of the so called l33t speak. And if I may point to your original post: > [@Oy](#): > > **Kilobyte70** , if you’re planning to spend any time here, stop with the net abbreviations and tighten up your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Otherwise any thread you participate in will turn into a discussion of some aspect of your abbreviations, spelling, grammar, or punctuation or any combination thereof, and nothing you actually say will be taken very seriously. We will mock you and ride you ceaselessly on this; it is an integral part of our culture here. If you don’t like that, shape up or don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Here you specifically stated that my ‘spelling, grammar and punctuation’ has to be flawless if I am to avoid discrimination in this board. I am sorry if I am further stretching this pointless exchange but I felt I had to correct you there. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/74 "2009-03-05T13:40:59Z")
> [@Lyanthya](#): > > The mute guy is the blind guy. Yep, I think we have a winner here. But getting the riddle second-hand as we did, I think the OP didn’t have the wording quite right. > [@](#): > > A blind person, a mute person and a deaf person are friends. All 3 r married (to 3 separate women) and all 3 live together. pretty strongly suggests that each of the three men possesses one and only one of the three handicaps. I suspect the riddle actually goes something like: “Three men live together; one is blind, one is deaf, and one is mute.” ---
**Author:** ![Kilobyte70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@Kilobyte70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilobyte70)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/75 "2009-03-05T16:31:39Z")
> [@Lyanthya](#): > > The mute guy is the blind guy. That’s without a doubt the best answer I have seen so far. I will check and reply if it’s the right one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/76 "2009-03-05T19:05:50Z")
> [@Lyanthya](#): > > I think that’s an error in wording on the OP’s part. I know this riddle, and the answer is that the blind man is the mute man. Ah, very clever! If this is the answer though, the OP phrased the riddle wrongly and made it impossible for us to solve. He specifically contradicted this answer: [QUOTE=Kilobyte70] A blind person, a mute person and a deaf person are friends. All 3 r married (to 3 separate women) and all 3 live together. [/QUOTE] That specifically says there’s 3 people, and 3 wives. I suspect Kilobye’s friend actually said, ‘all of them are married to separate women, and all of them live together’, which wouldn’t rule out Lyanthya’s answer. This is the problem with relaying pedantic riddles like this 2nd hand - a slight mistake in the wording and the riddle is impossible to solve. ---
**Author:** ![Kilobyte70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ebca7d/32.png) [@Kilobyte70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilobyte70)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/77 "2009-03-05T20:34:02Z")
Sorry that was not the right answer…there are actually 3 seperate men each with a disability…:S ---
**Author:** ![ClintPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@ClintPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ClintPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/78 "2009-03-05T22:55:10Z")
> [@Kilobyte70](#): > > Sorry that was not the right answer..there are actually 3 seperate men each with a disability..:S Could the blind man be able to see but have a job cleaning blinds? If he still has to have a disability it’s probably a learning disability - after all, he can’t read. I’m not sure if this gets us closer, but it seems kind of riddlish to me. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/79 "2009-03-06T00:22:49Z")
The question arises - which riddle are we trying to solve? It can’t be the one in the OP, because we already have two or three perfectly satisfactory answers for that. It seems to me that each time someone comes up with a satisfactory answer (= one that meets all of the given conditions), our polyglot friend with the impressive IQ waves it aside, says ‘not so’, and adds new terms and conditions specifically to invalidate the answer given. This is pointless. Let him define the riddle for which he seeks an answer, once and once only, and then we can address it. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989/80 "2009-03-06T01:06:37Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > I disagree. “Assuming” is a word, but that usage is incorrect. It is similar to the statement “Your wanting a cheezborger is silly”. Wanting is a word, but shouldn’t be used in this manner, because it is a [stative](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stative_verb) verb. Assuming is a stative verb as [well](http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/stative.html). > > The proper form would indeed be “your assumption is incorrect” or “you are assuming incorrectly” or even “you assume incorrectly”. I don’t think it would be right to anyone’s ears if I said “that assuming is wrong” or “his assuming is based on improper logic”. Sorry, but a gerund usage is perfectly resonable in that case. “I appreciate your helping me with my homework.” “Helping” in that sentence is being used as a gerund (which is essentially a verb being used as a noun-- compare to a participle, which is a verb used as an adjective [eg The running man tripped.]), and refers to the act of helping. In your sentence, you could say “Your desire for Icanhazchezborger is silly,” or “The fact that you want cheese is silly,” or leave it as you originally wrote it. However, “You wanting a cheeseburger is silly” is wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/riddle-me-this/487989.md?page=5)