# What five-letter word doubles its size when you add two letters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450 "2000-11-16T14:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/61 "2000-11-19T02:22:29Z")
I know a five letter word that doubles it size when you add three letters… pence… tuppence ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/62 "2000-11-19T03:53:45Z")
Good one, Scratchy!! Got it on the first try!! Woo Hoo! ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/63 "2000-11-19T17:49:16Z")
I have an answer to the OP: focal bifocal Love the other riddles in this thread! ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/64 "2000-11-19T17:51:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JFMichael \* > > * * * It’s a big sea faring bird. I think it’s bad luck to kill and eat it. Vaguely remember that from the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and “water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!” Yeah, and what part of you grows 3 times in size when stroked by a woman? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/65 "2000-11-19T18:21:41Z")
I don’t know the answer to the OP, but I do know that “focal” will not do. Bifocal refers to lenses and it is not double the size of regular lenses. It just contains two lenses, but one lens is not the same size as the other. “Bi-” is a prefix meaning two and not double. I think you guys are on the wrong track with that prefix. I think that the answer will lie in adding two letters somewhere in the middle of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/66 "2000-11-19T18:36:02Z")
What has two knees and swims? Don’t tell me this is a two-knee fish! ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/67 "2000-11-19T19:40:05Z")
People. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/68 "2000-11-19T21:18:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Major Feelgud \* > \*\*Yeah, and what part of you grows 3 times in size when stroked by a woman? \*\* My ego. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2000, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/69 "2000-11-19T23:39:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thrashbarg \* > \*\*What, nobody liked my Scrabble answer? > \*\* Yep, it was great. On the strength of its wittiness and creativity I officially declare it the correct answer to the OP. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MattTheCroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MattTheCroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattTheCroc)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/70 "2000-11-20T02:19:28Z")
Another answer to the “Truthy, Liar” puzzle would be to ask them “If I asked you yesterday which way to go, what would you have said?” And truthy will tell the truth, but the liar would say the opposite of what he said yesterday, which was a lie, so he tells you which way to go. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/71 "2000-11-20T03:52:02Z")
Man, I thought I had come up with a really clever answer to the OP, viz **lone** and **cloned** , and was feeling terribly pleased with myself until a stray brain cell sprang to life and pointed out “lone” is only four letters. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/72 "2000-11-20T08:16:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AudreyK \* > > 1. A man is at work, and he wants to go home. However, he will not go home, because a man wearing a mask is waiting there for him. What do both men do for a living? > > 2. A man is found shot to death inside a room with a table, four chairs, and fifty-three bicycles. Why was this man shot? > > 3. A man is found dead in the middle of nowhere, holding a broken toothpick. How did he die? > > 4. A man is in an elevator, and it stops. After ten minutes, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself. Why? > > 5. Two men are eating in a restaurant. One man orders albatross soup. The second man gets up, runs over to a window, and jumps out. Why did the second man kill himself? \*\* 1.They are twin burglars, and one stays home for an alibi, while the other one burles. The one at home is wearing the mask as he is spraypainting a chair in the basement. 1. He was bicycle thief, and the police finally caught up with him. 2. The toothpick was poisoned, the other half is in his mouth. 3. He gets really really despondent about elevator malfunctions. (Note that all the b"roght" answeres about life-support namchines are entirely wrong- in hospitals they have their own generator for those. Note, also that the power can go out in an elevator without affecting the rest of the building, as they have a separate fuse/circuit breaker.) 4. The man hates folks who kill endangered species, and wanted to make a protest. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/73 "2000-11-20T08:27:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > You are walking down a road, and come to a fork in the road. Two men guard the fork in the road, and you have been told that one always tells the truth, and one always lies (you don’t know which one lies, and which one tells the truth). You know that one way leads to your destination, and one way leads to certain death (but which fork leads to your destination??). You have also been told that you may only ask one question… SO, what ONE question can you ask to determine the correct way to your destination? > \*\* You pick up the fork, and kill either of them. Then, using the fork to threaten the other, you say “I am going to make you go ahead of me down the path- now are you going to show me which is the right way?” If it is the liar who is the survivor, he will say “No”, the truthsayer will say “yes”. As for the “man with the pack query”- in the pack was an anvil- his freinds went in for REAL sick practical jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/74 "2000-11-20T09:47:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*I don’t know the answer to the OP, but I do know that “focal” will not do. Bifocal refers to lenses and it is not double the size of regular lenses. It just contains two lenses, but one lens is not the same size as the other. “Bi-” is a prefix meaning two and not double. I think you guys are on the wrong track with that prefix. I think that the answer will lie in adding two letters somewhere in the middle of the word. \*\* Yeah, says you. Focal lens, has one focus. Bifocals have two foci. Yah! ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/75 "2000-11-20T12:15:28Z")
**Danielinthewolvesden** – :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2000, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/76 "2000-11-20T17:13:49Z")
> [@](#): > > **Focal lens, has one focus. > Bifocals have two foci. Yah!** Exactly. There are two different things, not one which has doubled in size. ---
**Author:** ![DropOfaHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@DropOfaHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DropOfaHat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/77 "2000-12-04T20:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlackKnight \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > **Focal lens, has one focus. > > Bifocals have two foci. Yah!** > > Exactly. There are two different things, not one which has doubled in size. \*\* Definitely gotta go with the Black Knight on this one. Bifocal lenses are no larger than ordinary lenses - they just happen to be made of two pieces, instead of one. Is a two-paned window twice the size of a one-pane window with the same size outer frame? No! I had a similar thought as an answer to the original post - cycle and bicycle. But then I thought cycle wasn’t a specific enough term (like focal, it’s not quite a solid object, more like a concept). My other thoughts were that the answer could be in Roman Numerals! For instance, a word like “civil” or “mimic” might be able to be doubled by adding two more numerals - alas, not only could I not find the right numbers, but I don’t think the above “words” are in proper roman-numeral form. I suspect that the OP riddle be a bastardization of the “add two letters to make it shorter” riddle… ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2000, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/78 "2000-12-04T22:37:48Z")
Not that it much matters since we agree that bifocal won’t do, it should be pointed out that the “add-on” lens in bifocals is not even half the size of the initial lens. As the name implies, it is a lens that is added onto the underlying lens for near sight. It is usually about 1/3 the size of the underlying lens, which is not shortened in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Mirage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirage)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/79 "2000-12-04T23:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s a big sea faring bird. I think it’s bad luck to kill and eat it. Vaguely remember that from the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and “water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!” Random FYI. Did you know that you can sing the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner to the theme to Gilligan’s Island? It is an ancient mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. "By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp’st thou me? “The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide, And I am next of kin; The guests are met, the feast is set: May’st hear the merry din.” … ---
**Author:** ![BigStar303](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@BigStar303](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigStar303)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450/80 "2000-12-08T22:25:01Z")
The original question in this thread has been bugging me ever since I stumbled across it a few days ago. I’m no closer to figuring it out, but it occurs to me that no one has really taken a scientific approach to doing so. A couple of thoughts: 1. If we are to take a totally literal approach to this, notice that we’re told that the _word_ doubles its size…not whatever object/concept/whatever the word refers to. Admittedly, it’s hard to fathom adding two letters to a five-letter word and making it a ten-letter word, but I just thought I’d point this out. 2) Another procedural thing: most attempts at giving an answer have taken a five-letter word and added a prefix or a suffix. There’s nothing in the question that says the two letters have to be added at the beginning or the end of the word, or even that they have to be in sequence. The one answer (though not to the OP) that did this was adding three letters to TEN to get TWENTY. 3) Assuming what I said in 1) is not a factor, (i.e. we’re looking for a word that _refers_ to something that’s twice the size of what the word you start with refers to) – then we need to both start and end with a word that defines a very definite quantity of some sort. Two examples would be “dozen” and “octet” – but I haven’t had any luck with either of these so far. This may seem obvious, but it’s why “focal” and “bifocal” don’t really work. 4) In any case, simply adding a “bi-” prefix seems like a pretty cheesy way to answer the question. I would hope after all this that the answer is a little more substantive than this. No help at all, I know…but I thought I’d give it a shot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-five-letter-word-doubles-its-size-when-you-add-two-letters/41450.md?page=5)