# Word play **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 19, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738 "2007-09-19T13:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/1 "2007-09-19T13:29:00Z")
This is a bit easier than the last one, but I’m hoping it will take at least 10 minutes to crack. As always, put your guesses in spoiler boxes for those who don’t wander by for 15 or 20 minutes … 😉 What is the significance of the following list? BUT COP DIN FLAT HAM JAB JIG LAD MAT RUB SHIM SPAT STAG SUM SWAG ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/2 "2007-09-19T13:41:04Z")
Oh, call it two minutes… The word ends in ?, add the suffix -?ER to make a new word. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/3 "2007-09-19T13:41:35Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] Oh, call it two minutes… The word ends in ?, add the suffix -?ER to make a new word. [/QUOTE] And? IOW – why are SUP, FAT, and ROB not on the list? ETA: I’d have to call it 12 minutes, not 2. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/4 "2007-09-19T14:15:46Z")
You also have to add the last letter of the short word before you add ER? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/5 "2007-09-19T14:21:08Z")
[QUOTE=Pygmy Rugger] You also have to add the last letter of the short word before you add ER? [/QUOTE] And? IOW – why are SUP, FAT, and ROB not on the list? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/6 "2007-09-19T14:23:17Z")
Because the short words are also real words in and of themselves? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/7 "2007-09-19T14:25:34Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] And? IOW – why are SUP, FAT, and ROB not on the list? [/QUOTE] In those cases, the basic word meaning does not change. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/8 "2007-09-19T14:26:17Z")
But so are SUP, FAT and ROB. Is it because the new words are unrelated to the original words, but SUP FAT and ROB produce related words? If so, RUB does not belong in the original list, because the tree was named “rubber” because the sap was used to rub out mistakes. In the UK, an eraser is still called a rubber for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/9 "2007-09-19T14:26:29Z")
I was thinkingbecause they have the same etymological root as SUPPER, FATTER and ROBBER. But that would exclude RUB and possibly SPAT too, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/10 "2007-09-19T14:27:17Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] And? IOW – why are SUP, FAT, and ROB not on the list? ETA: I’d have to call it 12 minutes, not 2. 😛 [/QUOTE] Once you added the IOW, that gave me a better answer. (And I timed the 2 minutes from when I popped into the thread.) The new word is substantially different from the original word. But (negative conjunction) -\> butter (food); cop (slang for police) -\> copper (metal, and origin of the slang “cop”); stag (male deer) -\> stagger (what a pirate does after drinking too much rum); etc. But sup (eat a meal) -\> supper (third meal of the day); fat (overweight) -\> fatter (become overweight); rob (pillage, plunder, rifle, loot, drink up!) -\> robber (one who pillages, etc.). Added on preview: Yep, what those three people said. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/11 "2007-09-19T14:31:55Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] And? IOW – why are SUP, FAT, and ROB not on the list? [/QUOTE] The original words are not related to the new words formed by adding the ?er. ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/12 "2007-09-19T14:33:01Z")
Wow, I am way to slow. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/13 "2007-09-19T14:40:01Z")
RUB definitely doesn’t belong on the original list, though. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/14 "2007-09-19T15:43:10Z")
Did not know that about RUB, so I stand corrected on that. Excellent work, all! ---
**Author:** ![Eggerhaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@Eggerhaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eggerhaus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/15 "2007-09-19T20:01:26Z")
they’re in alphabetical order? ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/16 "2007-09-19T20:19:13Z")
[QUOTE=Eggerhaus] they’re in alphabetical order? [/QUOTE] heh - that’s what I was going to say 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/17 "2007-09-19T20:25:32Z")
[QUOTE=Eggerhaus] they’re in alphabetical order? [/QUOTE] Well, that’s certain true … ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/18 "2007-09-19T20:29:22Z")
Hmm. Flat and flatter (for at least one meaning of flatter, ie, more flat) don’t really fit on your list. Of course, an apartment in Britain certainly has nothing to do with complimenting somebody with the intention of swaying their opinion. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/19 "2007-09-19T20:32:39Z")
Well, you could also argue that one who adds numbers together is a summer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738/20 "2007-09-19T20:46:15Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Well, you could also argue that one who adds numbers together is a summer. [/QUOTE] Sure, but adding numbers together does not a summer make, if you ask any math-challenged victim of that oddly, appropriately conflated-meaning term, “summer school.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-play/419738.md?page=2)