Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 There is a common english word that is a thing that a large number of people have close to hand. The word has the unusual feature of containing six adjacent consonants! With the possible exception of diseases named after people, I believe that this is a record for number of adjacent consonants in a word. TRY NOT TO USE COMPUTER BASED TOOLS OR WORD LISTS TO DISCOVER THE ANSWER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Thalia Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Are you considering "y" as a vowel? If not, chrysler Not exactly close to hand though. Edited March 28, 2011 by Thalia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Are you considering "y" as a vowel? If not, chrysler Not exactly close to hand though. Great word, but I wasn't thinking of a proper noun. Personally, I think of Y as a bit of a wildcard (both vowel and consonant) but this particular word does not use a 'Y' to have six adjacent consonants. The phrase "close to hand" is intended as a very strong clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) There is a common english word that is a thing that a large number of people have close to hand. The word has the unusual feature of containing six adjacent consonants! This particular word does not contain a 'Y' and has the vowel / consonant pattern of "CVCCCCCCVC". The phrase "close to hand" is intended as a very strong clue. Edited March 28, 2011 by WombatBreath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Great puzzle lol cabt figure it out at all lol will be thinking bout it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Hey WbB, I know this is not your intended word (does not fit clue nor letter pattern)... sphynx? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 it doesn't fit your word or clue but... rhythm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 benjer3 Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) The problem with sphynx and rhythm is that they use "y" as a vowel. One that would work with the original riddle, but doesn't seem to be what WB is looking for, is catchphrase Generally, the answer probably has a th, ch, tch, and/or ph, which is where I got that answer from. Edited March 28, 2011 by benjer3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 The guesses so far are actually far less common words than the "Close to Hand" word. This particular word does not contain a 'Y' and has the vowel / consonant pattern of "CVCCCCCCVC". This was not intended as a brain bender - I happened to need to write it down and then realised the unusual feature of the word. It's a compound word... Think of word components that have 3 consonants at the start or end that you could join together MEANINGFULLY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 One that would work with the original riddle, but doesn't seem to be what WB is looking for, is catchphrase Yay benjer3, thats a word that qualifies for the 'adjacent consonants' part of the quest - which was the main reason for this. You're right though - it wasn't the one I was thinking of. I wonder if people will find any others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 plainglazed Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 watchstrap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Spot on plainglazed. That was the one I was referring to. It is interesting that sometimes the structure of words passes you by, until you have to write/type them. This got me thinking about compound words generally... I've had to construct software menu systems in German which has a very flexible approach to compound words - it seems to be "keep adding words until the single word definition is complete". However, English seems to normally limit word construction to just two components? I might be wrong though, there may be compound words made of three or even four components that I just haven't thought of..... Edited March 28, 2011 by WombatBreath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 This got me thinking about compound words generally... I've had to construct software menu systems in German which has a very flexible approach to compound words - it seems to be "keep adding words until the single word definition is complete". However, English seems to normally limit word construction to just two components? I might be wrong though, there may be compound words made of three or even four components that I just haven't thought of..... Rather than crowd this thread with different content, I've spun this 'compound word hunt' off as a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 benjer3 Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Nice, Plainglazed. I thought of that when it was too late. Though I also looked in the dictionary, and it didn't have that. But still, good puzzle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 There is a common english word that is a thing that a large number of people have close to hand. The word has the unusual feature of containing six adjacent consonants! With the possible exception of diseases named after people, I believe that this is a record for number of adjacent consonants in a word. TRY NOT TO USE COMPUTER BASED TOOLS OR WORD LISTS TO DISCOVER THE ANSWER. Catchphrase: 1) the 't' is not adjacent to the 'p', which is why the letters are not adjacent; they are consecutive. 2) It is not the pattern CVCCCCCCVC, but is CVCCCCCCVCV. Took a while to realize the clue in the title; good puzzle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Are you considering "y" as a vowel? If not, chrysler Not exactly close to hand though. A vowel is not a spelling function; rather, it is a function of speech. If you make the sound of a letter by touching your tongue to teeth (like 't' in teeth) or lips (like 'p' in lips) or any other motion involving touching or breath passing close to a part of your mouth (like 's' in virtually any word containing 's'), it's a consonant. If you need to use motion of any part of your mouth to make the sound of the letter, it's a consonant. Vowels are characterized by the shape of your mouth while speaking. Y and W are sometimes vowels, not because of spelling, but how you make the sound. In the word 'why', the 'y' is a vowel, but in 'yes', it is a consonant. The 'w' in 'why' is a consonant, but in 'awful', it is a vowel. Clear as mud? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 PerhapsStrengths? Five consecutive consonants and used by hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 (edited) PerhapsStrengths? Five consecutive consonants and used by hands Nice thinking Q-C but it wasn't the one I was thinking of. That one has 6 consecutive consonants (CvCCCCCCvC) which someone has guessed worked out above. Edited April 16, 2011 by WombatBreath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 curr3nt Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 (edited) I just found a word with 8 consecutive consonants - VCCCCCCCC It should also be close at hand. keyboard - asdfghjkl Edited April 18, 2011 by curr3nt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 I just found a word with 8 consecutive consonants - VCCCCCCCC It should also be close at hand. keyboard - asdfghjkl I thought you were tired and just put your head down on the keyboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Latchstring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Latchstring Reminds me of when we were kids and mum would leave the front door key on a thread hanging down on the inside face of the front door (within reach of a childs hand pushed through the letter box). Sounds bizarrely insecure now but it was a common thing in the 60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 bonanova Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 A vowel is not a spelling function; rather, it is a function of speech. If you make the sound of a letter by touching your tongue to teeth (like 't' in teeth) or lips (like 'p' in lips) or any other motion involving touching or breath passing close to a part of your mouth (like 's' in virtually any word containing 's'), it's a consonant. If you need to use motion of any part of your mouth to make the sound of the letter, it's a consonant. Vowels are characterized by the shape of your mouth while speaking. Y and W are sometimes vowels, not because of spelling, but how you make the sound. In the word 'why', the 'y' is a vowel, but in 'yes', it is a consonant. The 'w' in 'why' is a consonant, but in 'awful', it is a vowel. Clear as mud? Thank you. Another functional distinction is that you can sing vowels, but not consonants; l, m, and n being the exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) tsktsks (plural and third-person singular simple present form of tsktsk, with seven consecutive consonants [and no vowels]) tsk /tɪsk/ also tsktsk, tsk-tsk and tsk tsk [interjection] 1. an exclamation of contempt, disdain, impatience, disapproval or annoyance 2. for shame! [noun] an exclamation of "tsk" [verb, intransitive] to utter the exclamation "tsk" I do realize it is not the word hinted at, but you might consider it the word that has the record for number of adjacent consonants in an English word. Edited May 30, 2011 by Dej Mar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Strenghts? There is a common english word that is a thing that a large number of people have close to hand. The word has the unusual feature of containing six adjacent consonants! With the possible exception of diseases named after people, I believe that this is a record for number of adjacent consonants in a word. TRY NOT TO USE COMPUTER BASED TOOLS OR WORD LISTS TO DISCOVER THE ANSWER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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There is a common english word that is a thing that a large number of people have close to hand.
The word has the unusual feature of containing six adjacent consonants!
With the possible exception of diseases named after people, I believe that this is a record for number of adjacent consonants in a word.
TRY NOT TO USE COMPUTER BASED TOOLS OR WORD LISTS TO DISCOVER THE ANSWER.
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