| Author | Message | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1486 Registered: 3-2006 |
Here's a little puzzle in the Scrund tradition. It should be on the easy side. My first pet had a name which my family found very appropriate, for two reasons. However, thirty years later I realised that it was appropriate for a third reason as well. | ||
| Noobdogg (Noobdogg)
New member Username: Noobdogg Post Number: 592 Registered: 9-2007 |
Relevant what the pet was? its breed? was it: a mammal? fish? reptile? bird? Title relevant? It wasn't really an ocelot was it? I know Salvador Dalí used to take his everywhere! A domestic cat perhaps? Was the name one word? two? more? Would you consider it to be a common name for a pet? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1489 Registered: 3-2006 |
Relevant what the pet was? yes its breed? no was it: a mammal? yes fish? no reptile? no bird? no Title relevant? only in that we're talking felines: the title was just my excuse for a pretty anagram It wasn't really an ocelot was it? I wish! No it wasn't I know Salvador Dali used to take his everywhere! He had an ocelot? I didn't know that. I saw a pet serval on the TV the other day: it was absolutely beautiful. I want one. A domestic cat perhaps? yes indeed Was the name one word? just one two? more? Would you consider it to be a common name for a pet? no | ||
| Noobdogg (Noobdogg)
New member Username: Noobdogg Post Number: 594 Registered: 9-2007 |
Gulp... can't believe I missed the anagram >.< Would the name belie the fact that your pet was a cat? Did the third reason arise much later, or was it true even thirty years ago - you just didn't know it? Is your name (Howard Wilde) relevant? Your current pet's name (Lyra) relevant? (Is she a cat too?) Was one of the reasons to do with the pet's behaviour? appearance? Any particular members of your family relevant? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1490 Registered: 3-2006 |
Gulp... can't believe I missed the anagram >.< Would the name belie the fact that your pet was a cat? no Did the third reason arise much later, or was it true even thirty years ago - you just didn't know it? the latter Is your name (Howard Wilde) relevant? no, though I once had another cat called Oscar :-) Your current pet's name (Lyra) relevant? (Is she a cat too?)She is indeed a cat, and a fine one, but (I hope she's not watching as I type this) she is not relevant Was one of the reasons to do with the pet's behaviour? no appearance? no Any particular members of your family relevant? yes | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1383 Registered: 6-2005 |
Was the cat named after another animal? I.e. Tiger? Fish (Ghoti - prounounced "fish" in proper american tradition)? Cheetah? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1492 Registered: 3-2006 |
Was the cat named after another animal? no I.e. Tiger? no Fish (Ghoti - prounounced "fish" in proper american tradition)? LOL! No. I like the American tradition of naming cats "fish", though. You could have several, with different spellings, eg Phish, Pfisch, and of course Ghoti. I always thought Ghoti was an invention of James Joyce, though this may well be another scrund. Cheetah? Wasn't this a chimpanzee? But no, this wasn't my cat. Good questions. | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1384 Registered: 6-2005 |
I don't know about the origin, but at my college you were only allowed to have "non-dangerous Fish" in your dorm rooms. A friend of mine rescued an abandoned kitten and I sugested that he name it Fish since that would mean none of us would be honor-bound to report such a cute and clearly non-dangerous Fish. Thus, Ghoti. Would the name be given to a human being? Common? Uncommon? Hardly ever used? Related to a vegetable? Mineral? Color? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1498 Registered: 3-2006 |
I don't know about the origin, but at my college you were only allowed to have "non-dangerous Fish" in your dorm rooms. A friend of mine rescued an abandoned kitten and I sugested that he name it Fish since that would mean none of us would be honor-bound to report such a cute and clearly non-dangerous Fish. Thus, Ghoti. That would have made an excellent puzzle! Would the name be given to a human being? it's possible and worth exploring Common? no-ish, as far as I know Uncommon? certainly I don't know anyone personally with this name, but ... Hardly ever used? very yopish, see above Related to a vegetable? no Mineral? no Color? no | ||
| Blazingphoenix (Blazingphoenix)
New member Username: Blazingphoenix Post Number: 261 Registered: 2-2007 |
Was it Sushi? (I had a Japanese Fighting Fish [a Beta] that I gave that name to) | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1501 Registered: 3-2006 |
Was it Sushi? (I had a Japanese Fighting Fish [a Beta] that I gave that name to) Hehehe! No. Sushi would be a fine name for a cat, though. | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1385 Registered: 6-2005 |
Was the cat named after a famous person? A character in a book? in a movie? Named after somebody that you don't know "personally"? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1503 Registered: 3-2006 |
Was the cat named after a famous person? yes, or at least it shared its name with a famous person, though that isn't primarily how it got its name A character in a book? no in a movie? no Named after somebody that you don't know "personally"? yes | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1388 Registered: 6-2005 |
Famous person with whom the cat shares a name: Male? Female? Politician? Actor? TV Personality? Sports figure? Comic book superhero? Baldwin? Other? | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1389 Registered: 6-2005 |
30 years later... so the name was assigned in 1978? Earlier? Is the year particularly relevant for figuring out the name? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1514 Registered: 3-2006 |
Famous person with whom the cat shares a name: Male? this, though I'm not sure whether the cat was male or female, to be honest Female? Politician? got it in one: a politician Actor? TV Personality? Sports figure? Comic book superhero? Baldwin? Ah, that was another puzzle of mine. But no. A cat named after Stanley Baldwin would have been somewhat eccentric. Other? so, no 30 years later... so the name was assigned in 1978? Earlier? this Is the year particularly relevant for figuring out the name? yes-ish: to save you the trouble of the LTPF list of years, it was 1972. The year of the cat-naming is relevant, but the time it took me to realise my scrund (roughly thirty years) isn't ... | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1395 Registered: 6-2005 |
Just checking... US politician? British? Other? Name of a President? Eisenhour? Kennedy? Johnson? Nixon? Name of a VP? Senator? Representative? Governor? Country level? State level? County/Town level? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1518 Registered: 3-2006 |
Just checking... US politician? British? Other? this Name of a President? yope or yes-ish Eisenhour? Kennedy? Johnson? Nixon? none of these, though the last is most promising ... Name of a VP? Senator? Representative? Governor? Country level? this State level? County/Town level? no to rest | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1398 Registered: 6-2005 |
Milhous? Yahya? Was the politician from... Russia? Pakistan? India? China? Europe? Asia? Africa? Australia? South America? North America? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1519 Registered: 3-2006 |
Milhous? Yahya? Hahah! Both fine names for cats, but no. Which narrows it down to ... Was the politician from... Russia? Pakistan? India? China? ... this one Europe? Asia? yes, see above Africa? Australia? South America? North America? no to rest | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1399 Registered: 6-2005 |
Mao? Zedong? Mao... which sounds like "Meow" sound that cats make? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1520 Registered: 3-2006 |
Mao? Zedong? Mao... which sounds like "Meow" sound that cats make? Yes! In 1972, My parents named our cat Mao, because I was only four years old and couldn't say "meow" properly. It just happened to be the year of Nixon's visit to China, when Mao Zedong was very much in the news. Which just leaves the scrund part. Why was the name appropriate, for reasons that we didn't know at the time? | ||
| Enjay (Enjay)
New member Username: Enjay Post Number: 1260 Registered: 4-2007 |
I believe the word "Mao" actually means "cat", does it not? Something similar to that anyway... | ||
| Dlcygnet (Dlcygnet)
New member Username: Dlcygnet Post Number: 1400 Registered: 6-2005 |
Relevant that Mao is also... ...a card game? ...a bird? (Did your cat like to chase birds?) ...a place? ...Hawaiian cotton? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1522 Registered: 3-2006 |
Something similar to that anyway...Relevant that Mao is also... ...a card game? ...a bird? (Did your cat like to chase birds?) ...a place? ...Hawaiian cotton? I didn't know any of these things! However ... I believe the word "Mao" actually means "cat", does it not? Something similar to that anyway... Yes! Apparently, as I discovered on some sort of trivia quiz many years later, "Mao" is the Chinese word for "cat", which means that our moggie was even more appropriately named than we first thought. And that's the ... *** SPOILER *** Congrats to DLCygnet and Enjay for figuring it out, and thanks as ever to everyone for humouring me. | ||
| Enjay (Enjay)
New member Username: Enjay Post Number: 1261 Registered: 4-2007 |
Ah, the benefits of QI...is that where you discovered it too? | ||
| Woodworm (Woodworm)
New member Username: Woodworm Post Number: 1523 Registered: 3-2006 |
Yes, now you mention it, it may well have been QI or something like that. It was definitely one of those trivia-type shows, and I remember thinking "Hey, I had a cat called Mao and never had any idea". I wonder how many radical cats were called Mao in the 60s and 70s? See also: http://www.wendychao.com/chairmanmeow/ |
