[Ads-l] That "words ending in -gry" puzzle (early-ish sighting, 1974)

[Laurence Horn]

I searched through Bonnie’s links and didn’t find the solution I would now propose, as opposed to the metalinguistic “solutions” mentioned by Michael Quinion et al.  In recent years, I’ve come across in fictional narratives many (or at least several) uses—not mentions, but actual uses—of “hangry”, often explained as a blend of “hungry” and “angry”, or glossed as “so hungry I was angry”, or the like.  Crucially, in each case no reference is made to the riddle.  So at some point, there is a third -gry word, although whether it’s frequent enough to count as a common word is harder to determine.

LH
 

> On Jul 19, 2020, at 8:38 AM, Bonnie Taylor-Blake <b.taylorblake at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I am certain that some of you know much more about this puzzle's history
> than I, but I thought I'd try looking for early mentions of the
> brainteaser. Perhaps this is something that will whet the appetites of the
> hungry, angry antedaters here.
> 
> (If you're unfamiliar with the "words that end in -gry" puzzle, see, for
> example, Michael Quinion's analysis at
> http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/gry.htm and a Wikipedia entry at
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-gry_puzzle.)
> 
> I should mention that the Wikipedia page notes that Merriam-Webster first
> learned of this puzzle via a letter dated 17 March 1975, but the page also
> observes that this may date back to the '50s. Further (and elsewhere), Lois
> Aleta Fundis reproduced a message from 1999 to the old Stumpers list that
> mentioned finding the "gry puzzle" in a pamphlet suspected, but not
> confirmed, to have been printed sometime in the '40s. (Lois noted in 2006
> that she had not been able to put her hands on any such publication.)
> 
> https://sites.google.com/site/lfundisriversnorth/lfundisgrywords
> 
> So, in the momentary absence of printed versions from the '40s (or later),
> I give you a mention of the puzzle that very slightly predates that in the
> 17 March 1975 letter to Merriam-Webster.
> 
> What follows isn't much of an improvement, but it demonstrates that "-gry"
> was on the mind of the Atlanta Constitution night city-desk by early
> September, 1974.
> 
> -- Bonnie
> 
> -------------------------------------
> 
> THIRD 'GRY'? The city desk gets many calls for information please. Night
> city editor Jim Bentley relayed this one.
> 
> Someone on the phone wanted to know if the city side could name the third
> word in the English language that ends in "gry." He cited "hungry" and
> "angry" as the other two.
> 
> The night city desk did not have the answer. Nor do I, not yet. Do you? The
> phone is 428-5150.
> 
> [In Leo Aikman's "He Now Faces the Music," The Atlanta Constitution, 4
> September 1974, p. 5-A.]
> 
> ---------------------
> 
> GETTING ANGRY: If that fellow who called night city editor Jim Bentley
> asking the third word in the language ending "gry" was pulling our leg, if
> there is no such word, some of us are going to join the "12 angry men." We
> are hungry for the answer. A few have called saying the challenge has them
> "climbing the wall."
> 
> [In Leo Aikman's "No Longer Even a Smile," The Atlanta Constitution, 11
> September 1974, p. 5-A. Aikman referred to the puzzle again in his 20
> September column and reported on a reader's suggestion of another "gry"
> word.]
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org