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3 shortest words in the english dictionary!

Reply 20

20

I'm guessing 'a', 'i' and, provided you frame your general knowledge in terms of the "Urban" variant, 'u'.

It's a trick-question. A serious answer would have to consist of words whose brevity is unmatched otherwise, which is problematic: as 'I' and 'A' are the only bona fide one-letter words, the third would have to comprise of at least two letters; and, given that the dictionary includes more than one two-letter words, this would render yours an intractable proposition. Q.E.D. (Well, sort of.)

Reply 21

Profesh

20

Cowz

Can you give an example?

O no
It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests
And is never shaken
It is the star
To ev'ry wandering bark
Whose worth's unknown
Although his height be taken

Challenge me to spontaneously recite Sonnet 18, and I shall be left with no other choice than to prove just how sad I am.

Reply 22

Cowz

Profesh

O no
It is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests
And is never shaken
It is the star
To ev'ry wandering bark
Whose worth's unknown
Although his height be taken

Challenge me to spontaneously recite Sonnet 18, and I shall be left with no other choice than to prove just how sad I am.

Hehe, thanks for making the effort. Seems to me though that use of 'O' has been replaced by 'oh'?

Reply 23

Hautegunz

OP

Ice Queen, yeah i think it is 'O', because it can be used as an interjection cant it, however usually it needs to be 'oh' e.g. "My nephews, oh my nephews" I think thats right lol.

and Profesh, great enthusiasm .. but you're reading way to into it :tongue:

but great terminology, very intelligible. Oh well ...

Thanks for the posts guys, i will have the answer shortly.. it'll be good :tongue:

.

P.S.

cvat

yeah that will only work though if it excludes 'the' - as there's a 'he' in it, but tell me once you get the answer lol, it'd be a nice morale boost before my gcses :biggrin:

I think we can rule 'the' out because it's just a definite article in this case, followed by the actual thing it is describing, but good catch :tongue:

-Mark-

Reply 24

Hautegunz

OP

Profesh

Challenge me to spontaneously recite Sonnet 18, and I shall be left with no other choice than to prove just how sad I am.

Should it not be 'then to prove just how sad i am.' ..

Now thats reading to much into it :tongue:

Reply 25

Profesh

20

Hautegunz

Should it not be 'then to prove just how sad i am.' ..

Now thats reading to much into it :tongue:

More than was actually written, certainly.

What else could it be but a trick-question? (Well, apart from an utterly facile one.)

Reply 26

m:)ckel

14

Isn't this one of those really 'famous' trick questions?

The answer being "the", "English" and "dictionary" as already pointed out.

Reply 27

Tag

8

Ice_Queen

If it's serious, a, I and O. But O is usually used as an exclamation or interjection...I don't know if it counts as a word.

O isn't a word!

it's spelt ' Oh'

Reply 28

EskimoJo

18

Hautegunz

thanks guys and girls :biggrin:

.. I think that:

"if its a trick question maybe its a, i and on as in the three shortest words in the words 'english dictionary" by cvat ..

,is right and definitely sounds the most likely trick question answer.

Still open for discussion if anyone else got other ideas.

'Is' is as short as 'on' though!

Reply 29

Dionysus

15

I'm sure I've seen all of the single letters included in dictionaries, even though they're not words. Even if not, A and I are two of the three, then surely any two letter word.

Reply 30

kiss-the-rain

A

Be

See

:biggrin:

Hmm.. no don't have a clue. There are so many two letter words..

Reply 31

yeomans_12

2

cvat

if its a trick question maybe its a, i and on as in the three shortest words in the words 'english dictionary' that is being on as the only 2 letter word in it, although i may be wrong

yea id go 4 this :confused:

Reply 32

Marianne

Ummm I would suggest that it is something with only "short" letters- no "t" or "l" or "h", so it would be a word like "one" or something like that... But then I'm not very good at these sort of things.

Reply 33

harr

15

Tag

O isn't a word!

it's spelt ' Oh'

O

–interjection
1. (used before a name in direct address, esp. in solemn or poetic language, to lend earnestness to an appeal): Hear, O Israel!
2. (used as an expression of surprise, pain, annoyance, longing, gladness, etc.)
–noun
3. the exclamation “O.”

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

Reply 34

moves-my-world

8

Short

Shorter

Shortest

?

Reply 35

cjgbr

1

Longest word is elastic as it stretches

Reply 36

Phonicsdude

19

cvat

if its a trick question maybe its a, i and on as in the three shortest words in the words 'english dictionary' that is being on as the only 2 letter word in it, although i may be wrong

Winner!

Because every letter has an entry in the dictionary so it cannot be a question which requires a straightforward, honest answer.

Reply 37

majikthise

Reply 38

silence

16

just another dimension to the argument...

my 'shortest', perhaps it means those words (or single letters in this case) with the lowest typographical height relative to other letters of the alphabet.

for example, a is shorter than b, o is shorter than l.

that's probably going off on too great a tangent.

although dictionaries do list all letters of the alphabet, most are listed as letters rather than words. for example:

if looking up f in the oxford english dictioary, you get:

"the sixth letter of the Roman alphabet, represents historically the 6th letter (waw) of the Semitic alphabet, which expressed the sounds of w (approximately) and the related vowel u. In early Greek writing the letter had at first the same twofold power..."

there is no word class given; so, despite being a dictionary entry, it isn't really a word.

O appears, as many have said, as an interjection, thus is classified as a word.

Reply 39

majikthise

*repeats last post*

3 shortest words in the english dictionary!

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