Okay, here's one that's bothered me for years. It's a puzzle I came up with, but then forgot the solution! 
Many years ago, in high school, I was working on a play. A word from the play made me think of this:
How many instances of word-pairs are there in which the male version of the word is LONGER than the female version? Here I am speaking of words that share the same root (and, because I grew up in the U.S., speaking English, and doing semi-decently-to-just-eh in my foreign language classes... only words in English).
Normally, the female version is longer. Cases-in-point:
Steward/Stewardess
Count/Countess
Waiter/Waitress
Actor/Actress
etc.
I was able to think of three such word pairs. One was inspired by the play and the other two are hidden in the block below:
I am also hiding the name of the play for those who want a hint, and I suppose I could go back myself and read it to find the word that originally inspired me!
So can anyone think of the third word pair? ...or any others? ...or disagree with my answers as valid solutions to this puzzle?
--Dave
Many years ago, in high school, I was working on a play. A word from the play made me think of this:
How many instances of word-pairs are there in which the male version of the word is LONGER than the female version? Here I am speaking of words that share the same root (and, because I grew up in the U.S., speaking English, and doing semi-decently-to-just-eh in my foreign language classes... only words in English).
Normally, the female version is longer. Cases-in-point:
Steward/Stewardess
Count/Countess
Waiter/Waitress
Actor/Actress
etc.
I was able to think of three such word pairs. One was inspired by the play and the other two are hidden in the block below:
I am also hiding the name of the play for those who want a hint, and I suppose I could go back myself and read it to find the word that originally inspired me!
So can anyone think of the third word pair? ...or any others? ...or disagree with my answers as valid solutions to this puzzle?
--Dave
