Math Is Fun Forum

Hi quittyqat,

Most English spell checkers are regional (either American English or British English), and unless you have a SOWPODS one (not actually available, AFAIK) your checker will show errors.

I used the OSPD - "Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary" (American) and OSW - "Official Scrabble Words" (British) for this. "SOWPODS" is just a popularised rearrangment of the combined OSW and PODS letters to make that combination pronounceable.

The OSW contains many more words than the OSPD, so it's likely that for this poem more errors will appear when using an A.E. spell checker than a B.E. one.

It's only an over-the-top exercise in silliness - as is the original poem (although nowhere near the extent of my version) - but it does highlight one of the limitations of spell checkers.

But...all the words are definitely valid, and would be allowable in international Scrabble tournaments that allow 'double-dictionary' play (which tournaments between A.E and B.E. players generally do).

Of course, just to add to the confusion, I also went for obscure word-choices where possible, which spell checkers that mainly comprise standard/common words would miss.

I also threw an out-of-place apostrophe or two into the mix...just highlighting a further flaw in electronic spell checkers. And I included an intentional misspelling: "prefect" instead of "perfect".

Thanks, MathsIsFun.

Btw, I'm fairly sure that I was able to delete one or two in the past, but I don't recall what it was that I did differently.

I know that on one occasion I just deleted the whole post and started again.

Any takers...? That missing fly-spot makes the world of difference!

I heard that one on the radio during a discussion about the much-misused/misunderstood/abused/forgotten apostrophe. The 'greengrocer's apostrophe' (one of my pet hates) was also mentioned, of course.

Hi soroban,

Great triple pun!

This altered version has a quadruple pun:

Three brothers left home to establish a cattle ranch out east. They could not think of an appropriate name for the ranch and called their father back home, who suggested the name “Focus”...for that’s “where the sun’s rays meet” ("sons raise meat").

When their father died the name took on added significance for them, through “where the morning sun’s rays meet” ("mourning sons raise meat").

I like that!

Reminds me of "Residents refuse to go into the bins", which is missing the apostrophe that would give it the intended meaning...and at the same time change the pronunciation of one of the words.

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves"...I have that book. Here are images from it: the cover page and the panda story.

Hi Bobby,

I think that's called "sleeping on the job". So you were a professional sleep-deprivation volunteer, then?

My daughter volunteered for a paid S-D study some time ago and was at her most lucid when she should have been at her sleepiest. She started and finished a reasonably-serious cross-number puzzle (but nowhere near as tough as Little Pigley) to help her stay awake - much to the amazement of the study team.

She hasn't managed to do another one since (actually, that's not fair: they're not really her thing...she just wanted the mental stimulus from the diversion of doing something different from the norm).

Hi Bobby,

I doubt that there was much (any?) influence due to weight-distribution bias in my live experiment. Mixed in with the variations I mentioned above (left-handed, right-handed, caught, dropped, high toss, low toss) were catching-height variations, turning the coin over in my hand varying numbers of times before (and/or after) flipping it and varying the spinning speed. That's all I recall.

I also used varying combinations of those variations: eg, slow spin/high toss; fast spin/low catch/turn over catch.

I never used the same manoeuvre multiple times in a row...and maybe that makes my experiment not truly random.

Hi Bobby,

I doubted that there would be runs such as in your findings and so I conducted my own experiment. Coin tosses were varied...left-handed, right-handed, caught, dropped, high toss, low toss, & some others.

Had to do it while my wife was out, because I'm "spending too much time on that maths forum".

My results:

0110 0110 1100 0011 0101 0111 0101 0111 1101 1011 1010 0001 0011 0000 1011
0101 1000 1111 1001 0010 1101 0001 0011 1101 0001 0101 1111 0111 1000 1011

Well...I'm surprised. It has 3 runs of 5 plus 5 runs of 4.

It also bears out luca's comment:

And no...I don't think there's a hidden message in my binaries.

I didn't analyse it any further...I just heard the front door open!

Hi Bobby,

Yes...I wondered if you ever slept! That is, other than your using "the method of sleeping while nodding your head and with eyes open."

I hadn't really thought much about brain speed slowing down with age until I saw it happen to my mother, who'd always been a very quick, sharp and competitive word-game player. In her later years she had to admit defeat and ask for us to slow down in games where speed was a factor.:(

Hi Bobby,

Well, that sure counts me out, then! My highjump standard is about the height of a Limbo Dance stick.

Here are my workings so far (and that's where they'll have to end)...

Hi Bobby,

37 is eliminated because it's odd, not even (same as for 27).

I think I like the algebraic approach best. Spreadsheet is good too...like getting a program to run successfully. And Goal Seek is nice - seeing the numbers spin around until the solution is found, and watching "WRONG!" change to "SOLVED!". Pardon my delight...my efforts don't always work out so well!