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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
Remember those puzzles from school when you had to pick which word didn’t belong? Unfortunately, the list was usually comprised of four obviously-related things and one that wasn’t… like dog, pig, cat, elk, footstool. Well, this isn’t one of those:
Which word doesn’t belong? And why?
WEED PORT JADE FOOD SICK
Click here for our answer.
Pages: 1 2
Food, on the other hand, is the only one of those words that doesn’t have two common meanings as a noun.
posted by Mike Jackson on 6-25-2008 at 7:23 am
Sick is a verb, all of the others are nouns.
posted by Frank Richarz on 6-25-2008 at 7:35 am
Food is the only word that doesn’t have true three letter word in it. Wee, Ort, Ade, Sic. “Foo” is more jargon and less word.
posted by John on 6-25-2008 at 7:42 am
Jade. No such thing as a seajade.
seaweed
seaport
seafood
seasick
I never would have gotten it had you not said “Water on the brain”
posted by Andre on 6-25-2008 at 7:49 am
JADE does not belong. The rest are things you experience during a really good weekend!
posted by Eric Luper on 6-25-2008 at 8:58 am
I disagree.
WEED.
It’s the only word of the five that can be typed with one hand on a standard QWERTY keyboard.
posted by Bill Eccles on 6-25-2008 at 9:08 am
Agree with Frank, Sick is an adjective while all the others are nouns. Just because your quiz searches for a specific answer doesn’t mean other correct answers are invalid.
posted by Jim Roth on 6-25-2008 at 9:31 am
Jim, I never claimed other answers were invalid, particularly in a puzzle like this. (Although, yes, the title is a bit of a hint.)
I mean, technically, you could say “SICK” doesn’t belong because none of the others contain the letter “S.” There are probably scores of ways that one of the words could be distinguished from the others.
That’s why when you click the link, it says “Click here for OUR answer” instead of “Click here for THE answer.” I know how bright you folks are!
posted by Sandy on 6-25-2008 at 9:46 am
Jade is also the only word that begins with a consonant and ends with a vowel.
The other four all begin and end with a consonant.
posted by darchu on 6-25-2008 at 10:03 am
Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen?
posted by Cliff on 6-25-2008 at 10:09 am
I said Jade, but for a differect reason. All of the others had common “and” phrases:
Weed and Seed
Port and Starboard
Food and Water
Sick and Tired
Oh well. Right answer. Wrong logic. I guess I’m glad I didn’t have to show my work…
FRED
posted by Fred on 6-25-2008 at 10:16 am
All words are in reverse alphabetical order except for sick.
posted by Josiah on 6-25-2008 at 10:36 am
Jade is also the only inorganic one (port could refer to the wine).
posted by Matt on 6-25-2008 at 10:50 am
Jade is also the only word with two different vowels in it.
posted by caitlen315 on 6-25-2008 at 3:10 pm
you all are idiots. Quit thinking about this so much - its clearly SEA as the prefix. Its a fun little puzzle, not something where you need to find every obscure way they dont work out. get a life.
posted by David on 6-25-2008 at 3:47 pm
I like Eric’s answer: Jade, because all the reswt are experienced in a good weekend!
posted by sandie on 6-25-2008 at 3:48 pm
Jade because you can get food get sick and get weed.
posted by dgytik on 6-25-2008 at 3:53 pm
Bah! You’re all wrong.
The obvious answer is ’sick’, because it is the only one that is a human condition.
Sheesh.
:P
posted by Roger, FCD on 6-25-2008 at 4:29 pm
…and this is why IQ tests don’t work. it all depends on which angle you’re approaching the problem from.
like: which one doesn’t belong?
kitten puppy hamster snake
most IQ tests want you to say snake for obvious reasons…but what if you approached it from the angle that ‘hamster’ didn’t belong because you had all the others for childhood pets. it all depends on where you’re coming from.
i love this site and your mag too!!! thanks for all the enjoyment.
the monkey
posted by the monkey on 6-25-2008 at 10:32 pm
Sick is the only one that is not a “Concrete Noun”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 6-25-2008 at 10:35 pm
Former Linguistics student here..
..my answer was SICK.
All words end with an alveolar consonant, [d] or [t], except sick, which ends in a velar consonant, [k].
posted by James on 6-25-2008 at 11:48 pm
I picked Jade, but only because the other things could make you ’sick’ (food, port, weed).
Right answer, wrong reasoning - but I’ll take it! =)
posted by Dawn on 6-26-2008 at 4:16 pm