Longest Homophones Word Puzzle

[Greg Lobdell]

HOMOPHONE: One of 2 or more words having the same sound but differing
in spelling, origin, and meaning.
(Webster's II, New Riverside Dictionary, Berkley Books, NY)

PUZZLE: Find the longest pair of homophones (in English).

Define "longest" to mean the most letters in the two words combined.
For example, the pair of homophones "meat" and "meet" has 8 letters,
"ate" and "eight" also has 8 letters.

I have a pair with 12 letters, can anyone do better?

I find this an interesting puzzle because it can't be solved by an
automatic search of a standard computerized word list.

ADDITIONAL PUZZLES: Longest homophone pairs in languages other than
English? What is the largest set of homophones, both in number of
words and number of characters?

Gregg Lobdell
g...@ata.ca.boeing.com

[Chris Terran]

In message <D9x15...@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> Greg Lobdell wrote:

> HOMOPHONE: One of 2 or more words having the same sound but differing
> in spelling, origin, and meaning.
> (Webster's II, New Riverside Dictionary, Berkley Books, NY)
>
> PUZZLE: Find the longest pair of homophones (in English).
>
> Define "longest" to mean the most letters in the two words combined.
> For example, the pair of homophones "meat" and "meet" has 8 letters,
> "ate" and "eight" also has 8 letters.
>
> I have a pair with 12 letters, can anyone do better?

How about "discrete" and "discreet" (16 letters)?

Chris Terran *******************************************
Email: ter...@cityscape.co.uk * Editor, 'Matrix' - The news magazine of *
Voice: 0113 278 2388 * The British Science Fiction Association *
Opinions mine ... mine, all mine! *******************************************

[Matthew Hubbard]

In article <19950610....@xrtmfsb.cityscape.co.uk>,

Chris Terran <ter...@cityscape.co.uk> wrote:
>In message <D9x15...@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> Greg Lobdell wrote:
>
>> HOMOPHONE: One of 2 or more words having the same sound but differing
>> in spelling, origin, and meaning.
>> (Webster's II, New Riverside Dictionary, Berkley Books, NY)
>>
>> PUZZLE: Find the longest pair of homophones (in English).
>>
>> Define "longest" to mean the most letters in the two words combined.
>> For example, the pair of homophones "meat" and "meet" has 8 letters,
>> "ate" and "eight" also has 8 letters.
>>
>> I have a pair with 12 letters, can anyone do better?
>
>How about "discrete" and "discreet" (16 letters)?

According to Webster's Ninth, "lightening" can be pronounced like
"lightning", though there is a preferred pronounciation that separates
the two words. It's slightly cheating, but it is 19 letters.

MattH

[Richard Sabey]

In article <D9x15...@bcstec.ca.boeing.com> Greg Lobdell wrote:
> PUZZLE: Find the longest pair of homophones (in English).
>
> Define "longest" to mean the most letters in the two words combined.
> For example, the pair of homophones "meat" and "meet" has 8 letters,
> "ate" and "eight" also has 8 letters.

In article <19950610....@xrtmfsb.cityscape.co.uk>, Chris Terran
replied

>How about "discrete" and "discreet" (16 letters)?

Indiscrete & indiscreet provide an immediate improvement of 4 letters to 20.

In article <9412102...@mogur.com>, Bob Cunningham suggested
recognizance & reconnaissance (total 26 letters), but these are not
homophones in all accents.

In article <3cqf72$e...@clarknet.clark.net>, Harlan Messinger suggested
complimentary & complementary, also with a total of 26 letters.

--
Don't post or mail me "I've already posted the same thing!". Remember:
different sites get different sets of postings. A posting received at
various sites probably gets to some several days after it gets to others.

[vanshik...@gmail.com]

What abt correspondents n correspondence?
It makes 28 letters.

[Richard Heathfield]

vanshik...@gmail.com wrote:

> What abt correspondents n correspondence?
> It makes 28 letters.

antidisestablishmentarians and antidisestablishment Aryans.

52.

--
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

[rthe...@hotmail.com]

On Friday, June 9, 1995 8:00:00 AM UTC+1, Greg Lobdell wrote:
> HOMOPHONE: One of 2 or more words having the same sound but differing
> in spelling, origin, and meaning.
> (Webster's II, New Riverside Dictionary, Berkley Books, NY)
>

> PUZZLE: Find the longest pair of homophones (in English).
>
> Define "longest" to mean the most letters in the two words combined.
> For example, the pair of homophones "meat" and "meet" has 8 letters,
> "ate" and "eight" also has 8 letters.
>

> I have a pair with 12 letters, can anyone do better?
>

> I find this an interesting puzzle because it can't be solved by an
> automatic search of a standard computerized word list.
>
> ADDITIONAL PUZZLES: Longest homophone pairs in languages other than
> English? What is the largest set of homophones, both in number of
> words and number of characters?
>
> Gregg Lobdell
> g...@ata.ca.boeing.com

Straightened and straitened gives 22

Roy

[riverman]

22 is easy:

adolescents adolescence
acclamation acclimation
adventuress adventurous
clairvoyance clairvoyants
complimented complemented
descendants descendance
despondence despondants
equivalents equivalence


How about for 24:
belligerents belligerence


Or 26:
complementing complimenting
confectionary confectionery
condescendants condescendence


Or 28:
correspondents correspondence

or 30:
phosphorescents phosphorescence

[rthe...@hotmail.com]

On Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:31:36 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
> 22 is easy:
>
> adolescents adolescence

...
> phosphorescents phosphorescence

None of the above are actually homophones.

[riverman]

Why not?

[Marc Dashevsky]

In article <cec5e33b-7115-450e...@googlegroups.com>, myro...@gmail.com says...

In the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, "spraying" and "spring" are homophones.

[John Masters]

They both have the same origin.

[Marc Dashevsky]

In article <cggihi...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...

That's not a disqualification. http://m-w.com/dictionary/homophone

homophone noun: a word that is pronounced like another word but
is different in meaning, origin, or spelling

[John Masters]

On 2014-12-30 21:43:26 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:

> In article <cggihi...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
>>
>> On 2014-12-30 19:04:25 +0000, riverman said:
>>
>>> On Monday, December 29, 2014 5:27:53 PM UTC+7, rthe...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>>> On Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:31:36 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
>>>>> 22 is easy:
>>>>>
>>>>> adolescents adolescence
>>>> ...
>>>>> phosphorescents phosphorescence
>>>>
>>>> None of the above are actually homophones.
>>>
>>> Why not?
>>
>> They both have the same origin.
>
> That's not a disqualification. http://m-w.com/dictionary/homophone

It depends on which dictionary's definition you use. The OP cited
Webster's which gives "differing in spelling, origin AND meaning" (my
capitals)

>
> homophone noun: a word that is pronounced like another word but
> is different in meaning, origin, or spelling

The OR, as opposed to AND, makes a big difference.

Are there any words which have the same pronunciation, different
meanings but the same spelling? I can't think of any.

John

[John Masters]

OK, since I posted that I've thought of several.

[rthe...@hotmail.com]

On Tuesday, December 30, 2014 7:04:26 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
> None of the above are actually homophones.
>
> Why not?

Because (in most accents I'm aware of) CHANTS and CHANCE don't sound the same. Specifically, the 'T' is audible in the former.

Roy

[rthe...@hotmail.com]

(Checking the dictionary pronunciation guide confirms this)

[Marc Dashevsky]

In article <cgibt2...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...

>
> On 2014-12-30 21:43:26 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:
>
> > In article <cggihi...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
> >>
> >> On 2014-12-30 19:04:25 +0000, riverman said:
> >>
> >>> On Monday, December 29, 2014 5:27:53 PM UTC+7, rthe...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >>>> On Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:31:36 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
> >>>>> 22 is easy:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> adolescents adolescence
> >>>> ...
> >>>>> phosphorescents phosphorescence
> >>>>
> >>>> None of the above are actually homophones.
> >>>
> >>> Why not?
> >>
> >> They both have the same origin.
> >
> > That's not a disqualification. http://m-w.com/dictionary/homophone
>
> It depends on which dictionary's definition you use. The OP cited
> Webster's which gives "differing in spelling, origin AND meaning" (my
> capitals)

What is "Webster's"? I cited Merriam Webster.

[John Masters]

On 2014-12-31 16:46:20 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:

> In article <cgibt2...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
>>
>> On 2014-12-30 21:43:26 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:
>>
>>> In article <cggihi...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
>>>>
>>>> On 2014-12-30 19:04:25 +0000, riverman said:
>>>>
>>>>> On Monday, December 29, 2014 5:27:53 PM UTC+7, rthe...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>>>>> On Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:31:36 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
>>>>>>> 22 is easy:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> adolescents adolescence
>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>> phosphorescents phosphorescence
>>>>>>
>>>>>> None of the above are actually homophones.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why not?
>>>>
>>>> They both have the same origin.
>>>
>>> That's not a disqualification. http://m-w.com/dictionary/homophone
>>
>> It depends on which dictionary's definition you use. The OP cited
>> Webster's which gives "differing in spelling, origin AND meaning" (my
>> capitals)
>
> What is "Webster's"? I cited Merriam Webster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster's_Dictionary

[Marc Dashevsky]

In article <cgipkd...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...

>
> On 2014-12-31 16:46:20 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:
>
> > In article <cgibt2...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
> >>
> >> On 2014-12-30 21:43:26 +0000, Marc Dashevsky said:
> >>
> >>> In article <cggihi...@mid.individual.net>, em...@domain.com says...
> >>>>
> >>>> On 2014-12-30 19:04:25 +0000, riverman said:
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Monday, December 29, 2014 5:27:53 PM UTC+7, rthe...@hotmail.com wrote:
> >>>>>> On Saturday, December 27, 2014 1:31:36 PM UTC, riverman wrote:
> >>>>>>> 22 is easy:
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> adolescents adolescence
> >>>>>> ...
> >>>>>>> phosphorescents phosphorescence
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> None of the above are actually homophones.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Why not?
> >>>>
> >>>> They both have the same origin.
> >>>
> >>> That's not a disqualification. http://m-w.com/dictionary/homophone
> >>
> >> It depends on which dictionary's definition you use. The OP cited
> >> Webster's which gives "differing in spelling, origin AND meaning" (my
> >> capitals)
> >
> > What is "Webster's"? I cited Merriam Webster.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster's_Dictionary

So was it the 1828 or 1841 edition you were citing? Or was it one
of the dozens of other dictionaries mentioned in this article?
Don't be obtuse. I provided the citation for my position. I'd like
to have a citation for yours.

[John Masters]

Pardon me but I didn't cite this. I was only pointing out the original
poster's citation.

[Mark Brader]

John Masters and Marc Dashevsky wrote:
>>>>> It depends on which dictionary's definition you use. The OP cited
>>>>> Webster's which gives "differing in spelling, origin AND meaning"
>>>>> (my capitals)
>>>>
>>>> What is "Webster's"? I cited Merriam Webster.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster's_Dictionary
>>
>> So was it the 1828 or 1841 edition you were citing? Or was it one
>> of the dozens of other dictionaries mentioned in this article?
>> Don't be obtuse. I provided the citation for my position. I'd like
>> to have a citation for yours.
>
> Pardon me but I didn't cite this. I was only pointing out the original
> poster's citation.

In fact the original poster -- Greg Lobdell, posting in 1995, as quoted

by Roy Thearle when the thread was revived -- wrote:

| HOMOPHONE: One of 2 or more words having the same sound but differing
| in spelling, origin, and meaning.
| (Webster's II, New Riverside Dictionary, Berkley Books, NY)

*That* is a proper dictionary citation, although not of a dictionary I'd
heard of before. "Webster's" by itself isn't.

I may note that I haven't come across this more restrictive
definition before. I just went to http://www.onelook.com and
looked at 8 dictionaries linked from it (in one case indirectly):

5 of them show the less restrictive definition:

* Oxford: ...meanings, origins, or spelling
* Collins: ...meaning or spelling or both
* Merriam-Webster: ...in meaning or derivation or spelling...
* Cambridge Advanced Learner's: ...meaning or spelling, or both
* Webster's New World: ...meaning, whether spelled the same way or not

("Oxford" by itself isn't a proper citation either, but onelook.com
links to an Oxford web site that itself does not cite which Oxford
dictionary it's quoting.)

1 shows the more restrictive version:

* Macmillan: ...spelling, meaning, and origin

And 2 sit on the fence:

* American Heritage: ...meaning, origin, and sometimes spelling
* Webster's Revised Unabridged (1913): ...meaning and usually... spelling

However, as John said, the original poster did specify (by quoting
the dictionary he was using) which definition he had in mind.
--
Mark Brader | "Europe contains a great many cathedrals, which were
Toronto | caused by the Middle Ages, which means they are very old,
m...@vex.net | so you have to take color slide photographs of them."
| -- Dave Barry
My text in this article is in the public domain.

[John Masters]

As Bing did sing

We certainly do get around
Like Webster's Dictionary, we're Morocco bound

[Mark Brader]

John Masters:

> As Bing did sing
>
> We certainly do get around
> Like Webster's Dictionary, we're Morocco bound

Badabing, badaboom!
--
Mark Brader | "... a movement is already under way to declare December 7
Toronto | an annual legal holiday in commemoration of the opening of
m...@vex.net | hostilities." -- Ring Lardner, New York Times, 1931

[henryro...@gmail.com]

Continence and continents, score 20

[graha...@gmail.com]

Pause paws pours pores. Best I can do.