to clemp? to climp?
May 21, 2013 8:07 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for a set of five verbs in the English language that each A.) have only one vowel and B.) share all the remaining letters in the same order. The closest example I can think of off the top of my head is [bag / beg / bog / bug] but big isn't a verb.
If no such set of five verbs exists I'd be happy to hear of sets of four, or even the sets of three that you can think up. If a set of five nouns exists I'd like to know though I won't be as excited about it. Finally, if you do find a set of five verbs that fit that criteria I'd love to know how you came across them. Just thought about it until you worked it out? Did a web search? Used a program like The Electronic Alveary?
If no such set of five verbs exists I'd be happy to hear of sets of four, or even the sets of three that you can think up. If a set of five nouns exists I'd like to know though I won't be as excited about it. Finally, if you do find a set of five verbs that fit that criteria I'd love to know how you came across them. Just thought about it until you worked it out? Did a web search? Used a program like The Electronic Alveary?
Bot and but aren't verbs.
posted by psoas at 8:23 AM on May 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by psoas at 8:23 AM on May 21, 2013 [2 favorites]
stamp, stomp, stump
get, git, got, gut
tap, tip, top, tup
Thought of short words with I first. Also I play a lot of Scrabble.
posted by jessamyn at 8:23 AM on May 21, 2013
get, git, got, gut
tap, tip, top, tup
Thought of short words with I first. Also I play a lot of Scrabble.
posted by jessamyn at 8:23 AM on May 21, 2013
"but" is not a verb, is it? And "bot" is not really a verb in standard English.
Here's a set of five using some non-standard usages:
lag, leg, lig, log, lug
posted by mbrubeck at 8:26 AM on May 21, 2013
Here's a set of five using some non-standard usages:
lag, leg, lig, log, lug
posted by mbrubeck at 8:26 AM on May 21, 2013
pall, pell, pill, poll, pull
Some of these words are sort of obscure and you might not consider them words. Do you want common verbs or just anything that has a verb option even if it's unusual?
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 AM on May 21, 2013
Some of these words are sort of obscure and you might not consider them words. Do you want common verbs or just anything that has a verb option even if it's unusual?
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 AM on May 21, 2013
(I got that by grepping through a wordlist for short words with 'u' and then doing some manual scanning and cross-checking.)
posted by mbrubeck at 8:27 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by mbrubeck at 8:27 AM on May 21, 2013
Response by poster: "Do you want common verbs or just anything that has a verb option even if it's unusual?"
Honestly I was just looking at a box of cat litter this morning, saw the word "clumping" and thought, "clamp clemp climp clomp clump" and that led to this question. If it's verbs, I'm in.
posted by komara at 8:32 AM on May 21, 2013 [5 favorites]
Honestly I was just looking at a box of cat litter this morning, saw the word "clumping" and thought, "clamp clemp climp clomp clump" and that led to this question. If it's verbs, I'm in.
posted by komara at 8:32 AM on May 21, 2013 [5 favorites]
Best answer: pick, pack, pock, peck, puck
the verb 'puck' apparently means to hit the ball in the game of hurling
posted by pipeski at 8:33 AM on May 21, 2013
the verb 'puck' apparently means to hit the ball in the game of hurling
posted by pipeski at 8:33 AM on May 21, 2013
chaw chew chow
posted by mefireader at 8:33 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by mefireader at 8:33 AM on May 21, 2013
sap, sip, sop, sup
posted by nakedmolerats at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by nakedmolerats at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2013
mass, mess, miss, moss, muss
posted by xchmp at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by xchmp at 8:34 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
mash mesh mosh mush
posted by mefireader at 8:36 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by mefireader at 8:36 AM on May 21, 2013
ace, age, ape, are, ate, ave, awe
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:55 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:55 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh, I just thought of them. I thought of "ate" and "are" then alphabetically found the rest.
The nouny ones do work as verbs.
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:57 AM on May 21, 2013
The nouny ones do work as verbs.
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:57 AM on May 21, 2013
Response by poster: frecklefaerie: sorry, you've got it backwards. One vowel per word, hold the consonants constant and rotate through vowels.
posted by komara at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by komara at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2013
Well, here is a list of all 3-letter words with a vowel in the middle, where each vowel makes a Scrabble-valid word.
Not sure how best to check the part of speech of each word (at least not in Matlab, which is what I did this with as a first pass).
posted by supercres at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2013
Not sure how best to check the part of speech of each word (at least not in Matlab, which is what I did this with as a first pass).
posted by supercres at 9:01 AM on May 21, 2013
Sorry; not Scrabble-valid. English dictionary. Rerunning with OSPD.
posted by supercres at 9:03 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by supercres at 9:03 AM on May 21, 2013
Ok. Reran, and included 4-letter words where the first, second, or third letter is a vowel. (Only 4-letter words with the second letter a vowel had words for all five vowels.)
There is some overlap here.
Forgive me if this takes all the fun out of it.
posted by supercres at 9:34 AM on May 21, 2013
There is some overlap here.
Forgive me if this takes all the fun out of it.
bad, bed, bid, bod, bud bag, beg, big, bog, bug bas, bes, bis, bos, bus bat, bet, bit, bot, but dan, den, din, don, dun fan, fen, fin, fon, fun far, fer, fir, for, fur gat, get, git, got, gut hap, hep, hip, hop, hup hat, het, hit, hot, hut mad, med, mid, mod, mud mag, meg, mig, mog, mug nab, neb, nib, nob, nub pap, pep, pip, pop, pup pat, pet, pit, pot, put ram, rem, rim, rom, rum tan, ten, tin, ton, tun tat, tet, tit, tot, tut bads, beds, bids, bods, buds ball, bell, bill, boll, bull band, bend, bind, bond, bund bats, bets, bits, bots, buts care, cere, cire, core, cure cate, cete, cite, cote, cute dans, dens, dins, dons, duns dare, dere, dire, dore, dure fans, fens, fins, fons, funs hack, heck, hick, hock, huck haed, heed, hied, hoed, hued hats, hets, hits, hots, huts last, lest, list, lost, lust mads, meds, mids, mods, muds mags, megs, migs, mogs, mugs mall, mell, mill, moll, mull mare, mere, mire, more, mure mass, mess, miss, moss, muss
posted by supercres at 9:34 AM on May 21, 2013
Whoops, a few got cut off:
posted by supercres at 9:48 AM on May 21, 2013
mate, mete, mite, mote, mute nabs, nebs, nibs, nobs, nubs pack, peck, pick, pock, puck pale, pele, pile, pole, pule pans, pens, pins, pons, puns paps, peps, pips, pops, pups pats, pets, pits, pots, puts rack, reck, rick, rock, ruck rams, rems, rims, roms, rums tale, tele, tile, tole, tule tans, tens, tins, tons, tuns tats, tets, tits, tots, tutsDone now, I promise.
posted by supercres at 9:48 AM on May 21, 2013
Just to complete superces' list, here are all of the sets of five or more, generated by a case-insensitive shell script scan of /usr/share/dict/words.
posted by rlk at 9:52 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
bally belly billy bolly bully chack check chick chock chuck clack cleck click clock cluck fally felly filly folly fully gally gelly gilly golly gully massy messy missy mossy mussy nabby nebby nibby nobby nubby pappy peppy pippy poppy puppy snack sneck snick snock snuck stang steng sting stong stung stark sterk stirk stork sturk sprang spreng spring sprong sprung strang streng string strong strung
posted by rlk at 9:52 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
lamp, limp, lump—"to lamp" is a verb in Urban Dictionary, at least.
posted by limeonaire at 10:36 AM on May 21, 2013
posted by limeonaire at 10:36 AM on May 21, 2013
Best answer: This search should do you, although unfortunately it does not do parts of speech.
posted by novalis_dt at 1:06 PM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by novalis_dt at 1:06 PM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: novalis_dt: that is exactly the kind of tool I was looking for but wasn't sure existed. Thanks!
posted by komara at 7:36 PM on May 21, 2013
posted by komara at 7:36 PM on May 21, 2013
Response by poster: Also, I'm glad to see there weren't 100 solutions immediately so I don't feel too dumb for not having come up with one myself.
posted by komara at 7:36 PM on May 21, 2013
posted by komara at 7:36 PM on May 21, 2013
While everyone else arrived earlier with examples, I thought I could still share the code I used (python on unix)
Get a list of words as a set:
>>> s = set(open("/usr/share/dict/words").read().split("\n"))
Filter out proper words and ones with apostrophes:
>>> s = set(i for i in s if i.lower() == i and not "'" in i)
Filter out all the ones with not exactly one vowel
>>> s = set(i for i in s if sum(i.count(c) for c in "aeiou") == 1)
Define a function to remove the vowel from a word
>>> import re
>>> def devowel(s): return re.sub("[aeiou]", "", s)
Create a collection that has all words that are the same but for one vowel:
>>> import collections
>>> k = collections.defaultdict(set)
>>> for i in s: k[devowel(i)].add(i)
...
Look of all the sets of exactly five words:
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) == 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['a', 'i', 'e', 'u', 'o'])
set(['tens', 'tans', 'tons', 'tins', 'tuns'])
set(['imp', 'mop', 'ump', 'amp', 'map'])
set(['did', 'dud', 'add', 'odd', 'dad'])
set(['own', 'wan', 'won', 'wen', 'win'])
set(['bills', 'bulls', 'bolls', 'balls', 'bells'])
set(['on', 'no', 'an', 'nu', 'in'])
set(['pops', 'pips', 'peps', 'pups', 'paps'])
set(['not', 'ant', 'net', 'nut', 'nit'])
set(['muss', 'mess', 'mass', 'moss', 'miss'])
set(['lest', 'last', 'lust', 'list', 'lost'])
set(['bell', 'bill', 'boll', 'ball', 'bull'])
set(['packs', 'pucks', 'pecks', 'pocks', 'picks'])
set(['is', 'so', 'as', 'es', 'us'])
set(['peck', 'puck', 'pock', 'pack', 'pick'])
set(['tan', 'tin', 'ton', 'ten', 'tun'])
set(['amps', 'maps', 'imps', 'umps', 'mops'])
set(['sings', 'snugs', 'snags', 'sangs', 'songs'])
set(['pap', 'pup', 'pip', 'pep', 'pop'])
set(['bug', 'bag', 'beg', 'big', 'bog'])
set(['ohms', 'hems', 'hums', 'hims', 'hams'])
set(['his', 'has', 'ohs', 'hos', 'hes'])
set(['ohm', 'hum', 'ham', 'him', 'hem'])
Look at all the sets of more than five words:
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) > 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['me', 'em', 'ma', 'mi', 'um', 'am', 'mu'])
set(['slot', 'silt', 'slat', 'slut', 'slit', 'salt'])
set(['sluts', 'slits', 'silts', 'slots', 'slats', 'salts'])
set(['sops', 'sups', 'asps', 'sips', 'spas', 'saps'])
set(['song', 'snag', 'sang', 'snug', 'sing', 'sung'])
set(['sip', 'sop', 'asp', 'sup', 'spa', 'sap'])
set(['pats', 'puts', 'pits', 'pots', 'pets', 'opts'])
set(['fir', 'fur', 'for', 'far', 'fro', 'fer'])
set(['opt', 'pat', 'pet', 'pot', 'apt', 'put', 'pit'])
set(['he', 'eh', 'oh', 'ah', 'hi', 'uh', 'ha', 'ho'])
Groups of more than five are possible because my program doesn't hold the position of the vowel constant, so that "ohm" and "hum" get lumped together as consisting of "hm" with one vowel inserted.
When I have word puzzles where a number of steps are needed to arrive at an answer, Python is one of the first places I turn. I didn't use it in this example, but there's "wordnet" which among many other things lets you get a list of english verbs to start from rather than a full english dictionary. This is the wrong way to use wordnet data in Python, but it works:
>>> s = [i for i in open("/usr/share/wordnet/index.verb").read().split("\n")]
>>> s = [i.split()[0] for i in s if i.strip()]
>>> # other steps as before
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) >= 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['opt', 'pat', 'pet', 'pot', 'put', 'pit'])
set(['slot', 'silt', 'slat', 'salt', 'slit'])
on reflection and ctrl-f it looks like these are both new combinations not already anticipated, but they both move the vowel around so maybe they don't count. And who has ever used "slat" as a verb anyway. "I totally slatted those blinds".
posted by jepler at 7:56 PM on May 21, 2013
Get a list of words as a set:
>>> s = set(open("/usr/share/dict/words").read().split("\n"))
Filter out proper words and ones with apostrophes:
>>> s = set(i for i in s if i.lower() == i and not "'" in i)
Filter out all the ones with not exactly one vowel
>>> s = set(i for i in s if sum(i.count(c) for c in "aeiou") == 1)
Define a function to remove the vowel from a word
>>> import re
>>> def devowel(s): return re.sub("[aeiou]", "", s)
Create a collection that has all words that are the same but for one vowel:
>>> import collections
>>> k = collections.defaultdict(set)
>>> for i in s: k[devowel(i)].add(i)
...
Look of all the sets of exactly five words:
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) == 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['a', 'i', 'e', 'u', 'o'])
set(['tens', 'tans', 'tons', 'tins', 'tuns'])
set(['imp', 'mop', 'ump', 'amp', 'map'])
set(['did', 'dud', 'add', 'odd', 'dad'])
set(['own', 'wan', 'won', 'wen', 'win'])
set(['bills', 'bulls', 'bolls', 'balls', 'bells'])
set(['on', 'no', 'an', 'nu', 'in'])
set(['pops', 'pips', 'peps', 'pups', 'paps'])
set(['not', 'ant', 'net', 'nut', 'nit'])
set(['muss', 'mess', 'mass', 'moss', 'miss'])
set(['lest', 'last', 'lust', 'list', 'lost'])
set(['bell', 'bill', 'boll', 'ball', 'bull'])
set(['packs', 'pucks', 'pecks', 'pocks', 'picks'])
set(['is', 'so', 'as', 'es', 'us'])
set(['peck', 'puck', 'pock', 'pack', 'pick'])
set(['tan', 'tin', 'ton', 'ten', 'tun'])
set(['amps', 'maps', 'imps', 'umps', 'mops'])
set(['sings', 'snugs', 'snags', 'sangs', 'songs'])
set(['pap', 'pup', 'pip', 'pep', 'pop'])
set(['bug', 'bag', 'beg', 'big', 'bog'])
set(['ohms', 'hems', 'hums', 'hims', 'hams'])
set(['his', 'has', 'ohs', 'hos', 'hes'])
set(['ohm', 'hum', 'ham', 'him', 'hem'])
Look at all the sets of more than five words:
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) > 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['me', 'em', 'ma', 'mi', 'um', 'am', 'mu'])
set(['slot', 'silt', 'slat', 'slut', 'slit', 'salt'])
set(['sluts', 'slits', 'silts', 'slots', 'slats', 'salts'])
set(['sops', 'sups', 'asps', 'sips', 'spas', 'saps'])
set(['song', 'snag', 'sang', 'snug', 'sing', 'sung'])
set(['sip', 'sop', 'asp', 'sup', 'spa', 'sap'])
set(['pats', 'puts', 'pits', 'pots', 'pets', 'opts'])
set(['fir', 'fur', 'for', 'far', 'fro', 'fer'])
set(['opt', 'pat', 'pet', 'pot', 'apt', 'put', 'pit'])
set(['he', 'eh', 'oh', 'ah', 'hi', 'uh', 'ha', 'ho'])
Groups of more than five are possible because my program doesn't hold the position of the vowel constant, so that "ohm" and "hum" get lumped together as consisting of "hm" with one vowel inserted.
When I have word puzzles where a number of steps are needed to arrive at an answer, Python is one of the first places I turn. I didn't use it in this example, but there's "wordnet" which among many other things lets you get a list of english verbs to start from rather than a full english dictionary. This is the wrong way to use wordnet data in Python, but it works:
>>> s = [i for i in open("/usr/share/wordnet/index.verb").read().split("\n")]
>>> s = [i.split()[0] for i in s if i.strip()]
>>> # other steps as before
>>> for i in [i for i in k if len(k[i]) >= 5]: print k[i]
...
set(['opt', 'pat', 'pet', 'pot', 'put', 'pit'])
set(['slot', 'silt', 'slat', 'salt', 'slit'])
on reflection and ctrl-f it looks like these are both new combinations not already anticipated, but they both move the vowel around so maybe they don't count. And who has ever used "slat" as a verb anyway. "I totally slatted those blinds".
posted by jepler at 7:56 PM on May 21, 2013
pack peck pick pock puck?
(I'm sure I could make the case for puck as a verb if i had to.)
posted by loveyallaround at 9:24 PM on May 21, 2013
(I'm sure I could make the case for puck as a verb if i had to.)
posted by loveyallaround at 9:24 PM on May 21, 2013
Arrgh! I swear I did not see it above! And I can't figure out how to delete.
posted by loveyallaround at 9:27 PM on May 21, 2013
posted by loveyallaround at 9:27 PM on May 21, 2013
clap
clep ("to slap a hoe with the fingers of closed fist"
clip
clop (what a horse does)
posted by third rail at 2:45 PM on May 26, 2013
clep ("to slap a hoe with the fingers of closed fist"
clip
clop (what a horse does)
posted by third rail at 2:45 PM on May 26, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Think of a short word with 'u' first.
posted by Segundus at 8:11 AM on May 21, 2013 [4 favorites]