Riddles for The Weekend …

Riddles are a great way to use your rational thinking skills that may need some dusting off. Here are 10 difficult, but not impossible, riddles that may stump or surprise you!

1. Tom’s father has five children. Their names are John, Bill, Mary, and Sally. Who is his fifth child?

Tom

2. How can you make the number one disappear by adding to it?

By adding the letter ‘G’ to make the word ‘Gone’   

3. Two girls ate dinner together. They both ordered ice tea. One girl drank the tea very fast and ordered five in the time it took the other to drink one. The girl who drank one died while the other survived. All of the drinks were poisoned. Why did the girl that drank more ice tea survive?
The poison was in the middle of the ice.  

4. A criminal is brought to prison for major crimes. The warden informs him that he will be shot in the middle of the prison by 20 of his men. The prisoner is fine with that but he asks for some conditions “All of your men must stand 20 feet away from me, and I must be able to select where each one of them stands. If I survive, I get to leave”. The warden things this over long and hard and knows that all of his men will still have an open shot at the criminal, so he agrees. The next day immediately after the firing squad is positioned, the criminal walks away untouched. How did he survive?
He set up all of the warden’s men so that they are standing directly across from each other. None of them could fire at the criminal because they would risk hitting another man.

5. If it’s information you seek, come and see me. If it’s paird of letters you need, I have consecutively three. Who am I?

A bookkeeper.

6. Two men find an old gold coin and want to have a coin toss with it to decide who gets it. The only problem is that the coin is heavier on one side so it comes up heads more than tails. What is a fair way for the men to toss the coin and decide who gets the coin?

They just have to slip it twice. They call the first toss either heads or tails, then the next toss they automatically pick the opposite. If they both win one toss out of the two, they have to repeat it until one of them wins both tosses.  

7. A town only has one barber, who is a male The barber only shaves all of the people who do not shave themselves. Who shaves the barber?

He doesn’t shave. Since he is only one to shave people but not people who shave themselves, it is impossible for him to be shaven. 

 

 

8. We hurt without moving. we poison without touching. We bear the truth and the lies. We are not to be judged by our size. What are we?.

Words.

9. A smart landscaper is given the task of placing 4 trees so that they are all the same distance away from each other. How does he do this?
He puts the trees in a triangle then one on a hill in the middle (forming a tetrahedron).

10. There are six glasses in a row. The first three are filled with milk and the last three are empty. By moving only one glass, can you arrange them so that the full and the empty glasses alternate?
Pour one of the glasses of milk into an empty glass.  

What’s Your Score?

0: Back to riddle school with you! Next time, try and think a bit more outside the box, we know you can do it!

1-3: You’re a novice riddler, who still misses most but is starting to grasp the basics of riddling.

4-6: You’re a riddler in the making, no doubt about it! Your ability to think outside the conventional answers is quite impressive, good for you!

7-10: Are you some kind of super riddler? How did you DO that?? We take our respective hats off before your mighty riddling powers, and can only hope you can teach us your clever, clever ways.

source::::: baba mail net

natarajan

Some Riddles to Get Rid off Your Stress !!!

1. Who won the Ramon Magsaysay award for Eminent Leadership in 2006?

2. Which cricketer’s nickname is “Hash”?

3. Name the new retail trade platform developed by Infosys in association with Proctor & Gamble.

4. Which popular tourist island would you be visiting if you land at the capital town of Denpasar, bargain for paintings at Ubud, play at the Kuta beach and while away the evening watching a Legong dance performance?

5. When Potti Sriramulu undertook a fast-unto-death for the creation of a separate Andhra state, which city did he demand be made the capital of the Andhra state?

6. In the 1920s, new airplanes allowed people to fly higher and farther. Many US Army Air Service pilots reported that the glare from the sun was causing headaches and altitude sickness. In 1929, a US Army Air Corps, Lieutenant General John MacCready, asked New York-based medical equipment manufacturer Bausch & Lomb to find a solution. What was it?

7. There have been only three recipients, all artistes, honoured with all the four civilian awards of India —Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri. Two of them are Bismillah Khan and Bhimsen Joshi who was the third?

8. Which opening in chess is named after a 16th Century Spanish Monk who also wrote one of the first definitive books on modern chess?

Answers:

1. Arvind Kejriwal

2. Hashim Amla (full name: Memon Hashim Mohammad Amla)

3. TradeEdge

4. Bali

5. Madras

6. The Ray Ban Aviator sun-glasses

7. Satyajit Ray

8. Ruy Lopez Opening, named after Ruy Lopez De Segura

 

Tailpiece !!!!

Do you know how the company we know as Mahindra and Mahindra got its name?” Of course, I do not. The answer is: The company was originally Mahindra and Muhammed. But with Partition, Malik Ghulam Muhammed moved to Pakistan where he became its first finance minister. Back home Mahindra was left with heaps of stationery with M&M on it. Rather than throwing it all away, they decided to call themselves Mahindra and Mahindra!

source::::  Pankaja Srinivasan… in The Hindu…  on Quiz Enthusiast couple from Coimbatore

Keywords: Priya BhansaliSheilendra Bhansaliquiz enthusiastsQuiz FoundationCoimbatore Quiz circlequiz constests

natarajan

What the ” Bee” in “Spelling Bee” Means ….

Today I found out what the “bee” in “spelling bee” means.

 

While no one knows exactly where the word derives from, the “bee” in “spelling bee” simply means something to the effect of “gathering” or “get together”.  The earliest documented case of this word appearing with this meaning was in 1769, referring to a “spinning bee”, where people would gather to protest purchasing goods from Britain due to the high taxes on those items.

Other gatherings that were commonly labeled with “bee” were: apple bee, logging bee, quilting bee, barn bee, hanging bee, sewing bee, field bee, and corn husking bee, among others.  Basically, any sort of major competition or work gathering, with a specific task in mind tended to get the “bee” label added on the end.  With many of these bees being tedious work events, it was also customary to serve refreshments and provide entertainment at the end of the task.

The first documented case of a spelling bee called such was in 1825.  However, it is likely that there were spelling bees before this date.  This was simply the first time someone seems to have written down in print that has survived to today “spelling bee”.

There are a variety of theories as to where this word derives from.  It was long thought that it simply came from the similarity between insect bees working together towards a specific task and a gathering of people to accomplish some task.  However, this etymology has no specific documented evidence to support it; rather, simply stems from making a logical leap.

The popular theory among etymologists today is that it is more likely that the actual origin of “bee”, in the sense of “gathering”, derives from the Old English bēn (prayer / favor).  This, in turn, gave rise to the Middle English “bene”, which had more or less the same meaning as bēn except now adding “an extra service by a tenant to his lord”.  Finally, this resulted in “bean” meaning “help given by neighbors”.  The British dialectic version of this word is then “bee”. 

source:::: today i foundout .com 

natarajan

What is Greater Than God ? !!!…

The Riddle That 80% of Kindergartners Answered Correctly, but Only 17% of Stanford Seniors Got Right-Fiction!

e rumor…
A simple riddle with a simple answer that was allegedly reported on Paul Harvey…and that Kindergartners answered more correctly than university seniors.

The Truth
The riddle has been around for a long time, but there is no evidence that research was ever conducted on the comparative answers of Kindergartners and Stanford University seniors.
There is also no evidence that this was reported on Paul Harvey.

The riddle:
What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it,
The rich don’t need it, And if you eat it, you’ll die?

The answer to the riddle is “nothing.”
Nothing is greater than God.
Nothing is more evil than the Devil.
The poor have nothing.
The rich need nothing.
And if you eat nothing, you’ll die.

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Paul Harvey RIDDLE:

When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer,
compared to 17% of Stanford University seniors.
What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it,
The rich need it, And if you eat it, you’ll die?

 

source ::::truth or fiction.com

natarajan

” Geek ” Named ” Word of 2013″ ….

The word geek, once used as a slurto describe a person with unfashionable interests or a social misfit, has now been declared the ‘word of the year’ by the Collins online dictionary.

The dictionary has also changed the definition of geek to “a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a specific subject.”

Collins has already added ‘geekery’, ‘geek chic’ and ‘geekdom’ to the dictionary’s fold.

While ‘geek chic’ refers to a fashion style believed to be characteristic of geeks, ‘geekery’ means preoccupation with, or great knowledge about, a subject, according to the the dictionary.

“For those of us born into a pre-internet world ‘geek’ meant ‘a boring and unattractive social misfit – who tends to smell slightly gamey at close quarters,” the dictionary said on its website.

“But times change, even if we don’t change with them and what Collins first included as a secondary definition in 2003 – ‘A person who is preoccupied with or very knowledgeable about computing’ – has long since overtaken the original.

“Now the meaning has changed again and the new definition will read ‘a person who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a specific subject’,” Collins said on its website.

Last month, Oxford Dictionaries named selfie – “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website” as the word of the year.

Geek has seen an interesting transformation in meaning over the last couple of decades.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, the word used to be a cruel and critical label attached to clever, but socially awkward, people – such as computer or science geeks.

However, in the 1990s, the computer industry helped many geeks to achieve great success, and the wider perception of geeks began to shift.
Source:  silicon india net

natarajan

Message For the Day…” Learn From Animals ,Birds &Insects ….”

Man can learn any number of good qualities from animals, birds, insects and worms. The animal, donkey is viewed with contempt. But the quality of patience to be found in a donkey is not found even in man. Whatever burdens may be heaped on its back, it bears them all with forbearance. Even when it is starved of food and water, it presents a calm face. Man has thus to learn the quality of forbearance from the donkey. The ant is one of the tiniest among insects. But the ant has a capacity for foresight; with foreknowledge of the rainy season ahead, it starts storing food from three months in advance. Then, there is the spider – Determination is one of its traits. How many times its web may be destroyed or broken, the spider will go on remaking it with relentless determination.

 

Sathya Sai Baba

Message For the Day…”Education Should also Purify Heart”…

True education means trying to manifest the inner divinity in man. How is this manifestation to be brought about? Students must receive education that illumines every aspect of life – the economic, the political, the moral, the spiritual and the physical, the mental and the social environment of man. It should not be confined to one specific sphere. Many students consider book knowledge as education. This gives them only superficial knowledge. They need practical knowledge which will enable them to lead righteous lives. Education should also result in the purification of the heart. Men and women must be taught to be sincere in thought, word and deed, as a mark of humanness. Students must also revere their parents at all times and promote the cause of social improvement. They must co-operate with all fellow-beings. These are the things all students should learn.

Sathya Sai Baba

“யாமறிந்த மொழிகளிலே தமிழ் மொழி போல் “….மகாகவியின் கவிநயம் !!!

earth

தமிழ்

யாமறிந்த மொழிகளிலே   தமிழ்மொழி  போல்
இனிதாவது எங்கும் காணோம்
பாமரராய், விலங்குகளாய், உலகனைத்தும்
இகழ்ச்சிசொலப்  பான்மை கெட்டு
நாமமது தமிழரெனக் கொண்டுஇங்கு
வாழ்திடுதல்  நன்றோ? சொல்லீர்!
தேமதுரத் தமிழோசை உலகமெலாம்
பரவும்வகை  செய்தல் வேண்டும்

யாமறிந்த புலவரிலே கம்பனைப்போ
வள்ளுவர்போல், இளங்கோ வைப்போ
பூமிதனில் யாங்கணுமே பிறந்ததில்லை;
உண்மை, வெறும் புகழ்ச்சியில்லை;
ஊமையராய்ச் செவிடர்களாய்க் குருடர்களாய்
வாழ்கின்றோம், ஒரு சொற் கேளிர்!
சேமமுற வேண்டுமெனில் தெருவெல்லம்
தமிழ்முழக்கம் செழிக்கச் செய்வீர்

source::::blog.dinamani.com

natarajan

 

Message For The Day…” Understand Your Limit for Enjoying the Natural Resources”…

Just as a child is entitled to enjoy the milk from its mother, there can be no objection to man enjoying the resources of nature. But as a result of uncontrolled desires and reckless exploitation of natural resources, Nature is exhibiting frightening disorders. Natural calamities like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts and floods are the result of disturbances in the balance of Nature caused by this reckless exploitation. Mankind today appears like a foolish man who is wielding the axe at the branch of a tree on which he is sitting. You have to develop a sense of spiritual oneness. Out of that sense of oneness, love will grow. Man today does not recognise this sense of oneness. ‘Man’ is not the body alone. One has the mind, intellect and the Spirit (Atma) too. When the balance among these constituents is upset, people are plunged into troubles. On the other hand, when there is a balance, true humanness blossoms.

 Sathya Sai Baba