riddles

A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and conundra, which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer.
Archer Taylor says that "we can probably say that riddling is a universal art" and cites riddles from hundreds of different cultures including Finnish, Hungarian, American Indian, Chinese, Russian, Dutch and Filipino sources amongst many others. Many riddles and riddle-themes are internationally widespread.
In the assessment of Elli Köngas Maranda (originally writing about Malaitian riddles, but with an insight that has been taken up more widely), whereas myths serve to encode and establish social norms, "riddles make a point of playing with conceptual boundaries and crossing them for the intellectual pleasure of showing that things are not quite as stable as they seem" — though the point of doing so may still ultimately be to "play with boundaries, but ultimately to affirm them".

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  1. I

    Closed Brain exercise!

    Judah's height is six feet and four inches, he's an assistant at a butcher's shop, and wears size ten shoes. What does he weigh?
  2. R

    Closed 11 famous murder riddles

    Mind-blowing! :)
  3. G

    Closed Riddles

    You can see me in water, but I never get wet. What am I?
  4. C

    Closed paano nga ba?

    paanu ma tulog ang kuba? :p:D
  5. C

    Closed ano daw?

    Ano tawag sa babaeng buntis na nakasay sa bus? :D
  6. C

    Closed Riddle 2016 - 6

    What loses its head in the morning and gets it back at night?
  7. C

    Closed Riddle 2016 - 5

    What goes in the water black and comes out red?
  8. C

    Closed Riddle 2016 - 4

    What tastes better than it smells?
  9. C

    Closed Riddle 2016 - 2

    What walks but doesn't have legs?
  10. C

    Closed Riddle 2016 - 1

    There are 50 crows on a wire, a hunter shoots and kills three. How many are there left on the wire?
  11. C

    Closed Sino?

    Si Ann ay isa sa limang magkakapatid. Ang mga pangalan nila, umpisa sa panganay, ay si Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono, at ???. Ano ang pangalan ng bunso sa magkakapatid?
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