Those Dreaded "-gry" Words
For years and years and years, librarians have been fielding questions such as, "I heard there are three commonly used English words ending in '-gry'. I know about 'hungry' and 'angry', but what is the other word?"
This question is asked many, many times, every month, every year, and has been asked for as many years as anyone who works at this particular library can remember. If we seem to you be somewhat less than thrilled to hear the "-gry" riddle, it is because, to use a massive understatement, the novelty has worn off. So far, we have found many answers, the two most common of which we've posted below.
That being said, please understand that
"words ending in gry" is the one topic on which Tempe Public Library does not respond to email. Here is one reason, quoted from the
Frequently Asked Questions file of the rec.puzzles newsgroup: "There are many generally unsatisfying "trick" answers to the problem, which depend on a specific wording of the question or that the question be spoken instead of written. There seems to be no agreement among puzzle historians about which form is the original, or even the age of the problem. In any event, it is apparent that the frequent mutations of the puzzle statement over the years have erased whatever answer was intended by the original author." The other reason we don't answer email about -gry words is that we are already busy providing library service for the people who live in Tempe, Arizona. For two answers to the riddle, just read on:
Full Article: http://www.tempe.gov/library/netsites/gry.htm