Editing 169: Words that End in GRY

Phrased this way, the answer is "language" because "There are only three words in (the phrase)'' 'the English language' ''."

Cueball tells this joke (unfortunately by mis-phrasing the original riddle). When [[Cueball]] attempts to say the answer is "language" and act smugly about it, [[Black Hat]] is unimpressed and cuts off Cueball's forearm, explaining that communicating badly is not the same as cleverness. Black Hat's point is that the riddle's "cleverness" depends on misleadingly implying that "three words" refers to words ending in "-gry," rather than the phrase "the English language." Black Hat does not seem to agree that this riddle is clever.

In the title text, Randall clarifies that his point about bad communication applies to the riddle in general. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f95uxPO4Vk4] However, a secondary interpretation is that Black Hat is angry that Cueball botched the joke. The joke is supposed to go, "There are only three words in 'the English language,'" while only implying that you meant "words that end in '-gry.'" By instead saying, "There are three words in the English language that end in '-gry,'" Cueball has ruined any chance of Black Hat determining the correct answer; now, "three words" can't refer to the correct answer "the English language" because Cueball has accidentally used a longer phrase instead. Thus, Cueball has communicated badly both intentionally and unintentionally.

In any case, no matter how annoying Cueball's smugness, Black Hat responding by cutting off Cueball's forearm is a comical overreaction {{Citation needed}} (while his calm demeanor in doing so is a comical underreaction to the overreaction). Additionally, his calmly-made point about the riddle is likely not to be understood by Cueball, who can only focus on his debilitating injury. Black Hat has, ironically, failed to communicate his point about proper communication, although given Black Hat's personality he likely doesn't care, and may even have intended the irony.