23
$\begingroup$

In the spirit of the What is a Word™/Phrase™ series started by JLee, a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a Samsaran Word™.
Use the examples below to find the rule.

SAMSARAN Words™ Not SAMSARAN Words™
PIPELINE CONDUIT
AVERAGE MEDIOCRE
ITEMIZE ENUMERATE
ACCEPTABLE ADEQUATE
INHABITANT RESIDENT
ANTEJURAMENTUM PLEA
LIVELINESS ZESTINESS
SPOKESWOMEN SPOKESMEN
UNINSULTING RESPECTFUL
VIOLATIONAL REBELLIOUS
ANTICAPITALIST COMMUNIST
WEATHER-BEATEN DILAPIDATED

Or, in a CSV:

SAMSARAN Words™,Not SAMSARAN Words™
PIPELINE, CONDUIT
AVERAGE, MEDIOCRE
ITEMIZE, ENUMERATE
ACCEPTABLE, ADEQUATE
INHABITANT, RESIDENT
ANTEJURAMENTUM, PLEA
LIVELINESS, ZESTINESS
SPOKESWOMEN, SPOKESMEN
UNINSULTING, RESPECTFUL
VIOLATIONAL, REBELLIOUS
ANTICAPITALIST, COMMUNIST
WEATHER-BEATEN, DILAPIDATED

These are not the only examples of Samsaran Words™, many more exist.

What makes a word Samsaran?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ I had no idea, but when I looked at the answer, I was definitely impressed! $(+1)$ $\endgroup$
    – Mr Pie
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 0:24

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
20
$\begingroup$

Key:

It's in the vowels

Explanation:

Samsara words contain multiple sets of vowels which are repeated: pIpElInE (IE-IE), AvErAgE (AE-AE), spOkEswOmEn (OE-OE), AntEjUrAmEntUm (AEU-AEU), AntIcApItAlIst (AI-AI-AI) etc.

Note:

As @el-guest pointed out, some of the non-samsaran words also fit this pattern (adequate, dilapidated), but they contain other vowels that are not repeated. Samsaran words contain exclusively repeated vowels.

Title:

Perhaps they are called Samsara words because Samsara is a repeated cycle of birth and death

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
7
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Great answer! But adequate and dilapidated also follow your rule.... $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:31
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @El-Guest Adequate and Dilapidated have additional vowels as well (not exclusively the repeated vowels) $\endgroup$
    – omzrs
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:32
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ wEAthEr-bEAtEn does not follow the same pattern, because there is a 'th' between the first one, and only a 't' between the second EA_E. $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:39
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Also, anticapitalist has A _ _ I ... A _ I .. A _ I. Spacing is different again? $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:41
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @El-Guest oh! Thanks, I hadn't noticed that. Clearly I was too specific in saying that the spacing needed to be equal. I'll remove it from my answer $\endgroup$
    – omzrs
    Commented Apr 2, 2019 at 19:42
10
$\begingroup$

I think the answer is that:

Every vowel of a Samsaran word occurs in the word more than once.

This allows the corner case

Weather-Beaten, which contains 4 Es and two As.

Also, the word Samsaran is itself a Samsaran word (kinda... more on that below).

I phrased my answer this way in order not to specify the number of vowels required. Why, you may ask?

Funnily enough,

The condition "is a Samsaran word" is not completely defined. Must there be two or more vowels? There are no counterexamples to prove it, and no examples preclude it... Is "book" a Samsaran word? For that matter, is "tsktsks" a Samsaran word?

I didn't mean to swoop User omzrs' answer. I arrived at my solution independently, then looked at the spoilers on that answer, only to find that I had been beaten by about 6 hours. However, I posted mine because I felt I had a more precise definition and something important to add to the discussion.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ This is actually a clever and very clean solution! +1 $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 3:17

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.