UNUSUAL WORDS XXVI

 What is unusual about the following words?

TERN

ARISE

GRUMBLE

STUMBLE

 

Answer:

 

For nearly all words in which the first letter can be dropped to leave a valid word, the new word has a  completely different meaning than the original word (GROUSE - ROUSE).  This is called a beheadment. When the words above are beheaded, the new word has the same, or about the same, meaning as the original:

 

TERN - ERN

ARISE - RISE

GRUMBLE - RUMBLE

STUMBLE - TUMBLE 

 

BONUS QUESTION: 

Can you think of a common word that can be beheaded to leave a new word which has a different meaning, but is a homograph (has the exact same pronunciation) as the original word?

Answer to Bonus Question:

 

AISLE - ISLE 

 

Credit:

Dmitri Borgmann