I like how fox stays the same.
this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
852 points (98.9% liked)
Programmer Humor
31090 readers
1 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I like how pond is backwards.
Eirrv is such a better word for river that I'm retconning the English language
Feels like some new age Sindarin. I’m here for it tbh.
i wonder how many words are like that
I wish there were a free database of words to answer that question. :(
:(
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
- alphabet
- come
- in
- order
- the
- they
FTFY:
5. the
6. the
The alphabet provided ends with X. However, you apparently remove duplicates so maybe just cross out the last row?
One important skill for school is to look at the entire question so that you can understand what the teacher is asking for, even if they don't format the question exactly right.
In this case, your answer would not fit into the 6 spaces provided for the answer.
So you have to ask yourself what they meant by "Write the following words". Since "the" is the same word repeated twice, once you've written "the" after 5, then I could argue that "the" has already been written.
Therefore, if there are only six blanks for the answer, looking at the entire question, I argue that the answer I provided is most likely correct.
You'll satisfy the teacher as often as possible and get good grades. I want to feel right as often as possible, which means I'll disrupt the class often and get called out during the parents-teachers meeting.
Still an error unfortunately. Should be:
- the
- bart
- the
We really should stick with the orginal German verision.
- Die
- Bart
- Die
load more comments
(5 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
I like this kid.
The question is poorly worded. It asks for words in the order they come in the alphabet. Words aren't in the alphabet. Letters are in the alphabet, so they reordered the letters.
That's not being pedantic, it's just wrong. Do you not call the order of words in a dictionary "alphabetical order"?
Of course, but this is a 6? year old. Read the question as a child would.
Put these words in alphabetical order
All fine, but if they don't know the word "alphabetical" the clarification is...
(The order they appear in the alphabet)
Confusing. "They" refers to the words and alphabet contains letters. If it had been "dictionary" and not "alphabet" then that would be clear.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Or autistic. Most definitely autistic.
OP already said programmer
Some become engineers.
load more comments
(1 replies)
With more than three repetitions of the same algorithm the kid should've been automated the process.
~~malicious~~ naive compliance
It makes sense if not taught the conventions of alphabetizing first. Kids don't know what they don't know.
Mr. Rogers understood this on a deep level.
Completely misunderstanding the requirements? Yeah that's a dev alright.
In case anyways else looked for the comments to try to figure out what was done wrong, the expected answer would be: apple, fox, log, pond, pumpkim, river.
Seriously?
Are you asking if I was confused how they did something wrong? Yes.
Are you asking if "apple, fox, log, pond, pumpkim, river" was the intended answer? Also probably yes (but I didn't make it, so I can't be sure).
I was sent to the principals office several times in elementary school because my teachers thought I was trying to be a smart ass. Because I would do what they literally, exactly asked me to do, and not what they apparently meant.
I was always very confused because I honestly believed I was doing my best to follow instructions.
It didn’t help that I grew up in the American southeast, a region where patterns of speech are very indirect and lean heavily on idioms and metaphors.
I was in middle school before I figured out what was happening and did not get into trouble in that way anymore. I’m in my 40s now but I’m still a literal-first thinker. And yeah, I’m a programmer.
So you would have done the same as the kid?
I would have done the same right now as an adult.
As a child, I'd probably get from context what was actually wanted since it probably complemented in-class lessons. But in primary school, I also sometimes liked to push the limits of what was asked. So I might do this and also put what was intended to the side.
I couldn't figure out what the clue was that the kid would be a programmer. Surely any kid could have gotten this right? Then I read your comment and it all made sense. Thank you.
And yes, yes I am a programmer.
woah man, posting answers to tests online is cheating and can get you expelled!
load more comments
(2 replies)
Forty is the only number when spelled out that is in alphabetical order
load more comments
(3 replies)
QA prodigy
Words.sort()
Words.map(word => word.sort())
Baby steps in functional programmings
Programmer? IDK. Looks kind of antigrammar to me.
I like it. He didn't meet the assignment but he proved his knowledge. Now to see if they mark on knowledge learnt or subjugation.
They did fail to demonstrate knowledge of lexicographical order, which this exercise seems to be aiming for with the inclusion of pond and pumpkin, so I think it's a bit cynical to consider failing the student on this a means of opression or subjugation.
load more comments
(7 replies)
fox
list.toSorted() vs list.map(word => word.toSorted())
(note that you can't actually do string.toSorted() in js you have to convert into a list and back)
....................................._ Secret morse code?
view more: next ›