Why am I always the last to find out about things?
It seems that some time ago it was discovered by researchers at Cambridge! University! in the U!K! that it doesn't matter what order the internal letters of a word have so long as the first and last letters remain first and last (respectively). You'll still be able to read it no problems! I thought the sentences used to demonstrate the phenomenon (which described the phenomenon itself, clever clever!) were a little simplistic, though, so I ginned up the following. So far, every single person I've showed it to has been able to decipher it no problem, and in a pretty short amount of time, too! Longer than just reading it straight through would take, but much shorter than brute-forcing. Pretty impressive results IMO. Here's my text:
Ciitnnnoug my aailynss, it ouerrccd to me that Boeadsw had the nmae of both a piiayhcsn and an eeerxlmty hhgily-rradgeed eiiuacasnodltt. All the faeecs drieaepspd, iltnsegnetiry, an iurasltotiln of rviaptilutede ammnteirraaa rcnoteeeernud in a fliruusoy magltheuansr of a pintaet uireognndg a cceimtlpaod mtttrriiieeaospnn of not utaicernn saonuiilttps rridnaegg the ttnnneercaasdl cnnoodtiis of eeeiirxnaptl ccsssinuneoos as reeelvad by pnhllltyyccaaaiosy rrlbtaieeacd thqnieuehs.
You wouldn't think it would be so legible!
Comments
on 2005-07-07 22:31:21.0, researchers at Cambridge University in the UK commented:
Why msut you be scuh a ltilte btcih?
and, further, on 2005-07-08 12:12:43.0, ogged commented:
The way to make it difficult isn't with long or obscure words, but with a paucity of short connecting words. Somewhere someone had a good example of a nearly indecipherable passage (I think it was Kieran at CT), and some blogger called us big dummies for linking to this when it came up. I'll try to find you those links tomorrow.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 6:15:31.0, ben wolfson commented:
But long or obscure words don't hurt, you have to admit. (And I wasn't just using long/obscure words; there was an element of strategizing: letters from the beginning moved to the end and vice versa, letters of similar height moved together, multiple occurrences of single letters consolidated. If you did the same crappy job of moving the letters around as was done in the original text that was circulated, even the longest of words wouldn't be that difficult.)
and, further, on 2005-07-08 13:28:49.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
Nougating my analness, it coerced to me that Bledsoe had the mane of both a pelican and an earlmighty highly-degraded evacuationist. All the faeces disappeared gestationally, an illusion of revapitudal amenorrhea reconnoitered in a soyflour metalgusher of a painted underdog a cephalopod mitochondrion of not uncertain soultuneups regrading the thundercastle cannolis of earwaxal continuousness as revealed by phantasically lubricated tequilas.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 13:30:37.0, ogged commented:
Here's the link. The guy who chastised us is at comment 7.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 13:56:13.0, ben wolfson commented:
Standpipe, that's amazing!
and, further, on 2005-07-08 14:04:17.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
Dude, "Rosetta" is my middle name.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 14:29:40.0, ogged commented:
I'll second that Bridgeplate's decipherment is amazing.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 15:09:27.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
I can't believe you're encouraging me. What is wrong with you people?
and, further, on 2005-07-08 15:15:47.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
Sorry. What I meant was, thank you.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 19:36:50.0, bitchphd commented:
Dude, I can't read that shit.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 19:49:41.0, eb commented:
No fair, SB does anagrams for fun, or so I assume.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 20:29:34.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
I admit that my prior knowledge of pelican manes should have disqualified me. But, I didn't ruin all the fun. I left a subtle error in the deciphered text—can you find it?
and, further, on 2005-07-08 20:38:44.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
(eb, my anagrams are for fun, but also computer-assisted. I hope that the scales, having fallen from your eyes, may now spruce up your model lizard or &c.)
and, further, on 2005-07-08 20:56:21.0, ben wolfson commented:
Also, SB's translation bears little relation to the actual text.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 21:03:00.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
That would be the error, yes.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 21:08:37.0, ben wolfson commented:
Had I read your comment of 10:29 more attentively (or at all) I wouldn't have left mine above. Ah, well.
and, further, on 2005-07-08 21:45:43.0, Standpipe Bridgeplate commented:
Your analness has insufficient nougat, I see.