Knock-knock!

An ex-student of mine had sent me an SMS riddle, back in 2006. I did try to find the answer (by asking around my friends & colleagues) but to no avail.

Here is the Riddle:

“I am a thing.
The fisherman love me.
The doctors hate me.
Kids want to eat me.
I am 13 letter word.
What Am I?”

_ H _ T _ _ _ I _ _ ME _ !

Yesterday, someone SO clever (it wasn't me!) had managed to think & google the answer! (see below)
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On related issue (this very morning @8am):

Numero Uno: “Have you ever googled your own name?”

*Gulp!* It took me quite awhile to answer that question. Using delaying and evasive tactics learnt from life-survival class, I asked her instead, “Er, why Dr?”

“Oh, I googled your name just now. Don’t you want to know what I found?”

Uh-uh…this doesn’t sound good…without wanting to admit of being a narcissistic ( I did googled my name for a couple of times, for some reasons – No, don’t you dare to go googling now coz trust me - there’s nothing interesting to be found at all) & scared silly of her finding out about my ‘online activities’ (that sounds so sinister! But really, why do you think I hide behind a nick-name, make a conscious effort not to disclose my affiliation, splattered all the stars (like U*M) here and there in my writings? Not that I’m pretending to be someone else but do remember that I did grumbled a lot! Matilah kalau kantoi ni….)
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Tentang Dia

Makcik, h**m kat sini. Dtg jumpa g*i. U nak ckp tak
Nak ckp watpe u? Kapla manyiak serabut- I’l pass, tenkiu. Er, kirim salam ok.
Ok, but u tau tak. Pakcik ni dah kahwin dah. U la. Terlepas peluang
It’s ok- I thnk I am *tuuutt!* Hehe..
Yekah. Siapa tu
Dunno lah how, he..Eh, long tm no see u lah. Hws life?
My life is great. Wa wa wa. Al the very best rad

P/s: This is another part of closure I guess. Remember that young chap? He stops msgg – talk about persistence! Usually he’ll msg me for significant ‘academic things’ which should have include submitting his corrections. Well, it was obvious from our last meeting that he wants to be friends…and now he’s gone. C'est la vie eh?
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Answer to the riddle: CHATHURINGMES

Apparently it is a technical word for worm- Yes, W-O-R-M.

"Worms are bait used by fishermen, so they love them. Doctors hate worms that need to be removed from patients’ stools. Kids love worms, which is the customary shape of the gummy bears candies." (Answers googled from answers.yahoo.com; vinodvv.wordpress.com; etc.)

To think that I was the only one stupid enough to go through the entire COD (nope! it isn't listed at all in any dictionary), look at what I found:

"This is a doozy. I checked all the 13-letter words in the English language, including those borrowed from other languages. About 7,825 of them.
The only word that would match the above pattern, if the size of the blanks between the letters were more flexible, is “chastisement”."

This:
"Platyhelminthes or Chaetognathas or worms. There is a mistake with the letter clues."

And this:
"These kinds of nonsensical ‘riddles’ are more likely SMS chain spam, reminiscent of email chain letters about destitute girls and such." Ouch!!
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Advices for Ph*D candidates:
1.Please don't forget to buy your advisor a cake on his birthday! (one of the prof yesterday)

Score lotsa points maa...

P/s: I don't even know my Numero Uno's birthday! Strictly academic konon..

2. Quid pro quos

Pak Anton: Eh rad, kamu mau anti-virus ini nngak? Saya boleh install kan...
rad(dlm hati la): Amboih...baiknya hati...

Later,
"Kamu boleh tolong nngak? Translatekan ini abstrak..."