Teeth is to Hen as Nest is to?

(female) mouth? =P

I was thinking that it has to be something nonexistent in a nest, as Hens dont have teeth, so what dont nests have?

Yeah I thought the same thing. Mouth

Human.

Edit: wait

My first thought was jaw, but i think @Marina has already given the correct answer.

This one totally stumped me too :P

Mare

The only relation between the two sets is that hen and nest are related. The relation is one where the hen sits inside of the nest. We can assume that the missing word in the second comparison is related to teeth in some way, and carrying over the analogy of a hen is in a nest, teeth are in a mouth.

@Jack_Haas is correct. The answer is mare. Why?

Well… I googled it, and, lo and behold, found the answer. But when I reveal where, I pray that nobody lynches me.

Here it is.

* prays for safety *

Interesting interpretation, @Saturated_Brain. But I wouldn’t want to see such idioms used in an IQ test, as idioms require cultural knowledge which many people would be without, myself included.

@dynamicduo Same here. I think that it’s unfair, which probably just goes to show that there can only be so little arbitrariness in such tests..

@Saturated_Brain @dynamicduo
This is why valid IQ tests are different for different language target groups.
There is a test developed that does not use language: the Snijders-Oomen non-verbal intelligence test. (Adpotions) of this test can be used for toddlers, authistic and deaf people

Even that test has such a cultural bias, though, that it cannot so easily be used for non western cultures.

I assume you don’t have access to Google or any books when you are making this test. Also don’t you get a set amount of time to give the answer? So unless I am wrong in my assumption, who would know which bird has teeth unless you are a biologist or something? This question sounds like it belongs more in a Swedish cryptic puzzle instead of an IQ test.

@markyy I know what birds have teeth and I am Swedish, nor biologist.
But then again – I’m Dutch and that may be considered cheating.

@markyy It’s nothing to do with bird having teeth. It’s to do with the idiom ‘Hen’s teeth’. Of course, we know that hen have no teeth, so that phrase is meant to refer to something that’s impossible.

Travel?

Thanks everyone for the answers! I am glad to have made the choice to join you guys!

@whitenoise, I’m dutch too so you can’t be cheating anymore than I do.
@Saturated_Brain, Thank you for explaining the idiom. I must have been so angry that I gave the wrong answer that I didn’t bother to read the explanation thoroughly ;)

I would have said “tongue”.

The logic is that a hen lives in a nest and a tongue lives in a mouth (nested by teeth). So you start by “nest is to hen what teeth is to tongue”. And then swap them around so they make no sense. At least that’s how I figured it.

Why mare?

@Jack79 Because hens don’t have teeth and mares don’t have nests.

Have a look at @Saturated_Brain‘s link

I thought it was Fox for the same reason given for mare, the fox’s den saying.

The expression “as scarce as hen’s teeth” is a colorful idiom meaning “nonexistent” because hens do not have teeth.

The expression “to find a mare’s nest” means to come upon something fraudulent or deceptive, like a hoax. You expected something real, but you found a mare’s nest. So again, it’s something that doesn’t exist or is not as it seemed to be. (The idea of a jumbled mess is a recent association and does not make any sense to me.)

i agree—if you’re looking for something that’s as scarce as hens’ teeth, you’re searching for a mare’s nest. the concepts aren’t exactly the same, but close enough.

The answer is “mare”.

The expression “as scarce as hen’s teeth” means that it doesn’t exist (because they don’t). The original meaning of “mare’s nest” is something illusory—or doesn’t exist.

In addition to the parallel meaning between the two expressions or idioms, there is also a parallel construction, with a possessive in each case: hen’s teeth; mare’s nest.

This is important in an analogy question, which requires an exact parallel for the answer to be correct (A is to B as X is to Y).

The parallel construction provides the test against which other “possible” answers to this analogy can be tried. There are plenty of things that don’t exist, for example, but only one expression or idiom that shares with “hen’s teeth” both meaning and the possessive construction.

immediately jumped to my mind, “men”. It rhymes (yay), and hen has teeth as men (don’t) have nests….