What is an Uncopyrightable Word?™

Question

If a phrase has a certain property, I call it an Uncopyrightable Word™.

In each of the sentences below, one word is an Uncopyrightable Word™ and one is not.

The sentences are for context only, and do not affect whether a word is an Uncopyrightable Word™.

The forecast says it's going to (SNOW / RAIN) tomorrow.

Your explanations always tend towards (HYPERBOLE / EXAGGERATION).

The ideal political system is a (DEMOCRACY / REPUBLIC).

The answer to your question is (YES / NO).

His (NEIGHBOURLY / FRIENDLY) advice was well-received.

I (CERTAINLY / DEFINITELY) don't think this puzzle is difficult.

The (DUKE / BARON) had very good manners.

The team worked with great (SYNERGY / RECIPROCITY).

The winter (FESTIVAL / CELEBRATION) is one of the high points of the year.

My favourite composer is (BACH / BEETHOVEN).

What makes a word an Uncopyrightable Word™?

@Goinghamateur As I mentioned below, I considered calling it a Generic Word™ (and a Public Domain Word™), but I figured that would be a little too obscure. — GentlePurpleRain, Aug 11 '15 at 21:01
That would certainly doozy it up, I would be astonished if someone solved it and then again this place blows my mind every fifth puzzle... not©™? — Going hamateur, Aug 11 '15 at 21:05
*cough* Since words can't be copyrighted in any jurisdiction I'm aware of... *cough* — David Richerby, Aug 12 '15 at 08:23
@randal'thor The words in the puzzle are Uncopyrightable. That doesn't meant the category isn't. Also, trademark and copyright are not the same. :P — GentlePurpleRain, Aug 14 '15 at 20:41
Fun Fact: Uncopyrightable is the longest word in the English language that contains no repeated characters. — Dave, Apr 08 '16 at 15:41
@Dave That was the main reason for using it here. But technically, there are longer ones. See http://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/17667 . — GentlePurpleRain, Apr 08 '16 at 16:22

score 25 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 12 '15 at 01:16

25

An Uncopyrightable Word™ is one that...

consists only of letters in the word UNCOPYRIGHTABLE.

So the Uncopyrightable Word™s are...

RAIN, HYPERBOLE, REPUBLIC, NO, NEIGHBOURLY, CERTAINLY, BARON, RECIPROCITY, CELEBRATION, and BACH.

edited Aug 12 '15 at 01:16

Community

1

answered Aug 11 '15 at 19:49

Deusovi

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I thought the answer would be found quickly, but not that quickly! Good job!
I thought about calling it a Generic Word™ instead, but I thought that would be a little too vague...
– GentlePurpleRain Aug 11 '15 at 19:50
I knew "Uncopyrightable" had all unique letters, so my first thought was to check the letter patterns. After a few quick find+replaces, the pattern was obvious. Great puzzle though! – Deusovi Aug 11 '15 at 19:51
just beat me, @Deusovi – dfperry Aug 11 '15 at 19:51
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Legend tells of a puzzle that someone was able to answer before Deusovi, but all historical records have been lost and only a myth remains. – Going hamateur Aug 11 '15 at 20:19
@Goinghamateur Found it! :) – GentlePurpleRain Aug 11 '15 at 20:41
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@GentlePurpleRain: In my defense, it seemed to me that using borders was cheating. – Deusovi Aug 11 '15 at 20:46
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I so would have gotten this if I had not had to drive home from work immediately after seeing this puzzle! At least, that is what I will tell myself. :) – JLee Aug 11 '15 at 20:48
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I guessed the answer just from seeing the title :-) – xnor Aug 12 '15 at 02:20
I thought the answer was your gut-feeling stereotypical reaction answer. I got all of them right except for #8. – Luminous Aug 12 '15 at 12:12
@Deusovi: Yep, UNCOPYRIGHTABLE is well-known as being one of the longest English words that has no repeated letters. Another (lesser-known) word is DERMATOGLYPHICS. – paolo Sep 23 '16 at 13:52

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 11 '15 at 19:50

11

An uncopyrightable word is a word which

can be spelled using only letters in 'uncopyrightable', so
RAIN, HYPERBOLE, REPUBLIC, NO, NEIGHBOURLY, CERTAINLY, RECIPROCITY, CELEBRATION, and BACH.

answered Aug 11 '15 at 19:50

dfperry

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What is an Uncopyrightable Word?™

2 Answers2

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