What is a Tulip Word™?

Question

This puzzle is in the spirit of the What is a Word/Phrase™ series started by JLee with a special brand of Phrase™ and Word™ puzzles.

If a word conforms to a special rule, I call it a tulip word. Here is a list of examples:

TULIP	NOT TULIP
tulip	rose
poppy	iris
chrysanthemum	orchid
baker	florist
priest	photographer
reception	service
expenses	debts
marriage	divorce

And CSV version:

TULIP, NOT TULIP
tulip, rose
poppy, iris
chrysanthemum, orchid
baker, florist
priest, photographer
reception, service
expenses, debts
marriage, divorce

QUESTION: What is the rule to tell whether a word is a tulip word or not? Why is it called a tulip word?

@VictorStafusa rot13(V qba'g guvax fb, orpnhfr gur O vf fvyrag, fb vg vf abg cebabhaprq, rira gubhtu vg rkvfgf. Cre gur pbeerpg nafjre, vg'f abg jurgure gur o, c, be z rkvfg, ohg engure orpnhfr gurl ner abg fcbxra.) — Riddler, Feb 27 '20 at 22:59

score 26 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 11 '20 at 20:31

26

A Tulip Word is

A word with a bilabial consonant, meaning that your Two Lips come together to form one of its consonant sounds (p, m, or b).

answered Jan 11 '20 at 20:31

hdsdv

5,180
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Spot on! Nice job not being thrown off by the presence of those letters in the "not tulip" category. – tmpearce Jan 12 '20 at 16:23
Isn't "debts" a tulip word? – Victor Stafusa - BozoNaCadeia Jan 13 '20 at 05:16
1

@VictorStafusa No. To avoid spoiling the answer for others, paste this into rot13 for the explanation: "Gur 'o' vf fvyrag va abezny, Nzrevpna Ratyvfu." – MichaelS Jan 13 '20 at 06:02

What is a Tulip Word™?

1 Answers1