# What cannot talk, but answers when spoken to?

Source: https://silverapuzzles.com/riddles/what-cannot-talk-but-answers-when-spoken-to

A sound riddle. Something replies every time you speak to it, in your own words, without having a voice of its own.

**Answer:** An echo.

An echo repeats your words back to you.

Hint: Try it in a canyon.

## How to think about it

1. An answer that comes without talking is a repeated sound rather than a new one.
2. Think of places where your voice comes back to you: canyons, tunnels, empty halls, a stairwell in a parking garage.
3. What is that returning sound called?
4. An echo answers when you speak and never says anything of its own.

## Why “an echo” is the answer

An echo is your own voice bouncing back from a cliff or wall, so it “answers” every time you speak and yet cannot start a conversation. The riddle plays on the idea of an answer that is really a reflection. Shouting in a canyon makes the answer obvious, and the delay before it comes back is the distance to the rock wall and back.

## Common wrong answers

- **A parrot.** A parrot repeats what it hears, but parrots do talk, so the first part fails.
- **A phone.** A phone carries someone else’s voice, and that person can talk.