Thanks that really shortens up my code and works but i have a couple 
questions



a, n = nil
puts "Please enter 5 words"
until (a = (gets.scan /[\w'-]*/) - [""]).length == 5
  puts "Please type in exactly FIVE words, thanks."
end
puts "You would like to print out which word number? (1-5)"
until (1..5).include? (n = gets.chomp.to_i)
  puts "Please pick a number 1 through 5"
end
puts a[n - 1]

i under stand almost all of it (i just dont get what the - [""] does and 
i think that means that it puts it into an array but the main questions 
i have are why did you type a, n = nil that isnt needed and also why did 
you type /[\w'-]*/) when /\w+/ works the same ... i think
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