Humor Section!

[Larry Sabo]

For what it's worth, ChatGPT says...

Correct mathematical interpretation:​

• In strict mathematical terms, "divide by half" means:
  
  

  Divide by 0.5, or ÷ ½, which is equivalent to multiplying by 2.
  So, "Divide 10 by half" = 10 ÷ 0.5 = 20

 

[britechguy]

In strict mathematical terms,

And therein lies the problem. Most people don't think in strict mathematical terms, they think in "what's common in the language" terms.

If someone tells me they have a peck of apples and then divided them by half to give some away, I'd immediately think they kept half a peck and gave away a half a peck. I don't think they cut all the apples in half.

That's why I don't find these linguistically ambiguous kinds of riddles particularly illustrative of anything in particular. They can be resolved in one of two equally legitimate ways, depending on who's doing the solving.

 

[HCHTech]

If someone tells me they have a peck of apples

Thanks for that - I haen't heard the unit "Peck" in years and years. We had a functioning orchard near where I grew up and I remember getting small peck backets of apples. I also remember 4 Pecks is a Bushel. Makes me think of a Chain (66 feet), a Furlong (660 feet)......which leads to the equation 1 Chain x 1 Furlong = 1 Acre. Wow, those neurons haven't fired in a LONG time.

25 years ago, when I built a desk on the back or our house, I ordered a keg of stainless steel screws - I remember being SO disappointed when it arrived in a box and not an actual keg! haha.

 

[Kitten Kong]

Two Statisticians are flying across the Pacific Ocean to a conference in Sydney Australia; they’re in a 747.

When they are 8 hours into the 14 hour flight, the plane finds itself in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. So, there’s turbulence, not too bad, but they bounce around…

And then suddenly Kaboom! The plane is struck by lightning, and one of the jet engines stops working. … after a minute, the Captain speaks on the PA, “Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry for all the turbulence. You’ve probably notice that we were struck by lightning, and it destroyed one of our four engines. That’s not great, but this 747 can easily fly on three engines — but we’re going to have to slow down a bit, and we’ll get to Sydney about an hour late.

The passengers are relieved, but wouldn’t you know it, the plane is hit by lightning again, and they lose another engine…! The captain says, “well, I hate to say it, but we lost another engine. Believe it or not, this plane can easily fly on only two of its engines … but now we’re going to be about two hours late.”

The passengers aren’t happy about this, but what can you do. Fortunately, a 747 really can easily fly on two out of four engines.

But Dangit! There’s another lightning strike, and they lose a third engine! After about 5 minutes the captain comes on the PA, “Well, that’s bad luck, but we lost a third engine. Fortunately we can still fly using only one engine, but it’s going to slow us down … we’ll get to Sydney about three hours late.”

One of the Statisticians squirms with frustration. “Forgodsake, if we lose that last engine, we’re going to be up here all night!”

 

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[NETWizz]

Only AT&T could be this bold. I forgot all about the WAN upgrade order I placed for this location... now two years later, suddenly AT&T is like, "we will be there" and provides an eight (8) hour appointment window like I am going to drop everything and meet them.

... and I thought we were slow (I work for a Government).

 

[ThatPlace928]

 

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