How Old Is The Shepherd?

There are 125 sheep and 5 dogs in a flock.

How old is the shepherd?

You can’t determine the answer.

I debated adding this riddle because it is less of a riddle and more of an illustration of how kids are (or are not) being taught to think for themselves. But after reading how kids feel the need to make up an answer without understanding why, I thought this could be a good reminder for all of us to exercise our critical thinking skills.

(via Student Voices)

Posted in Riddles

Not a Toy But Used For Pleasure

I am not a toy, though many use me for pleasure. I have a butt but I can not poop. I have been known to kill people. What am I?

A cigarette.

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English Word with Three Consecutive Double Letters

What English word has three consecutive double letters?

Bookkeeper (or bookkeeping). An alternate, tricky, answer could be Woollen (where W is a “double u”).

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A Four Word Admonition

What four word admonition makes the happy person sad and the sad person happy?

The phrase, “This too shall pass.” According to Wikipedia, the well-known phrase is often attached to a fable of a great king who is humbled by these words, and to someone who is experiencing something wonderful, it can be saddening. But to one who is in the pits of despair, it is a phrase that brings relief and hope.

In other words, if a happy person is told, “This too shall pass” it will make them sad. But to a person on hard times, hearing, “This too shall pass” will cheer them up.

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More You Take Away, The Bigger I Get

The more you take from me, the bigger I get. What am I?

A hole.

This is quite similar to It Cannot Be Seen and Weighs Nothing.

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What Can You Catch But Not Throw?

What can you catch but not throw?

Your breath or an illness (a cold, virus, the flu etc).

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Hardware Store Costs

Ralph goes to the hardware store to buy something for his house. He asks the clerk how much one will cost and the clerk looks it up and tells him it will be $3. He asks about buying twelve and is told it will be $6. Two hundred will cost $9.

What is Ralph buying?

Door numbers at $3 each.

Posted in Brain Teasers

Longest Word in English

What is the longest word in the English dictionary?

Smiles because there is a mile between the two s’s.

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One In China

I am one in China,
Two in Indonesia,
Three in the Philippines,
None in Japan.

What am I?

The letter ‘i’.

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Debbie’s Dragster

Debbie starts driving her dragster from rest and constantly accelerates to 60 mph in 10 seconds. How far does she travel in those 10 seconds?

1/12 mile

Ten seconds is 1/6 of a minute and 1 minute is 1/60 of an hour, so 10 seconds is 1/360 of an hour.

If you graph her trip with the speed on the y-axis and the time on the x-axis, you get a triangle with height of 60 mph and width of 1/360 of an hour. To calculate the area of the triangle, you multiply 1/2 × 1/360 × 60 = 1/12.

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