A merchant has 21 sacks of grain: 7 full, 7 half-full and 7 empty. He wants to divide them equally among his three sons. How can he do this, without transferring any grain between sacks, so each son has the same quantity of grain and number of sacks?
I hide in the daylight but prefer the sun,
I have no fingers but can hold a gun,
I have three eyes but cannot see,
I live on land but in a tree,
I’m spotted in pink and cannot grow,
When you look away is when I show.
The typical answer to this is “I am,” but some argue that it’s not a complete sentence. However, if someone asked a man named Rupert if he was Rupert, he could reply, “I am” and it would make a complete sentence in my book.
But that’s not the whole answer. There is an even shorter sentence using an imperative with an implied subject (how’s that for an English terminology-filled sentence?) With “Go,” the “you” is implied. For example, if your wife wanted you to go with her to pick up some donuts and you were busy, she might say, “I really want to get some donuts, I’m starving!” and you might reply, “Go!” The implication being you never wanted to get donuts in the first place because you like ice cream more anyway and if you’re busy you’re probably doing something worthwhile and important and can’t be disturbed for such trivial matters as acquiring sweet pastries with holes in them, no matter how much of a waste of time your wife says your pursuits are. In short, “Go” is the shortest sentence in the English language that also has the longest implied meaning. Do you want to get get some ice cream? Go!
Ava pointed out in the comments that No is another viable alternative.
Second. Second place is next to winning. Seconds, the measure of time, pass quickly. Seconding a motion is requested by the chair of the body in Parliament. And the second place finisher in many sporting events such as the Olympics is awarded the silver medal.
And as for why the unit of time is called a second, it goes back to the days of Ptolemy. A second of time is the second small part, or pars minuta secunda, of an hour. (Thanks to Tim J for researching it).
I hear a lot
And I say a lot
Few ever look for me
And even fewer ever hear me
I hide in plain sight
Whether its day or night
To help is all I want
But most like to bend me
And as if they had a wand
Never again shall anyone find me
They do this to control
Without realizing the high price of a soul
But when I’m least expected
They’d rather be protected
For there shall be no place to hide
What am I?
You’re in a build headed to the fourth floor. When you reach the second floor, you’ve gone one floor and have two more floors left, so you’re 1/3 of the way. But at the same time, you’re on the 2nd floor and have two more floors to get to the 4th floor, thus you’re halfway there.
This doesn’t work in Europe, because they typically refer to the “first floor” as the ground floor, and the first floor is one story up.
Pronounced as one letter,
And written with three,
Two letters there are,
And two only in me.
I’m double, I’m single,
I’m black, blue, and gray,
I’m read from both ends,
And the same either way.
Eye. It’s pronounced like the letter ‘i’, but written with three letters. There are only two letters used (‘e’ and ‘y’). The eye is double with two ‘e’s and represents a single eye. The eye is made up of various colors, some of which are black, blue and gray. And lastly, the eye is a palindrome, spelled the same forward and backward.
The thunder comes before the lightning,
And the lightning comes before the cloud,
The rain dries all the land it touches,
Wrapping the earth in a blood red shroud.
