A bed. The foot of the bed can’t walk and the head of the bed can’t talk. It’s probably a good thing that beds can’t walk and talk. Just think of where they’d go and what they’d say…
Early one morning Hal, the owner of a hardware store, sells a mailbox for $25 to Courtney that cost him $20 wholesale. Courtney pays with a $100 bill and Hal discovers he doesn’t have enough change. He runs to the jewelry shop next door, where Jack, the owner, gives him change in exchange for the $100. Later that afternoon, Jack discovers the $100 bill is a counterfeit and Hal pays him $100 to make it right.
The total loss was $95. -$20 = The wholesale cost of the mailbox $100 = The money from Jack -$75 = The change paid to Courtney -$100 = To pay Jack back -$20 + $100 – $75 – $100 = -$95
It’s easy to think Hal lost $195 but that fails to account for the $100 used to make the change, which came from Jack, not Hal. Jack paid $100 in exchange for a worthless piece of paper, so the $100 was initially Jack’s loss. Hal had made a $5 profit until Jack’s discovery. If you guessed $100, that’s arguably correct, but not making $5 in profit isn’t a loss in the strictest sense of the word.
A dad offered to pay his son $5 for every correct answer on his math test. His son said he would pay his Dad $8 for every incorrect answer. There were 26 questions on the test and no money was exchanged.
The son got 16 questions correct and missed 10. This means he owed his Dad 10 * $8 = $80, but his Dad owed him 16 * $5 = $80, so it was a wash. Two math equations to solve it are x + y = 26 and 5x = 8y.
My first is twice in apple but not once in tart. My second is in liver but not in heart. My third is in giant and also in ghost. Whole I’m best, when I am roast. What am I?