graffias79 wrote:
Floid wrote:
Presumably it makes more sense if you're British, and a 'rubber' is an eraser. Maybe.
--Not British.
Me neither. Sometimes differences in dialects make me laugh. If someone here in the US used a rubber to erase something they would get funny looks! :lol:
Yeah. What surprises me is how many people in this thread don't realize he's
said it's the sort of terribly sad riddle the UK specializes in; somehow a bunch of kids' science books from over there washed up over here and fell into my hands as a young'n, -- Anyone remember those? Publisher was something Orbis or Orvic, the logo was a hot-air balloon? -- and they were packed with stuff like this. Sort of the continental equivalent of the bad jokes they print on Dixie cups.
Something like:
Q: What animal can see with its eyes closed?
-Frog
-Bat
-Ostrich
-Marmoset
[Turn the page to reveal the answer!]Next page:
A: The bat can 'see' with its eyes closed because it can use sound instead, in a process called 'echolocation.' Ha-ha, cheerio!Unfortunately, I just can't match the real thing for dryness. (Not that it bothered me at the time, I used to read instruction manuals from cover to cover.)
Edit: Okay, the example is actually still too American, because it involves something you already know; the real thing would probably involve words like 'trousers' or 'wellies,' and refer to some sort of 'impossible' minutiae you'd never otherwise consider. Like which home computer would be best for erasing pencil, or which critter could button its trousers, knock together a spot of ceylon, and send Jerry kicking home whilst blindfolded?
