Do you enjoy fielding tough questions? As a teacher I have been accused of posing unanswerable questions on my tests. But let me tell you, I’ve been asked some real doozies by my students as well. Our children asked us some hard questions as they grew up. In fact at one stage of life, our son Mark asked so many questions that we nicknamed him “Question Mark.” In case you’ve not seen a recent interview of Biden on a TV station in Florida, you can see it either on YouTube or on the WFTV website. It’s clear that Biden, who has not had to field many tough questions in recent days, did not enjoy the experience.
Today’s iv is a list of tough questions you probably wouldn’t want to have to answer.
Can you cry under water?
How important does a person have to be before he’s considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
If money doesn’t grow on trees, why do banks have branches?
Since sandwich bread is square, why is sandwich meat round?
Why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts”? What’s that extra penny going to?
What did cured ham actually have?
Why is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
Why do people pay to go to the top of tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?
Do people in Australia call the rest of the world “up over”?
Can a stupid person be a smart-alec?
Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?
Are part-time bandleaders semi-conductors?
Can you buy an entire chess set in a pawn shop?
Did Noah keep his bees in archives?
If a person thinks marathons are superior to sprints, is it considered racism?
Do they have reserved parking for non-handicapped people at the Special Olympics?
Why are there 5 syllables in the word “monosyllabic”?
Do you overthrow a puppet government with toy guns?
Do pilots take crash courses?
How many weeks are there in a light year?
If blind people wear dark glasses, should deaf people wear earmuffs?
What do you call a male ladybug?
What do chickens think we taste like?
If peanut butter cookies are made from peanut butter, then what are Girl Scout cookies made out of?
How does a shelf salesman keep his store from looking empty?
How does AVON find so many women willing to take orders?
If “pro” is the opposite of “con,” then what is the opposite of progress?
How do they get a deer to cross at that yellow road sign?
Do hungry crows have ravenous appetites?
If people aren’t supposed to drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?
What was the greatest thing before sliced bread?
How can there be self-help “groups”?
Why do the signs that say “Slow Children” have a picture of a running child?
Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
How do you get off a non-stop flight?
When a Smurf chokes, what color does it turn?
Could someone ever get addicted to counseling? If so, what treatment could you give them?
What do you do when you see an endangered animal that eats only endangered plants?
If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound?
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
How come wrong numbers are never busy?
What would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?
Daylight savings time - why are they saving it and where do they keep it?
If I save time, when do I get it back?
Speaking of which, don’t forget to switch your clocks back to standard time this weekend if you’re on Daylight savings time here in the USA.
I’m sure my readers have some tough questions of their own that they could add. Please post them in the comments.
For the last ten days I’ve had a poll question in the sidebar - Who do you think will be the next president of the USA? The results were 37 think it will be Obama, 32 think it will be McCain, and 1 thinks it will be a third-party candidate. I’ve now put a new poll question in the sidebar - For whom will you be casting your vote for president? (please, only those who will actually be casting a vote in this election) I thought with all the other polls of questionable scientificity out there, ivman would add one more to the mix. (Don’t look for this one to be quoted by the MSM….)
quotation…
“Money is America’s god, and money cannot save us.” - Dr. Drew Conley
=^..^= =^..^=
Rob
To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question … or is it?
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on Oct 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Silly boy. That extra penny goes to the IRS.
on Oct 30th, 2008 at 11:39 am
These are some favorites of mine:
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
If you tell a joke in the forest, but nobody laughs, was it a joke?
If a tree fell on a mime in the forest, would it make a sound?
If a tree fell on a mime in the forest, would anyone care?
on Oct 30th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
The question about Girl Scout cookies sounds a lot like a sample sentence I used with my students in class today: “Although it is called Canadian bacon, it does not contain real Canadians.” I thoroughly enjoyed the incredulous reaction.
on Oct 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
@Sandrew - I think you’ve got a point … the percentage is just about right.
@Dave - As always, your comment brought smiles and laughs! I have several more questions in return:
If a man caught a cold in the middle of a forest where no one could hear him would he still make whining sounds?
If a man speaks in the forest and there’s no woman there to hear him, is he still wrong?
When crazy people go through the forest, do they take the psycho path?
@Jessica - Oh, the places one could go with this … literally! French fries contain no Frenchmen. The holes in Swiss cheese are not missing Swiss people. Etc….
on Oct 30th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’ve had some interesting questions asked of me in the years I’ve taught. I even had one this morning. A student raised his hand and asked “Does it seem like this year has gone fast to you?” I told him that it had and I applauded him for thinking deeply about something. Unfortunately, as with many interesting questions, it was randomly off topic of what I was teaching.
I heard a really funny one from this past summer school session of U.S. History. My friend was teaching about Benedict Arnold’s treason and a student raised his hand and asked “Does President Bush hate that man?” Hilarious.
Here’s one I asked a teacher when I was in Junior High. We were learning about the earth and how it rotates, and I asked “If the earth rotated slower than the speed of sound, would we hear it moving?”
on Oct 30th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Do people in Australia call the rest of the world “up over”?…. Well I’m an Aussie and haven’t heard that one yet, but i might take it on board and introduce it as the new slogan…”Why go up over when you can be down under!” Great laughs thanks, Rob. Oh also thanks from the rest of my fam. I’m always sharing things from your site whether good or bad and we have all enjoyed it. Thanks.
on Oct 31st, 2008 at 5:52 am
@Michael - History classes seem to be the breeding ground for tough questions. My hat is off to you as a history teacher having to field tough questions and having to generate not-too-tough questions for classroom discussions and tests. I think I would have enjoyed having you as teacher more than I would have enjoyed having you as a student! I’m glad you’re my friend without our being in a former student-teacher relationship.
on Oct 31st, 2008 at 10:00 pm
The one about why bars have parking lots made me think of a real knoggin scratcher in New Hampshire. When crossing the river from Maine into New Hampshire, there is a dedicated exit off I-95 into the State Liquor Store… The sign should read “Easy off, potentially challenging back on….”
Some other questions that beg to be ignored:
1. If you are traveling at the speed of light and you turn on your headlights, do they do any good?
2. Is it possible to get a flea on your flywheel?
3. Would it be possible to land on the Sun during the night?
on Nov 1st, 2008 at 8:05 am
A couple more questions for your consideration - for the Theoretical Physicists out there:
1. What is the speed of dark”
2. What is the temperature of absolute hot? This one I have been pondering for a while since seeing a NOVA special on “Cold” and the discussion of the race to reach absolute zero.
on Nov 1st, 2008 at 10:35 am
@Ray - Wow! There’s at least one deep-thinker up there in New Hampshire!
Thanks for taking up the challenge to submit some tough questions.
on Nov 10th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
on Nov 10th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
@Jeannie - That *is* a tough question!