it's really very simple!!

[taylorky]

y'all should get this one quickly.

 

you have 4 pens and 9 cows...what you need to do is put an uneven number of cows in each pen.

 

ya can't cut,mutilate,or in any way alter the cows body,and all cows must be in the pens.

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

But Not Queer

 

>...what you need to do is put an

>uneven number of ...

>

 

My... how odd more often than not

[Guest Rendie]

Put 9 cows in one pen and none in the other three.

 

Rendie

[taylorky]

nope rendie...each pen must contain an uneven (odd)<<<<jeesh...number of cows

[Rick Munroe]

We don't have cows in NYC. Can I substitute 8 large drag queens and a trannie?

[taylorky]

ummmmmmmmm how large????

[Boston Guy]

Oh, gosh, there are a variety of correct answers. Each "correct" solution has to have at least one cow in each pen, since zero is not, by definition, an odd number.

 

The simplest way to do it is to build three pens and put three cows in each pen. You then build a fourth pen around the other three. This outer pen then contains nine cows. It's easy to see how to come up with various permutations on this theme.

 

This question is one of those that seek to get people to think "outside the box", because the idea of enclosing pens within pens usually isn't obvious at first glance. Creative people often think this way naturally but others can be taught or can teach themselves to deconstruct problems in an attempt to find creative solutions by approaching problems from non-obvious or otherwise original points of view.

 

BG

[+ deej]

Indeed, it's the old 9 dots puzzle all over again.

 

I once worked for a consulting firm that used "think outside the box" as a slogan. One of our consultants, for whom English was a second language, had trouble conveying it to clients. He kept telling them we "think outside in boxes". ;-)

[Rick Munroe]

>This question is one of those that seek to get people to think

>"outside the box"

 

Don't you mean "outside the pen"?

[Rick Munroe]

>ummmmmmmmm how large????

 

Think "Hairspray."

[Bilbo]

Another thread got me thinking about my Mother, and then this good story, Deej, got me thinking about one of my favorite of her stories. Warning: Anyone who wants to keep on the subject of the thread, skip this post.

 

There was a couple from Korea working at the same library as my Mom. (She later was one of their sponsors for naturalization.) My Mom was the head of cataloguing and the lady worked in her department. Whenever she heard a new word or phrase she would repeat it to herself three times, wait a couple of hours and then use it herself - learning idiomatic English. One morning, one of the othe ladies used the phrase - I'm in the dog house. Everything went well till that afternoon when the Korean lady said, "Oh no! I'm in the cat house now!" Followed by much laughter and explanations. Warm hugs, etc.

[+ deej]

A former client of mine owned one of the largest animal boarding facilities (kennel) in the US. When asked what he did for a living, he'd proudly puff up his chest and proclaim "I own one of the biggest cat houses in the US!" ;-)

[taylorky]

yep yep yep....errrrrrrr you already knew that though.

[taylorky]

ummmm thats big....how would ya like to shove your face tween those thighs on a hot day in august....yes taylor is very ashamed