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10 jul 06 "How much would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?" you left out a "wood", and you spelled "woodchuck" wrongly. depends on the woodchuck -- a mighty wood-chucking woodchuck could chuck a lot of wood, while a puny one could chuck less. also depends on how big the chunks of wood are, and how long a time period is allowed. but woodchucks are all the same size, just about, and i assume have comparable levels of might. i'd say probably, in one single feat of strength, about two pounds. that'd be my guess, anyway. i'd discuss the lack of opposable thumbs and the manner in which this precludes chucking, but i remind the reader that the aphorism includes as follows: "...if a would chuck could chuck wood." big fat IF there; i can only assume that the source of that "if" is this lack of opposable thumbs, and possibly a lack of motivation (although that would make it "if a woodchuck would chuck wood"). some people really put no effort at all into asking original questions. i could research this a bit and delve into the cultural location and history, but i really don't feel like it. ok, maybe a little. it requires just one google search and maybe 30 seconds of reading... ...i can't find anything. some dork in 1926 is probably responsible. as in the "park on a driveway and drive on a parkway" question, we see the phenomenon of language-play invading a logical question. this is fine, of course, and it maybe illustrates something about the futility of knowledge or communication. but let's not get carried away here. oh yeah: the answer is "as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" -- as much as possible; as much as has been accomplished. very zen, very deterministic. i feel enlightenment around the corner. it's a cute question/answer, i guess, but it'd be cuter if it hadn't been burned into my brain from something like age five. but maybe i give the asker too little credit; maybe s/he was seeing how i answer a koan, like "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" answer: 'pff, pff, pff'. |
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