OK! I'll show my ignorance here. Why is 5, 7, and 12 a triple that
everyone should know?

Rich Holloway
Systems Administrator
Providence Health Plans
Phone: (503) 574-7457
Fax: (503) 574-8614
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The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my company. They
belong solely to me.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: toback2 [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, October 09, 1998 9:58 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: OFF TOPIC: Friday, and time to test your brain ...
>
> Pete Crosby writes:
>
> >Does anyone knoe how/why this works or have any background on it.
>
> It works because carrots are common vegetables and 5, 7 and 12 are a
> triple that everybody knows (or ought to know), and the question
> presents
> them in a familiar form. All the preliminary arithmetic is irrelevant;
> it
> just serves to keep the questioner from being beaned when s/he asks
> the
> clincher. (If you just walk up to someone and ask them to name a
> vegetable, you could get carted off to a funny farm.)
>
> By the way, I first heard the vegetable one when I was in first grade
> --
> except the arithmetic problems all had 9 for an answer. I said
> "Brussels
> sprout"; my mother wasn't big on carrots.
>
> -- Bruce
>
>
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