Question 73
MediumOriginal questionThe Cat only when it saw Alice. It looked , she thought: still it had very long claws and a great many teeth, so she felt that it ought to be treated with respect.
“Cheshire Puss,” she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider. “Come, it’s pleased so far,” thought Alice, and she went on. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
Alice felt that this could not be , so she tried another question. “What sort of people live about here?”
“In that direction,” the Cat said, waving its right paw round, “lives a Hatter: and in that direction,” waving the other paw, “lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they’re both mad.”
“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice .
“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.
“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”
"Oh, you're sure to do that, if you only walk long enough." Why is this reply funny?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Alice wants to get "somewhere". The Cat points out that if you walk long enough, you will always be somewhere.
The answer is logically true and completely unhelpful, which is the joke.
Worth noting
The Cat gives no directions at all, which is what makes the reply comic.
- Concept
- Recognising humour in logic
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
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