# Does a Drinking Straw Have One Hole or Two? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479 "2018-03-13T12:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/1 "2018-03-13T12:08:57Z")
Which do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/2 "2018-03-13T12:23:20Z")
Both! It depends on if you are using “hole” to refer to the number of openings, or the topological shape of the straw. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/3 "2018-03-13T13:07:13Z")
One. If you were starting from a solid piece of material, you could make a straw by drilling a single hole all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/4 "2018-03-13T13:11:27Z")
One long hole ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/5 "2018-03-13T13:13:19Z")
Two. Only a person who thinks his lips and his anus are the same thing could think otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/6 "2018-03-13T13:16:23Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > One. If you were starting from a solid piece of material, you could make a straw by drilling a single hole all the way through. Or you could start with a donut shaped piece of plastic and stretch it out to make a straw. Still only one hole. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/7 "2018-03-13T13:21:32Z")
Both. You could say there’s a hole in one end, and flip it over and say there’s a hole in the other end. And entrance and an exit, say. We do this with tunnels. Or really anything. Your home has a front door and a back door rather than a single “opening”, despite there being an unbroken path from one to the other. Your anus and mouth are usually considered two openings, rather than one, even though they are connected. Topologically, it’s a single hole. Human language usually doesn’t adhere to mathematical rigor, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/8 "2018-03-13T13:58:46Z")
One hole, two openings ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/9 "2018-03-13T13:59:50Z")
However, water is definitely wet. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/10 "2018-03-13T14:17:57Z")
Other than an excavation or depression like a hole in the ground, the common definition of a hole is _ **an opening through something** _. If a straw has two holes, then so does any object with a hole in it. Would anyone say that a donut has two holes? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/11 "2018-03-13T15:07:59Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > One hole, two openings This. Its basically the standard I’ve always used in reference to any tubular object. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/12 "2018-03-13T15:15:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Other than an excavation or depression like a hole in the ground, the common definition of a hole is _ **an opening through something** _. If Homer digs a hole in the ground in Springfield, and Wong digs a hole in the ground in China, is there one hole or two? If they keep digging until they meet in the middle of the Earth, one hole or two? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/13 "2018-03-13T15:18:52Z")
It’s one, but I call it two. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/14 "2018-03-13T15:32:27Z")
It’s a [genus-1 surface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus_(mathematics)). So one hole. It does have 2 ends. But ends and holes are different things. If it has two holes, where does one hole end and the other begin? Is there a magic place in the middle of the straw where holes touch? If you drill a hole through a board are you actually drilling two holes? Does this mean we should stop saying “wormhole” and say “wormholes” instead? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/15 "2018-03-13T20:40:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Does this mean we should stop saying “wormhole” and say “wormholes” instead? I’ll tell you after I put on my pants. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/16 "2018-03-13T22:02:17Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Two. Only a person who thinks his lips and his anus are the same thing could think otherwise. ^This. A straw with one hole is a cup. A very skinny cup. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/17 "2018-03-13T22:16:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Two. Only a person who thinks his lips and his anus are the same thing could think otherwise. We’ve seen plenty of examples 'round here that prove that the asshole and the mouth are pretty much the same, judging from the things they say. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/18 "2018-03-13T22:28:22Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Two. Only a person who thinks his lips and his anus are the same thing could think otherwise. This caused two of my co-workers to very nearly spray coffee all over their keyboards when I read it aloud. Well Done!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/19 "2018-03-13T22:29:18Z")
One hole, two ends. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479/20 "2018-03-13T22:34:54Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > ^This. A straw with one hole is a cup. A very skinny cup. What about a straw with _no_ holes? :eek: A thermos that cannot be opened? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-a-drinking-straw-have-one-hole-or-two/810479.md?page=2)