# Elephants and other weightless topics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 27, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023 "2001-01-27T19:12:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![kelebrian\_hotmail.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@kelebrian\_hotmail.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelebrian_hotmail.com)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023/1 "2001-01-27T19:12:50Z")

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I’m a librarian, and today I was asked this reference question:

What is as big as an elephant but doesn’t weigh an ounce?

Ruling out the obvious jokey answers, like “an elephant, because it weighs more than an ounce,” or something like that.

Any ideas? Roomful of hot air? Giant bubble? Helium inside a hot air balloon?

Kari Smith-Boyer  
[kelebrian@hotmail.com](mailto:kelebrian@hotmail.com)

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**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023/2 "2001-01-27T20:52:39Z")

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An elephant in orbit.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023/3 "2001-01-27T20:57:00Z")

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How about an elephant-sized hole? An elephant’s shadow? I think that if we’re going to rule out the “not exactly an ounce”, then the question means that the thing doesn’t weigh anything, unlike a cloud of gas, which would weigh some small amount.

By the way, if you want to change your name to just “kelebrian” without the full e-mail address, or to something else entirely, you can drop an e-mail to one of our administrators, [Lynn Bodoni](mailto:lynnbodoni@hotmail.com) or [TubaDiva](mailto:tubadiva@aol.com), and they’ll take care of it for you.

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**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elephants-and-other-weightless-topics/52023/4 "2001-01-27T21:04:47Z")

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Mother of 3 here. It’s a riddle [sigh].

Q. What’s as big as an elephant and doesn’t weigh an ounce?

A. An elephant, of course. An elephant doesn’t weigh an ounce, it weighs a ton.

Or, alternatively:

Q. What’s as big as an elephant and doesn’t weigh an ounce?

A. An elephant that weighs two ounces.