What’s wrong with one plank of an appropriate thickness, whether it be short or long? Why “as thick as two short planks”? Cheers!
Where have youy been all this time ?
Good to see you back!
“As thick as n (for n > 0) plank(s) of unspecified dimension” just doesn’t sound right.
casdave, took a SD sabbatical, got a bit fed up trawling through reams of back-slapping (and stabbing) shite looking for something interesting to read, y’know?
I believe the answer you are seeking is:
“Because it is.”
Glad to be of service, please pay the doorman as you leave, have a nice day.
Nice to see you again, MadHun.
My WAG is that a short plank appears thicker than a long plank of equivalent thickness and two short planks are thicker than one, but to be honest I haven’t a clue. And it has better resonance that “as thick as a very thick plank”, which sounds a bit Blackadderish.
How about if you were cutting wood to length.
You measure it, cut it and its too short - doh!
So you cut another plank - too short doh!
Make the mistake once is pretty thick but twice ?
Perhaps the cutter then tries to join the two planks, one on top of the other, to make a long enough one thus advertising to all ‘thickness’
MadhunSome UK Dopers are getting together at the end of the month, inevitably in London - be nice to see you there, look here -
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=4&daysprune=1&pagenumber=3