# Trick Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851 "2005-01-21T02:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/201 "2005-01-28T00:39:32Z")
How the heck ya gonna marry somebody when yer dead? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/202 "2005-01-28T00:40:22Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Right – people do tend to fail to note that. Is flowing northward such an unusual characteristic for a river? I’d have thought there were hundreds of northward-flowing rivers around the world. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/203 "2005-01-28T00:44:13Z")
> [@Dijon Warlock](#): > > Is it illegal to marry your widow’s sister? A man might be able to marry his deceased wife’s sister. But not his widow. If he has a widow, he’s dead himself. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/204 "2005-01-28T01:11:06Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > A man might be able to marry his deceased wife’s sister. But not his widow. If he has a widow, he’s dead himself. My typo. That should, of course, read: A man might be able to marry his deceased wife’s sister. But not his widow\*\*'s\*\*. If he has a widow, he’s dead himself. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/205 "2005-01-28T01:20:32Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > OK, complete the following joke: > > Why did the chicken cross the road? > To get her old age pension. > > You don’t get it? > Neither did she - … > [@Polycarp](#): > > Well, _that_ one laid an egg! 😛 Indeed, quite pathetic. The answer is “…she wasn’t 65” (sounds better than 60, which is probably technically the correct answer, at least, in the UK) One more in an attempt to recover my cred: You need to travel from Gairsay, an island roughly in the centre of the group of islands known as Orkney, to the Mainland. Approximately how long will it take my motor boat? [Just your common or garden boat with a small engine; not a speedboat or a powerboat.] ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/206 "2005-01-28T01:29:40Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Is flowing northward such an unusual characteristic for a river? Not according to [this source](http://www.geo.appstate.edu/630_062802riversc.pdf) (sorry, PDF file), which says that many major waterways, including the Rhine, Elbe and Garonne rivers, flow northward. I suppose the Nile’s prominence (and length) has just made it the most **obvious** northward-flowing river. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/207 "2005-01-28T01:39:14Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > Not according to [this source](http://www.geo.appstate.edu/630_062802riversc.pdf) (sorry, PDF file), which says that many major waterways, including the Rhine, Elbe and Garonne rivers, flow northward. I suppose the Nile’s prominence (and length) has just made it the most **obvious** northward-flowing river. Thanks **Nightwatch**. I asked because I could think of at least 5 Australian rivers off the top of my head that flowed north. Your reference, together with [this site](http://www.geocities.com/loisnotlane/rivers.html) confirm what I thought. There are many northward flowing rivers around the world. It may be a quality that the Nile and Willamette rivers have in common, but it’s not unusual. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/208 "2005-01-28T01:54:07Z")
i just thought rivers flowed downhill… ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/209 "2005-01-28T03:30:33Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > You need to travel from Gairsay, an island roughly in the centre of the group of islands known as Orkney, to the Mainland. Approximately how long will it take my motor boat? [Just your common or garden boat with a small engine; not a speedboat or a powerboat.] It’s only about a mile so about 15 minutes (assuming a small boat speed of ~4 knots). ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/210 "2005-01-28T03:36:30Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > It’s only about a mile so about 15 minutes (assuming a small boat speed of ~4 knots). Excellent. Are you an Orcadian, or do you have maps of the area? The trick is that Mainland is the name given locally to the main island of Orkney, NOT the Scottish mainland. They call that “doon sooth”. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/211 "2005-01-28T03:48:28Z")
What was the original name of the baseball franchise that became the New York Yankees? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/212 "2005-01-28T04:19:12Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What was the original name of the baseball franchise that became the New York Yankees? The Baltimore Orioles 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/213 "2005-01-28T04:49:57Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > D’oh. I phrased it wrong. Let’s try this…was the ancient library of Alexandria in Upper or Lower Egypt? Lower Egypt (the bit near the Med). The Egyptians called the southern part Upper Egypt whereas our Mercator bias makes us think of south as down. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/214 "2005-01-28T04:52:28Z")
Why do (ordinary flat) mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/215 "2005-01-28T05:20:49Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Lower Egypt (the bit near the Med). The Egyptians called the southern part Upper Egypt whereas our Mercator bias makes us think of south as down. You betcha. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/216 "2005-01-28T05:38:26Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Why do (ordinary flat) mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? Because your eyes are side by side, left and right. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/217 "2005-01-28T05:43:36Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Because your eyes are side by side, left and right. So if you tilt your head to the left or right while looking in a mirror, you find up and down are reversed, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/218 "2005-01-28T06:00:53Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > Depends on the maker of the bra. Some use true measurements rounded to even numbers (in which case it would be 33 or 34) and some use the add 5 and then go to the next even number. > > Weird, eh? Yeah, some makers have you measure under the arms abover the breasts, but the question was about the band size. The band is the part of the bra that goes under the breasts, which is roughly 5 inches less than the given number regardless of how that number was determined. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/219 "2005-01-28T11:41:59Z")
This needs photographic proof. And we’re still out on the Drifters one…BritDopeFesters may remember it… Which has been the shortest year in England since the birth of Christ? ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/220 "2005-01-28T11:58:38Z")
I’m gonna go for the obvious and say they have all been the same? Excluding leap years. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=12)