this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2026

32 points (82.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

41863 readers

913 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

6) No US Politics.

Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !uspolitics@lemmy.world

7) No Hit-and-Run questions.

Please don't delete your post for no apparent reason. If you plan on deleting a question later, say so in the post, or if you feel that you have a good reason to remove it, message a mod beforehand. It's not fair to the ones who took their time to answer, and it's not in the spirit of the community.

8) No Bots.

Posts or comments from bots, LLM's, AIs, Neural Networks, Transformers, or Marvin the Paranoid Android are not welcome in AskLemmy. Real humans only please.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

Bluetreefrog@lemmy.world

Asudox@lemmy.world

lemmy_bot@lemmy.world

beefbaby182@lemmy.world

ModeratorCan@lemmy.world

neidu3@sh.itjust.works

asudox@lemmy.asudox.dev

candyman337@lemmy.world

candyman337@sh.itjust.works

What's a favorite, humorous riddle of yours? (I'll start) (media.piefed.social)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I thought of this one as I was walking to the supermarket, and I think it works. Probably been watching too much Bennett Cerf lately, but he's becoming a great favorite of mine. Here goes:

A group of men inside a courtroom.
All happen to be... uh, rather well-endowed.
What would they be called?

I'm sure someone here can figure it out. If you do, please use spoiler tags in your comment?

And what are your favorites?
(either self-created or by others?)

EDIT: Couple downvotes in, and they seem to be negative. So... people on Lemmy hate riddles, I take it..?

top 33 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] _deleted_@aussie.zone 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Tap for spoiler

A hung jury

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Swift! Now you, mate?

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I was going to put a modifier in front of the adjectives... oh, well....

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 8 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I got one, it's definitely stolen from an old Nickelodeon TV show so bonus points if you can name the show!

What's weightless, can be seen by the naked eye, and if put in a barrel, will make it lighter?

Tap for Answer

A hole

Tap for Show

Nickelodeon's Are you Afraid of the Dark - Pilot episode - Tale of the Phantom Cab

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I totally remember that episode. Snick was my shit.

Also, from the same episode. How far can you walk into a forest?

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't remember the show answer but

my answer

Half way because then you're walking out of the forest

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That was exactly what the answer was!

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yay I did it lol

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Argh, I only caught a bit of Nickelodeon TV, back around 1990, when I was lucky-enough to receive the former tenant's subscription. (or however that worked)

Is it specific to "Nick?"

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

No, it's just a general riddle. One simple enough you kick yourself once you realize lol

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

Nice one! I love 'think outside the box' riddles like that.

Unfortunately, I only came up with helium balloon, which works, but isn't a fraction as clever. 😕

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think his is a great post personally. However my mind went completely blank on riddles the second I opened this comment... Crap lol

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Well, thank you. I must have pissed a couple people off with my post, but I didn't mean to.

I really loved the funny riddles from the Hobbit book. Remember that?

[–] ImmortalColeSlaw@lemmy.today 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think most people just read the "joke" and missed the whole riddles part altogether.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And yet, I don't WANT to spend all that extra time trying to convince the Dude-Bro crowd that... whatever. It's like, these days, they are so hopelessly paranoid about AI such that the merest idea in their heads leads to complete runaway thoughts.

Confession: I am NOT a trained psychologist. I'm NOT quite sure what to do with... these people.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago

Let em be

[–] RecursiveParadox@piefed.social 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

You would like Blane the Train in the second of King's _Dark Tower _ series.

He's sentient hypersonic train (monorail if I remember correctly) left over from a fallen but very advanced society, and our Gang of Merry Heroes must answer his riddles to stop him from jumping his track and killing himself (and our Gang of Merry Heroes).

Edit third book: The Wastelands.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

In terms of a game situation, my first introduction was the Hobbit chapter "Riddles in the Dark," in which Bilbo trades riddles to save his life. I read that long ago and it made a big impression on me!

[–] Nefara@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I wrote a little rhyming riddle a long time ago, it's not really funny but might as well share it

Air without and air within
Rainbows play upon my skin
What am I?

[–] CentauriBeau@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Tap for spoiler

Bubble?

[–] Nefara@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Yep! Got it 👍

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My mouth made an "O" shape when I got it!

Nice one.

[–] tronx4002@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Hint please?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

The "O" shape my mouth made is also useful in... creating the object.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

An old one from an RPG a long time ago.

Buckets, barrels, baskets, cans

What must you fill with empty hands?

spoiler

Gloves

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Since you said "RPG," I came up with:

spoiler

Gauntlets

I like that first line, though. At first I imagined thrusting empty hands in to those containers in order to scoop out nuts, grains, fruit, etc.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

IIRC part of the gimmick in the game was that the word length had to match. Combination locks on chests, maybe? It's been a while, but somehow a couple of the riddles stuck with me.

Another one was

With sharp-edged wit and pointed poise

I can settle arguments without a noise

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

::: spoiler A sharp blade? :::

Ah, I remember one now I made up a looong time ago:

What cools as it warms,
Moisturizes as it dries,
And oxygenates as it de-oxygenates?

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oof, I'm drawing a blank on this one.

Cools as it warms - chemical reaction or maybe ice melting?

But that doesn't really fit with moisturizes as it dries or especially oxygenates as it de-oxygenates.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's something one's body can generate, if that helps.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Sweat?

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

That's a really good guess. I think I'll repackage the riddle as a new post in a couple days. Let some others have a whack at it.

[–] paraplu@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

This is currently phrased more like a joke than a riddle. It does work as a joke.