Pythagoras' theorem
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325295)
Rockingham, Australia
July 9, 2020 7:33am CST
The photo has little to do with the post but ties in a little with the joke at the end.
I recently commented on a post by Raj (@Butterfingers) who was asking members if they had enjoyed maths at school. You can catch up here: https://www.mylot.com/post/3382211/good-at-maths-or-scared. Raj commented that Maths like trigonometry are of little use to most people. I agreed.
I quite enjoyed maths at school and liked working out algebraic problems until they got too hard for me. Geometry was interesting for a while too and many years later, we did have cause to apply Pythagoras’ theorem once when building a shed.
Pythagoras’ theorem states that the square on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal in area to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. So, we applied this to make sure we had the walls at right angles to each other.
And now for a joke based on the theorem: There were three native American squaws about to give birth. One was lying on a hippopotamus hide; the other two were on buffalo hides. The first squaw gave birth to twins but the other two each had only one baby. Which proves the theorem: The squaw on the hippopotamus hide is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides. Boom boom 
22 people like this
22 responses
@moffittjc (118365)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Jul 20
I excelled at math in school, it was always my favorite subject every year. I ended up taking many advanced mathmatics courses even continuing on at the university, even though they were not required for my degree. It's funny though, the maths I excelled at were the ones that used symbols and letters instead of numbers. You put a simple math problem in front of me that involves numbers, I sit there staring at them like I'm staring into outer space. Change those numbers into a few X's and Y's and I'll be like, "Oh, this formula is easy. The answer is...."
5 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
9 Jul 20
Groan, double groan! That's worse than a 'Dad Joke'. It must be a 'Grandad Joke'!
One has to ask, "What business had a Native American with a hippopotamus hide in the first place?"
Reminds me of "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" .... for explanation, see here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (457249)
• Switzerland
10 Jul 20
@JudyEv It was very complicated and I did not like to spend time on maths books, I think that was the thing I hated more. I was not a fan of Latin and I regret now, I thought it was not a useful language, but it is, when you know Latin you can guess the meaning of most words.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (37933)
• Philippines
12 Jul 20
Haha math was kind on me during the days when 1+1=2 was being introduced but when it got complicated to sine and cosine and angles and curves and speeds and many other terms were introduced I decided to just focused on debits and credits to make it simpler as my choice of job. 
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (37933)
• Philippines
12 Jul 20
@JudyEv Physics was really mind boggling to me and was kind of impractical for me trying to figure out why do you need to get the speed of one to know when they will reached one another. Back in the days where you sit in class you find it absurd but I guess it would be very handy if you are using it for practical or actual work.
@ptrikha_2 (45419)
• India
11 Jul 20
Ha ha the joke was good. I remember that I was good at the Pythagoras theorem sums.
What was the toughest for me was certain rules regarding incentre and circumcentre and related calculations. May be when I would read again and understand better.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45419)
• India
12 Jul 20
@JudyEv I did a lot in school times. In fact, in class 12 we have an Independent exam evaluation system called as Board examinations. Then, we have to study a lot. Plus prepare for Medical/Engineering entrance(as per student's own choice).
After 12th class, I felt as if I should have a year's break. But that was not to be the case.
But yes, now a days, students have to study even more than what we used to do.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325295)
• Rockingham, Australia
13 Jul 20
His name will never die now he has this theorem named after him.
@just4him (305417)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
9 Jul 20
That's a great joke.
I was never good at math until I got into college and needed to take all the ometries for my Architectural major. I studied one on one with the math lab teacher and finally understood and even got good grades. Just don't ask me to do algebra today, I don't think I retained anything past graduation.1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54413)
• United States
9 Jul 20
sadly i use the ratios of Trig and the calculations of calculus all the time, just figuring out what will print on a 3d printer.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54413)
• United States
10 Jul 20
@JudyEv i can print it on a 3d printer, but if you asked me to build it, it wouldn't look like what you were looking for!
2 people like this
@Butterfingers (66585)
• India
9 Jul 20
Haha I certainly experienced headaches reading about the theorem 
1 person likes this
@Butterfingers (66585)
• India
10 Jul 20
@JudyEv yes everything including Trigonometry 
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61932)
• United States
9 Jul 20
There’s a cute meme on Facebook that features Charlie Brown’s little sister at her school desk, reading a piece of paper. It’s captioned: “only in math can someone buy 60 cantaloupes and nobody asks what the hell’s wrong with them.”
I liked math!
I liked math!1 person likes this
@sathviksouvik (17902)
•
12 Jul 20
I thought the hippopotamus has a relationship with the hypotenuse of Pythagoras theorem.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325295)
• Rockingham, Australia
12 Jul 20
It is really just a play on words. 'Hypotenuse' becomes 'hippopotamus' and 'square' becomes 'squaw'.
@LindaOHio (155469)
• United States
9 Jul 20
I don't know about the joke; but I do love bison. Be careful that it doesn't offend anyone! You know how it is these days. I was pretty good at Algebra; but I was put into an advanced Geometry class; and I was totally lost. I hated it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325295)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Jul 20
Some teachers can be very scary - especially if you haven't done your homework. lol
