the giraffe riddle

If you haven’t seen it, you’re probably not on facebook.

I’ve seen it going around several days. I didn’t bother. I would’ve been correct, but I felt no need to engage in this particular “latest thing”.

But now I’m seeing a bunch of people sharing this post: “Giraffe riddle: Why you're probably answering the Facebook riddle wrong” 

In it, somebody is whining about how the answer to the riddle ought to be not the actual answer but rather the answer that the writer, and many others, incorrectly guessed. And the writer’s argument relies on identifying the first part of the riddle as not really part of the riddle, not really an option.

Come on, open your eyes, people. It’s a riddle. Sometimes there’s a little “gotcha” phrase in there that you might incorrectly ignore while focusing on the harder decision-making part of the riddle. This one happens to have two.

See, riddles are tricky. That’s the damn point. AND if you guess an answer that you think is right, but the questioner knows is not the CORRECT answer, then your answer is still incorrect. It’s not a math problem or something that actually could have multiple answers. It’s a riddle. That’s how they work.

You may think your logic is strong, but Turandot still sends you to the executioner. The Sphinx still gets to eat you.

So, all you long-necked, spotted sore losers shut up about it. Change your profile picture if you want. Seriously.