Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Storks stand on one leg


Why do storks stand on one leg?


Scroll down for answer and notes.










On the one hand, this is a kind of dopey riddle, but in a way it is a kind of misdirection because a stork who is not standing on one leg (or two) is... flying! They don't fall down really. But it is a strange phenomenon and the way that birds stand on one leg and also the way they tuck their head under their wing is the basis for all kinds of African folktales (and perhaps elsewhere?) about the foolish imitator who decides to cut off their leg or their head and suffers the terrible consequences.
I did change the form of the answer in mine so that it plays with the English idiom of "a leg to stand on" rather than actually saying the bird would fall down. I wonder if there are riddles to be made with that "leg to stand on" idiom, since it is a bit odd itself, being just the one leg!

Because otherwise they wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

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