Brain Teasers
P.O.W. Again.
I escaped from a Nazi concentration camp in WWII Germany. I spoke fluent German; and with the help of the French Underground, I had authentic German clothes and travel papers of the time. Before crossing into Switzerland, I was stopped by the German Police. In our conversation, the Police were informed that my name was F.R. Braun. I was going to Geneva. I was married, with six children, and had traveled two hundred and fifty miles on my journey to visit relatives in Switzerland. My papers were in perfect order. I was immediately arrested and returned to my P.O.W. camp. Where did I make my mistake(s)?
Hint
I could blame the French but not the French Underground.Answer
During WWII, the Germans used the metric system. I stated miles instead of kilometers. Although the French did not invent the metric system, metrication began in France in the 1790s and spread during the following two centuries to encompass all but three countries.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Good one! I didn't get it because I'm accustomed to "miles" and couldn't find anything in the teaser that would have given the Germans a clue. I need to think outside the box more.
Umm I think that you could of included something like, "In this paragraph, where did I make a mistake?" But otherwise it was a great teaser good job.
Wow, great teaser!!
Nice teaser!
The idea of a metric system has been attributed to John Wilkins, first secretary of the Royal Society in 1668, and during the second world war both Metric and imperial measures were acceptable in most european countrys including Germany and France due to the British emperial influence of the Victorian era which dominated the majority of europe for the previous 100 years or so
Yes it is true about Wilkins, however,the first official adoption of such a system occurred in France in 1791 after the French Revolution of 1789. In 1586, the Dutch mathematician Simon Stevin published a small pamphlet called De Thiende ('the tenth'). Italy and Germany went metric after their respective unifications in 1861 and 1871,
Although they did indeed go metric, in terms of official usage, imperial measurements were still widely used amongst the population. Britain went metric in the 1970's and most distances are officially measured in kilometres but we still use miles as a general rule.
sorry about the two posts, but I pressed enter before I finished. My point is as a teaser the answer is extremely weak as during the second world war the general population of Europe, including Germany and France would still use imperial measurments as well as metric. Mentioning a distance in miles would not arrouse suspicion as both forms of measurement were acceptable and widely used.
For your information, and as you seem to want to keep posting on it, it is a true story involving my grandfather.
I do not wish to disrepect your Grandfather, but The majority of my family still live in europe now, ranging from Belgium, Austria, Hungary and Romania. I have regulary travelled on road from Belgium through Germany to Austria and beyond and even now 60+ years after the war many of the older generations still use both a mixture of metric and imperial measurements. I am not saying your tale is not true is some respects, only that it is extremely unlikely that the German Police would arrest some one soley for not using the metric system when both systems were and still are widely used by the general population. There must have been many other reasons your grandfather was arrested as this one is akin to being arrested for using Centigrade instead of Fahrenheit when speaking about the weather.
Seems more like trivia than trick.
Oh no you were so close only to make a silly mistake! As the Germans would say "Auch!"
Nice one!! In Singapore, we use the metric system too!
It isn't really a trick and sorry i don'tlike this riddle but itmut have been good to get submitted.
awesome teaser
As previously stated, this is more like an other or something, not a trick
i thought it had something to do with the distance like "the underground escape is longer than the normal trip" or somthing i was like half asleep when i read it
i think Mad Ade should tone it down a bit...
good teaser tho
good teaser tho
I got it right? Cool!!
I don't know as much as some @ WWII or Nazis, but it'd be my guess that if the Nazis even had a tiny bit of suspision about someone, they'd shoot (or arrest) and ask questions later. Who would the victim complain to @ false arrest? Hitler?
Nice quiz - and many thanks to your Grandfather for his service!
I don't know as much as some @ WWII or Nazis, but it'd be my guess that if the Nazis even had a tiny bit of suspision about someone, they'd shoot (or arrest) and ask questions later. Who would the victim complain to @ false arrest? Hitler?
Nice quiz - and many thanks to your Grandfather for his service!
May 17, 2013
The man forgot to wear a wedding ring.
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