Riddle: What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in when you don’t want to use it?

Answer:

ANCHOR

Explanation:

This Riddle is a bit tricky. The first thing most people think of is trash for this one, because when you think about “throwing something out” you immediately jump to trash, at least in modern day. We will talk about some of the possible answers, and discuss why they may or may not be valid responses to this question from our Riddle App. Let’s do this!

  • trash
  • a baseball
  • a book (or other useful object)
  • fishing line
  • anchor

Trash

Almost every person that Eyezak, the Riddle Robot from our Riddle App, asks this question responds with “trash.” The problem is that this cannot be the answer. Let me explain why, and once I do, you will hopefully see that choosing this as the answer is premature.

Yes it is true that you throw out trash. Everyone knows that, including Eyezak. Firstly though, you do not throw out trash to use it. By the time you throw it out, you already used it, and are ready for it to go away already. Throwing out trash means you are done using it, and will not continue to use it now or in the future. Because of this it does not even satisfy the first part of the riddle. Despite that, we should rule out the second part as well.

Eyezak says that you would need to “take it in to use it.” Well this is absolutely not true for trash or garbage. Once it becomes trash “you” would not take it back in. Someone else might take it back in, but YOU have already deemed it trash. You would not take trash back in so you can use it again later. That notion simply makes no sense, in any context. Because of this, Riddle Robot Eyezak, from our Riddle App, wants you to rule this out as a possible answer.

Baseball

The game of Baseball is a favorite pass-time of Americans, at least those over the age of 40 who have lived in a house with a dad addicted to sports. The mechanics of the game are pretty simple though. You have two teams. One team is hitting the ball, and the other team is trying to catch the ball or tag the first team to create 3 “outs,” meaning a player from team #1 can no longer act on the field.

I order to initiate the entire game, the second team, the ones catching the ball, must first throw the ball to the first team, in an act called “pitching.” This pitching motion is conducted when one player from the second team throws out the the ball, towards the home plate, where a player from the first team is standing. The player from the first team tries to then hit the ball in a manner that causes it to fly past the majority of the second team. So you have to throw the baseball to use it.

Our Riddle Robot Eyezak, from our Riddle App, also stipulates that you must “take the ball back in” you do not want to use anymore. Well in baseball, the act of taking the ball back means that the other team is done using it for the moment, not your team. It has been used to distract the second team, so that the first team’s player can run around the bases, attempting to run all the way to home plate. Since the riddle requires both assertions to be true, this cannot be the answer.

Book (or other useful object)

Riddle Robot Eyezak, from our Riddle App, is so tricky he is even making us think about things that would not even make sense. We are now thinking about throwing out a book to use it, or really any other object that requires you hold it or interface with it. Would you throw out a book in order to make use of it?

No. If the book, or other object, was missing from your possession, you would not be able to interact with it, which is the primary usage of such an object. Without direct access to the object, you cannot turn the pages, read the words, see the pictures, or even find the place where you left off last time you were reading it. This would be a fiasco if you threw out the book to use it. Imaging the late fees! Anyways, this cannot be it, so we will move on.

Fishing Line

This one has promise. Have you ever been fishing? Maybe during your fishing trip you used a fishing pole. A fishing pole has three main components: a pole, a line and a reel. These combined items make the art of fishing for food a possibility. Using this pole and line does require a little bit of training though, usually by an elderly person who has fishing experience. The act of using it is pretty simple indeed.

First you loosen the reel. Most modern pole have reels with a release built into them. Then you hold the pole behind you, fully extended, as if you are trying to reach something at the back of the boat with the tip of the pole. Then in an arching motion above your head, or out to your dominant side, swing the pole forward. Stop the arching motion when you are about 75-80% through the arc. If over head, stop it like you are pointing to a plane in the sky about 45 degrees up in front of you. This motion should make your line fly.

So you “cast” your line out, which is the same as “throwing it out,” in order to use it. We are good for the first riddle part. Riddle Robot Eyezak from our Riddle App requires the second part to be true too. Do you “take it in” when you do not want to use it anymore? What do you think, based on your fishing experience, and logical thought process from what you see me describe above?

No. You take the line in when you are ready to fetch the thing you caught on the end of it. In other words, you take it in when you are ready to further use it to complete the action fishing, and when you are ready to see the dinner that you caught, face to face. Because you are using it more when you take it in, this cannot be it either. Maybe it is Anchor?

Anchor

Our Riddle is about an anchor. This image is of a boat with it's anchor in the water.

Anchors are a unique item. They keep boats in a fixed position on water while they are in use. They do this by digging into the floor of the body of water in which the boat is on top of, or by getting caught on something that is on the floor. How do they get to the floor of the body of water, you may ask. Well you “throw out” the anchor, into the water, and it sinks, of its own volition, to the bottom of the pool.

Once you no longer need to stay in the same position, you simply need to put the anchor back on the boat, and be on your way. You do this by “taking it in” using a wench, which will free up your vessel for forward movement once more. This weird quirk of an anchor is what makes it the perfect target for a riddle, like those you get from Riddle Robot Eyezak in our Riddle App. This type of riddle is the one that keeps most people coming back for more in our Riddle App. We hope you feel the same.

One Last Thing:

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