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        riddles >> what am i >> Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
        
(Message started by: Matt Youde on Nov 10^th, 2003, 3:40pm)

Title: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Matt Youde on Nov 10^th, 2003, 3:40pm

I'm stiff as a biscuit and black as the night and I will remember the things that you write when no-one can see me I spin like a top so why do they say that I'm limp like a mop?

This is the hardest riddle I know it is written like this if it makes any difference.

I'm stiff as a biscuit and black as the night
And I will remember the things that you write
When no-one can see me I spin like a top
So why do they say that I'm limp like a mop?

//Title changed by Icarus - please use titles that suggest the content of the riddle.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Speaker on Nov 10^th, 2003, 5:49pm

Well, I have an answer, that seems to fit. It is not so big, only about 88.9 millimeters. 8)

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Icarus on Nov 10^th, 2003, 6:08pm

So small? Some of us have dealt with 133.35 mm. I've heard tell of bigger - over 200 mm, but I have never seen one that big myself.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Speaker on Nov 10^th, 2003, 6:12pm

Well they say size doesn't matter, but those bigger ones really did share some mop-like characteristics.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by towr on Nov 11^th, 2003, 12:23am

Yeah, but those weren't stiff as a biscuit..
These are becoming obsolete now too..

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Speaker on Nov 11^th, 2003, 12:31am

Over here, we use something called an MO. I think that they are rather rare in the West. Have you heard of them?

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by towr on Nov 11^th, 2003, 12:47am

hadn't heard of them, but it's easy enough to find some info online.. I wouldn't call it cheap though.. So I doubt people will want to switch en masse.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by John_Gaughan on Dec 12^th, 2003, 6:57am

on 11/11/03 at 00:31:37, Speaker wrote:

Over here, we use something called an MO. I think that they are rather rare in the West. Have you heard of them?

I searched Google for MO and came up with a bunch of pages on Missouri.

What is stiff as a biscuit? That is awfully subjective. I like my biscuits so soft they practically fall apart in my hand, but some people I know like them so hard they chip their teeth on them.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by John_Gaughan on Dec 12^th, 2003, 6:59am

Ah crap, I think I got it. Is it [hide]a 3.5 inch floppy disk[/hide]?

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Icarus on Dec 12^th, 2003, 6:42pm

That's it - and you have to remember the international flavor of this forum. I don't know where Matt Youda hails from, but what those mixed-up Brits call a biscuit, we in America call a "cookie". :)

(I'm not sure what they call the thing we call a "biscuit".)

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by towr on Dec 13^th, 2003, 1:39pm

I think biscuit is a subclass of cookie.. (but I'm neither american nor english, so I may be wrong)

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Icarus on Dec 14^th, 2003, 12:15pm

Possibly, for those who spend their life on islands. Here in the states, biscuit is used exclusively to describe a class of roll which is heavier than most breads, and has a flaky composition. I'm not sure what the Brits call this same food item.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by towr on Dec 14^th, 2003, 1:48pm

according to merriam-webster (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=biscuit):
Quote:

1 a : any of various hard or crisp dry baked products: as (1) British : CRACKER 4 (2) British : COOKIE b : a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Icarus on Dec 15^th, 2003, 9:44am

Mirriam-Webster is badly in need of an update on that definition! The American usage is both widespread (nationally sold products use it) and is universally used - I've never heard an american refer to anything else as a biscuit, though limeys do all the time.

While our biscuits are heavier and somewhat drier than normal rolls, they do not qualify as either "hard" or "dry".

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by towr on Dec 15^th, 2003, 10:13am

I'm sure somewhere in america they also use 'biscuit' for other things..

If I ever meet an extraterrestial I'll ask to see if it's really universally used ;)

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by aero_guy on Dec 15^th, 2003, 11:25am

Icarus, the dictionary has it right. Definition a) is the British version and definition b) is the American version.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Icarus on Dec 15^th, 2003, 6:17pm

Ah, well then. I seem to be showing a mis-comprehension of Mirriam-Webster's dictionary conventions, as well as my general lack of knowledge of cooking terminology. What is a "quick bread"?

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Speaker on Dec 15^th, 2003, 6:22pm

That's the kind that is hard to catch. Have you ever seen a pigeon try to eat quick bread crumbs? Hilarious!!!

You never want to put quick bread in the toaster, trust me, don't do it. ;D

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by aero_guy on Dec 16^th, 2003, 5:33pm

I am not sure but I think it is one that does not require time to let the dough rise.

Title: Re: Stiff as a Biscuit & Black as the night
Post by Zeke the Geke on Jan 20^th, 2004, 7:23am

Apparently I'm more of a baker than a puzzler -- a quick bread uses sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with an appropriate acid, or baking powder (a dry mixture of sodium bicarbonate and an acid -- tartaric acid? citric acid? dunno) to create CO₂ bubbles to cause the dough to rise. The other common option is to use yeast.