Tom Swifties

contributions from Keith Mealy, John Funk, Dave Smith, Samuel Coffin,
Tyler Windham, Emily Auerbach, and Cameron S.:


Below are some mathematical Tom Swifties sent in by Samuel Coffin:

  • "These lines are neither intersecting nor coplanar.", skewed Tom.
  • "The sum of the angles of the triangle is 180.", theorized Tom.


Below are some mathematical Tom Swifties sent in by John Funk:

  • "In that fraction the ‘one’ goes on top." Tom enumerated.
  • "No ellipses, parabolas or hyperbolas," said Tom laconically.
  • "I ate one hundred and forty-four cookies." boasted Tom grossly.
  • "Of Prof. Pleacher's fifty math test questions I missed ten." said Tom with fortitude.
  • "The average class age is seventeen." said Tom meanly.
  • "The correct answer is ‘two’." Tom deduced.
  • "It is a 3-4-5-triangle." Tom replied rightly.
  • "It's the quotient of two integers," said Tom rationally.
  • "Zero squared is still zero." said Tom blankly.
  • "That angle is greater than 90 degrees." answered Tom obtusely.
  • "My golf score was 92, not 93." Tom recounted.
  • "A straight line is the shortest distance between two points." said Tom directly.
  • "Four minus two is not one", said Tom nonplused.
  • "A ball is a sphere." said Tom roundly.
  • "The square of the two sides of a triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse." quoted Tom obliquely.
  • "A catenary is a sagging line." said Tom droopingly.
  • "My property is 220' by 284'." reported Tom amicably.
  • Phinally Tom answered, "It must be ‘The Golden Ratio’."


Below are some mathematical Tom Swifties sent in by Dave Smith:

  • "Really good proofs are hard to find," Tom said rigorously.
  • "Numbers change back and forth from positive to negative when multiplied repeatedly by -1", Tom said resignedly.
  • "(x2 + y2 - 2ax)2 = 4a2(x2 + y2), where y > 0", Tom said half-heartedly.


Below are some mathematical Tom Swifties sent in by Keith Mealy:

  • "1.111111...," said Tom repeatedly.
  • "Minus one," Tom said negatively.
  • "What's the square root of minus one?" Tom imagined.
  • "Dodecahedron, cube and tetrahedron," said Tom, regularly and solidly.
  • "Thirty degrees," Tom remarked acutely.
  • "One hundred degrees," Tom said obtusely.
  • "Ninety degrees," Tom said rightly.
  • "Eighty degrees and ten degrees," Tom said complimentarily.
  • "Everyone stand in line by age!" Tom ordered.
  • "Rate times time," said Tom as he distanced himself.
  • "It has to be the set of all points the same distance from a point, just because it is," Tom argued circularly.
  • "When I have insomnia, I just start counting, 1,2,3,..." said Tom, sheepishly.
  • "I've just traced the perimeter," said Tom, somewhat circuitously.
  • "N-factorial," Tom answered emphatically.
  • "y=mx+b," said Tom obliquely.
  • "1/x," Tom reciprocated.
  • "If n > 1, then there is always at least one prime p such that n < p <2n," Tom postulated.
  • "2.718281828459045," Tom said, naturally.
  • "That's not a parabola, it's a catenary," said Tom, unfocused.
  • "-log[H+] > 7" Tom said bitterly.
  • "This has no height and no width," Tom said, pointedly.
  • "There is only one of these," Tom said, uniquely.
  • "There are properties of all numbers," Tom said, theoretically.
  • "If you take smaller and smaller steps and look at the result, you reach a limit," Tom calculated.
  • "1,1,2,3,5,8,..." said Tom, seriously.
  • "Who's David Pleacher?" puzzled Tom.


Below is a mathematical Tom Swifty sent in by Cameron S.:

  • "1+2=3", added Tom


Below is a mathematical Tom Swifty sent in by Emily Auerbach:

  • "See, it's on coordinates (3,4)," pointed Tom.


Below are some mathematical Tom Swifties sent in by Tyler Windham:

  • "The measure of the angle is 90 degrees," Tom said rightly.
  • "Angle one plus angle two = 180," Tom supplemented.
  • "x times x = x squared," Tom said exponentially.
  • "x = x," Tom said reflexively.