The famous question "How long is a piece of string?" is traditionally regarded as rhetorical rather than seeking an answer. It's a question often asked to parallel the unanswerability of another question. For example: First person: "However long are they going to take to get all this sorted out?" Second person: "How long's a piece of string?!" ...which means, in effect, "the question is about as answerable as a question about the precise length of pieces of string in general". It's interesting, because the length of any specific piece of string is directly measurable, whereas in the general case it's indeterminate because of the wide range of non-standard lengths of pieces of string. This (generality) is a crucial feature of the question "How long is a piece of string?". If it were an enquiry about the specific length of a definite section of twine, then it would be readily answerable. The distance between one end of a string and the other is clearly measurable. The cord has a definite length. However, it's the generality of the question that gives it a subtle mystique. I am often asked questions of an unusual nature, and I pride myself on my ability to answer and to explain things in ways which people can understand. If I hear someone happen to say in conversation "how high's the moon?", I am tempted to comment that it's about a quarter of a million miles. But occasionally I have heard "How long's a piece of string?", and