"Enough to float a Battleship"

Posted by Barney on January 18, 2001

In Reply to: "Enough to float a Battleship" posted by marcus on January 16, 2001

: : Any one use or know why this phrase is used, example..I have
: : enough paper clips to float a battleship...someone commented why wouldnt it be to sink a
: : battleship. I thought launch,set to float....any info on this one

: : you might have enough paper clips to float a battleship by virtue of the the tonnage of paper clips that could be converted into a battleship. that's a lot of paper clips. I know a lot battleships get converted into razor blades. that's a bunch of razor blades. i've always heard "He drank enough beer last night to float a battleship." now that's a lot of beer.
: on the other hand, ..."enough bull**** to float a battleship" is another term of endearment that gets bandied about at times too.

By virtue of the laws of physics anything that floats displaces its own weight of the liquid in which it floats. Hence, the expression 'enough ... to float a battleship' implies a huge amount of whatever is specified, by virtue of the fact that battleships generally weigh in at tens of thousands of tons.

Just thought you ought to know.

• "Enough to float a Battleship" marcus 01/20/01