A cowboy riddle has been cited in print since at least the early 2010s:
Q: Why aren’t cowboys good at math?
A: Because they always round up!
“Cowboys can never be accountants because all they do is round up” was posted on Twitter on November 18, 2015.
BIGScience (Kamloops, BC)
October 2010
Pg. 2:
Riddle
Why do cowboys not use decimal numbers?
Answer: Because they always ‘round up’.
Twitter
Bella Rivera
@bellariv
Why aren’t cowboys good at math?
They always round up! 🐎✖️➗ #badjokes
1:05 PM - 1 Feb 2015
Twitter
Luke Newquist
@LukeNewquist
Cowboys can never be accountants because all they do is round up.
7:40 PM - 18 Nov 2015
Hampton Union (Portsmouth, NH)
Fundraiser to benefit Hampton Academy student battling cancer
By Liz Premo /
Posted May 19, 2016 at 6:14 PM
Updated May 19, 2016 at 6:14 PM
(...)
(Example: Why are cowboys bad at math? Because they always round UP!)
Twitter
Dave
@gneicco
Q. Why do cowboys get into tax trouble with the IRS?
A. Because they always round up.
1:51 PM - 11 Jul 2016
Reddit—Jokes
Why are cowboys bad at being accountants?
submitted August 6, 2017 by DrBubs
Because they always round up.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has food” (3/22)
•
“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has coffee” (3/22)
•
Entry in progress—BP (3/22)
•
“Women belong in the kitchen. Men belong in the kitchen. The kitchen has bacon” (3/22)
•
“New Rule: You’re not allowed to work longer than the number of hours you slept the night before” (3/22)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik.