Mathmatical sum

[08mahill]

Three men go into a restaurant and each order a meal that costs £5. They eat their meal and give the waitress £15. As she takes it to the till the manager stops her and says "Hang on, I know those guys, give them £5 back", so the waitress thinks "£5 is a bit much" and she decides to give them back £3 and keep the rest. £3 for 3 men is £1 each, so they only paid £4 each for their meals, 4 x 3 = 12, + the £2 in the waitress' pocket makes £14, where did the other £1 go?

[factor-fiction]

What other pound. The men have £3, the waitress has £2 and the restaurant has £10. Total £15.

[10ClarionSt]

If she keeps £2, they paid £4.33 each. It's how you say it.

[10ClarionSt]

Sorry, factor is correct. I missed the refund.

[08mahill]

how did u get £4.33 though?

[factor-fiction]

It's a nonsense sum.
You can make a similar problem with any sum if you add when you should subtract

[10ClarionSt]

But confusion is caused by how you say it.

[08mahill]

thats ok, my mate is trying this for maths so i'm just going to make sure i get it right, thanks for your help

[factor-fiction]

Yes, in effect you are adding apples and oranges