h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Don't oblong shapes have corners? Ouch! Maybe 'oval' is the word you're looking for. (From the Latin 'ovum' meaning egg)

Oblong is another word for rectangle, which is *not* another word for "fish". Ovoid would be quite a good word to describe the shape of an egg, and is, in my opinion, a damn fine word anyway. Actually, the best way to describe the shape of an egg is to use the phrase "egg-shaped".

Doesn't ovoid mean oval(ish)? and since oval means egg-shaped (from the Latin). Doesn't saying an egg is ovoid not mean that it is eggish-shaped?

To say an egg is shaped like an egg is OOLITIC (from the latin Oolite), which was an egg shaped stone used to make hens broody. Later on the word was used to described the egg of the Roc ( now extinct ). The eggs of the Roc were used to make a celebration bun known as Roc cakes.
Oblong on the other hand was first used to describe the egg of the DoDo ( also extinct ) So now you know why. Would you sit on an egg with sharp corners for three weeks ? No, You would say "sod this for a game of marbles, Im off to catch a few fish.

Evidently it is the fact that Dodo's laid cubeish eggs just to be awkward that made them extict, and not, as previously thought, mad European sailors.

Oblong eggs would be a lot easier to package up and stack on supermarket shelves - just think about the space saving!

A few years ago I remember some bloke in California growing cube shaped tomatoes. This was, of course, simply due to the fact that they fitted better in sandwiches (although not burger buns). Obviously, he was a fan of sandwiches. Now I kind of like the idea off cube shaped eggs for a similar reason (although it would be difficult to fry them in an exact square). The tomato guy used to put smallish boxes around his tomatoes to make them grow into cubes. I tried putting several chickens in small boxes but this made them irate and also stop laying eggs altogether rather than the desired cube shaped eggs I was aiming for. So, any other suggestions?

The last egg I had was neither oblong nor ovoid but chopped up in tiny little bits

When discribing shapes, the ending 'oid' is used to discribe two dementional shapes that have been rotated 180 or 360 degrease (depending on the shape). This rotation (if you can imagin) will create a 3D shape. So I think that ovoid is an excilent word to describe the shape of an egg. But i also agree that 'egg shaped' is even better.

Snake eggs are Spherical. I think. Anyway, turtle eggs are.

Good point, I forgot some eggs are spherical (actually I only ever hear about that about turtle eggs). I was thinking mainly of chicken eggs though.

People always say which came first the chicken or the egg?
Well isn't it obvious, The egg was around thousands of years before
chickens evolved, even dinosaurs laid eggs, you don't need to be a
rocket scientist to work that out do you!

Excellent point, I don't think I ever thought of it like that before. But what came first, the chicken or the chicken egg? Obviously the chicken. Think about it in terms of evolution. It can't be a chicken egg unless a chicken laid it, right?

That depends whether the chicken had access to a time machine.

It also depends on whether you define a chicken egg as one which is laid by a chicken or one which hatches into a chicken. With the latter definition, the egg must have come first.

Mathematically speaking (yawn) aren't spheres merely a subset of ovoids? In which case spherical eggs are still technically ovoid.

I would agree. Just as a cube is a special kind of cuboid and a square is a special kind of rectangle. And now that I think of it, a circle is a special kind of elipse. I can't remember who in the forum suggested that an -oid is created by revolution of a 2D function, but how does a cuboid fit into this theory? or even a humanoid? I reckon the -oid bit means that it's 'like-shaped'.

A cuboid is almost, but not quite a cube. An ovoid is almost, but not quite an oval. Arthur, therefore helped himself to an unteaoid drink (almost, but not quite entirely unlike tea!) from the Nutri-Matic machine aboard the Heart of Gold.

I have a suggestion to make square eggs.
Since the eggs are made up in the intensines
of the hen, all you need is to shove a square
cylinder up the *you know where*.
Painful for hte hen though. Maybe it will refuse
to lay egss whatsoever with a square cylinder
up its ass anyway.