The Thin Swiss Wire

A crew of Swiss engineerers was tasked by their government to create a wire as thin as possible. The project took months, years to finish, but at last, they succeeded. They produced a piece of extremely thin wire. It was so thin that they could not even measure how thin it actually was. Not only that, but it was also durable. They could not cut or shorten it, no matter how hard they tried.

The Swiss Government was very proud of what their engineers created, but before they would go on and show off their newest development, they wanted to know how thin it actually was. They would look like fools if they could not even tell how thin their wire was, right? After some discussion, they decided that they had to ask a fellow European country for help.

Should they ask the Germans? They are well known for their great engineering, they sure could help out. But they also liked to brag about that, so if they knew that the Swiss could not even measure it they would surely make fun of them. No, not the Germans. They decided to ask their French neighbours for help.

So they prepared a package, and added a note. "Dear French Engineers. We have created a thin, durable wire. We can't cut it, and we can't measure how thin it is. Can you help?". A week passed, two weeks, a month until they heard back. The French sent back the wire with a note of their own. "We are very sorry. We tried everything, but we could neither cut it nor measure it."

Damn, but it was worth a try. After more discussions, they decided to ask the USA next. After all they sent people to the moon and made many great inventions. They sure will find a way to help them out. They packed it, added the note, and send it over. A week passed, a month, two months until they heard back. Again, the wire was sent back to them with a note. "We have no idea what to do. We tried everything, but we can't cut it. And our instruments are not precise enough to measure how thin it even is. We have to pass."

There was no other way. Swiss had to ask the Germans. But they hated it that, in the end, they had to admit it to them, of all people, that they could not measure the wire. So, angrily, they threw the wire in the box, didn't even bother to add a note, taped the package and send it to Germany.

Two days later the wire gets returned. In the box is a note by the Germans. "We didn't know what you want us to do with it, so we drilled a hole through it and did some pipe threading".


_____________________________________
This is a translation of a German joke. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if I made any spelling or grammar mistakes.