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How Many Legs Does a Dog Have If You Call the Tail a Leg?
An Abraham Lincoln Lesson on Truth
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln wrestled with the timing of arguably his most significant and enduring decision — the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Ultimately, Lincoln and his Cabinet agreed the proclamation should be issued after a Union battlefield victory. This would save the Emancipation Proclamation from appearing to be a desperate measure and it would put the momentum of the North’s force of arms on its side.
It was apparently in a discussion surrounding this timetable that Lincoln made what is today one of his most popular quips.
“In discussing the question, he used to liken the case to that of the boy who, when asked how many legs his calf would have if he called its tail a leg, replied, ‘Five,’ to which the prompt response was made that calling the tail a leg would not make it a leg.” (Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by distinguished men of his time / collected and edited by Allen Thorndike Rice (1853–1889). New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1909).
Wait! I thought it was a dog. Well, there have been different versions of this wordplay puzzle over the years — versions with a calf, a sheep, and a dog. And the quip is apparently not original with Lincoln…
