If they're all odd then aren't they all normal? A pair would be the odd two in a collection of all unmatched socks.

Ha.

Trust a mathematician....

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

No no no. Never ever trust a mathematician. Especially with Mathematics. We're usually utterly awful at everything.

So you are saying not to trust you? And does that mean you really don't have a missing sock?

Oh, I really do have a missing sock, but I'm not to be trusted with practical things. It's also odd as it's the only missing sock.

Socks are one of the four missing wonders of the universe, along with teaspoons, packets of dried soup and vital post-it notes.

Don't 'ee think that Lazlo's greatest invention should be on the list?

I not be following ye. Yarr! Unless ye be thinkin' of the new-fangled quill?

So does that mean that Accountants are a "special" case of applied Mathematician?? Bearing in mind that accounting may be a very limited subset of mathematics - I think there is some relationship there.

Yarr Egon. I do indeed be thinking of Mr. Biro's ingenious quill. According to that rapscallion Douglas Adams (<bows head, mutters RIP>) them thar intruments all go to a world of their own.

I still like Eddie Izzard's take on it: socks are given in sacrifice to the God of Laundromats.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Was it not in Hogfather that the sock muncher was operating in the UU laundry?

As for mathematicians they always have odd socks, as when I was young, if you asked a mathematician what '2 plus 2' was you got an answer along the lines of 3.99999999999999 approximately.

At least they are not as bad as statisticians.

<old joke warning>

three statisticians in a boat at a duck hunt.

Statistician 1 fires at duck. Too high by a metre.

Statistician 2 fires at same duck: too low by a metre.

statistician 3 yells 'got him'

end of old joke. Sanity, such as you now know it, will now prevail>

Bunyip: it was. That may be another reason why socks vanish....

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Or maybe I did take the socks afterall...

Thief, villain, crook!

I'll search every nook and cranny (and indeed every crook and nanny) until it's returned!

Egon.

Oh, were these yours then? <holds up socks (some with mongrammed ES)>

Grrr, if it weren't for the ravishing wiles and stunning personality I'd hunt you down!

<mutters darkly and stalks off>

<Wonders who Egon is talking about>
<Puts socks on feet and admires them>

<returns, still muttering darkly>

You!

Gggragaaafaaaf!

<falls off stage>

<Wonders what self did to be called such names>

<Steps into puddle of clay, while wearing socks>

<Makes peace offering of fired porcelain sock sculpture and gives to ES>

<Wanders off to check "Gggragaaafaaaf" in Wikipedia>

<Realises it is a strange two-headed, two-tailed giraffe>