I am light as a feather, yet the strongest person cannot hold me for five minutes. What am I?

How to think about it

1. If strength does not help, “hold” must mean something other than lifting.
2. Think of other uses of hold: hold a note, hold your tongue, hold your breath.
3. Which of those is light as a feather and has a time limit measured in a minute or two?
4. Holding your breath fits exactly. Air is weightless, and even a champion has to breathe out.

Why “Breath” is the answer

Breath weighs next to nothing, and “holding your breath” is the one kind of holding where the strongest person in the world is no better off than anyone else. Most people manage a minute or two; five minutes is beyond nearly everyone without training. The riddle swaps the lifting sense of “hold” for the breathing sense.

Common wrong answers

• A feather. The riddle only compares itself to a feather; a strong person could hold an actual feather for hours.
• A thought. Thoughts are weightless and slippery, but the five-minute limit points to breathing.