Home / Riddles / Funny riddles / What can you catch but not throw?
Funny riddles
What can you catch but not throw?
A verb riddle that sounds like it is about sports. Catching and throwing normally go together, so the answer must be something you “catch” in a different sense.
What can you catch but not throw?
Hint: You might sneeze afterwards.
Reveal the answer
A cold
You can catch a cold, but you cannot throw one.
How to solve it (spoilers)
How to think about it
- Balls, frisbees and keys can be caught and thrown, so the thing is not an object.
- Think of other things we catch: a bus, a glimpse, a fish, a cold.
- Which of those is impossible to throw and also makes you sneeze?
- You can catch a cold but never throw one.
Why “a cold” is the answer
English says you “catch” a cold when you get sick, and there is no matching way to throw one, so the riddle holds. The joke lives in the gap between the literal and figurative meanings of catch. A bus can be caught but not thrown too, but the sneeze in the hint points to the cold.
Common wrong answers
- A bus. You catch a bus and cannot throw it, so this works as a pun too; the hint about sneezing leads to a cold.
- A fish. Fish are caught and can be thrown back, which breaks the second half.
Related riddles
- Which travels faster, heat or cold?
- What is black when you buy it, red when you use it and gray when you throw it away?
- What do you throw out when you want to use it and take in when you are done?
- What has four wheels and flies?
- What has its bottom at the top?
Want a fresh one every week? Try the riddle of the week.