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This is a comment someone made about their dog during a discussion on dog tricks,

Mines a lost cause, he had a cone on the other day because he was scratching his ear, and he tried walking over to me on my couch and a corner caught against the coffee table.

And he couldn't figure out how to take one step to the side and walk past it.

He just stood there, pushing against the cone.

Living room was wide open to the side of him.

What does he mean when he said "a corner caught against the coffee table"? Though I'm not quite sure what a cone is he's talking about, but I'm guessing it's those plastic things that shaped like a cone that you wear it on a dog's head to prevent them from biting others? If that's what it is I figured that couldn't be possible because a cone don't have corners right, and he couldn't be possibly talking about the corners of the coffee table 'cause that wouldn't make sense. So, what does he mean?

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You're right, technically. Cones don't have corners. Still, I think it's clear enough what they meant: a corner of the cone caught on the coffee table, and that probably means one side of the cone, away from the dog's head.

It's also possible they're talking about a variation on the dog cone design--one that has the same function and thus is called a "dog cone", but is not in fact conical. However, I'm more inclined to believe they were speaking imprecisely, as people often do.

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  • +1; exactly. Circles don't have corners (or have 360 corners? Depends on how you look at it I suppose ;)) but the idea is still the same as it would be for any shape that did have corners. A lot of the things we say have clear meaning, but aren't meant to be taken literally. Great answer!
    – WendiKidd
    Commented May 17, 2013 at 21:15
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    @WendiKidd: Goodness, no, not 360 corners, but infinitely many corners – but that's a question for Math.SE ;^)
    – J.R. ♦
    Commented May 17, 2013 at 21:21
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    @J.R. A third interpretation! ;) No, in seriousness, I thought of that as well but thought 360 was easier to interpret in the joke (plus tchrist was waxing poetic over the number 360 in chat the other day, so it stuck with me). This clearly demonstrates what I have repeatedly told Cerberus: I fail at attempting to be funny on the internet, every time. ;)
    – WendiKidd
    Commented May 17, 2013 at 21:25
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    @WendiKidd♦: You clearly lack a fully-functional sense of humour (your last sentence there raised a smile from me! :)
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 17, 2013 at 22:19

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