The More You Take The More You Leave Behind [Answered]

Who doesn’t like a good riddle? When I was in about third grade I had a teacher that would each Friday with a riddle or a problem to solve.

I loved it……and it drove me absolutely crazy. We had to wait all weekend to find out the answer! There was no option to google the answer and my parents were always as stumped as I was.

So for this riddle I won’t keep you waiting.

What is the answer to “The more you take the more you leave behind?”

Answer to the Riddle Explained

The answer seems so obvious now but why is it a head scratcher?

It’s a play on words and how we take some liberties with the use of certain verbs. Normally when we think about taking something, we think of picking something up or physically moving something.

in this situation what we actually mean is closer to the verb make which leads the answer to be less obvious.

Some might suggest that footprints could also be the answer. The problem with footprints is that we don’t take them. We do in fact make them. You should never say you take footprints, unless you are perhaps making ink prints of your feet like you’d make fingerprints.

Now for those that don’t speak English as a first language this turn of phrase must be as tricky as the riddle itself. You’re probably used to discovering the nuances of the English language and how the rules only apply when the exceptions don’t.

Did you come up with an alternative answer?

I’ve come across a few that I think also work, maybe not quite as perfectly but they’re close.