Three Is A Magically Stupid Number

(I’m teaching Introduction to Computer Science for first year engineering students.)

Me: “As this is the first test, you may answer in pairs. Let me be clear, this means two and no more than two students. Are we clear?”

Class: “…”

Me: “I’m assuming that as future engineers you can count up to two.”

Class: *laughter*

(As I was grading the test, there was an answer sheet with three names. This happens every year without fault.)