Where does put 2 and 2 together come from?

[Pengwuino]

Where does "put 2 and 2 together" come from?

Does anyone know where the idiom "Putting two and two together" came from?? I'm looking around and can't really seem to find any sources on the idea...

DISCUSS!

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Ummm... you do now what you get when you put two and two together yeah?

 

[russ_watters]

Does anyone know where the idiom "Putting two and two together" came from?? I'm looking around and can't really seem to find any sources on the idea...

DISCUSS!

Get a basket and some apples, try it out, and report back.

[edit] If you put 2 and 2 together in a basket that isn't empty, you may run into some issues. If you get stuck, try emptying the basket, then starting over.

 

[Pengwuino]

Ummm... you do now what you get when you put two and two together yeah?

I got 22

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I got 22

I see. This may be the issue here.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

The phrase was invented by the Darwin Awards people:

A Chicago woman took revenge into her own hands quite successfully, when she bit off the testicles of her rapist during the attack. The 21-year-old man should have known better than to accost a woman twice his age and ferocity. When he dropped his trousers and forced her down, she seized her opportunity and severed his gonads, rendered him permanently sterile to the satisfaction of all.

The woman walked to police headquarters a block away and turned the testicles over to police. Shortly thereafter a man with a matching injury appeared at the Michael Reese Medical Center. Police put two and two together and cordoned off the injured man's hospital room, while doctors attempted, unsuccessfully, to reattach the rapist's genitals.

Hey it's not death but it is another way out of the gene pool!