how long is a piece of string?
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A question has no definitive answer
Literally: the varying length of a piece of string
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “how long is a piece of string?” mean?
A question has no definitive answer Literally: the varying length of a piece of string
Is “how long is a piece of string?” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.