I was given to you before you could say thank you. I'm yours, yet your friends use me far more than you do, and you'd turn around if a stranger shouted me across a crowded room. What am I?
Hint: You answer to it.
AnswerYour nameYour name was given at birth, other people say it more than you do, and hearing it makes you turn your head.
I have banks but no money, a bed I never sleep in and a mouth I never feed. I run my whole life without legs, and I only ever travel downhill. What am I?
Hint: Fish live in me.
AnswerA riverA river has banks, a riverbed and a mouth, and it flows (runs) downhill.
I'm sealed with a kiss, but I'm not a promise. I carry words I can't read, I travel with a little square on my corner, and once I've delivered my letter, I'm torn open and tossed aside. What am I?
Hint: You lick me to seal me.
AnswerAn envelopeEnvelopes are licked to seal, carry letters, need a stamp in the corner and get ripped open and thrown out.
I appear when you sit down and vanish the moment you stand. You've had me your whole life, yet you've never once had me while walking, and your cat thinks I'm the best seat in the house. What am I?
Hint: Your cat loves sitting on it.
AnswerYour lapYour lap only exists while you're seated and is a favorite spot for pets.
I wear a new ring every year, but nobody ever proposed. I drink through my feet, I breathe out what you breathe in, and you can only count my birthdays after I've fallen. What am I?
Hint: Count my rings to learn my age.
AnswerA treeTrees add a growth ring yearly, absorb water through roots, release oxygen, and their rings are counted after they're cut.
Your right hand can cup me easily, but your left hand never can, no matter how hard you stretch. I'm not a hand, and I bend in only one direction. What am I?
Hint: It's attached to you, halfway up an arm.
AnswerYour left elbowYour right hand can reach across and cup your left elbow, but your left hand can never reach its own elbow, and an elbow is a hinge joint that bends only one way. The 'I'm not a hand' clue rules out the left hand itself.
A man lives on the 20th floor. Every morning he rides the elevator down. Every evening he rides it only to the 10th floor and takes the stairs, unless it's raining. Why?
Hint: Think about his height.
AnswerHe's too short to reach the 20 button, but on rainy days he can press it with his umbrellaHe can only reach the lower buttons, except when he has an umbrella to stretch with.