Wall

A wall is a flat, upright structure that keeps one side of something away from the other side. It is a floor that stood up and has never once sat down.^[1]

Most walls are made of bricks, stone or plasterboard, with holes cut into them for a door (to go through) and a window (to look through instead of going through).

Function

Walls keep the inside in and the outside out. They also hold up the roof, hide the pipes, and stop the next-door neighbours’ living room from being part of yours, which both sides appreciate.^[2]

Walls have ears

The saying “walls have ears” was investigated in 1979 by a team who examined 300 walls with stethoscopes. No ears were found, but the team did hear the neighbours, an echo and, in one case, a man in the next flat practising the trombone, which is still under investigation.^[3]

Hitting a wall

To “hit a wall” means to reach a point where progress stops. In the literal sense it happens mostly in hallways at night, usually on the way to the fridge.

“A wall is just a door that has decided to stay out of it.”

Prof. Ada Mortar, Upright Thinking (1994)

See also

• Brick – a wall, one at a time
• Floor – a wall that lay down
• Door – a wall with an exit
• Window – a wall with a view

References

1. Mortar, A. (1994). Upright Thinking. Plumb Line Press.
2. Party, W. (2001). “Whose Side Is It On?”. Neighbour Studies 3.
3. Stethoscope, S. et al. (1979). “Do Walls Have Ears? No.” Trombone section unpublished.