Er, that was the marginal comment I was referring to .  My "Not that I can prove it, of course" was meant to be about whether Fermat intended his comment as a joke or not. There's a substantial literature on that issue too




Anyway, more on Fermat's last theorem in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. Lady Thomasina Coverley (aged 13) and Septimus Hodge, her Tutor (aged 22) are in the schoolroom:

Thomasina: Septimus, what is carnal embrace?

Septimus: Carnal embrace is the practice of throwing one's arms around a side of beef.

Thomasina: Is that all?

Septmus: No.... a shoulder of mutton, a haunch of venison, an embrace of grouse.... caro, carnis: feminine: flesh.

Thomasina: Is it a sin?

Septimus: Not necessarily, my lady, but when carnal embrace is sinful it is a sin of the flesh, QED. We had caro in our Gallic Wars - 'The Britons live on milk and meat'  -  'Lacte et carne vivunt'   I am sorry that the seed fell on stony ground.

Thomasina: That was the sin of Onan wasn't it, Septimus?

Septimus: Yes, he was giving his brother's wife a Latin lesson and she was hardly the wiser after it than before.... But I thought you were finding a proof for Fermat's last theorem?

Thomasina: It is very difficult, Septimus. You will have to show me how.

Septimus: If I knew, there would be no need to ask you, my Lady. 

Thomasina: I do not think you have been entirely candid with me, Septimus. Mr Noakes says he saw Mrs Chater in the gazebo in a carnal embrace. A gazebo is not, after all, a meat larder.

Septimus: I never said my definition was complete.

Thomasina: Is carnal embrace kissing?

Septimus: Yes.

Thomasina: And throwing one's arms around Mrs Chater?

Septimus: Yes. Now, Fermat's last theorem...

Thomasina: I thought as much. I hope you are ashamed.

Septimus (alarmed): I, my lady?

Thomasina If you do not teach me the true meanings of things, who will? 

Septimus (relieved): Ah. Yes. I am ashamed. Carnal embracre is sexual congress, which is the insertion of the male genital organ into the female genital organ for purposes of procreation and pleasure. Fermat's last theorem, by contrast, assets that when x, y and z are whole numbers each raised to power of n, the sum of the first two can never equal the third when n is greater than 2.

(Pause)

Thomasina: Eurghhh!!

Septimus: Nevertheless, that is the theorem. 

> A man was riding his Harley along a California highway when suddenly
the
> sky clouded above his head, and he heard the booming voice of the
Lord.
>>
>>The Lord said, "Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all
> ways, I will grant you one wish."
>>
>>The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can
ride
> over any time I want."
>>
>>The Lord said, "Your request is materialistic. Think of the enormous
> challenges for that kind of undertaking: the supports required to
reach
> the  bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and the concrete and steel it would
take!
> It  would nearly use up several precious natural resources. I can do
it, but
> it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a
little
> more time and think of something that could possibly help all of
> mankind."
>>
>>The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, "Lord,
 I
> wish that I and all men could understand women. I want to know how a
> woman  feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent
> treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing's
wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy."
>>
>>The Lord replied, "You want two lanes on that bridge or four?"



       

Ah, Milly - I've heard a version of that joke with it being a genie in a bottle who grants 1 wish and it is for a chap in Liverpool who asks for a bridge across the Atlantic so he can go to New York by car as he hates boats and planes.
However, in this case, the punchline is:
"So what colour lights would you like on your bridge then?" 

An amnesiac walked into a bar.
He said, "Do I come here often?"

Universal Laws

Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with
grease, your nose will begin to itch or you'll have to pee.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the
least accessible corner.

Law of Probability: The probability of being watched is directly
proportional to the stupidity of your act.

Laws of the Telephone #1: If you dial a wrong number, you never get
a busy signal.
#2. If you run through the garden and house, cracking your shins on
furniture and just reach the phone before it stops ringing, it will be
a wrong number.

Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work
because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have
a flat tire.

Variation Law: If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one
you were in will start to move faster than the one you are in
now.

Law of the Bath: When the body is fully immersed in water, the
telephone rings.
 
Law of the Shower: When there's no-one else in the house and you
shower, there's no towel in the bathroom.

Law of Close Encounters #1: The probability of meeting someone you
know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be
seen with.
#2. Someone you haven't seen for 30 years greets you with your name.
You cannot remember their name or anything about them.

Law of the Result #1: When you try to prove to someone that a
machine won't work, it will.
#2. You tell someone how wonderful your latest gadget is, but it
won't work.
 
Senility Law: A five year old fixes the gadget fault you have been
struggling with for days.
 
Law of Biomechanics: The severity of the itch is inversely
proportional to the reach.

Law of the Theatre #1: At any event, the people whose seats are
furthest from the aisle arrive last.
#2. The theatre is a sell-out. The hugest person in the theatre
is seated right in front of you, has really bad body odour, and eats
two giant buckets of popcorn right through the performance with
accompanying slurps, grunts, burps and snuffling.

Law of Coffee: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee,
you boss will ask you to do something which will last until the
coffee is cold.

Murphy's Law of Lockers: If there are only two people in a
locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Rugs and Carpets: The chances of an open-faced jelly (jam)
sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly
correlated to the newness and cost of the carpeting.

Law of Location: No matter where you go, there you are.

Law of Logical Argument: Anything is possible if you don't know
what you are talking about.

Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's ugly.

Oliver's Law: A closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilson's Law: As soon as you find a product that you really
like, they will stop making it.

Sods Law: If it can go wrong, it will.
 
Law of Estimates: If you estimate the price for a job in the home, the actual
cost will be double. For a business, treble, for local government, five times, for
national defence, ten times.
 
Seat Law:At any public gathering, you get the only seat which when you
move sounds as if you have farted.
 
Instructional Law: Any new electronic gadget has 90% of its functions of no
practical use and 100% of the instruction book is untelligible and has
been translated from the original Korean by the same 5 year old who knows
how it works.       

 

Anybody got a pair of these?



                                     

A pair???!!!!!! 

Oh well, I suppose it explains all that disdainful laughter over the years