What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I take attendance by having the students answer a question.

This one might have been very cultural-reference-specific, but... I honestly want to know.

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

• African or European?

Okay, I deserved that. Other answers included:

• 2
• 3.00*10^8 m/s
• 3
• 50 minutes (one algorithms class)
• c=2.78*10^8 m/s
• 10mph
• 574mph
• -9.8m/s
• 5
• 12 knots
• 20mph west
• depends on mass of coconut
• 25mph, depending on African or European

I'm worried by the units (or lack thereof) on some of those answers.

And on a less quantitative level:

• What's an unladen swallow?
• as fast as it can dream
• The swallow is the center of the universe. All moves relative to it.
• very fast
• Will this be on the exam?
• faster than me
• impossible to measure

This post's theme word placentious (adj), "pleasing or inclined to please." The students are placentious indeed.

Quoth the raven

I take attendance by having the students answer a question.

Quoth the raven, "_______________."

• Join Bird Club!
• 'sup
• Hi, how are you?
• suh dude
• I can fly.
• Can I fly?
• Fantastic!
• hey wassup hello
• nooooooooooooooooo

Many followed the reference but with variations:

• n3v3rmor3 xD
• never ever never no matter what forever (more)
• not the "n-word"!
• NEVER EVER MORE, EXCEPT SOMETIMES MAYBE
• "Quoth the raven, "Quoth the raven, " ... " " "
• What, the poem by Edgar Allen Poe? The super dark one? :(

I appreciated the close-quotes which matched on the recursive answer. The most popular answer was, of course, the simple "nevermore".

Many people picked onomatopoeia:

• caw
• woot
• hey
• cacaw
• yo
• yo yo
• chirp
• KAA KAA
• Squahk

Today's winner was:

"A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had a chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they'd be happy for awhile. [piano]* And February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep I couldn't take one more..."

* pronounced "bracket piano bracket" 

-- I promise I'm listening to the lecture.

This post's theme word is frowsty, "musty; having a stale smell." The frowsty classic poem was rejuvenated by students' colorful edits.