The theorem has been expressed colloquially as “you can’t comb a hairy ball flat without creating a cowlick” or “you can’t comb the hair on a coconut”.
The theorem has been expressed colloquially as “you can’t comb a hairy ball flat without creating a cowlick” or “you can’t comb the hair on a coconut”.
By moving the entire comb parallel, sure. But you can move one end slower than the other (i.e. as if you planted one end and pivoted it around, just with some speed, not stationary) and you can comb it without it.