[imardmd1]

What’s wrong with syllogisms?

Nothing. As a trained scientist, I use deductive reasoning all the time. It's the misuse that is troublesome:

"Major Premise: Sixty men can do a piece of work sixty times as quickly as one man.
Minor Premise: One man can dig a posthole in sixty seconds; therefore--
Conclusion: Sixty men can dig a posthole in one second. This may be called the syllogism arithmetical, in which, by combining logic and mathematics, we obtain a double certainty and are twice blessed."
(Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary)

Can you answer the question without recourse to syllogisms?

Yes.

[Mad Dawg]

We agree that syllogisms themselves are okay. It’s their misuse that is the problem.

Bierce’s fencepost is hardly syllogism though ...

[Mrs. Don-o]

One woman can have a baby in nine months.

So nine women could have a baby in one month.

Something like that.