| Author | Message | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 557 Registered: 6-2003 |
A man walks down the street, snickering and giggling all the way. He searches in his pockets until he finds a pencil and a piece of paper. He writes down some notes but only a few yards later he throws the paper into a garbage bin. Still snickering and shaking his head, he is walking on. What was going on? | ||
| Peter365 (Peter365)
New member Username: Peter365 Post Number: 2226 Registered: 1-2007 |
Is his occupation relevant? Is his writing the notes to help him remember something? If so an appointment? an idea? a reminder to do something? Is the paper he throws into the bin the same paper he wrote the notes on ? | ||
| Peter365 (Peter365)
New member Username: Peter365 Post Number: 2227 Registered: 1-2007 |
Oops forgot to ask ... Notes = Short written sentences ? musical notes? | ||
| Amosoya (Amosoya)
New member Username: Amosoya Post Number: 39 Registered: 10-2009 |
Is there only one character in the above scenario? Did the man intend for someone else to read the note he threw into the garbage? Is he snickering and giggling because he is happy? Is he deranged? Is he pulling a prank on someone? Is he coming from a specific place that is relevant? Had he just witnessed an event that is relevant? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 558 Registered: 6-2003 |
Peter365 Is his occupation relevant? Yes. Is his writing the notes to help him remember something? No. If so an appointment? an idea? a reminder to do something? No to all. Is the paper he throws into the bin the same paper he wrote the notes on? Yes. Short written sentences? This one. musical notes? Amosoya Is there only one character in the above scenario? No. Did the man intend for someone else to read the note he threw into the garbage? Yes. (Good question!) Is he snickering and giggling because he is happy? Yesish to yope. Is he deranged? Not really. Is he pulling a prank on someone? No. Is he coming from a specific place that is relevant? No. Had he just witnessed an event that is relevant? Yesish. | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 448 Registered: 5-2009 |
Does he expect a garbage collector to read the notes? Someone else whose profession sometimes requires him to look into garbage bins? Did he observe someone who showed a remarkable interest in garbage bins, other equipment for waste disposal or for garbage in general? Does he expect someone to notice him while he writes the note? While he throws it into the garbage bin? Does he want to help somebody? To mislead somebody? To annoy somebody? To teach somebody a lesson? His occupation is relevant. Is his occupation normally related to writing? Writing notes? To garbage? Garbage bins? Does he usually work outdoors? Is he "on duty" when he writes the note? Is he self-employed? | ||
| Noel (Noel)
New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1037 Registered: 7-2009 |
Was he giggling because of something funny that he thought of? That he then decided to write down? Or was he giggling to call attention to himself? So that someone would be interested in what he wrote on the piece of paper and retrieve it? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 562 Registered: 6-2003 |
Markobr Does he expect a garbage collector to read the notes? No. Someone else whose profession sometimes requires him to look into garbage bins? No. Did he observe someone who showed a remarkable interest in garbage bins, other equipment for waste disposal or for garbage in general? No. Does he expect someone to notice him while he writes the note? No. While he throws it into the garbage bin? No. Does he want to help somebody? "Help" is perhaps not the best description of his intention, but this is on the right track. To mislead somebody? No. To annoy somebody? No. To teach somebody a lesson? No. His occupation is relevant. Yes. Is his occupation normally related to writing? Not especially. Writing notes? But this is important. To garbage? No. Garbage bins? Only specific ones. Does he usually work outdoors? Not necessarily. Is he "on duty" when he writes the note? Yes. Is he self-employed? Technically, this is one option. But you would these people normally not call self-employed. Noel Was he giggling because of something funny that he thought of? No. That he then decided to write down? But yes. Or was he giggling to call attention to himself? No. Maybe even on the contrary. So that someone would be interested in what he wrote on the piece of paper and retrieve it? No. | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1361 Registered: 11-2008 |
Was whatever he wrote on the paper funny? Or did he giggle just to divert the attention of someone? Is he being tailed? If so, does he know/suppose it? Is he a secret service agent? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 563 Registered: 6-2003 |
Was whatever he wrote on the paper funny? Yes. Or did he giggle just to divert the attention of someone? No. Is he being tailed? No. If so, does he know/suppose it? Is he a secret service agent? Yes. | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1365 Registered: 11-2008 |
Is the garbage bin used as a cache (or whatever the place is called when secret agents exchange their messages)? Is the message meant for another agent? If so, ally? Enemy? | ||
| Peter365 (Peter365)
New member Username: Peter365 Post Number: 2239 Registered: 1-2007 |
Could what he's writing be described as a code? Does he write a simple joke? That would have deeper meaning to a fellow agent? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 564 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema Is the garbage bin used as a cache (or whatever the place is called when secret agents exchange their messages)? Yes, exactly that's what it was. Is the message meant for another agent? Yes. If so, ally? This one. Enemy? Peter365 Could what he's writing be described as a code? Not really. Does he write a simple joke? Yes. That would have deeper meaning to a fellow agent? No(ish). | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1367 Registered: 11-2008 |
Do you mean he is just giving a funny message with no other meaning whatsoever to his fellow agent? | ||
| Peter365 (Peter365)
New member Username: Peter365 Post Number: 2243 Registered: 1-2007 |
Is this a well known joke e.g. Why did the chicken cross the road? Do we need to find out what the joke was to solve? Is the paper he writes on blank otherwise? | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1368 Registered: 11-2008 |
Is there something else written on the paper? With some sort of a secret ink? | ||
| Galfisk (Galfisk)
New member Username: Galfisk Post Number: 398 Registered: 9-2009 |
does he mean for the paper to be found? If so: by an accomplice? By an enemy? Is it a joke on expense of the person who finds the paper? | ||
| Biograd (Biograd)
New member Username: Biograd Post Number: 458 Registered: 6-2008 |
Would the joke be understood (and funny) by an average person? or is it only funny in light of some (serious) thing that the ally expects to read on the note? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 565 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema Do you mean he is just giving a funny message with no other meaning whatsoever to his fellow agent? Yope. The joke has no other significance than being a joke. But the man's intention is more than just passing a funny message to his fellow agent. Peter365 Is this a well known joke e.g. Why did the chicken cross the road? It was certainly well known in particular circles at the time the story took place. But I do not expect you to know it. Do we need to find out what the joke was to solve? No. Is the paper he writes on blank otherwise? Yes. Alhucema Is there something else written on the paper? No. With some sort of a secret ink? No. Galfisk does he mean for the paper to be found? Yes. If so: by an accomplice? Yes. By an enemy? No. Is it a joke on expense of the person who finds the paper? No. Biograd Would the joke be understood (and funny) by an average person? Yes. (at least by an average person living in that time and that place) or is it only funny in light of some (serious) thing that the ally expects to read on the note? No. | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1373 Registered: 11-2008 |
Does he intend to transmit a message to his fellow agent? Does the joke have a clear punchline which in fact IS the message the agent wants to transmit? Such as e.g. "The coast is clear" meaning "there is no imminent danger" (I know this is not a joke but is it something along this line)? | ||
| Noel (Noel)
New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1053 Registered: 7-2009 |
Was it a test to see if his message got through? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 566 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema Does he intend to transmit a message to his fellow agent? Yes. (but your question has a very faint smell of FA) Does the joke have a clear punchline which in fact IS the message the agent wants to transmit? Yope. The joke as a whole was the message he wanted to transmit. Such as e.g. "The coast is clear" meaning "there is no imminent danger" (I know this is not a joke but is it something along this line)? But nothing like this. Noel Was it a test to see if his message got through? No, not a test. | ||
| Noobdogg (Noobdogg)
Moderator Username: Noobdogg Post Number: 202 Registered: 3-2009 |
Was he giggling because the situation that his accomplice and he were in was ironically funny? Perhaps, the mission they were on or the subject they were investigating turned out to be a wrong lead, irrelevant or redundant? Sort of like a wild goose chase? Did they misunderstand a lead? The situation I am imagining is that they followed a lead they thought was strong but it ended up being useless because of something they assumed which was wrong. So rather than be angry and frustrated, the good humoured agent wrote a funny little joke that would indicate to his partner that the lead was damp and that they had gone through much ado for nothing. Sorry if this is all a bunch of codswallop. | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 568 Registered: 6-2003 |
Noobdogg Was he giggling because the situation that his accomplice and he were in was ironically funny? The situation was, from some point of view, funny (or maybe ridiculous) but not in an ironic way. Perhaps, the mission they were on or the subject they were investigating turned out to be a wrong lead, irrelevant or redundant? No, they accomplished their mission. Sort of like a wild goose chase? No. Did they misunderstand a lead? Not really. The situation I am imagining is that they followed a lead they thought was strong but it ended up being useless because of something they assumed which was wrong. So rather than be angry and frustrated, the good humoured agent wrote a funny little joke that would indicate to his partner that the lead was damp and that they had gone through much ado for nothing. No, it's nothing like this, I'm afraid. Sorry if this is all a bunch of codswallop. Not at all. You now know that you can exclude this one, and I can assure you that the solution is actually much simpler. And I learned a new word. : ) (How can a cod swallow up??) | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 475 Registered: 5-2009 |
Does he write the note to tell his ally that the mission is in fact accomplished? That there is nothing left to do? Is the ally a secret service agent, too? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 569 Registered: 6-2003 |
Markobr Does he write the note to tell his ally that the mission is in fact accomplished? No. That there is nothing left to do? No. Is the ally a secret service agent, too? Yes. | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1377 Registered: 11-2008 |
Is the message he wanted to transmit important? If so, did he want to say that the mission failed? Was impossible to be carried out at the moment? Are any of the agents/a third person running a serious danger? Is it relevant which country they are in/in which language the message was written? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 570 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema Is the message he wanted to transmit important? Depends. For him it was important to deliver the message, in the first place. If so, did he want to say that the mission failed? No. Was impossible to be carried out at the moment? No. Are any of the agents/a third person running a serious danger? No. Is it relevant which country they are in Yes. /in which language the message was written? The message was written in the country's language, anything else would have been unlikely. | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 482 Registered: 5-2009 |
Is the country in Europe? America? Asia? Africa? Does he want to tell his fellow agent that there is a situation similar to that in the joke? If so: the situation of himself? of his fellow agent? of someone/something they are watching? a more general situation? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 571 Registered: 6-2003 |
Markobr Is No. the country in Europe? This one. America? Asia? Africa? Does he want to tell his fellow agent that there is a situation similar to that in the joke? Yope. If so: the situation of himself? of his fellow agent? of someone/something they are watching? a more general situation? This fits best but not yet quite. | ||
| Jenburdoo (Jenburdoo)
New member Username: Jenburdoo Post Number: 1675 Registered: 5-2003 |
Was this in a European country that no longer exists? During the Cold War? Was he using a pun of some sort to relay information? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 572 Registered: 6-2003 |
Jenburdoo Was this in a European country that no longer exists? Yes. During the Cold War? Yes. Was he using a pun of some sort to relay information? Yope. | ||
| Noel (Noel)
New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1081 Registered: 7-2009 |
Could he have conveyed the same information without a joke? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 573 Registered: 6-2003 |
Noel Could he have conveyed the same information without a joke? No. Good question. | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1387 Registered: 11-2008 |
Former Yugoslavia? East/West Germany? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 575 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema Former Yugoslavia? East This one. /West Germany? | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1389 Registered: 11-2008 |
So the joke was written in German, correct? Would it have made sense in another language, too? Any word play/allusion valid only in German/relevant to the situation in the given time period? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 576 Registered: 6-2003 |
Alhucema So the joke was written in German, correct? Yes. Would it have made sense in another language, too? Any word play/allusion valid only in German/relevant to the situation in the given time period? I think the joke could have been translated to some other language while preserving its funniness. Its also not relevant which joke it was; relevant is only that it was a joke. | ||
| Noel (Noel)
New member Username: Noel Post Number: 1088 Registered: 7-2009 |
Was the message that something/a situation they were keeping an eye on turned out to be a joke? not real? Not really a concern? A funny misunderstanding? Something along those lines? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 577 Registered: 6-2003 |
Noel Was the message that something/a situation they were keeping an eye on turned out to be a joke? Yes, in some sense (but I'm aware that this answer can be misleading) not real? No, the situation was real. Not really a concern? Not really a concern, but that was not the point. A funny misunderstanding? No. Something along those lines? Not really. | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 497 Registered: 5-2009 |
Was the "literary form" of a joke part of a code (e.g. to answer "yes" to a question the agent would write down a joke, to answer "no", a poem)? | ||
| Mani (Mani)
New member Username: Mani Post Number: 304 Registered: 10-2006 |
Were there any onlookers around him? Was someone spying on him - a) in general? b) at that particual moment? Did he know whether he was spied on or not? Did he purposefully try to look a bit deranged or whimsical, so that noone would find it peculiar that he was writing notes only to put them directly into garbage bins? Did his fellow secret agent pick up the note later, from the bin? If so, how did they find it among all the garbage? Escaping from East to West relevant? Are we in Berlin? Was the joke something that someone else had said? That he had overheard? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 578 Registered: 6-2003 |
Markobr Was the "literary form" of a joke part of a code (e.g. to answer "yes" to a question the agent would write down a joke, to answer "no", a poem)? No. Mani Were there any onlookers around him? No. Was someone spying on him - a) in general? b) at that particual moment? Both were possible, one never knew in that time, but irrelevant here. Did he know whether he was spied on or not? Possibly, but irrelevant. Did he purposefully try to look a bit deranged or whimsical, so that noone would find it peculiar that he was writing notes only to put them directly into garbage bins? No. Did his fellow secret agent pick up the note later, from the bin? Yes. If so, how did they find it among all the garbage? I think they had their ways to do it. There were garbage bins with a concealed flap or bag inside, or such mounted to a house wall with a flap in the back side. More likely, however, would have been if somebody in disguise of a garbage collector just exchanged the whole bin. Escaping from East to West relevant? No. Are we in Berlin? In East Berlin, or somewhere else in the east. Was the joke something that someone else had said? Yes. That he had overheard? Yes. | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 501 Registered: 5-2009 |
So the agent was supposed to find out what somebody said and transmit the text (by "bin mail") literally to another agent? And the target subject told a joke, so he transmitted the joke? | ||
| Mani (Mani)
New member Username: Mani Post Number: 305 Registered: 10-2006 |
ok. Sorry for asking a question that wasn't of the yes/no type (how did they find it among all the garbage). Was the joke uttered by some influential person? a politician? a rather famous person? some east block political leader? Was the topic of the joke politically sensitive in some way? Did the agents work for the western powers? Or were they Stasi agents? Did he inform on someone who told a joke about the bads of some aspect of the political system? | ||
| Mani (Mani)
New member Username: Mani Post Number: 306 Registered: 10-2006 |
ok. Sorry for asking a question that wasn't of the yes/no type (how did they find it among all the garbage). Was the joke uttered by some influential person? a politician? a rather famous person? some east block political leader? Was the topic of the joke politically sensitive in some way? Did the agents work for the western powers? Or were they Stasi agents? Did he inform on someone who told a joke about the bads of some aspect of the political system? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 580 Registered: 6-2003 |
Markobr So the agent was supposed to find out what somebody said and transmit the text (by "bin mail") literally to another agent? Yope. And the target subject told a joke, so he transmitted the joke? Yope. (if you phrase the question differently, the answer could perhaps be yes) Mani ok. Sorry for asking a question that wasn't of the yes/no type (how did they find it among all the garbage). No problem. Either I'll answer it or I'll ignore it. Was the joke uttered by some influential person? No. a politician? No. a rather famous person? No. some east block political leader? No. Was the topic of the joke politically sensitive in some way? Yes. Did the agents work for the western powers? Yes. Or were they Stasi agents? No. Did he inform on someone who told a joke about the bads of some aspect of the political system? Yope - not on someone specifically, but .. | ||
| Mani (Mani)
New member Username: Mani Post Number: 310 Registered: 10-2006 |
Was he giggling at the joke? Or at some aspect of the whole situation? Was the joke uttered by a specific non-influential, non-famous person? Or by several persons? Was the joke popular at the time? Was his mission as a secret agent simply to report on something like "what's up in the popular layers of East Germany?" And his answer meant something like: "Oh, this political joke here is all the rage at the moment"? Or was he spying about something more specific - in the style of "what's the basis/origin/background of these rumours that we pick up?"? And his answer meant that the joke was the origin of the rumours? But that didn't mean that his fellow secret agents would react like "Ok, false alarm then"? But more like "Oh, then we know. Somewhat interesting..."? East Germany existed between 1949 and 1990. Does this take place in some specific part of this time period? If so, beginning? Middle? End? | ||
| Alhucema (Alhucema)
New member Username: Alhucema Post Number: 1395 Registered: 11-2008 |
Im Westen nichts neues? | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 586 Registered: 6-2003 |
Mani Was he giggling at the joke? Yes. Or at some aspect of the whole situation? No. Was the joke uttered by a specific non-influential, non-famous person? No. Or by several persons? This one. Was the joke popular at the time? Yes. Was his mission as a secret agent simply to report on something like "what's up in the popular layers of East Germany?" Yes. And his answer meant something like: "Oh, this political joke here is all the rage at the moment"? Yes. Or was he spying about something more specific - in the style of "what's the basis/origin/background of these rumours that we pick up?"? Noish. And his answer meant that the joke was the origin of the rumours? No. But that didn't mean that his fellow secret agents would react like "Ok, false alarm then"? No. But more like "Oh, then we know. Somewhat interesting..."? Yope. East Germany existed between 1949 and 1990. Exactly. Does this take place in some specific part of this time period? If so, beginning? Middle? End? In the 70s or 80s. Alhucema Im Westen nichts neues? Very much so. | ||
| Sundowner (Sundowner)
New member Username: Sundowner Post Number: 587 Registered: 6-2003 |
I think this calls for a SPOILER During the 70s and 80s the West German secret service BND was actively collecting and evaluating political jokes that were told in East Germany. This was perhaps not a too strange idea as a political joke that becomes popular tells a lot more about the people's mindset as they would reveal in any political conversation. (in particular, as one could never be sure who's listening) All this became known only very recently when a wise person in the BND decided that the archive of jokes does no longer constitute a state secret and may be opened to the public. The top ranking joke was: Where's the evidence that East Germans do not descend from the apes? Apes cannot live on two bananas per year. (I must admit that I did not know that joke before.) Thanks to all. | ||
| Markobr (Markobr)
New member Username: Markobr Post Number: 505 Registered: 5-2009 |
Hilarious - thank you. |
