[WiZ] The Grim Greeter

[WiZ]

A man walks into a hospital through the main entrance. He immediately sees a sign saying 'Hello, Death'. Why is the sign there?

True story. Caveat Earlispoilor.

[GalFisk]

Is the sign supposed to say this (and only this)? Does it say this and only this? Or is it obscured? Broken? Incomplete? Changed? Do others see it the same way? Is it supposed to cause a reaction? If so: laughter? Unease? Anger? Change? Sadness? Despair? Is it a protest? Is it supposed to cause different reactions from different people? Death: the phenomenon? The mythical figure? Corpses? End of the world?

[WiZ]

Is the sign supposed to say this no (and only this)? Does it say this and only this? no Or is it obscured? Broken? Incomplete? Changed? but no to these Do others see it the same way? No, people see it differently Is it supposed to cause a reaction? I will say yes If so: laughter? Unease? Anger? Change? Sadness? Despair? but no to these Is it a protest? no Is it supposed to cause different reactions from different people? no Death: the phenomenon? yes The mythical figure? Corpses? End of the world? no to these

[Balin]

Are there words before "Hello"? After "Death"? Between the two? Is the comma after "Hello" relevant? Is "Death" someone's name?

[WiZ]

Are there words before "Hello"? After "Death"? Between the two? no to all Is the comma after "Hello" relevant? no - the comma makes no material difference Is "Death" someone's name? no

[Balin]

Does the sign also have pictures? A friendly greeting? (which is then retracted?)

[WiZ]

Does the sign also have pictures? no A friendly greeting? yes (which is then retracted?) No, I'm not running reciprocal puzzles... this time.

[GalFisk]

Is it colorful? Is the man colorblind? Is "death" part of a word? Part of multiple words?
Edit: if not colorblind, is his color perception relevantly impaired? Such as wearing blue-blocking glasses?

[peter365]

Is the sign in english?

[WiZ]

GalFisk

Is it colorful? not relevantly Is the man colorblind? assume no Is "death" part of a word? Part of multiple words? no to both (I've heard at least one report of a Dr. De Ath practicing medicine)
Edit: if not colorblind, is his color perception relevantly impaired? Such as wearing blue-blocking glasses? no to both

Peter

Is the sign in english? yope!

[peter365]

SOme sort of code? Emojis?

[Earnest]

Sorry for jumping in...

did he look for such signs? Did he expect? Did it signal something? Directions? something like the nth DEA (so dea was the th: death xD)? Is the signal always present in the hospital? Was it a particular day? Death = death of humans? (did the signal refer to human's death?) Pictures relevant? Did he read the signal? Did he know it was written Hello Death?

Is the sign in english? yope! --> another language? slang? International language? Sign language?

WAG --> corridors relevant?

[trebor]

Is “hello” in English? Is “death”? Is one of them a word that has different meanings in different languages?

[WiZ]

Peter

SOme sort of code? no Emojis? no (was going to respond with a smilie to this but the only appropriate one was , which seemed too harsh)

Earnest

Sorry for jumping in... You're welcome any time.

did he look for such signs? not actively Did he expect? no, but probably wasn't too surprised Did it signal something? please rephrase Directions? no something like the nth DEA (so dea was the th: death xD)? no Is the signal always present in the hospital? it hadn't always been around, but once it appeared, it was always 'present' Was it a particular day? no Death = death of humans? yes (did the signal refer to human's death?) still a bit thrown by 'signal', here Pictures relevant? no Did he read the signal? He read the sign, yes Did he know it was written Hello Death? yes

Is the sign in english? yope! --> another language? yes slang? also yes International language? as in, Esperanto or Lojban or something? No Sign language? no

WAG --> corridors relevant? I'm not sure it's essential, but there's a good chance that he saw this sign in a corridor

Trebor

Is “hello” in English? no Is “death”? yope Is one of them a word that has different meanings in different languages? Yes!

[Earnest]

May I invoke Literally a Skeleton? I think there is something he could appreciate

Is one of them a word that has different meanings in different languages? Yes! --> a different spoken language? Spoken by people in a nation? or a written language (e.g. for deaf/mute people)? Had it been present in another building would it have been perceived as strange? May I invoke the languages in which the word death has different meanings? Has the word death in its spelling a different meaning or the word death in its meaning? I mean: the letters d e a t h put together to for "death" has a different meaning or the word death meaning "to be deceased" has another meaning (in the sense that it is maybe seen as a good news)? To be sure a sign saying 'Hello, Death'. means that it was written, correct?

it hadn't always been around, but once it appeared, it was always 'present' --> ok so...because it could not be removed? It is part of an advertising? Of hospital signs?

[peter365]

Medical acronyms relevant ? Do the letters themselves spell out words e.g. ICU I See You?

[trebor]

Is the other language a European one? Indigenous North American? South American? Central American? African? Middle Eastern? Asian?

Would it be fruitful to try to figure out the meaning of the "death" word in this other language? Does it also mean hello, but possible in even yet another language? Like in an instance where there are multiple official languages and they want the sign to be in all of them?

[Literally a Skeleton]

Earnest

May I invoke Literally a Skeleton? I think there is something he could appreciate

Are my ears burning? Well, no - I have to ears to speak of. And no tongue with which to speak of ears. Of course, if one's ears burned for sufficiently long, they would end up rather resembling mine.

In any event, I cannot help with this puzzle, as there is a clear conflict of interest. And if you have a clear interest in conflict, you could well end up like me some day...

[WiZ]

How on earth did he get in here? Although I suppose he's not on earth, so much as inseveral cubic metres of it. Either way, that peace you're supposed to be resting in extends to those around you, as well. Please go. You don't want me to use my sternum tone.

Earnest

Is one of them a word that has different meanings in different languages? Yes! --> a different spoken language? It's not exclusively spoken, but yes Spoken by people in a nation? yes or a written language (e.g. for deaf/mute people)? no, although the language is written too Had it been present in another building would it have been perceived as strange? yes, although perhaps less ironic May I invoke the languages in which the word death has different meanings? The two languages in question are English and Maori Has the word death in its spelling a different meaning yes or the word death in its meaning? no I mean: the letters d e a t h FA put together to for "death" has a different meaning this is the principle, however or the word death meaning "to be deceased" has another meaning (in the sense that it is maybe seen as a good news)? no To be sure a sign saying 'Hello, Death'. means that it was written, correct? Yes, it is written on a sign

it hadn't always been around, but once it appeared, it was always 'present' --> ok so...because it could not be removed? yes (or at least not easily) It is part of an advertising? yes Of hospital signs? no

Peter

Medical acronyms relevant ? no Do the letters themselves spell out words e.g. ICU I See You? no

Trebor

Is the other language a European one? Indigenous North American? South American? Central American? African? Middle Eastern? Asian? It's Maori

Would it be fruitful to try to figure out the meaning of the "death" word in this other language? Yes, this is the relevant ambiguity Does it also mean hello, but possible in even yet another language? no Like in an instance where there are multiple official languages and they want the sign to be in all of them? not this, but attempts at bilingualism are relevant

[Earnest]

the letters d e a t h FA--> are these letters? letters in Maori's alphabet? Do maori have an alphabet? Relevant the reason why Maori language was used and not another one? For the ambiguity? Are the letters d -e -a -t -h displayed?

Was a service advertised (e.g. insurance?)? A product? If so relevant which product was advertised? A Pharma product? A product connected mainly to money? a service? clothing? technology? tools? food? Drink? relevant the name of the product? Its brand?

[Balin]

Is translation relevant? Mistranslation?
Is the word "Hello" in English? Maori? Is "death" in English? Maori?

[WiZ]

Earnest

the letters d e a t h FA--> are these letters? Not sure I follow - they are indeed letters... letters in Maori's alphabet? no, they don't have 'D' Do maori have an alphabet? yes, although only at the insistence of the British Relevant the reason why Maori language was used and not another one? yes For the ambiguity? no Are the letters d -e -a -t -h displayed? no, and that addresses the FA

Was a service advertised (e.g. insurance?)? see next A product? yes If so relevant which product was advertised? yes A Pharma product? A product connected mainly to money? a service? clothing? technology? tools? food? Drink? this relevant the name of the product? Its brand? It was Coca-Cola, but I don't think that gives anything away.

Balin

Is translation relevant? yesish Mistranslation? noish
Is the word "Hello" in English? no Maori? yes Is "death" in English? no Maori? yes

[trebor]

Is Coke’s slogan relevant?

[WiZ]

Is Coke’s slogan relevant? No - this was a one-off promotion, and the wording would not have been used in other countries (for obvious reasons)

[Earnest]

Since I am assuming that no particular knowledge of Maoei is involved, I will ask these: is the maori for death (or fpr hello) a word that is similar to another english word? If so, related to drink? To the word "fresh"? To a word promoting coca cola?
Do the letters have a shape resembling other letters in the english alphabet? Related to the word "drink"?

Was it displayed in a particular period of the year? Do readers understand immediately (a part from brand and other images) that the writing advertises something? That it advertises a drink? Something refreshing? A place where coke can be bought? Or maybe readers just do not understand what was written and since they were curious about the writing just stopped? Are coca cola cans relevant? Recycling cans? Were there maori costumers/ maori in general in the hospital? Relevant? Did they read and understand "hello death"?

[WiZ]

Since I am assuming that no particular knowledge of Maoei is involved, I will ask these: is the maori for death yes,this (or fpr hello) a word that is similar to another english word? yes, it relevantly resembles an English word associated with the sign If so, related to drink? no To the word "fresh"? no To a word promoting coca cola? no
Do the letters have a shape resembling other letters in the english alphabet? Related to the word "drink"? the shape of the letters is irrelevant - the Maori language uses the same alphabet as English, with macrons for doubled vowels

Was it displayed in a particular period of the year? no Do readers understand immediately (a part from brand and other images) that the writing advertises something? They understand the message, but the message itself is not inherently an advertisement That it advertises a drink? Something refreshing? A place where coke can be bought? no to these, at least at immediate face value Or maybe readers just do not understand what was written and since they were curious about the writing just stopped? no, the message would be easily understood by almost everyone Are coca cola cans relevant? Recycling cans? no to both Were there maori costumers/ maori in general in the hospital? Yes Relevant? Did they read and understand "hello death"? They would have seen this interpretation (and been more likely than the general public to do so)

[trebor]

Does the death word mean "patients"? "Visitors"? "Family"? "Friends"? "Welcome"? Would an English-only speaker see the sign and get the "Hello, death" meaning? A Maori-only speaker? Or am I correct in thinking that you'd have to be fluent in both, which would usually mean that it would be a Maori person who was more likely to get both meanings?

Was Coke aware of both meanings? Was the hospital?

Does the sign give the impression that Death is the person speaking? That Death is being greeted?

[WiZ]

Does the death word mean "patients"? "Visitors"? "Family"? "Friends"? this, effectively; no to rest "Welcome"? Would an English-only speaker see the sign and get the "Hello, death" meaning? no A Maori-only speaker? no (although few such people exist) Or am I correct in thinking that you'd have to be fluent in both, which would usually mean that it would be a Maori person who was more likely to get both meanings? yes, very good

Was Coke aware of both meanings? Not until the media outcry Was the hospital? As above

Does the sign give the impression that Death is the person speaking? no That Death is being greeted? yes

***** SPOILER *****

He is looking at a Coke vending machine in the hallway. Coke had prepared a greeting for New Zealand audiences - 'Kia ora, Mate'. What Coke had not considered is that the word 'Mate', while meaning 'friend' in NZ English, meant 'Death' in Maori.



Congratulations, Trebor, on the solution, and thank you everyone for playing.

[trebor]

Ha ha ha! We had a similar thing in Canada recently:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/ ... -1.5144737

[WiZ]

Could they not have gone with 'Tomayo Sauce'? Mind you, that might also say something unfortunate...