Why is Bob a normal guy?

Question

Here are 7 facts about Bob:

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.
He hasn't showered in weeks.
He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.
He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.
He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.
He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.
His favourite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Can you reinterpret each fact to make Bob sound like a pretty normal guy?

Note that there are multiple possibilities, but one of each will do.

By 'rephrase' do you mean to add and delete one or more words from each sentence and maintain the order of these seven ? — ABcDexter, Jun 06 '16 at 12:57
Bob is alcoholic with suicidal tendencies, but we are not discriminating him. He is a human, like all of us, and that makes him a normal. — user902383, Jun 06 '16 at 16:37
I appreciate the fact that you wrote a riddle about me, but changed the name for my own protection. Thanks. — Marius, Jun 07 '16 at 12:46

score 46 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:00

46

Something like this?

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.

He uses mouthwash every morning.

He hasn't showered in weeks.

He takes a bath every day.

He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.

He always brushes his hair.

He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.

He wears a tie to work.

He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.

He has a glass or two of wine at dinner.

He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.

He wears contact lenses.

His favourite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

He likes to drink Coca-Cola (which has 7tsp of sugar in a 330ml can).

answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:00

Gareth McCaughan

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I interpreted the shot as communion wine. Because you spit out the mouth wash. – Paul Jun 06 '16 at 17:48
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It's unusual to take communion every morning, though – Richard Rast Jun 06 '16 at 20:21
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Am I the only one who thinks #3 is pretty normal, depending on the style you're going for? What if he just has curly hair? – SirTechSpec Jun 06 '16 at 21:03
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@SirTechSpec: Are you suggesting people with curly hair don't use brushes or combs? – Oddthinking Jun 07 '16 at 13:15
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Some don't, if you have a short style, yeah. – SirTechSpec Jun 07 '16 at 14:23
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IMHO "coffee" works better a bit than "wine". I know more people who drink coffee daily than alcohol (but that's just my experience). It also has no overlap with the "shot of alcohol" comment, which feels a bit more elegant as a riddle. – James Beninger Jun 07 '16 at 14:43

Chris Cudmore · Answer 2 · 2016-06-06T21:00:45.473

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Not sure what the intent of the wordplay is, but here's my thinking.

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.

He uses mouthwash

He hasn't showered in weeks.

He has a bath every day.

He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.

Bob is has an afro. He uses a pick.

He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.

He wears a tie.

He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.

Coffee?

He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.

He wears contact lenses.

His favourite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Coke? other soda pop?

edited Jun 06 '16 at 21:00

answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:03

Chris Cudmore

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Coffee, hahaha, great :D – ABcDexter Jun 06 '16 at 13:13
@ABcDexter #5 was what I was thinking in the first place :D – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 13:16
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@rybo111 same here, I was about to write Coffee but calling it a drug would be a sin :P – ABcDexter Jun 06 '16 at 13:18
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@ABcDexter Why? Its active ingredient is a highly addictive mind-altering substance. What else would you call it? – Mason Wheeler Jun 06 '16 at 17:38
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For me, drug is any chemical which is essentially taken by a living organism for specific purpose. But coffee has no purpose, we just take it; it's the after-effects which make it heavenly... – ABcDexter Jun 06 '16 at 17:41
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You take coffee because you are addicted to caffeine. You get withdrawal symptoms when you stop taking caffeine; that's why you feel like you NEED coffee in the morning. – Erik Jun 07 '16 at 10:44
@Erik And there are people who just enjoy taste. I switched to decaff with no withdrawal symptoms and I drink it because I like the taste without being (as far as I know) addicted to it. IMO caffeine is a drug but people may drink coffee even without being addicting to it or caring about its effects. – Maja Piechotka Jun 07 '16 at 18:17

score 18 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 07 '16 at 08:59

He is an alcoholic
He is homeless
He wears a hat or some type of head covering
He lives in a cold climate and wears a scarf to keep warm
He smokes cigarettes but sparingly since he's homeless and can't afford to buy them.
All the hair in his eyes prevents him from seeing well
He drinks an old fashioned (or maybe jack and coke) in a big gulp thermos.

score 9 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:23

9

I think most of the other answers have well and truly covered the categories,

I would just like to offer an alternative to the second last line:

He has poor vision and he doesn't wear glasses:

Poor Bob is completely blind!

answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:23

Inazuma

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But does that make him "a pretty normal guy"? – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 13:25
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What is 'normal', anyway? – Inazuma Jun 06 '16 at 13:27
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Very true - I like your answer. – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 13:31
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@Inazuma Very personal answer : for me, something "normal" is something the majority shares as a common point. It would be the same as "being the norm". For example, a left-handed person isn't normal (in the 'pure' sense of "normal" as I hear it, not as everyone uses it), because the vast majority of people are right-handed (and I say it as a left-handed person). It sounds a bit extreme, but this is how I understand it personnally. – Mayo Jun 06 '16 at 14:07
How can you measure the majority of these answers? Only 300 million people are visually impaired worldwide, certainly not a majority. From this study: "The majority of participants (38.1%) have never used mouthwash, 17.5% used mouthwash less than once a month, 19.4% used mouthwash once every few days and 25.1% used mouthwash daily." I could go on... – Inazuma Jun 06 '16 at 14:14
The facts in the question are worded to sound unusual. But in the accepted answer the facts are pretty uninteresting. That's the point of the question. – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 15:41
@Inazuma blind is normal. Lots of people in my family tree are blind. – Xxoplechic Jun 08 '16 at 11:37

score 7 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 06 '16 at 21:02

7

Bob is a

beach lifeguard

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.

mouthwash (cause why not)
He hasn't showered in weeks.

why would he, he can just take a swim
He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.

after swimming, he just pulls his hair backward,
He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.

whistle around his neck
He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.

coffee, cola (contains caffeine, less than coffee) or maybe betel, if he's Asian (common among truck drivers, to stay awake, so why not for a lifeguard)
He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.

he must wear contacts, cause glasses get in the way of swimming
His favorite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

cola (elegantly also answers 5)

The weakest point with this answer would be 3)

the whistle-as-noose, as that isn't really tight around his neck.

edited Jun 06 '16 at 21:02

Gordon Allocman

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answered Jun 06 '16 at 20:12

user24654

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3 is also a health and safety concern, but otherwise a cool answer – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 20:27
@rybo111 How is not combing one's hair a health and safety concern? – Maurycy Jun 07 '16 at 11:01
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@Maurycy Meant 4! – rybo111 Jun 07 '16 at 12:03

score 7 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 07 '16 at 14:30

Bob is

Not yet born !

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.

His mother's natural blood content (weak, around 0.03 or so).

He hasn't showered in weeks.

No showers in the womb !.

He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.

His hairs already grew

He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.

The umbilical cord

He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.

His mother's hormones (serotonine and the like).

He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.

Foetus have poor vision, and to bring them glasses would be incomfortable for the mother.

His favourite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

Amniotic liquid has a sugary flavor.

I'm learning so much about Bob – rybo111 Jun 07 '16 at 14:34 — rybo111, Jun 07 '16 at 14:34

ABcDexter · Answer 7 · 2016-06-06T17:58:11.980

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Here is my take:

He has a shot of alcohol every morning.

He has a glass of water every morning.

He hasn't showered in weeks.

He hasn't missed yoga classes in weeks.

He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a comb.

He has a full head of hair, but doesn't use a cap!

He regularly wraps a noose around his neck.

He regularly wears a tie around his neck (for his office).

He has a drug once or twice a day, but not for medicinal purposes.

He exercises once or twice a day, but not for body-building purposes.

He has poor vision, but doesn't wear glasses.

He has good vision, but still wear glasses to avoid strain (while using mobile).

His favourite beverage contains 7 teaspoons of sugar.

His favourite beverage contains 2 teaspoons of sugar.

edited Jun 06 '16 at 17:58

answered Jun 06 '16 at 13:10

ABcDexter

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An equally valid answer given the constraints of the puzzle. – Chris Cudmore Jun 06 '16 at 13:11
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Thank you :) but i do feel that the question is too broad to answer. – ABcDexter Jun 06 '16 at 13:12
Perhaps my wording wasn't the best? Rephrase each fact so that the original fact still remains, but it's in a new form. Edit suggestions welcome. For instance, "he has poor vision" cannot be changed to "he has good vision". – rybo111 Jun 06 '16 at 13:13
@rybo111 Rather than "rephrase" perhaps say "interpret"? – atkins Jun 06 '16 at 13:58
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Lol +1 for the creativity :P – thepiercingarrow Jun 06 '16 at 20:35

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 07 '16 at 01:50

Why is Bob a normal guy?

9 Answers9

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