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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to start a new thread about....

53 replies

BoswellsLastStand · 07/12/2018 19:33

you know what?

And yes I know I am.

But FFS.

OP posts:
coolwalking · 08/12/2018 07:26

'@malpa brilliant!!!

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 08/12/2018 07:29

I know him as well.

MyOtherProfile · 08/12/2018 08:22

Who is Derek?

incallthebloodytime · 08/12/2018 08:54

I think the update is a riddle itself as who Tf is Derek?

longwayoff · 08/12/2018 08:59

Everyone. The joke's on us. It's not funny.

ScreamingValenta · 08/12/2018 09:02

Derek posted on one of the other threads. He said he'd got it but couldn't reveal it; not revealing it was part of the point of the riddle, and others would understand this if they 'got it'.

Original poster
BoswellsLastStand · 08/12/2018 11:42

FURTHER THOUGHTS

The OP said she got it as a result of something someone had posted.

Something that was posted that I overlooked in my collected theory posts and didn't get much traction was this:

@BollocksToBrexit

Is it to do with Christmas? 'Bos' has no 'well'. No well. Noel. Christmas?

This also slightly ties in with @coolwalking 's post at the end of the secon thread Wed 05-Dec-18 22:43:28

Exactly!! The joke is that some people know him as bos but you know him as "well". Boswell

If you don't know him as well then you don't have the answer and can't be told

CAN ANYONE STILL INTERESTED/OBSESSED HELP WITH THIS AS A FURTHER THOUGHT?:

I think the answer is somewhere in this area - something to do with "no well"/ "noel"/"know well" - but there needs to be a tie in with the end of the joke (about going up the steps/approaching the library) that we are currently missing

Something that creates a whole phrase like "no well before[?]" or "the first noel [?]" or "noel [?]" or "know well in front of [?] - where the [?] connects to his location before/in front of the library/post office.

Also OP posted this on the first thread:

killingtime9198 Tue 04-Dec-18 14:02:58

Reading all of this with amusement.

My friend and her husband didn't get given the answer on their wedding day - they both worked it out.

For those who still care - I put the 'four/for' suggestion to her and that's not it. She said 'it's not so much about the content of the joke', so it must be something in the way you tell it. That said, I asked her to tell me it over text and she did, so I don't think it can be something you PHYSICALLY do.

For context the joke is either:

'There once was a man called Boswell. For short they called him Bos, and he walked up the post office steps.'

or

'There was a man, whose name was boswell. And for short they called him bos. And he walked up the post office steps' ' [this was the revised written version provided by the OP's friend by text.

and the following should be noted:

killingtime9198 Mon 03-Dec-18 14:12:13

More - I asked if he was going to the post office to collect the letters missing from his name. She said no.

. . .

It doesn't matter that he walks up the steps - the joke still works if he just approaches the post office.

It doesn't matter that it's a post office, I asked if a library would also work, she said yes. I said:

'So this works: 'there one was a woman called Boswell. For short they called her Bos. And she walked up to the library'

She said yes

OP posts:
Owletty · 08/12/2018 12:09

It's not meant to me told. It's designed to keep people guessing discussing. In the original OP she refers to people who've "got it" or almost got it.

The friends family have delayed giving her the answer for years. (Which of course they have because there is no answer).

Now, the OP is delaying telling us. And is perpetuating the joke / riddle by keeping its secrecy.

NonExistentFox · 08/12/2018 12:16

Said…the friend had explained the joke

She did not say that.

Rosalise · 08/12/2018 12:19

That ties in with the theory there is no answer
It goes like this:

You can decide that there's no answer and just forget about it. This solves the problem from your point of view.

But as soon as you tell anyone, "there's no answer!" then it becomes a lie, because you just gave an answer. (The answer = "there's no answer")

So the only way to make there's no answer true is just to go away and not think about it.

For me, there are a couple of problems.

One is that there was never any question asked. It's just three statements and the last one is a non sequitur - it doesn't logically follow the other sentences. According to the OP of the original thread Bos could also go to the library. She didn't say if he had to go somewhere or whether it mattered that he went up.

But the third sentence was always linked by "And" to make you feel like there's a connection between the two ideas (when there isn't)

The second problem I have is that OP and Derek claim that once you know the answer you can't tell anyone. That doesn't tie in so well with the there's no answer theory because several people did manage to explain it in the other threads. Tbh the third problem is that there never was a question anyway.

The joke theory

Also, in the first thread the OP said there definitely was a joke. (She's asking her friend but the friend never appears so we only have her word to go on). She also says that some people in the first thread "got it."

So, if there's a joke, the joke is definitely on the people trying to solve the problem, especially if there's no solution. You can't tell everyone the solution because it would destroy the joke if the joke is just to laugh at the people who don't get it. So now, to keep the joke alive, you have to tell more people, or tease people who are trying to "get it" or keep opening new threads on Mumsnet.

That's the best I can do to sum up the solutions. If you want to think that the solution is in the words, then having people call out to Bos and him going to the post office is as good a one as you'll get, I think.

Rosalise · 08/12/2018 12:24

Sorry, I posted so much I ended up cross posting. That ties in with the theory there is no answer is referring to Derek's post.

Original poster
BoswellsLastStand · 08/12/2018 13:03

Those of us still in this game have discounted the "there's no answer theory" for reasons previously given by @cool and others at the end of the second thread similar to @Rosalie's post above.

It's referred to in the OP's friend's family as "the Boswell joke". It's not a riddle. There is no question. Numerous references by OP to "getting it" & "I've got it". The post about a friend "nearly getting" and having the end explained and so on.

The "there's no correct answer" theory is obviously wrong.

So anyone still interested in this kill me now - any further thoughts on the know well / noel aspect posted above.

OP posts:
Original poster
BoswellsLastStand · 08/12/2018 13:07

This post from the first thread does not fit with "no answer" either because again references to "got it".

@killingtime9198 Mon 03-Dec-18 12:46:34

I don't get what people are saying about the 'well' bit - surely that doesn't work as it goes

'There once was a man called Boswell. For short they called him 'Bos'. And he walked up the post office steps'

I want to wait until I see her to ask her as I think she'll be more likely to give something away! I know that another friend at school got PART of it, or 'almost' got it, and then my friend basically lead her to the answer. So I wonder if we have part of it with the letters/post office or short/steps theories, and if I mention to her in person she might be more likely to give the rest away (if there is a rest...)

OP posts:
Original poster
BoswellsLastStand · 08/12/2018 13:10

No well:

Heard the one about the academic who spent years trying to find out how jokes work? No? Well don't hold your breath for the punchline

OP posts:
ChardonnaysPrettySister · 08/12/2018 13:11

Has my “I know him as well” theory been discounted?

I haven’t RallTFTs.

Original poster
BoswellsLastStand · 08/12/2018 13:13

Has my “I know him as well” theory been discounted?

No it hasn't. It wasn't part of the list of theories OP said were wrong.

But I don't think it's the full answer. I think the answer is somewhere around this area - of "know Well"/ "noel" but it's not complete. There need to be some other bit to do with the approaching the library/going up the post office steps.

OP posts:
incallthebloodytime · 08/12/2018 14:36

@BoswellsLastStand AND???

Travisandthemonkey · 08/12/2018 15:08

Why on God’s wholy earth did you start this thread!
I thought we all got it by now!

animaginativeusername · 08/12/2018 17:07

Don't know if been solved, read the first thread. Not this one yet.

to start a new thread about....
to start a new thread about....
PatricksRum · 08/12/2018 19:09

This is still really annoying me Angry

JAPAB · 09/12/2018 00:51

What words begin with wel or well?

I had a thought that someone said something like "Bos welcome..." and he heard it as "Boswell come..." but with someother well-beginning word.

PatricksRum · 09/12/2018 01:56

What are we making of Andrew Boswell theory?

GinGiminey · 09/12/2018 02:30

In bed muttering the words Boswell and Noel to myself, over and over again, with the odd ‘up’ and ‘steps’ thrown in for good measure..... I think it’s time to go to sleep!! 🤯

Psychonaut · 09/12/2018 02:39

Steamed badger, anyone?

Psychonaut · 09/12/2018 02:40
Grin