Who was he?

[Guest]

There is an interesting brain game that was given to me to figure out and i can't quite get around it because every answer that i have in mind is not right.

He was the perfect gentleman even though his nephew could not see it. who was he?

People have been giving answers with names of famous characters and none of those was correct, some say;

a) the uncle who was the perfect gentleman, is deceased and burried, or had passed before the nephew was born, so his nephew could not see his uncle's sterling qualities.

b) the nephew is blind, preventing him from literally seeing the uncle being the perfect gentleman.

i need somebody to really help me out with this please because i have been working it out for weeks and still can't get the right answer.

Please help.

[robo]

1. He was He. (Second 'He' being the name.)

2. He was the perfect gentleman.

[Guest]

I recognised this riddle from somewhere - can't remember now, so I quickly googled this to check it was correctly written, In various online hits, the word Nephew is capitalised... Is there a significance?

but...

that the Uncle is deceased and the nephew couldn't see him but I don't like this answer as it doesn't need the 'perfect gentleman' line to work so I don't think this is absolutely correct.

[Guest]

Uncle

[Guest]

I find Robo correct.

but if seen grammatically i don't feel that it

means the gentlemen else it would have been him

[Guest]

and for other such answer you can also say that the gentlemen didn't had a sis.or bro. so no chances of nephew.

but it's irrelevant to this riddle

[Guest]

uncle is not the right answer

[WitchOfDoubt]

Well, there are a lot of answers that work for this, but here's one that doesn't seem to have been thought of:

He was an actor who played a gentleman in an R-rated movie. His nephew was too young to watch. He was a "perfect gentleman," even though his nephew couldn't see it.

The reason I prefer this answer is that, in this context, the sentence closer to something a human being might actually say. Alternatively, if "see" means "understand," we can apply this sentence to any gentleman who was misunderstood by their nephew.

Edited January 17, 2012 by WitchOfDoubt

[Guest]

Me.

I was the perfect gentlemen last night. However, my nephew, who lives 300 miles away, could not see it.

[Guest]

Well, there are a lot of answers that work for this, but here's one that doesn't seem to have been thought of:

He was an actor who played a gentleman in an R-rated movie. His nephew was too young to watch. He was a "perfect gentleman," even though his nephew couldn't see it.

The reason I prefer this answer is that, in this context, the sentence closer to something a human being might actually say. Alternatively, if "see" means "understand," we can apply this sentence to any gentleman who was misunderstood by their nephew.

Ilike this answer

Following along these lines, I came across several "...Perfect Gentleman" movies and TV shows. Only one was "The Perfect Gentleman". The lead male roll was played by Frank Morgan. He also played the part of The Wizard in Wizard of Oz. I could find no nephew. If a nephew doesn't exist, then a nephew couldn't know him.

[Guest]

Hawley Griffin

[Guest]

napoleon solo was always a perfect gentleman but a secret agent of uncle. hey you never know lol

[dyalDragon]

first thoughts...

Tom or Sam?

[Shakeepuddn]

^{It's gramatically and logically feasible to suppose that the "He" and the nephew are one in the same, whereas the uncle is actually some un-named and unmentioned somebody. EX: He didn't like it, but her brother ate the pizza anyway. In this case, "her" could just as easily be sibstituted with a third party "he." The perfect gentleman of the riddle would never literally observe himself being one, and the issue would be resolved.}

[dyalDragon]

^{It's gramatically and logically feasible to suppose that the "He" and the nephew are one in the same, whereas the uncle is actually some un-named and unmentioned somebody. EX: He didn't like it, but her brother ate the pizza anyway. In this case, "her" could just as easily be sibstituted with a third party "he." The perfect gentleman of the riddle would never literally observe himself being one, and the issue would be resolved.}

...but if he is his own nephew, then he is either married to his aunt or his neice, which brings his 'gentlemanliness' into question...

[Shakeepuddn]

"He" is not "his own" nephew. The perfect gentleman in question is somebody's nephew, but that somebody (uncle) is unamed. "He" IS the nephew in the sentence. The sentence can be understood thusly:

Bob was a perfect gentleman, though he couldn't see it himself. Bob has an uncle named Jim. Now it can be stated: Jim's nephew (Bob) was a p.g., though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace the original subject with a pronoun: He (Bob) was a perfect gentleman, though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace Jim with a posessive pronoun: He was a perfect gentleman, though his nephew couldn't see it.

You didn't understand Dragon.

[dyalDragon]

"He" is not "his own" nephew. The perfect gentleman in question is somebody's nephew, but that somebody (uncle) is unamed. "He" IS the nephew in the sentence. The sentence can be understood thusly:

Bob was a perfect gentleman, though he couldn't see it himself. Bob has an uncle named Jim. Now it can be stated: Jim's nephew (Bob) was a p.g., though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace the original subject with a pronoun: He (Bob) was a perfect gentleman, though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace Jim with a posessive pronoun: He was a perfect gentleman, though his nephew couldn't see it.

You didn't understand Dragon.

...but using that logic, is the 'He' in the 'Who was he?' at the the end of the question the same 'He' at the beginning of the sentence?

So in your example, is the final question 'Who was Bob?' (the first 'He'), or is it 'Who was Jim?' (thus the second 'He' is related to the possessive 'His')

FTR, I'm not just trying to be contrary, and I agree with your answer & the accompanying logic... I have never seen this one before so I am simply trying to pick it apart as best I can and hope that a light bulb clicks on somewhere in the cobweb ridden depths of the noggin.

[Guest]

Is this from an online game?

[Shakeepuddn]

Dragon, the "who was he" is not part of the original brainteaser as I found it. That's just Older asking for a possible answer.

[Guest]

...but using that logic, is the 'He' in the 'Who was he?' at the the end of the question the same 'He' at the beginning of the sentence?

So in your example, is the final question 'Who was Bob?' (the first 'He'), or is it 'Who was Jim?' (thus the second 'He' is related to the possessive 'His')

FTR, I'm not just trying to be contrary, and I agree with your answer & the accompanying logic... I have never seen this one before so I am simply trying to pick it apart as best I can and hope that a light bulb clicks on somewhere in the cobweb ridden depths of the noggin.

Your logic makes perfect sence, but can we conclude that 'bob' is the 'who was he?'

Please help us understand 'who was he'

[Shakeepuddn]

Heck, I was just spitballing.

Blind Nephew seems most obvious, play on words, etc.

[mewminator]

who was he?

He can be both the uncle and he nephew.

The perrfect gentleman was a king, the nephew could not see him as one because he knew a secret thet says otherwise, an action done that reduced him from being a prefect gentleman, like say: killing his brother (the nephew's father) to usurp the throne.... (See Hamlet)

even though I'm 99.99% sure that it's wrong but whatever

[Guest]

1. He was He. (Second 'He' being the name.)

2. He was the perfect gentleman.

hey robo, 'He' is not the right answer.

[Guest]

"He" is not "his own" nephew. The perfect gentleman in question is somebody's nephew, but that somebody (uncle) is unamed. "He" IS the nephew in the sentence. The sentence can be understood thusly:

Bob was a perfect gentleman, though he couldn't see it himself. Bob has an uncle named Jim. Now it can be stated: Jim's nephew (Bob) was a p.g., though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace the original subject with a pronoun: He (Bob) was a perfect gentleman, though Jim's nephew (Bob) couldn't see it. Now replace Jim with a posessive pronoun: He was a perfect gentleman, though his nephew couldn't see it.

You didn't understand Dragon.

that is great thinking both logically and gramatically. i still cant say that this is the best answer but so far, i love it.

[Guest]

He could be Uncle Sam (national personification of the American government)

[MikeD]

Nephew can also mean: an illegitimate son of a clergyman who has vowed celibacy.

So he was a clergyman or a priest or something like that.

(I am not sure if a general answer would do like priest or if the question is looking for a specific person by name. If it is then just look for a priest who was knew as a perfect gentleman who had a illegitimate son.)