Man who won "free buffet meals for life" commits suicide after being banned for harassing women

[jberryhill]

66. The expression "he must have had a lot on his plate"

In this context, the expression has a dual meaning.

It is a figure of speech which usually means that one is dealing with overwhelming issues.

Here, a buffet is involved, thus "he must have had a lot on his plate" has a literal meaning in reference to eating at a buffet - i.e. People at buffets often put a lot of food on their plates.

The sensation of "humor" is often derived from a moment of ambiguity as the mind perceives two meanings in rapid succession on both a literal and figurative level.

For example, a man walks into a hardware store and says "I would like to buy a mousetrap, and please hurry because I have to catch a bus."

The shopkeeper says, "I'm sorry but we don't have traps that large."

That is an example of the type of dual-meaning ambiguity.

My response - the buffet rule - is literally the buffet rule, but also in this context is that one should avoid obsessive behavior, which this individual appears to have exhibited.