(no subject)

[tahnan]

There's a question that linguists get all the time after they tell someone they're a linguist, which is, "How many languages do you speak?" It's an intensely frustrating question, because it misses much of the point of the work a linguist does.

Similarly, I know that friends who have masters' degrees in children's literature dread questions about whether that means that they're writing a children's book. (Also, nearly any question that mentions Harry Potter.)

So I ask my readers, out of curiosity. When you tell people something fundamental about who you are or what you do ("I'm a linguist"; "I have a Masters' in Children's Literature"; "I'm from Serbia"; "I have a wooden leg"; "I brew beer"; or what have you), what question is it that you dread getting in return, but which seems to be fairly inevitable?

Comments

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

Hey, look on the bright side. The standard response to 'human factors' or 'human-computer interaction' is 'huhwha?'

Once I explain, it's usually something like 'you mean like that paperclip? I hate that thing!'

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

Hee! It makes me really happy that the damn paperclip is the iconic example of poor HCI.