(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

[jeffurrynpl.livejournal.com]

In my hometown when I'd say I was going to MIT I would get asked where it was. My favorite guess was "New York". (M as in Manhattan?)

I worked on car radios for eight years. My least favorite questions are
"Can you help me build an amplifier?" (I worked on software in radios, not amplifiers.)
"Oh, you must have a great stereo system, huh?" (I don't even own a working stereo. I usually have the TV on when I'm awake in my apartment.)

I teach electronics. Just tonight I got
"I was thinking of you the other day when my nephew was wiring a lamp." (You don't want me to wire anything that plugs into an outlet.)

I never mind the "smart" comments.