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[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

[mamagotcha.livejournal.com]

wow, tah, this should be a book! a list of careers/hobbies/attributes with the most annoying questions under each heading... let me know if you want a collaborator on it, but you get first dibs 'cos you thought of it!

braiding: what's the most you can do? or (from bald or buzzed guys): can you do me?
juggler: what's the most you can do? can you juggle me? (hmm, detecting a theme here)
writer: have you written a book?
mom: are you done yet? what about overpopulation?
homeschooler: what about socialization? (i just point them to julia and let her handle that one)