LingGrad2009 Posted April 6, 2009 Posted April 6, 2009 Nice. Also: "You're a doctor? How many diseases do you have?" "You're a librarian? How many books have you read?" "You're a cop? How many guns can you shoot?" "So you're a proctologist huh? So how many . . . uh . . . you know what -- never mind." LLajax and noodles.galaznik 2
ConceptualMetaphor Posted April 6, 2009 Posted April 6, 2009 "So you're a proctologist huh? So how many . . . uh . . . you know what -- never mind." LOL! Ok, LingGrad, I think you win.
Joshuaer Posted October 26, 2009 Posted October 26, 2009 No matter what type of learner you are - hearing, seeing, experimental – LangLearner words and phrases to be learned quickly. noodles.galaznik, NoontimeDreamer, mnestic and 3 others 6
fuzzylogician Posted October 26, 2009 Posted October 26, 2009 No matter what type of learner you are - hearing, seeing, experimental – LangLearner words and phrases to be learned quickly. Seriously? You put this ad here? In a thread that's about how linguistics isn't just about learning languages? Huh.
peppermint.beatnik Posted November 25, 2009 Posted November 25, 2009 I'm not a linguist, so I hope you don't mind! I'm in religious studies, but I never tell people I study religion. I always get, "so you want to be a minister?" I say anthropology because it's the next closest thing to what do.
psycholinguist Posted November 27, 2009 Posted November 27, 2009 No worries! We appreciate commiseration from any source!
eucalyptus Posted November 27, 2009 Posted November 27, 2009 I used to be in Cognitive Science (and had to explain what it was all the time) but my Masters is in Psych. The conversation I have now usually goes something like: A: "Ooh, psychology. You're psychoanalyzing me right now, aren't you?" B: "Well, I study monkeys, so yes I am!" Yes, I'm that immature. psycholinguist 1
ColorlessGreen Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 I'd forgotten about this thread. Time to revive it, I think! Personally, I've given up on explaining linguistics to most people. Seems to me most of them don't really want to know - they'd rather go off on a tangent about their own or their children's language-learning experiences than actually learn what it is I'm studying. Sad, but true. In my rich fantasy world, I imagine explaining the field of linguistics and my own interests in painstakingly sharp detail - in Japanese.
Lauren the Librarian Posted January 20, 2010 Posted January 20, 2010 I have a dear aunt who enjoys offering job advice: "You could go work for Sprint/AT&T! They're looking for translators for their customer service department!"
psycholinguist Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 I've been pleasantly surprised lately. Most people still don't know what linguistics really is, but a) they're curious about it, and once I tell them, they say things such as 'That's so cool!' or 'I'd never thought about all of that before!' or even 'Wow, I think I chose the wrong major!' Heh.
psycholinguist Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 And I have no idea where that emoticon came from.
Smaudge Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 I've been pleasantly surprised lately too! A new friend once asked me the difference between a dialect and a language, and when I replied the standard, "an army and a navy", she laughed and said "No, really... you're a linguist, don't you know?". On a separate occasion, I got an entire table to oooh and ahh over my demonstration of the allophones of /p/ (pit vs. tip vs. spit) by holding the edge of a napkin next to my mouth while I said each word. I find that having visual aids makes everything better!
ColorlessGreen Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 I've been pleasantly surprised lately too! A new friend once asked me the difference between a dialect and a language, and when I replied the standard, "an army and a navy", she laughed and said "No, really... you're a linguist, don't you know?". On a separate occasion, I got an entire table to oooh and ahh over my demonstration of the allophones of /p/ (pit vs. tip vs. spit) by holding the edge of a napkin next to my mouth while I said each word. I find that having visual aids makes everything better! Don't let your friends acquire too much linguistic knowledge, or they may become dangerous - one of my friends now introduces me to people by telling them that I can do a bilabial trill. Which, although true, is not necessarily the best way to impress folks.
Lauren the Librarian Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 On a separate occasion, I got an entire table to oooh and ahh over my demonstration of the allophones of /p/ (pit vs. tip vs. spit) by holding the edge of a napkin next to my mouth while I said each word. I find that having visual aids makes everything better! Recently I've been keeping my 5 year old entertained with vocalization "experiments". We cup our hands on each other's throats to feel the difference between /d/ and /t/ or /p/ and /b/. And place of articulation came in handy a couple of weeks ago when trying to curb her disrespectful habit of sticking out her tongue.
fuzzylogician Posted January 23, 2010 Posted January 23, 2010 My new favorite way to answer (just tried it out for the first time yesterday): Clueless person: You're a linguist? So how many languages do you speak? Me: It depends. By 'speak', do you mean 'able to read literary texts', 'able to watch TV', 'able to buy fish at the market', 'can tell you about the case system', 'can tell you what the phoneme inventory is', 'learned in class', 'done field work on', 'wrote a paper about' ... because each of those has a different answer. Clueless person: ... Me: See, the thing is, it's not really about the number of languages you can speak... fuzzylogician, ColorlessGreen, pangur-ban and 1 other 4
ColorlessGreen Posted January 23, 2010 Posted January 23, 2010 My new favorite way to answer (just tried it out for the first time yesterday): Clueless person: You're a linguist? So how many languages do you speak? Me: It depends. By 'speak', do you mean 'able to read literary texts', 'able to watch TV', 'able to buy fish at the market', 'can tell you about the case system', 'can tell you what the phoneme inventory is', 'learned in class', 'done field work on', 'wrote a paper about' ... because each of those has a different answer. Clueless person: ... Me: See, the thing is, it's not really about the number of languages you can speak... Love this. I am going to use this the next time someone asks me this question. Will report back on results.
ColorlessGreen Posted January 25, 2010 Posted January 25, 2010 I didn't get to use fuzzylogician's idea after all. The sneaky inquirer asked "What language are you specializing in?" instead. I told him that I wasn't specializing in any language and then began a short lecture on the subfields of linguistic study. Scared him off right quick.
fuzzylogician Posted January 25, 2010 Posted January 25, 2010 I didn't get to use fuzzylogician's idea after all. The sneaky inquirer asked "What language are you specializing in?" instead. I told him that I wasn't specializing in any language and then began a short lecture on the subfields of linguistic study. Scared him off right quick. Oh well, there's always next time
psycholinguist Posted January 25, 2010 Posted January 25, 2010 My new favorite way to answer (just tried it out for the first time yesterday): Clueless person: You're a linguist? So how many languages do you speak? Me: It depends. By 'speak', do you mean 'able to read literary texts', 'able to watch TV', 'able to buy fish at the market', 'can tell you about the case system', 'can tell you what the phoneme inventory is', 'learned in class', 'done field work on', 'wrote a paper about' ... because each of those has a different answer. Clueless person: ... Me: See, the thing is, it's not really about the number of languages you can speak... Hehe! So awesome!
willspires Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 "How many languages do you speak?" I am asked 3 times a week. I don't speak Latin or Hebrew or Greek These are the answer that I seek: What properties do languages share? Which characteristics are unique? That is why I may take you to task Or even your nose I may tweak If at a party you should ask. "How many langugages do you speak" (From my professor Dr. Shirley Sliver's old bulletin board at SSU)
Triple Tall Cappuccino Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 I guess I'm joining this forum a tad late, huh? My favorite quote from one of my professors is this: "People believe that since they speak a language, they are experts in it. Just because you have a heart doesn't make you a cardiologist!" I've seen this play out time and time again. I hear people on the Metro blabbing on and on about how AAVE is bad English, how Cuban Spanish is the sh*tty Spanish, and so forth. I actually turned around once and told her Italian was lazy Latin. And she agreed... smh. LOL
Triple Tall Cappuccino Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 Oh, and in regards to the stereotypical question: "I speak Spanish, English, Japanese, and Italian". "...That's it? I thought you people were supposed to know almost all the languages."
psycholinguist Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 I guess I'm joining this forum a tad late, huh? Nah. There's just a high member-turnover-rate since this whole 'grad-school admissions' thing happens every year. A few of us have stuck around. Welcome!
Triple Tall Cappuccino Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 Thanks! Our Linguistics section looked a little lonely.
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