On 5/1/2010 10:57 PM, Joe Pfeiffer wrote:
writes:

(...)

Our 'cupped hand' guy understands the concept all too well and needs
to communicate that you are beneath contempt and certainly not
a social equal.

Ah, got it -- you didn't mention he was looking down his nose at you,
with occasional glances at a nearby bottle of hand sanitizer, at the
same time.

Might as well have been. Hopefully you've never run into the type.


And then of course we have the "holds your hand so long you start
wondering if he wants you to be his boyfriend"

Heh! Never did that one.

In fairness, there is a cultural thing here -- europeans tend to start a
long conversation about your latest research while still pumping your
hand.

Ah. There are worse sins, I suppose.

If we keep this going much longer, we may be able to submit a paper to
the Annals of Improbable Research (formerly the Journal of
Irreproducible Results)...

I like their former name a lot better. Too witty!

And, again in fairness, there is also a new JIR. But the whole former
editorial staff (who I think is probably just the editor) is over at
AIR.

I am happy that the name lives on. It is a classic!

--Winston