Poll answers

[pne]

OK, here are the answers to the poll I had recently about how you perceive me (as well as the companion poll).

1. What sex am I?
Correct answer: You all got "male" correct.

2. How old am I?
Mean: 26.40 Median: 26
Correct answer: 28

3. How tall am I (in cm)?
Mean: 176.50 Median: 176
Correct answer: 179 (70.5" or 5'10.5")

4. How much do I weigh (in kg)?
Mean: 77 Median: 79
Correct answer: before Christmas - 79. Now more like 81. (174-178 lb)

5. What is my native language? (Choose as many as you think apply.)
Correct answer: English and German. (Again, all of you got that right.)

6. What colour are my eyes?
Correct answer: Brown

7. What colour is my hair?
Most people guessed some shade of brown.
Correct answer: Brown with a bit of red. When I had a beard for a while, it was quite reddish but I don't think it shows in my hair.

8. What is my favourite colour?
Two votes for green, two for blue, and one for blue/black.
Correct answer: I don't know! I was curious to see what people think. But I never know what to answer when people ask me whether I have a favourite colour or favourite number. Stella thinks that green is my favourite colour, though, so those who voted for that can feel they've got it right :)

9. What style clothes do I wear?
Most people guessed something like "Casual slacks and shirt".
Correct answer: Usually jeans, a T-shirt, and a (casual) shirt on top of that. I love shirts because I need pockets to carry a calender, pens, and note cards for random scribblings in! When it gets warmer, I drop the T-shirt underneath my shirt, rather than the shirt over the T-shirt. (What are "slacks", though, and how do they differ from "pants/trousers"?)

10. What is my job/profession?
Most people guessed something with computers or "being smart".
Correct answer: I'm a software developer for a fairly small company that makes custom software for other companies.

11. I am currently...
Correct answer: Married. All those who answered this one got it right.

12. I have ... children...
Correct answer: 0. Same here.

Thank you to those who had a go at answering the questions!

Comments

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

"Pants/trousers" includes "slacks," which are kind of business-type pants that would be part of a suit, as opposed to khakis or jeans.

So I have to ask: how weird was it for you to have all the Americans in the group talking about what kind of pants you wear?

pants

[pne.livejournal.com]

how weird was it for you to have all the Americans in the group talking about what kind of pants you wear?

Sorry, you've lost me. Which Americans? Which group? Talking where? (In the poll results (http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=91125&qid=9&mode=ans), only the words "slacks" and "khakis" came up, not "pants" -- were you referring to that?)

And if you were referring to the British/US discrepancy in meaning of the word "pants": that doesn't bother me since the British meaning is not part of my vocabulary (or rather, has only been part of my passive vocabulary for a couple of years now). It's not a word I learned as a child.

Probably similar to how a couple of vulgar words have no emotional impact for me since I didn't learn them "in context" while growing up, so they're "just words" to me.

Re: pants

[sparkofcreation.livejournal.com]

*nods* I assumed that the English you'd learned was British (mostly because you're in Europe, but also 'cause that's how you spell).

I admit I didn't really read over the survey results, I just assumed that Americans (by "the Americans" I meant "... who answered the surveys") would have used the word "pants" (though I know I said "khakis"). I know that my friends who've learned British English, both online and IRL, still look slightly amused when I say it.

Re: pants

[pne.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I learned British (from my father who is English).

When I got to school, my pronunciation was influenced to a fairly large extent by Americans, but my grammar and spelling (and, to a large extent, vocabulary) remained British. (I can still speak a reasonable approximation to a British accent when I'm surrounded by British speakers, though.)

The first meaning of "pants" I learned was "American word for what we call 'trousers'", similar to words such as "sidewalk" or "faucet", which I understand but don't use. (I didn't learn "faucet" until relatively late -- when I was 19 or so.) The British meaning I learned even later and it also falls into the same category ("it means [meaning] in [place]" but I don't use it myself). The first association I make when I hear the word is the American meaning.

"Panties", on the other hand, is different -- that's lower-body underwear, generally V-shaped (i.e. not with long legs), and especially for children. (In my mind, at least.) But for some reason I don't associate that word with "pants".