# One-Syllable Challenge: What Do You Do For A Living? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610 "2004-03-26T18:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/41 "2004-03-26T21:46:43Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > I think he used “word part” because syllable has more than one syllable! He was trying to get into the spirit of the game! Yet again I miss the point. I thought he said word part because he was describing the meaning of a syllable to himself. It was his previous post that suggested he didn’t know. Anyway. Here’s hoping there be more one-syllable challenge threads!! ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/42 "2004-03-26T21:59:48Z")
I make small planes fly in the air. We go get sick folk and take them home. They are pleased to go home. We were in Prague this month. We took the sick man to Maine. It is cool. We like it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/43 "2004-03-26T22:09:51Z")
I work with folks who have flats they want to rent to folks who need to rent flats. When this is done, the folks who rent the flats pay the rent to us and we send it to the folks who have the flats to rent. We go to court when the folks who rent the flats do not pay. We fix things that go wrong in the flats, too. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/44 "2004-03-26T22:12:21Z")
I work for a group that sells films and games to stores, so the stores can sell them to folks like you. My job is to call or e folks that work for the stores and make them give me cash they owe my firm. I hate my job and the boss of my boss of my boss. StG ---
**Author:** ![caymus28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@caymus28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caymus28)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/45 "2004-03-26T22:14:21Z")
I build walls, paint, and fix things in a house. I sell this house in it’s new state for more cash. I keep cash, and smile. I drink wine and rate it. Guys and girls buy wine based on what I say. I keep cash, and smile with red teeth! ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/46 "2004-03-26T22:15:48Z")
I work for a small mag for brides. I bill for ads. When folks pay for the ads, I take their dough and put it in the bank. I pay the bills for my boss. I file, too. When folks think their bill is wrong, or when they won’t pay, I have to talk to them on the phone. I make sure the folks I work with get paid. In short, I keep the books for the place where I work. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/47 "2004-03-26T22:29:18Z")
I sell the stuff that runs, ummm, the stuff in that place. You know, the one that lends books? Yeah, that one. A guy writes code and puts it on a disk and we ship it to them and they put it in their box with wires and it makes it do cool stuff like lend books. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/48 "2004-03-26T22:29:18Z")
I teach new sales reps for a big tech biz. It’s a lot of fun and my “peeps” seem to like me a lot, so I guess I’m good at it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/49 "2004-03-26T22:35:23Z")
Know what is sad? The small words in this thread are in my head and when I read a thread that is not this thread I think I will see small words there, too. And then I think how big their words are! and then I think that I am dumb to think that they will use small words and that is sad. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/50 "2004-03-26T22:38:04Z")
I cut cow brains to bits then mix with hot stuff (not hot like July, but hot like nukes). I do this to see if parts of the brains of drunks might work in odd ways due to the loss of some parts of the cell walls of brains, or even (gasp!) a gain of some stuff to these cell walls. I do this work since no one really knows quite why drunks act as they do. But, as you might guess, this work is too much fun; I shall soon glow in the dark! ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/51 "2004-03-26T22:39:48Z")
I make chips for cell phones. Not the phones per se, but the tall thing the phone sends its waves to. The chips take the waves and find the sounds in them and send the sounds through a wire to the old wire phone lines. Then the chips take the sounds in the phone lines and send them out in the air to the cell phones. ---
**Author:** ![Catfood\_Purrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Catfood\_Purrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catfood_Purrito)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/52 "2004-03-26T22:42:00Z")
I play tapes of what the docs said and read what was typed. I mark what is wrong and take points off. Then I tell the one who typed it what they did wrong and tell them how to do their job right. I train new folks too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/53 "2004-03-26T22:56:18Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > I cut cow brains to bits then mix with hot stuff (not hot like **July** , but hot like nukes). I do this to see if parts of the brains of drunks might work in odd ways due to the loss of some parts of the cell walls of brains, or even (gasp!) a gain of some stuff to these cell walls. I do this work since no one **really** knows quite why drunks act as they do. > > But, as you might guess, this work is too much fun; I shall soon glow in the dark! I think you might have a nip or two while at work. Two things that don’t play by the rules in your post! ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/54 "2004-03-26T22:59:52Z")
I help folks who are in jail get out, or keep them out in the first place. If you don’t like your spouse, I can get rid of the bum for you and get you your kids and your stuff back. If you are in debt up to your ass, I can make some of that debt go bye bye. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/55 "2004-03-26T23:06:36Z")
I print out and send mail to folks who don’t pay their bills. I also file and make calls. Yes, it’s as dull as it sounds. At least I get to wear what I want to! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/56 "2004-03-26T23:39:17Z")
I teach folks who work here what to do with their files: how to sort them, which ones need to be kept (and for how long) and which ones should be thrown out. I have a big room with lots of shelves where files can be stored, and each box of files that is sent to us is tracked with a bar code. When the time comes for some file or group of files to be purged, we take care of each step. My big task right now is to make a tool that takes files and scans them so that folks can view them on their screens. So far it works quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/57 "2004-03-26T23:49:23Z")
Ouch, **Kizarvexius**. One illegal word, repeated six times. You need to come up with a new way to say “files”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/58 "2004-03-27T00:08:41Z")
**Hal** , I must protest. “File” can be pronounced with one or two syllables. You may say [fyl] or [fy-ul]. Admittedly the distinction can be an extremely fine one, but I contend that the syllabic “L” is not mandatory for all dialects of American English. And the only alternative for “files” I could come up with was “docs”, which seemed to be cheating. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/59 "2004-03-27T00:16:05Z")
I read stuff, think, then write stuff. I want to get a pee aitch dee. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610/60 "2004-03-27T00:23:58Z")
Learn. Doh. My bad. I see you say one per word not just one at all. This is then not as hard as I did guess. But it is lots of fun. In life I learn at uni and boss guys lend me dough to eat (no pun meant) but soon I will have learnt all I need and then I will get a job. I think I will code then. I’m sad that I guess I will, but I hope I have not gone to more than one in a word yet, or that I do not lose it at the penultimate word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-syllable-challenge-what-do-you-do-for-a-living/236610.md?page=4)