# When you meet someone for the first time, what obvious thing do they point out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156 "2007-05-07T21:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/41 "2007-05-08T03:56:53Z")
Wow. I must be pretty bland. There’s nothing that most people I meet tend to point out about me. Maybe I should try to be more interesting. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/42 "2007-05-08T04:44:04Z")
“Are you related to (famous athlete)”? Har, har, I’ve never heard that one before. Yes I am related to someone who is a completely different race than me, and spells his surname differently. I also get people saying that I look young quite frequently. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/43 "2007-05-08T04:50:45Z")
“Wow, your English is good!” I got this more in Korea than I do here, although I do run into the occasional person who automatically assumes I’m an international student. I always feel like saying, “Thank you, yours isn’t too bad either.” ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/44 "2007-05-08T05:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] My IRL name is pretty goofy. I’m always impressed by people who _DON’T_ comment on it. I’m generally quite sarcastic if someone makes a stupid name joke (if they just comment, or say “What a neat name!” I just smile and say thank you). The best is when I very sarcastically say “Wow! I’ve never heard that one before!” and the person, totally cluelessly says “Really!” and then acts all smug and clever. This is particularly amusing if there are other people around who get the sarcasm. We then all have a good laugh at Clueless Person’s expense. Why yes, I am a total bitch. 😃 [/QUOTE] **Alice** , you have a lovely name. I have an aunt with the same first name. if any of the clueless idiots give you trouble send them my way, I will give them an attitude adjustment. I get the gee you are really smart comment a lot. Then I come here and am humbled by some of the really smart people. It keeps me from getting a swelled head. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/45 "2007-05-08T05:18:40Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] For many decades, my hair was waist-length. It always amazed and amused me that so many people would say “You sure do have long hair,” as if I wasn’t aware of this fact. I was tempted to look surprised and say “Whoa, I have long hair? When did that happen?” [/QUOTE] I get this all the time and I have made comments like that back. ---
**Author:** ![Li\_l\_Pluck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee59a6/32.png) [@Li\_l\_Pluck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Li_l_Pluck)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/46 "2007-05-08T06:11:39Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] “Holy cow, I am humbled to stand before the sex god that is you.” Well, they _should._ [/QUOTE] You crack me the hell up, **Cervaise**! 🙂 For me, it’s usually: 1. That I look like (a) Laurence Fishburne (I wish–that man is truly sexy); (b) Samuel L. Jackson, or (not too often) (c) Will Smith. (That I resemble either of these gentlemen has never been obvious to me, but it is something that people mention when they mention my looks at all.) 2. Depending on how I’m talking that day (or at a particular moment in a particular day), that I have a Southern accent (happens only when I’m outside of the South, obviously, which is 90-some-odd % of the time). I’ve gotten “You must be from Alabama/Texas/Southern Virginia.” And once, Washington, D.C. I don’t recall that anyone who’s not from South Carolina has ever guessed South Carolina. 3. Or, if my Gullah-influenced accent and speech pattern are noticeable, that I sound like I “could be from the islands.” Funny, since I generally speak that way only around my family and certain close friends. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/47 "2007-05-08T06:17:03Z")
When people call me short, I always tell them something like “My brain weighs me down.” ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/48 "2007-05-08T07:51:22Z")
You’re from the North! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/edb3f5/32.png) [@Freudian\_Push\_Up\_Bra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Push_Up_Bra)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/49 "2007-05-08T08:55:25Z")
I look about four or five years older than I am (just turned 18) and the usual response is “wow, you look a lot older. You could totally get into nightclubs and stuff.” Yeah, I could, but why bother? “But you totally could!” But why? “Coz you so wouldn’t get carded!” Go away, you’re wasting my oxygen. And the smart thing comes up: Person 1: So how does \ work? Me: \ P1: …Wow. You’re like a pit of useless knowledge! Me: Well it wasn’t fucking useless if it answered your question then is it? Usually Person 1 was in my friendship group. It occasionally became ‘useless pit of knowledge’ and I occasionally inflicted pain. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/50 "2007-05-08T08:59:29Z")
“Wow, you look just like Prince Edward - you could make loads of money from that” -Well, I used to get that a lot - we don’t look so similar nowadays, but back when I used to get this a lot, my reply was always “and how?” ---
**Author:** ![Dinaroozie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Dinaroozie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinaroozie)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/51 "2007-05-08T10:41:23Z")
Gotta add to the list of people for whom it is “Wow, you’re tall.” Sometimes it’s “Wow, you’re thin”, and occasionally “Wow, you have long hair”. Surprisingly often, I am told that I have pianist’s hands, or that my hands are in some other way cool. A few times I have been told that I look like Napoleon Dynamite. Not so sure I agree, but I plan to continue taking it as a compliment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/52 "2007-05-08T11:49:13Z")
I get “You sound English” quite a lot. Less often, I get “Why are you putting on that accent?” That never ends well. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/53 "2007-05-08T12:09:50Z")
If it comes up that I work at a college, many people say “Wow, you must love having summers off!” Lord knows I would if I did. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/54 "2007-05-08T12:20:50Z")
I dont mind so much when most new people I meet come up with _“So, you’re english, right?”_ and then follow with some joke, because _you_ can have something trully witty and clever to respond with and at that point they’ll either think you’re clever and verbose or realise that you get it all the time and apologise! When I meet someone who’s got an obvious, ‘witty’ joke that can be made, I normally try and make light of it some other way. One of my student haunts round here is a bar called the Primary and my favourite barmaid is called Stella. (If that loses anything in translation, one of the most popular lagers here is Stella ‘Wifebeater’ Artois, just normally called Stella). When I first met her, she introduced herself as Stella I smiled in the ‘obviously holding back a joke kind of way’. _“Go on, I’ve heard it all before…”_, she said so I replied; _“…no, I was just wondering whether it’s worth coming up with a Streetcar quip instead of the booze one, or if you’d just think I was gay for bringin up musicals…”_. Seemed to work quite well, I always get served first in a queue! ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/55 "2007-05-08T12:28:19Z")
My first name is Leah. Not Leia. People “misprounounce” it when they hear it. When I was younger and cheekier, I usually said something like “Do you see buns on my head? No? That’s because I’m not a princess from far far away.” ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/56 "2007-05-08T12:43:08Z")
I have a nice, long, unpronouncable Ukrainian last name. 11 letters and only two vowels. The routine is almost always exactly the same. “Woah, I’m not even going to try to say your name”, followed by asking “Did you have trouble learning how to spell it when you were in Kindergarten?” Finally, they explain how people are always butchering their last name too, despite how simple it appears (yeah, I’m sure lots of people have trouble with “Smith”). ---
**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:** [May 8, 2007, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/57 "2007-05-08T12:49:24Z")
Anyone who knows either of my sisters says “You look just like her.” Which is odd because my two sisters do not look like each other at all. I also get “You’re so pale” a lot.l ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/58 "2007-05-08T12:50:41Z")
Name in a song… check. “Are you sure you’re from Spain? You sound American.” Most often heard if I’m not tired and have been spending a lot of time with Americans. Given how easily and unintentionally I seem to acquire accents, I suspect that a few months in Edinburgh could get me remarks about men in kilts. “Hey, your Spanish is very good!” Thank you, next time I renew my passport I’ll make sure to inform the Spanish government. I’ve had several US immigration officers insisting that I had to line up with the US Nationals based on “not looking Spanish” (uh, we don’t look like Cantinflas, at least us chicks don’t), but I don’t quite think that INS or whatever they’re called now would agree. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/59 "2007-05-08T13:28:38Z")
I get the way skinny comments, and the short ones, and the “Wow, you look young!” all the time. The tribeca! ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156/60 "2007-05-08T13:39:39Z")
The comment I get often that annoys me to no end is “Are those your real eyes?” WHAT??? If I’m tired and cranky I’ll just smile back, won’t even bother to reply. But often I’ll say “No I borrowed them before going out tonight”. I usually know what they mean but come on, ask the question properly, it’s all I ask 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-meet-someone-for-the-first-time-what-obvious-thing-do-they-point-out/403156.md?page=4)