Hi,
I played Trivial Pursuit a couple of years ago, and I got the question:
What is concidered to be the worlds second oldest occupation/profession?
Of course there was a misprint, so the answer was “1814”…
Are there anyone who knows the correct answer to this?
(FYI: At least in Norway prostitution is generally known (or called) the worlds oldest occupation/profession)
Brewer/winemaker/distiller?
According to one of the pimps in AMERICAN PIMP, the answer was “pimp.” Granted, I’m sure the guy in question had a degree in pimpology, but it sounds good to us laymen.
How about astronomer?
No matter how primitive or advanced a society, the need for accurate timekeeping, calendars, etc would be essential to the functioning of that society. Perhaps if the astronomer was really good, he could predict eclipses and maybe earn a reward from a practitioner of the world’s oldest profession. 
On a more mundane level perhaps *cook is the second oldest profession. Yes, it might be handy to know the exact time and date but most folks would probably settle for a good meal. “Calendar? Schmalendar !!! Bring on the grub!!!”
Predating cook by a bit, how about hunter/gatherer. Takes afew smarts to kill dinner with a pointed stick, or avoiding those nice berries that make the clan fall down and never get up again.
Actually, the misprint is that it should have read “MDCCCXIV”, which is an acronym for the profession (possibly unprintable). Any Latin buffs to help?
I would guess first oldest would be prostitute, then warrior, then priest.
Beggar (somebody had to ask for it).
Hey, it’s an old “Barney Miller” joke.
Consultant. Although some might confuse it with the first oldest profession.
My guess would be that of the moneychanger or banker. After all, someone had to establish the rate of compensation for the sellers of booty, right? 
Pimp has to be wrong-this was way before the invention of the Stutz Bearcat, the Caddy Eldorado convertible, or the diamond stickpin.
I always wondered …
If prostitution was the oldest occupation … Then how did her first client get the money to pay her?
Vice squad, maybe?
Espionage. Espionage is the world’s second oldest profession. I know because it was on the History (or Discovery) Channel onetime and they said it, so I went over to my mom and asked what the first was. Then she sat me down and explained to me that prostitution was the world’s oldest profession, and then she explained to me what prostitution was.
What can I say? Other than
Thanks!!!
Notwithstanding all of the historical claims, I have to ask, “Which came first? The hunter/gatherer or the harlot?”
Would the prostitute be before the warrior, or would the warrior necessitate the prostitute?
Hey, it’s a double edged sword. Which came first? The need to propagate genes or the need to feed the offspring of propagation?
Tripler
I’m personally at a philisophical crossroads.
You’d have to something to trade first for the sexual favors. So wouldn’t prostitution logically be the second or even third after thief / robber?
I don’t think prostitution is that old of a profession, the familar cliche notwithstanding.
Prostitution is known as the oldest profession, not the first profession. If there were professions before prostitution that no longer exist, prostitution could still be the oldest.
That said, isn’t the “world’s oldest profession” thing just a joke anyway?
I’m suprised no one came up with the classic Reagan quote by now:
“I’ve heard it said that politics is the second oldest profession, and I’ve come to realise that it bears a gross similarity to the oldest profession.”
Okay, possibly apocryphal, maybe misquoted, but I still like it. So there.