Question for our American friends..

I say I'm majoring in physics and people get this amazed look on their face.

I guess physics takes a lot of math? Maybe, I never had a problem with it...

I also say I'm majoring in EE, which I suppose is more specific than "engineer" (which might include those that drive and possibly maintain trains).

Tim

Absolutely! Only *real* engineers drive trains.

Where the hell did the word engineer get mixed up with a train driver? Even in the UK where engineers are classed as toilet cleaners things are not that bad.

Hardy

Sanitation engineers! ha.

Friend of mine had a problem with British Gas. The customer dept said they'd send an engineer to fix it, and if the engineer couldn't fix it they'd send a technician.

Now, that sounds plausible :)

At cocktail parties, when asked what I do for a living, I reply, "I make chips". You should see the looks on their faces ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Here, a half hour drive from Silicon Valley, they usually look reasonably impressed and generally ask "what kind?", meaning electrical, mechanical, computer, things like that. There are lots of engineers around here, and it would be unusual to find one who *does* drive a train.

Engineers are pretty well up on the middle-class status scale here, more datable than, say, lawyers.

John

We have "stationary engineers" here, operators of boilers and HVAC systems, essentially machines that don't move.

I suppose "stationery engineers" design paper products.

John

I react by saying that I'm an engineer. If you mean how do *they* react, it varies. Most are simply happy with the answer. Some want to know what kind and what I do. I answer "electrical" and "I design things", I may even say what kinds of things I'm working on.

Not once. Sounds like fun though.

The engineer was trained to safely operate & repair a steam powered locomotive, AKA 'Engine'.

What kind of lathe do you own?

I tell them I'm an enginerd. They assume I write software. At least assuming that one drives a train isn't insulting.

It's an old metalworking joke, when someone refers to 'making chips'. :)

The same thing, in Ohio in the mid '60s.

I have done a little, but I can't find one that I can afford, and find room for. The last one I looked at had a 5 HP three phase motor, and was about 14 feet long. I could have had it for the scrap price, but it would fill an entire bay in the garage.

Probably because he was the guy who operated the engine. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

HardySpicer wrote in news:ce7a1de5-a02d-481e-9fe7- snipped-for-privacy@a3g2000prm.googlegroups.com:

I guess it's like "rocketeer" or "wagoneer" - the person who handles the item. The engineer didn't work the train, but specifically, controlled the engine.

I think it might be different from the origin of the otehr types of engineer. Wht I found was this: [Middle English enginour, from Old French engigneor, from Medieval Latin ingenitor, contriver, from ingenire, to contrive, from Latin ingenium, ability; see engine.]

HTH

Late at night, by candle light, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax penned this immortal opus:

I can believe that. Here in Brazil most engineers just sit on their fat asses and look important. Us technicians is what get things working.

- YD.

The rest of the train is supposed to go pretty much where the engine does. BTW, the fireman's job wasn't to put out the fire. ;-)

See the last word.