Thursday, August 21, 2008
Pyndick and Homoskedasticity
Greg Mankiw's blog notes an interview with Bob Pyndick on energy prices. I was a TA for an intermediate micro course, and Pyndick and Rubinfeld was our text. Lots of titters from the class, mainly male, about that guy's name (it's pronounced pin-dick), as they all simultaneously discovered an insanely funny pun. Teaching undergrads, one has to be aware of these things. Ever introduce the term 'homoskedasticity' to a group of non-quants? Immediately lots of funny glances between classmates. I know a 60 year old ex-CEO of a fortune 500 company, and he said he still giggles in his mind when he sees the number "69". Can't help it. Ever listen to an IT guy ask for the female or male end of some electronic wire? Ask if you mounted his hard drive? I can't help but go into the sewer. The 12 year old boy lives in all of us.
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3 comments:
I can't even use the names of certain things when I talk to my plumber because I'm afraid he'll think I'm hitting on him. Some plumbing terms: Ball Cock. Sill Cock. Blow Bag. Self-rimming sink. Discharge tube. Nipple. Male end of the pipe. Female end of the pipe. The Riser.
My favorite: Female to Female Union Joint.
heh. Killer. I guess you have to keep changing names for things as the euphemisms catch up to your old names.
Do you mean that, in the future, "intellectually disadvantaged" will fall out of favor the same way "retarded" did?
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