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"Coming out" about conlanging to people

From:David Peterson <digitalscream@...>
Date:Sunday, July 22, 2001, 8:38
    As I told you yesterday, I presented my mother the children's book in
eight languages (six real, two mine) today, and I received the absolute
strangest reaction from one person.  I could have never imagined it.
    I was talking to someone else, and an aunt of mine (who doesn't see me
often) was looking at the book and my girlfriend was at hand.  This aunt came
to my first language (Megdevi, with an Arabic-like script) and became very
confused and said, "What's this one?"  My girlfriend said, "Oh, that's a
language David made."  To which she simply replied, "Oh, I see".  Totally
satisfied, not confused or perturbed at all, didn't even raise another
question in her.  She just saw a language she couldn't recognize, and she
must have thought something like, "Oh, he made it, that's why I don't
recognize it."  I imagined any number of reactions from the apathetic to the
mildly amused to the outlandishly offended; this I hadn't planned for.

-David

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Bryan Maloney <bjm10@...>