Is There a Linguist in the House?

We earlier witnessed those heroic beings, the Linguists, profiled in outline against an evening sky, saving the world for Democracy:

http://worldofdrjustice.blogspot.com/2011/10/q-why-do-linguists-wear-capes.html

The latest example is currently in movie theatres, in the fine film “Argo”.

Here, a half-dozen American employees of our Embassy in Tehran, managed to escape the hostage-taking, and are hiding out in the house of a Canadian diplomat.  Tempers fray.   One guy in particular is a bit of a carbuncle, and resists the roles thrust on them by CIA guy Ben Affleck (true story).   Only, when push comes to shove, and the group is taking heavy flack from the Revolutionary Guards, the guy pipes up in Farsi -- the only one of the group that speaks it -- and saves the day.

The typical Hollywood reflex is:  black-sheep/ugly-duckling turns out to be a swan, but usually in some physically heroic way.   Fluency in Farsi is not normally the ticket to stardom.   So when linguists see a scene like this, they tend to become hard in body-parts normally flaccid.

Good flick;  don’t miss it.