phrase meaning - What does "Last yeer I kudn't spel Engineer. Now I are won." mean


In the end of the slashdot.org(on 23rd jan 2015) website page there is quote



Last yeer I kudn't spel Engineer. Now I are won



what does it mean, especially the second part Now I are won.



Answer



Translation:



Last year I couldn't even spell "engineer" and now I am one.



This is an ancient joke—it was already current in a variety of forms when I was an undergraduate in the 1960s.


It pretends to mock the presumed communicative incompetence of engineering graduates, because their coursework emphasizes mathematics and rarely requires mastery of English style; but in fact it is largely current among engineers themselves, flaunted as a badge of their superiority to impractical and ineffective students of the humanities. These days you may see the variant "Last year I couldn't even spell 'Programmer' ..."


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