Because this is too funny not to share.

[feuervogel]

Over on facebook, Friend A posted a link to this article with the lead in

what? we all know Persians aren't really Arabs. Duh! The Prince of Persia movie that just came out had a white guy as the lead.

Because I wasn't sure Friend A knows that Persians really aren't Arabs, I commented to that point. Then the following exchange occurred.

Friend B: I thought Persians were extinct?
Me: They're called Iranians now.
Friend B: ok...so what are dinosaurs called?
Me: Oil.

(Yes, that's a bit of a simplification and elision on my part re Iran/Persia, but it's facebook wall commentary, not the encyclopedia.)

He just *handed* me the perfect line, and I had to take it. I never bring the funny, and "Oil" has 2 likes now. I just had to record this for posterity: I had a snappy comeback.

Comments

[krait]

Zing! (Also, "extinct Persians" is going to crack me up all day tomorrow -- I volunteer at an animal shelter, and the cat room I work with has two Persians in it. Guess what I'm going to tell them!)

Although the biologist who lives in my brain says that the real answer is "birds"! :D

[faithful-summer.livejournal.com]

I have a friend whose father was from Iran and mother was American. She still prefers to use the term "Persian" to describe her ancestry. I wonder if that's common.

[a-nightengale.livejournal.com]

Apropos of your "oil" comeback:
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/04/21/fake-science-how-to-solve-the-fossil-fuel-crisis-pic/

FWIW, I never have the right thing to say at the right moment, either. So congrats! :)