Confronting Friends and Family

[Hovik]

When you are a professional linguist, I would say. I'm trying to determine how other people define this shit. It confounds me.

At what point does someone become a "professional" anything? What defines professional?

Edit: To take a quick definition from Wikipedia: "A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialized set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, engineers, lawyers, architects and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to nurses, accountants, educators, scientists, technology experts, social workers, artists, librarians (information professionals) and many more."

I am a scientist. I work in a lab. I produce academic literature (not substantive, but it's something). I may not be as experienced or knowledgeable as someone who's spent a decade in the field, but I still fit the bill.