What people think a mandolin is...

[journeybear]

While discussion of ignorance and misinformation is all good and well, and we who know what a mandolin is need not be bothered with such trifles as what people think a mandolin is, as the pie chart purports to indicate in a hamfisted attempt at humor, I wonder whether the OP would care to share with us its source. Perhaps context would add some clarity and focus to the meanderings it has inspired.

[bratsche]

A hamfisted attempt at humor, really? Well, 79.6% of people, according to the pie chart, purportedly think a mandolin is "a small orange". I find that hilarious, because it implies that if the results were based on a verbally-conducted survey, the person asking the question would certainly have had to use the... if you'll pardon the expression... "hick" pronunciation of MANdolin, in order to obtain that answer most frequently.

No, I don't know where the thing came from, and I definitely didn't create it, but it is quite funny, IMO.

Or else I just have a warped sense of humor. (At least it's funnier than 96.7% of viola jokes.)

bratsche

[Petrus]

A guess a grapefruit would be an octave mandolin then.

[JeffD]

Some might think its an almond.

[DavidKOS]

Some might think its an almond.

Only a bowlback can pass for an almond:

[John Garcia]

That's Electric to you, young man...LOL!

That picture just about says what you find when you get to Pahrump, NV....not much!

Well, there is the Chicken Ranch........

[zedmando]

It's a picture I found online--devoid of context...

[Pasha Alden]

Here in SA they really do in most cases not know what a mandolin is. Even musicians know it's a plucked instrument and that's that The real seasoned musician and avid builder of instruments knows what a mandolin is. When moving house recently, I had to hide my amusement when the labourer assisting with the move saw my mandolin and said: "It looks like a banjo...." Say no more, I said, actually there's quite a difference. They don't even sound similar!

[journeybear]

Or look similar, to refute the misguided mover's point. I mean, really - the banjo is a distinctive looking instrument, with a few quirky and pretty noticeable features - body that looks like a drum, long skinny neck, tuning peg on the neck - and a distinctive sounding one as well. It's hard to mistake any other instrument for one, or vice versa. Unless you're not paying much attention. That's probably the case, I imagine.

[zedmando]

Well I have seen mandolin banjo hybrids...