>Or you're a weirdo who occasionally answers the phone with
>"International
>Transmutual Conglomeration of Associates. How may I direct your
>call?"

Here's some of my examples:

"House of Pain. Jump around."
"Uncle Jiggly's House of Porn."
"Jeff's Cannibal Restaurant, you kill 'em, we grill 'em."

And I've recently come up with what has so far seemed to be an effective anti-telemarketer tactic:

*ring*
Me (Sean): "Hello?"
Voice that I don't know: "May I speak to Sean, please?"
Me: "He's not here right now. May I take a message?"
Voice: "Does he have a wife that I could speak with?" (Alert! Alert! Sales call!)
Me: "I'm afraid not. I can take a message if you'd like."
Voice: "Oh, no, it's just a banking matter." (Translation: attempt to sign me up for a credit card.) "We'll call back another time."

Reasoning:
If it's someone I know, one of us will recognize the other's voice. (And I have a pretty distinctive voice, and a good aural memory.)
If not, and it's someone I know, they'll leave a message, or when they identify themselves I'll say, "Oh, it's me, that's just how I handle telemarketers."
If it's something important but not someone I know (such as something related to my current jobhunt) they'll leave a message.

I do have to admit, though, that by asking me by my first name only, they did put me off guard for a sec. Telemarketers used to ask for me by full name, or "Mr. Simpson." (I used to just hang up on them, but I find this more useful and entertaining.)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog