This may confirm what many of you have probably suspected of me, but I'm going to go ahead anyway. When my printer is running--esp. if it's printing something fairly long--my mind often tries to form the sounds it makes into words, or near-words. [gulp] Does anybody else do this, or am I just...NO, I do NOT think my printer is talking! Certainly not to me, anyway! It varies the sounds it makes, but an example is when it repeats a kind of extended whine followed by a ker-chunk, it can sound almost like it's saying hurree-up, hurree-up.
Is this anthropomorphizing, or just me being weird in yet another unique way?

um, no, but the washing machine sometimes goes for a walk...

I think your printer is exhibiting signs of EVP...

no, but my scanner often gives me the evil eye.
-joe bfstplk

This sounds familiar to me, in a much more general sense. Seemingly random sounds emitted by many of our appliances that are in daily use have more diagnostic or informative content than we are conscious of. And if I put a steak in the frying pan, the sound tells me just as much as the sight or smell, if it will be ok.

Remember pareidolia?

http://home.mn.rr.com/wwftd/pq.htm#pareidolia

Even the smallest of sounds that a machine makes has a *story behind it... if you're listening. A hard ratcheting sound made by a printer often means a bearing on a drive roller has worn and the teeth are *slipping across each other instead of meshing as they should. The sound made by an internal combustion engine whose air/petrol mixture is too rich or too lean (with petrol) will make distinct sounds which mechanics trained to adjust carburetors rely upon and adjust for/against accordingly. Although the *dirty white noise coming from the servers in my office aren't necesarilly telling me they are running, it is an eerie, lonely silence on the days when I have the opportunity to shut them all off. I know the sound of a computer hard drive's actuator arm that is out of alignment/failing and also a cooling fan being overcome by dust or internal wires have fallen against the spinning blades.... they are all cries for help!

Jackie, your only concern is that you're starting to talk back... but singing along with your printer (especially a dot matrix printer spitting out a spread sheet) is OK.

> singing along with your printer

when I've got a good run going on the copier I can't help but play along...

your only concern is that you're starting to talk back Hey--who told? Awwright, you, c'mere a minute...
Oh, yeah--I don't know what a spread sheet is.

http://mathforum.org/sum95/math_and/spreadsheets/basics.html

Thanks! Ok, a spreadsheet is a ledger in your computer. Got it.

Don't worry Jackie, it's only because there aren't enough birds around. Check out a bird book sometime for the descriptions of bird songs. The robin? says cheery-up and I've never figured out why they would whip-poor-will.
(and the fog horn near my university used to call "BOR-RING" while we tried to study.)