Socially taboo questions to ask graduate students

One thing I've learned while in graduate school is that there are some things better left unsaid, or in this case, unasked. For example, qualifying exams. Never, ever ask a second year currently preparing for their qualifying exam how the studying is going. If you meet a second year in the hall (they can be identified by the appearance of being totally and completely stressed, overdosed on caffeine and capable of updating you on all recent daytime tv shows), a simple nod and look of sympathy will do. After qualifying exams, graduate school research projects begin for real. Which really means that the true meaning of failure is learned. Never, ever ask a graduate student how their research is going. If it's going well, they will probably tell you forthright. If not, they definitely don't want to talk about it. And finally, never ever ask a fifth or sixth year graduate student what they are going to do after they graduate or worse ask the presumptious question: so where are you planning on doing your postdoc? Such questions are cruel and unnecessary.