If someone at work sees your copy of [x-RPG product]...

[Angcuru]

Well, I usually don't take my D&D books anywhere, since I do all of my gaming-related stuff at home or at friend's homes. It's a hobby to me. The only books I take anywhere are stuff like Brian Jacques's Stuff, Tolkein's Stuff, T.A.Barron's Stuff, Beowulf, The Princess Bride, assorted classics(Go Robinson Crusoe!).

Usaully when I say its D&D some people have heard of it and then ask

"Isn't that the devil worshipping game?"

On the odd occasion that I get a comment like this I usually reply: "Isn't Elvis going to hell for shaking his hips?" or the like.

Since I work in a call centre taking inbound tech support calls, I don't usually have to do too much explaining about my PHB or whatever gaming material I have on my desk. Usually it's one of three scenarios:
*snip*
3)
co-worker: What's that?
me: a Dungeons and Dragons book.
co-worker: (laughs out loud) Ha!. Nerd!

The third option is pretty rare around here, but still happens from time to time. Actually, a running joke between me and a buddy who also games is to refer to any gaming material as "nerd stuff" ("You reading your nerd book again, nerd?")

Huh. I occasionally get replies like this when some jacka**, sually a jock, overhears me explaining gaming to an iterested party. To which I reply:

"If D&D is a hobby for nerds, then I suppose football is for overly-muscled simpletons who like to throw a skinned pig back and forth accross a big grassy field all day. Now unless you would like to have roleplaying explained to you, why don't you go belittle someone else, like the cowardly simpleton you are."

Surprisingly, no one tried to knock my teeth in. Probably because of that good non-afraid staring down I give them while saying it. Never got into a single fight, despite the way I would always ask people to back up any threats they would make. Or maybe it was because I was always cracking my knuckles. Unconcious habit, that one.

I say:"It's a role playing game"

To which they say:"Wazzat ?"

To which I reply:"It's a social table game. It's like reading a novel, but you get to decide how the story develops."

This usually intrigues/hook the listener.

I usually say "It's sort of like an interactive book. One guy tells us what's going on, and he's sort of like the author, while we're the characters. He tells the jist of the story, we add to it, and the dice help us out when we need to see how something works out."