Discussion on answer by BillOnne: Is it valid to feel uncomfortable with questions unrelated to the grading of your performance?

@Bill Have you heard of the "use/mention distinction"? It's perfectly OK to explain something offensive, because we all know you aren't trying to hit on us when you explain it. I would very much like to know. I'm American and spent time living in Canada and have no idea how it's a pickup line. Thanks!

But "where were you born?" is a pickup line - I understand that this question can carry some very dangerous implications in some parts of the world (e.g., if you're born in the wrong ethnic/political/religious environment for the majority/power-holders), but in other places it's at least intended as a perfectly benign acknowledgment that people in an online seminar can potentially be from anywhere and it's a recognition of that diversity of experience, not an attempt to start a romantic interaction.