[sic]
Sat Feb 25, 2006 16:46 EST (UTC -5)Junior high school, usually sixth to eighth grade, marks a big change in your education. For the first time, you're taught by not a single teacher, but by many. And having many teachers means that you have to get to know each one. Each has her or his own quirks. Some are mean, some are funny, some get tongue-tied a lot, and others are a combination of the three.
When I started sixth grade in 2000, what I feared most was the history teacher, Mrs. Albert. I had heard things about her, you see. From what I understood, she was like the teacher from the black lagoon. So there I was in her class at the beginning of the year, and she asked me, "Where is the Tropic of Crapricorn?" Yes, "Crapricorn." I tried not to laugh as I told her it was in the Southern Hemisphere.
Soon I realized that more than one of my new teachers were prone to such verbal slip-ups. I started keeping track of these "teacherisms" by scribbling them down as I heard them in class and adding them to a text file on my computer. The list grew until 2003, when I finished eighth grade and started high school. I was expecting more teacherisms in ninth grade, but my new teachers actually seemed to have their heads screwed on straight.
Since I started this site I've meant to post this list of classic junior high teacherisms, but I hadn't really been reminded of it until this semester, now that I have a teacher who makes similar slips of the tongue. (I intend to start collecting quotations from him, so maybe I'll post them someday.) Without further ado, here are a few of the funny and sometimes bizarre things I heard my teachers say in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.
"Sixteen and a half Americans died in World War II from 1941 to 1945."
"There were eight major crusades between 1095 and 1291, but there were only three major ones."
"Magellan was killed in the Philippines, and as a result, he lost his life."
"He has to wear a patch over his best eye so his bad eye can correct itself."
"In fact, I wasn't here today."
"Do your homework for homework."
"The colonist population at the time the Civil War started was about two and a half million people."
"Let me re-say that again."
"Elizabeth Ann Seton was born in 1774 and died in 1821 at the age of 29."
"You can be crack dependent. You can be cocaine dependent. You can be alcoholic dependent."
"They only put 'he or she' to be politically correct, because it's polite to include both races."
"I don't want to hear you talking, or smiling, or smirking."
"You can't greet someone when they come in the room, whether it's a kid or a student."
"I have this new rule. I'm going to say things only once. Shhhhhh. Don't talk. Don't talk."
"I'd rather be in the cold than be in the hot."
"'Z' is like an 'N' turned upside down."
"Pay very close directions."
"She was charged as robbery with an armed weapon."
"It's hard to tell the difference between a South Vietnamese person."
"Nixon opened talks with China, eventually leading to its admission to the United States."
"How many states are there? 52."
"The Jews and the Palestines are fighting."
"You do the very less you can do."
"Why do I hear constant talking? I shouldn't hear a pin drop."
"Sharing a bedroom is like sharing a room."
"Give everything back to their rightfully owners."
"Have you heard of the words 'whisper'?"
Have you seen the famous Patterson-Gimlin film of "Bigfoot"? Here's a stabilized version (very wide, 4 MB animated GIF) that corrects the shaking of the camera, making it clearer than ever (but in black and white -- you can't have everything, you know).
Here's a list of the 10 most beautiful experiments in the history of science, as chosen by physicists. (Insert physicist joke here?)
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11 comments
#1 by Luke: Sat Feb 25, 2006 19:41 EST (UTC -5)
Classic.
#2 by kevin: Sat Feb 25, 2006 20:25 EST (UTC -5)
Um, wow. I can't believe you'd actually keep track of something like that. No, wait actually I can but wow Jordon...
#3 by kevin: Sat Feb 25, 2006 20:25 EST (UTC -5)
PD. what does [sic] mean b/c I've always wondered?
#4 by Todd: Sat Feb 25, 2006 21:17 EST (UTC -5)
I also wonder what [sic] means...I laughed out loud (not LOL, literally) at everyone, thank you for making my day.
#5 by Jordon: Sat Feb 25, 2006 21:58 EST (UTC -5)
I can't phrase it better than Answers.com:
sic - adv. Thus; so. Used to indicate that a quoted passage, especially one containing an error or unconventional spelling, has been retained in its original form or written intentionally.
#6 by kevin: Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:21 EST (UTC -5)
Well um I know that that's what it stands for but what I was referring to was what sic itself meant, nevermind, I thought it was some type of acronoym or w/e.
#7 by Jordon: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:14 EST (UTC -5)
See my previous comment. "Sic" is Latin for "thus" or "so."
#8 by Luke: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:19 EST (UTC -5)
What the heck, everyone? Jordon, didn't you do a whole post on what sic meant?
#9 by Jordon: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:30 EST (UTC -5)
I've used the word a few times, but I'm not that desperate for filler material.
#10 by Todd: Mon Feb 27, 2006 02:02 EST (UTC -5)
I thought it was a replacement for a swear word.
#11 by Sean: Sun Mar 05, 2006 19:38 EST (UTC -5)
here's one to add from my english teacher: "It's not one of the most well-known novels. You've probably only heard of it if you've heard of it."