Today, my teacher's comments on my essay read, "I know it's college, but you use a lot of unnecessary words with a lot of syllables." He basically scolded me for having a complex vocabulary. I go to an accredited state university. Nothing says "America" like under-achieving professors. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, I was warned that I was failing too many students and it had to stop, so I showed my boss all of the easy assignments a lot of students didn't even turn in. She told me to stop using so many "big words" in them. I teach at a four year University. FML
Today, my English professor bragged to my entire class about how good my essay was. He kept on saying great things about it for the duration of class. To my surprise, he'd given me a C-. When I asked why, his only response was: "I'm a hard grader." FML
Today, I turned in an overdue English assignment at college. My instructor accused me of plagiarism, writing that my sentence structure was "TO" good. Seriously? FML
Today, I got back the essay I wrote about how my country's education system is fucked. At one point, I made a spelling mistake. My teacher wrote a note about it, basically calling me illiterate, and telling me to pay attention in school instead of whining about it. She misspelled "school". FML
Today, the feedback my teacher wrote on my English assignment was so horrible that it took me half an hour and help from both my parents to decipher it. It turned out to be a scathing criticism of my "poor communication skills". I hate my teachers. FML
Today, while home from college for the weekend, my sister started whining about how I keep using "big fancy college words" and making her feel bad. My sister is 27 and teaches elementary school. The word I used was "ludicrous." FML
Today, I lost a grade on an essay, because according to my teacher, I put much more detail into my analytical essay than I should have. FML
Today, I got a writing assignment back. After meeting with my professor specially after class and meticulously combing through every word of that paper, I got a low D. Turns out, he graded me down on every suggestion of his that I took. FML
Today, I asked my classmate to look over my essay. His comments were longer than the essay itself. FML
Today, I had my teacher look over my essay before turning it in. He said it was extremely well-written, so I handed it in. When I got it back, the feedback he left said it was one of the worst essays he'd ever read. FML
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Top comments
Paria12 2
He could have meant you just use them unnecessarily to sound smarter when they don't really make sense to use in the moment...
Pikachu17 13
'MURICA!!!
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Comments (161)
bandofsand 10
There is something to be said for being succinct.
Attica 20
I feel your pain, OP. I also have a large vocabulary and have had these kinds of things happen before. I understand where your professor was coming from, though, since it was an essay, and essays are often written in a very simple, clear way that assumes the reader is a complete idiot. I can understand why such a thing is making you lose faith, though. In high school, I had a creative writing teacher who tried to make me remove words from my writing that, in proper English, should have been there. I think she did this kind of thing to everyone in my class, even though she was also an English teacher.
mysticshroom 2
all i hear is "WAAHH, i can't be a pretentious douche without the real world calling me on it, it must be because i am so smart they are just stupid and wish they could be worldly like me" you filled an essay with useless fluff and got called out, if that was really the way you write, congratulations you are actually a vapid, tiresome twat who legit can't get her head out of her ass long enough to see things from a teachers point of view.
kismentia 10
No, nothing says "America" like bitching about the fact that you think you deserve better than you got.
AholeCop 11
The point of language is communication. If you intentionally choose complicated or unfamiliar words, your message becomes lost. Sorry OP, Professor was doing their job, just learn from it.
xXRiah_GirlXx 9
I hate that so much but he might have a point. As other commenters have pointed out, teachers do not want fluff; but at the same time, you feel like if teachers spent years helping you develop your vocabulary, you might as well use it.
kimosabi55068 6
Nothing says Thesaurus like someone trying to show off their "intellect" by using big words all the time. It makes it seem like you are trying to show off and failing.
Duckbones 1
He scolded you for being superfluous and pretentious; a couple more words for your 'complex vocabulary'.
CanCann 16
Ridiculousness....
Steve95401 49
The teacher is right. Good writing should be clear and concise.. There is no benefit in rambling on unnecessarily or using large words that only a Spelling Bee champion would know.