America, hell yeah brother

By Anonymous - 03/10/2012 23:00 - United States - Tallahassee

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
I agree, your life sucks 28 309
You deserved it 8 336

Same thing different taste

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...

Comments

Dhe sterin jur jubs. (they are stealing our jobs)

chlorinegreen 27

I see that dictionaries were opened with this post OP. good job your making people smarter. On the other hand my brain may explode from all the new words trying to be crammed into my head.

BeaterOfTheDrums 15

Coming again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah!

I feel like I missed an opportunity here.

He thought you where trying to be obsequious

People like you are the reason other countries laugh at us. Do you even realize how low brow that comment is? Just say it out loud and listen to yourself. You sound retarded. Let me guess. Your idea of fun in driving down a dirt road with your shirtless fat ass friends in the back of your truck blasting lynard skynard waving a confederate flag huh?

Hell yeah that sounds like fun! Add some beer and Copenhagen and its a party!!

zuzupetalsYO 11

65-Why do you say "retarded"? A mentally challenged person would not say such things, you dumb jealous jerk face! Bring on that dirt road. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

47) I'm in your picture... I'm so happy :D

Iknoweverything 29

65, people laugh at us because it's easy to piss people like you off. Let everyone laugh. It's easier to point out the faults of a country that you're only exposed to on the internet than it is to look at your own country and realize it is just as screwed up. I have a feeling that people sense your pissed-off-ness and really have a go at America every time they encounter you on the internet.

LiterOfCola 16

65, dumbass, it's a joke. It's a movie reference, and you obviously are very self-conscious about your fellow Americans. I think it's funny that you're trying to prove a point about countries stereotyping us when you're the one clearly being a jerk. And what can you do about this? Well... You might just have to develop a sense of humor

I think you need to read your own comment out loud and see just how stupid you sound.

"tearin' down a dirt road, rebel flag flyin' coon dog in the back! Truckbed loaded down with beer and a cold one in my lap"... Skip a few lyrics.. "if you got a problem with that... YOU CAN KISS MY COUNTRY ASS!" I had to... I'm sorry, I had to. And such a good song...

sugarshane007 20

#65, You clearly are the one in need of some education. Associating Lynyrd Skynyrd with the south, when they are respected and listened to worldwide. And associating country people with Confederate flag and the Confederacy... I believe that you are the one who may be a bit uneducated. Take a chill pill.

My idea of fun IS driving down a dirt road with my shirtless friends in the back of truck blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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...

We can always make something sound way better than it really is. Ex. As the blade slowly descended forming a complex labyrinth of motions across the whitened pillow of wonder bread. Layer upon layer of peanut butter quickly spread drowning out the surface in a maelstrom of brown-yellow perfection making a peanut butter sandwich. See this was way over done and one of the dumber things I've written on FML just shows you don't always need big words to get the point across.

I love editing the assignments of first years at uni/college. So many big words that aren't necessary and sentences that don't make sense. They wonder why their assignments are always over the limit and that's the reason. Too many words; not succinct enough.

beccaishereyay 11

Exactly. Bigger, longer, more complex words don't make you look smarter. He wouldn't discourage your vocabulary unless he really thought the paper sounded unrealistic. What if he gave you back your paper saying, "I assimilate that this is an institute of higher education, nevertheless you operate in a multitudinous fashion when utilizing superfluous gangling speech. I propound you abrogate your existence." No one wants to read that shit.

I'm with these guys'n'girls^. I've seen a lot of college students talk in circles using unnecessary jargon and qualifying clauses where such things add nothing to the intended message. It doesn't make them sound smarter, and when they misuse terms, it can even make them seem stupid.

Yep, there is having a sizable vocabulary and then there is sounding pretentious, to which, it sounds, you fell under the latter.

I'd ask the teacher about it specifically (and politely). Maybe he's an underachieving jerk, or maybe he meant your phrasing was fighting with your essay's clarity and point, or maybe something else altogether. Whatever it is, you'll get a better score from him on your next essay if you find out exactly what he wants and then write accordingly -- even if what he's really looking for is an eighth-grade vocabulary level.

RedPillSucks 31

this is exactly what I thought. people think that using large words means they're smart, but one needs to know when to use it as well.

I love how the first sentence of #6's example is an incomplete sentence.

Time and a place for everything friend. This essay was not the time or place for your big words.

^^109, just putting a comma where he put the period wouldn't cut it. Hahah there were quite a few commas missing.

That's EXACTLY what his teacher meant. From an article titled Indispensable Writing Tips "Never use a long word where a short word will do." - George Orwell.

that was aesthetically pleasing in a way the simple alternative could never be.

juturnaamo 29

Or when they cling to one more arcane term and use it at every opportunity. I met one flake who used 'asinine' every 2 minutes. I guess that was as far as she got in her thesaurus.

my paramour has enumerated upon the far more beneficial points of residing in closer proximity, or even in shared lodgings, to which i am seriously considering giving a quick nay as i cannot bear to think upon the possibility of his meeting my other lover. equals: my boyfriend wants to live together but i can't because i don't want him to meet my other boyfriend. see the difference? it's not a complex vocabulary, it's jargon. it's unnecessary.

Exactly what I was thinking #2. Don't try to sound smart by throwing in extra "smart" words. Instead of saying "big", you could substitute it with " large" or something maybe more complex. Don't just use meaningless words. I did that in middle school and got comments from my teachers as well. Just looks like you're trying to sound smart, rather than being smart.

He said unnecessary retardo didnt mention anything about your vernacular

Kn0wledge123 21

Exactly. OP sounds like a pretentious douche.

kristabelli 19

That's what I thought too 85!

nothing92x 13

This is why education cuts are bad: we don't have good teachers that can teach good teaching to future teachers. Meaning that those teachers will teach younger teachers, but they will teach teachers with bad teaching.

That sentence is like a tongue twister...

I think he worked on setting the teachers up like that. 5 minutes at least!

fatalwish 6

yo dawg i herd you like the word teaching...

tne201992 12

11- more like a mind twister. -__-

insertnameherr 11

"The education cuts are causing us to hire terrible teachers that teach young minds very poorly, and if those young children grow up to be teachers, they will also be terrible due to their bad education" is what I think he meant to say.

Sorry, honey, but he was probably referring to what most teachers call, "fluff" which is when a student throws in a lot of unnecessary words in an attempt to appear intellectual. Be straightforward in your essay writing, because intellect isn't something you can fake.

So much of this. "Big" words are useful, but only when necessary.

woah is that what fluff is? people in the **** industry have been using that word all wrong!

I don't like how a lot of people don't understand this. The person who wrote this is so stuck up & arrogant, they don't realize they're simply overdoing it & making an unreadable essay not even the brightest person could understand.

Not to be cruel or anything, but the main thread or comprehension might've been ruined if you didn't use your complex vocabulary -right-. There has to be a balance. Can't just throw a lot of nice words out there like Kant who was very fond of creating sentences where some of them takes about one whole minute to read each... :)

Epikouros 31

Hey, don't diss my bro Immy! He does write long sentences, but he honestly tries to give clear answers to the most difficult questions. Unlike some 20th century philosophers who did their best to muddy the waters.

Kant is bad? Have you read Foucault? That guy is a pain in the butthole. One sentence goes up to more than half a page.

egc573 40

"He basically scolded me for having a complex vocabulary." Maybe. And maybe instead of being an underachieving professor, he's giving you constructive criticism. Note the key word, "unnecessary". Having a complex vocabulary is one thing; knowing when to use it is another. I would suggest waiting two weeks or so, then rereading your essay. See if those complex words still work, or if they really are weighing your essay down.

OP: Take notes, because #10 is full of wisdom. The FML reads like it's got some attitude written into it, and it seems more plausible that your prof is trying to help you than that he doesn't understand you.

Complex vocabulary isn't what makes good writing. Good writing isn't about showing off how many Thesaurus words you know; it's about using those words to communicate a point. Bottom line: Before scoffing at your professor, try to be honest with yourself and see if he has a point. Do the big words in your essay really improve it?

SenselessPattern 12

And trolls are the bane of the internet, Mr. Trollold.

I'm pretty sure that without teachers, you wouldn't have been able to create that insult.

betseyville 6

I bet you ,OP, are one of those people that write ten page papers, when the professor only asks for 3.

Haaaaaaah... I do that. Except I don't fill the extra pages with unnecessary drivel. I just have a lot to say.

I would mark you down. If you can't say what you need to in the word limit than you're talking too much. You wouldn't be marked down "going above and beyond" but for failing to follow directions.

I actually get As on my essays. For example, I once wrote a paper on the Reformation and Counter Reformation. I examined individual movements in the reformation and counter reformation and analyzed which individual people and groups were genuine and stayed true to their convictions, and which individual people and groups gave into compromise and corruption. The topic was too complex to cover adequately in the given length of the assignment, so I exceeded it. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have done the subject justice. I've found that teachers typically don't mind if you exceed the essay length they require, as long as you fill the extra pages which substance rather than drivel.

And, now that I've thought about it, I'm guessing OP uses those unnecessary big words because she has a lot of trouble meeting her assignments' length requirements, because she doesn't have enough substance to fill the pages, so instead she throws long words in there just to take up space.

You're getting A's on essays because the teacher is swigging a beer going I'm not reading this bullshit. Just like I did with your ridiculously long comment.

^ Well if one paragraph is too much for you then you have my pity, friend. In any case, I'm not overly concerned with how thoroughly my professors read my essays as long as I get the grade I've earned.

countrygirl626 16

My teachers always ask for 5 paragraphs, but I have a lot of information that's pertinent to the topic. For example, last year we had to write a persuasive essay. Minimum: 5 paragraphs. Mine: 11 pages. Unless they specifically give you a maximum limit, you can't have too much as long as it relates to the paper.

thundergirl_fml 2

I've had professors that would give assignments and for example say "3-5 pages" if the paper was longer than 5 pages they'd rip the excess off and stop reading at 5 pages. (Though I've always been a "3-5 pages? Then 3 pages it is!" person myself so that's never happened to me, but other classmates have had it happen to them)