Can a teacher really call themselves a teacher if they haven’t corrected someone’s grammar?

“Your” instead of “you’re”. “Their” rather than “there”. And don’t even get them started on I before E, unless its after C; that is.

But sometimes, like in this story, a teacher picks the wrong student to try and correct, and ends up making themselves look like the ignorant one! 

Check out this hilarious MC for yourself!

Super simple Malicious Compliance used on my English Teacher

This is years and years ago when I was in my last year of high school. I was a bit of a nerdy kid but not in the slightest bit shy and able to stand up for myself.

We were on a school trip and a couple of the bigger lads in the back of the bus decided that I would be a victim for some insults and getting picked on.

Various low brow insults were thrown my way…. I had a name that was both a boys name and girls name which created much mirth for the troglodytes from occasion.

Troglodytes… Now there’s an insult you don’t hear everyday! But that’s just a small taste of OP’s knowledge of the English language…

Earlier in the week in English we learnt a few terms to use in analysis for our essays, words like juxtaposition, alliteration and oxymoron.

Of course the lads picking on me didn’t pay attention, so I used that to my advantage.

“Oh yeah, at least I’m not an oxymoron you pair of oxymorons”.

They didn’t know what I mean and I managed to convince them it meant “a moronic ox” to my and a few other students delight.

But an English teacher on the bus felt his spidey-senses tingle, alerting him to the serious linguistic error.

Now the English teacher was on that bus, and decided our carry on had gone on too long and told us all to settle down.

To which he turned to me with a glint in his eye, “Oh behold I see a teaching moment!”

He asked me “Do you actually know what an oxymoron is, as it’s definitely not a moronic ox.”

Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong student to make an example of!

I said yep, it’s when one word is next to another with an opposite meaning.

Then he asked “Ok, give me an example”.

I replied. “Sure. An example of an oxymoron is intelligent English teacher”.

To which he said “hmmm touché” and wandered back to his bus seat.

He actually was a really great teacher.

As a writing major, I can confirm this particular stereotype is true, we just can’t help ourselves when it comes to correcting people’s grammar!

Reddit loved this cheeky compliance on OP’s part, with many contributing their own classic oxymorons!

And they had their own stories…

And this user was reminded of a funny anecdote they had heard involving another misuse of the word oxymoron.

Remember everyone don’t try and correct other people, or you may just make yourself look like an oxymoron!

Oh, and remember to cut your English teachers some slack!

Want to read another story where somebody got satisfying revenge? Check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.