Every seasoned schoolteacher knows that calling on the class troublemaker is a high-stakes gamble, but sometimes the bait is simply too tempting to resist.
During a grammar lesson on complex vocabulary, a primary school teacher asked her class for examples of words with more than one syllable.
“Jane, can you give me one?” the teacher asked.
After a moment of thought, Jane smiled. “Monday!”
“Excellent, Jane! Mon-day, that’s two syllables,” the teacher praised. “Who can give me another one?”
Little Johnny’s hand instantly shot into the air. “Me! Me! Choose me, teacher!”
Knowing Johnny’s notoriously filthy mind, the teacher ignored him and called on Steve instead. “Go ahead, Steve.”
“Saturday,” Steve offered.
“Wonderful, that’s three syllables!”
Not to be outdone, Johnny started bouncing in his seat. “I’ve got a four-syllable word, teacher! Come on, pick me!”
The teacher paused. Reasoning that a four-syllable word was far too sophisticated for Johnny to corrupt, she reluctantly gave in. “Alright, Johnny, let’s hear your four-syllable word.”
Johnny stood up proudly, cleared his throat, and enunciated perfectly: “Mas-tur-ba-tion.”
The classroom went dead silent. Trying her absolute best to maintain her composure and keep the lesson on track, the flustered teacher replied, “Well… yes, Johnny, that is technically four syllables. But it’s also a bit of a mouthful, don’t you think?”
Johnny grinned, shook his head, and delivered the knockout blow:
“No, Ma’am, you’re thinking of something else… and that’s only two syllables!”
