Academic silliness

Case #1, the English student.
In the first lecture of an English literature subject, while discussing the content of the course, the lecturer made reference to several films and novels that we would be studying. She told us that there would be film screenings of the films to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to see the films and that while attendance at the film screenings wasn’t mandatory, watching the film in one way or another was. As she began a new sentence a student shot her hand up. “Yes?” the lecturer asked. “Do we have to read the books too?” The lecturer rolled her eyes.

Case #2: the history student.
During class last week we were discussing ways in which fashion and dress can signify power, authority, status, class and the like. We were asked to go around the room and give an example of this... Examples included police uniforms to denote authority, the crowns and jewels that monarchs wear to denote status, and one particular empress (whose name escapes me now) who had notoriously long finger nails to denote the fact that she didn’t have to concern herself with menial work. The tutor pointed out that in these cases it is common for “common people” to copy the fashions of their “betters”, so as to emulate their status and success. “Oh, like Chinese foot binding,” one girl asserted. The tutor begged her pardon and asked her to elaborate. “Well, originally, it was only the upper classes who bound their feet, as a symbol that they didn’t need to work. Now the normal people are doing it too because they want to emulate the upper classes, only they actually have to work with the bound feet.” The tutor, I'm sure, was speechless.

Case #3: the history professor who learnt something new.
In history the other day, the lecturer mentioned a group called the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, or WILF for short. When she said the word “wilf” aloud, the entire auditorium burst into laughter. “What?” she demanded, “What’s so funny about wilf?” The auditorium erupted again. “You know I feel very nervous when people laugh and I don’t get the joke, someone please tell me what’s so funny!” she implored. I called her name and she asked me if I would care to enlighten her; I said I would tell her in the break. “Is it horribly rude?” she asked. I nodded. “Oh good!” she said.

When the break came she walked up to me and asked why the acronym had resulted in peals of laughter from the audience. I asked her if she’d ever heard the term MILF before. Unsurprisingly, being that she is probably around the sixty-years-of-age mark, she hadn’t. “Well,” I began, choosing my words carefully, “I guess the term applies to an attractive older woman, the mother of a mate for instance, and she would be a MILF because she’s a ‘mother I’d like to—” I faltered, slightly, but then decided I’d come this far with the explanation I may as well go the whole way and say the word, “—fuck’.” She laughed and said she’d have to ask her kids, who are about my age, about it when she saw them next. “It applies to men too,” I added, “a DILF.” “Well don’t you learn something new everyday?” she said, chuckling.