As students, we think that when we go to school, we are the only one's learning. It’s nice to know that as students we can return the favor of teaching our professors something too.
Here are some things that students have taught their professors:
“A group of students told me once [that] I need to develop RBF - Resting B**** Face.” – Dr. Laura Finley, criminology and sociology professor.
RBF is walking around or standing there mean-mugging. Instead of walking around looking friendly or trying to smile, you walk around with an angry face, looking unbothered. Many times people have this facial expression naturally. For others, it’s a practiced and learned habit. Basically, it’s looking angry all the time without thinking about it twice.
“I’ve heard many things; you guys are always saying something... but one I hear commonly is, ‘is that a thing?’” – Mr. Vladimir Lescouflair, TV production professor.
“Is that a thing?” is used when you hear something weird and out of the ordinary, and so your response would be to ask if that’s a thing? It is also used when you’re questioning or confused about something. It’s like saying “are you for real?” or “are you serious?”
“One day I asked my students about sayings their generations say and one that was taught to me was ‘lit’. It’s used when something is cool or awesome.” - Dr. Lisa Konzcal, sociology and criminology professor.
“It’s lit” basically means it’s about to get rowdy or it already is rowdy. It could also be used when something cool is happening. It’s commonly used when plans are being discussed, and when finally decided on, you say “its lit.” This phrase is common, and is sometimes even used out of context.
“I was talking in class about the penumbras of the constitution and trying to explain how the court used this term in reference to rights that are implied from others but aren’t explicitly written. The idea was that we can infer more from what is said. A student suggested this is “reading between the lines” of the constitution. I thought that was great and I have described it that way every semester ever since.” - Dr. Leah Blumenfeld, political science professor.
Reading between the lines is said quite often and is used when things being discussed have become too stuffy. This is an easier way of expressing something without saying too much, making it easy for everyone to understand.
As you can see, it’s obvious that the things we say are noticed from our instructors.
“Your generation is so different from my generation,” said Dr. Ricardo Jimenez, a computer science professor. “I’ve heard so many things that are different from what I know and say.”
Don’t be afraid to teach your professor something new, whether it be a new word or a practice we do. They’re always willing to learn something new especially if it comes from their students.