A month ago, one of my former students, for whom English is a second (and brand new) language, said:
“Mr. Dicks, you look like a hippo.”
I opened my mouth to explain the problems of body shaming, and that even though we often tease each other in class, this kind of joke is never funny.
Also not true!
I’m actually in great shape, damn it. Riding my bike daily. Carrying my golf bag on my back and walking the course. Doing all those damn push-ups and sit-ups and planks every morning.
How dare you!
Before I could get any of that out, my student added:
“I call Mr. Dicks a hippo because they both don’t have much hair.
Admittedly, I have more hair on my head than a hippo, but I could also see his point.
This is also called misdirection, a storytelling and comedic strategy in which a performer says something that takes an audience’s mind in one direction, only to upend that assumption with something surprising and amusing.
Apparently, he’s learning the nuances of English even faster than I thought.
Or he got lucky.
Either way, I was annoyed. I don’t like it when students are funnier than me.
