Student's Tale of Nickname Revenge on Stubborn Teacher Delights Internet

Members of a popular internet forum were filled with pride after a former student recounted an instance of comeuppance at the expense of a flippant middle school teacher.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/pettyrevenge, Redditor u/Gunn_Show (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said their name was frequently mispronounced in school but revealed how they were able to turn the tables on one guilty teacher, immediately stopping the disrespect in its tracks.

Titled, "I called my teacher by her schoolyard nickname...in front of the class," the post has received nearly 12,000 upvotes in the last day.

"My name has a silent letter in it," OP began. "I had this teacher that relentlessly, not only kept pronouncing it, but over annunciating it."

Continuing to explain that they attempted to correct the teacher—over and over again—the original poster said their efforts were largely for naught and that, no matter how many times they tried, the mispronunciation continued.

That is, until they fought back, using the teacher's "really weird" name against her.

"One day I just finally snapped," OP wrote. "She called roll and said the mispronunciation of my name.

"I answered, 'Yes, Mrs. Icky Booger,'" OP continued. "Her jaw dropped...[and] she said, 'That is not my name!'...I clearly stated, 'And that's not my name.'

"She pronounced it correctly from there on out," OP added.

A person's name is much more than just a distinguishing label.

Names are a crucial part of a person's identity, and help maintain deep, personal, cultural, familial and historical connections, according to the University of British Columbia.

And while many living in the U.S. with traditional, English names rarely have to worry about any kind of mispronunciation, a portion of the country's population is called by the incorrect name day in and day out.

Mispronounced names often have different effects on different people.

In 2016, researchers at Stanford University and The University of Toronto found that nearly 50 percent of Black and Asian job applicants altered their names on resumes to erase any racial ambiguity, in hopes of bettering their chances to gain employment at desired companies.

And in 2019, University of California Riverside associate professor Rita Kohli asserted that the repeated mispronunciation of a student's name can cause multiple issues, affecting their ability to learn effectively alongside white classmates.

"We've found a lot of people feeling embarrassed — ashamed of their name, wanting to withdraw from raising their hand in class, and sitting on the edge of their seat during roll call so they can say their name before...someone else messes it up," Kohli said, in an interview with NPR.

"There was a lot of anxiety and fear that came along with this," Kohli added.

Throughout the comment section of the viral Reddit post, many Redditors detailed their own experiences with mispronounced names and unwanted nicknames, while commending the original poster for pulling out all the stops to ensure their former teacher would never pronounce their name wrong again.

"I had a shop teacher that wouldn't pronounce my last name properly," Redditor u/MasterBeanCounter commented. "I corrected him a few times [and] made him a list of words that rhymed with my last name.

"He still couldn't be bothered to pronounce it right," they added. "So I called him by his much hated childhood nickname...I got in school suspension and he still didn't get my name right. Ever."

"Some a**hole 'friend' of mine managed to tell my former boss about a name I used to be teased with in school," Redditor u/ErikMalik chimed in. "I f**king hated it. [But] of course this boss...started using it all the time."

In the post's top comment, which has received more than 3,000 upvotes, Redditor u/Fickle-Square199 lamented over authority figures who refuse to correct their actions—until tension boils over.

"I hate when people can't just fix their issue when politely corrected," they commented. "I'd prefer to be nice, but they force a person to take the low road."

"Good for you," Redditor u/smudgesbudges interjected, addressing OP. "If she can pronounce her own name, she can get yours right, too."

Newsweek reached out to u/Gunn_Show for comment.