“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.” – William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
English is often considered one of the most difficult fields within the Humanities and Liberal Arts. The general study of English covers a lot of things; language, grammar, literature, critical thinking, writing, public speaking, education and a whole host of other mind-boggling topics that will kick off you’re insomnia and severe caffeine addiction…
…Life is hard for an English student, okay?!
Here are 25 problems only those who’ve studied English can truly understand:
1. Reading a book and not being able to resist sniffing it…long, good and hard…
2. No one understands your clever literary references…
3. Being asked: “So, you want to be a teacher?” everytime someone asks what you’re studying…
4. Sparknotes is your most reliable, secret friend…
5. You’re always on the hunt for that deeper meaning…
6. You look back fondly on the days when you read because you wanted to, not because you had to…
7. Everyone thinks you look sophisticated when you sit on your laptop in a coffee shop, but really you’re just playing Candy Crush…
8. Having cooler stationary than anyone else in class and knowing you’re the Don…
9. The film adaptations are just never as good…
10. The horror you feel the first time you realise you’ve chosen a subject that’s really subjective…
11. Incorrect use of grammar has caused you immense pain over the years; as has to, two and too; there, their and they’re…
12. Every new day brings a fresh career crisis…
13. You tell your friends to read texts in Old English even though you barely understand a word…
14. You are able to explain really complex things in a way people can understand, but your inability to understand simple stuff is a constant source of annoyance…
15. All those God-damned -isms getting in the way…what do they all mean anyway?
16. Pseudo-intellectuals always try to dominate the conversation, using really big words in all the wrong places…
17. A discussion of post-graduation starting salaries ensues and you feel a strong urge to defend the honour of your subject…
18. You really really hate that guy in class who claims to have always read the book…
19. You’ve now read so much Shakespeare that his language has become a fluent part of your vocabulary…
20. They say: “Every person has a book inside them”…but that guy certainly doesn’t. You, on the other had do, and it’s going to be a best seller…
21. The day the Library goes under construction is the day your world turned upside down…
22. When all else fails, at least you know that gender is a topic that will definitely come up in the exam…
23. You are the designated proof-reader for all of your friends…
24. You have your favourite study spot on-campus and if someone’s ever sat there when you want to use it, there’s genuinely hell to pay…
25. Your arm feels incomplete without a pen (the highest quality, of course) resting in your hand…
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