In an academic setting, raising your hand means one of two things:
1. You have to ask a question, or
2. You want to answer a question.
Everyone is able to predict what your raised hand means before you even open your mouth: if the professor has asked a question, raising your hand means you have an answer; if the professor has not asked a question—i.e., he is just lecturing—your raised hand means you want to ask something.
Considering how basic this is, it is surprising how many people have managed to be annoying even when doing something as simple as asking or answering a question. And their annoyingness results from a bad habit all of them share: beginning every question or answer with an unnecessary preface no one wants to hear.
I. Annoying Question Prefacing
As I said, there are only two reasons why a person would raise his or her hand: you either want to ask or answer a question. There isn’t a third option here…so why, then, do so many people feel the need to preface their question with this:
Thank you for clarifying that! This whole time I was thinking you raised your hand because you were going to strip down naked and let us beat you with sticks of salami, or that you wanted to draw our attention to the huge pimple on your right cheek that had somehow exploded in the middle of class. I would never have guessed that when you raised your hand you wanted to ask a question!
I’ll bet you’re also someone who writes “loves to laugh” on an “e-Harmony” or “Match.com” application since, you know, most people hate laughing.
Oh, and I really love how some students try to avoid sounding lame by prefacing with “quick question” instead of “I have a question.” Right, because reassuring everyone that you weren’t going to ask a slow question makes a world of difference.
Here’s a question for you: instead of telling us the obvious, why don’t you just ask the freaking question?
II. Annoying Answer Prefacing
There is a guy in my class who always begins all of his answers with: “I’m not sure if this is correct, but I’m going to give it a reasonable shot…but I might be wrong because I’m not sure, but I think…” He always gives this speech before answering a professor’s question, and then finishes up with, “but I might be wrong.”
I know he spews this crap as a way to protect himself from embarrassment in case his response turns out to be incorrect, but if he really thought his answer was that bad then he shouldn’t have volunteered. Personally, unless I’m 100% sure I know the answer, I won’t raise my hand. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll get any points for blabbing nonsense that doesn’t contribute to the class discussion. If professors did base participation on quantity instead of quality, then I’d be raising my hand at every chance I got:
It’s too bad that’s just not the way participation points are awarded.
To be fair, the guy’s answers are always correct—but, after hearing his speech about how unsure he is, I just want to beat him over the head with a sock full of quarters while screaming, “Homie don’t play that! Grow a pair!” If someone is questioning the existence of your testicles because you can’t answer a question without being annoying, then you seriously suck total ass.
absolutangel64 
Your paint drawings are hilarious as always lol.Homie don’t play that…I can’t believe you went there lol….good jobI bet your paint drawings take longer than writing the actual blog doesn’t it? lol
Sometimes, right after I laugh, I’ll get mad and yell at the guy for making me laugh. It’s always funny.”YOU SON OF BITCH, YOU MADE ME LAUGH!”oh god….Or, if you laugh without ever smiling, you can get some good looks…….this comment fails to have anything to do with the post. On answers, I’ve found a fun way to annoy class and teachers AND gain points for not being a dumbass. Relate things learned to whatever even remotely connects with it pop culture wise. I think I hear my English teacher’s brain twitch when I told her that Beowulf was Mr. T and Grendel was Rocky Balboa.
You writing ‘loves to laugh’ reminded me of all the people who think that LOL = Lots of Laughs or Lots of Love. I think they can be placed into that crazy category as well. I have been guilty of the ‘I have a question’ thing before, though I like to think I don’t do it that much. Never was one for the ‘but I could be wrong’ approach – I’m with you, if I don’t know, I don’t volunteer. Love the rap. 🙂
homie don’t play that. Man, I havent thought of “in living color” in forever.
Haha look at his hair. Funny. And how that chick has 1 leg on the table with a bent knee. Yea…small things like that catches my attention for some reason
Haha, sometimes people just need Captain Obvious to save the day. Another example is when someone asks, “Can I ask you a question?” I think the answer is pretty clear.
HAHAHAHA!I hate those people…
#2 … he was in almost ALL of my classes two years ago. He drove me insane. EVERY single class. Especially Chemistry./stabs herselfWhat’s worse is, even when we all told him he was wrong .. he’d go”But.. right.. I read on this website/magazine/newspaper article right.. it was some months ago now, but uhh they said that ______ and I know that the text book says, so which one do I listen to? <> .. Uhh no sir, I think you’re wrong. You see if [add his own personal theories in] right, then [adds some absurd reasoning in]. <> Oh uhh.. right.. ok I guess I’m wrong.”Seriously! The whole damn class. Many classes in the day!!! /dies
the guy in black looks like he has pubes for hair.
I raise my hand to ask the professor if I can go to the bathroom… in a lecture hall of 400 people.
I used to have a classmate who would always preface his answers with, “Momma says…”
I hate the people who go on and on with their “insight” right before class gets out, therefore leaving everyone feeling obligated to be nice and stick around.
as usual, a fan.
what i hate the most – putting a question into context. “well sir, this one time… …and that’s what happened to me. so how does that fit in with the lesson?”
It’s Valentines week…..what host of dangerous tests of devotion are you going to put this years “contestants for your affection” through?
i feel ya.
Haven’t laid down a good salami beating in a while. Maybe I should start a meetup group…
“I’ll bet you’re also someone who writes “loves to laugh” on an “e-Harmony” or “Match.com” application since, you know, most people hate laughing.”I laughed the most boisterous laugh I have ever laughed.
I concur, I dont appreciate waffly mofos who have uncertainty issues. It’s Do or Die, Semper Fi!
Haha definitely. Or people who tell soap opera stories of their lives that has nothing to do with nothing.
I hate the people who ask stupid questions in which the sole goal seems to be to prove to the professor that they were listening in the first place. I also hate the people who ask what might as well be rhetorical questions since they already know the answer; they just want to one-up the professor.
I love to laugh … and that post was funny.
Hahaha… I remember people like that in my class. Annoying.
Hehe. You must not be in a lot of liberal arts/humanities courses, where quantity/diversity of ideas = quality, in the professors’ estimations.I know what you mean, though, and I hate the verbal diarrhea some of my classmates would spew back in undergrad. They acted so uncertain about what they were saying, I tended to disregard it myself. If you don’t believe in what you’re saying, why should I?
omg I never thought about thathaha now i wonder if I ever raise my hand and say i have a question
Although I could be wrong, and technically, I may be wrong…I am going to answer the question anyways. What about deep, pointless questions that reflect apon philosophy? My Philospophy is the standard for obvious debatable addendums, but since I think I may know the answer to this question, philosophicaly speaking, I am goign to aettmpt to answer it.Adding a bunch of useless crap to the beginning of an answer…proving you don’t know the answer by wasting everyones time by braging about how much words you can pronounce.You’re hilarious and you seem pretty smart to;cut like a blade with a quick wit.
If I don’t have an answer to a question, I’d be sure to NEVER raise my hand as I don’t wish to embarrass myself by looking like a fool.
ur drawing is too cute and hilarious LMAO
I raise my hand pretty often in class. Now I know what it’ll be for the next time I do it.Professor: Yes, aimless?Me: I have the urge to strip naked and be beaten with sticks of salami. This will probably go really well.
Actually, I’ve raised my hand to make a comment on something theprofessor was discussing or to make a correction on something that wasstated.
I don’t raise my hand. I just stand up and start talking…well, not really. But I love the sticks of salami idea, that would probably go over very well in my class.
Unfortunately, there are people who subscribe to the notion that quantity will make up for quality. Thus I end up sitting in class listening to students tell completely pointless anecdotes that really do NOT add to class discussion.Prof: “So a full sleep cycle is about 90 minutes –that includes REM sleep, where you dream.”Student: “So this one time, I, like, took a nap after class, and I only slept for like, an hour and a half, but I, like, dreamed. Is that normal?”Prof: “…”I love the paint drawing.
reminds me of the dunce in my metaphysics class. metaphysics was taught by mr. short; the all time perfect example of short man’s complex.of course, dunce would open his mouth every day only to be ridiculed by mr. short.i never understood why mr. dunce aka mr. “i have a question” would even open his mouth. mr. short lived to put down his students and make them feel completely inferior to his ability to discuss “what is redness” for 2 weeks straight, 90 minutes at a time.yeah, keep your hand down and move along in the lecture, thanks.
lol. This is why I stay silent in class unless forced raise hand and ask things like “umm wtf does that say? You write like an assihateyou.”
…wait.I have a question.
Hahahaha… if someone’s so uncertain at even answering a question, imagine how his daily life must be. Grow a pair, indeed!
What about the people that answer the question with another question?Like, “Is it the divorce rate in China?” “I don’t know; that’s why I asked the question to begin with.”
Hey, congratulations on being featured on Xanga! I haven’t heard from ya in a while. What’s been going on, friend? hope you are OK!S.C.
*raises hand* i just wanted to leave a comment…lol this was great!
Great entry…this used to bother me a lot when I was still a freshman..but over the years, I’ve stopped hating people who ask questions. The students I cannot stand are those who have to give their point of view on every little thing and then try to be funny every time they do so. When I took fantasy literature over the summer (greatest class ever!), there was this one guy who annoyed me a lot with his idiotic comments after every little thing. One class, we were discussing Philip Pullman and “The Subtle Knife” for some reason…and when we came around to how “The Golden Compass” film leaves out a lot that the book goes into, and that there’s going to be more movies than books…that dude said..”So what…after ‘The Subtle Knife’…are we gonna have….’The Not-So-Subtle Knife‘?” *cheesy grin*I was *this* close to throwing my book at that dickhead.–I love the drawings – especially the eyes on the girl when she’s rapping hahaha.
Yes, the AQP and AAP are really annoying. If I were a lecturer, when I encounter the AQP, I’d go, ‘Like, duh! What do I look like? Dumb? Of course you have a question. Because if you don’t, you’re going to get a flying sock from me for interrupting my class for no reason.’ As to the AAP, I’d most likely say, ‘Well, if you’re that unsure, I’d suggest you just shut up in the first place and let someone else answer. But I’m not sure.’
generally i would just yell out a terets syndrome : “i object mudda focker! now pass da cheese!”:P
wahahaha OMG I know people like that! and it IS incredibly annoying!
HAHAHAHHA I feel you on this one.I HATE when they say “Oh I’m not sure. This is a wild guess but uh…blah blah”Teacher/Prof: “You’re absolutely right!”
i preface sometimes with “ok, just to clarify…”
stretching? =P
I noticed a lot of people will also ask questions where they already know the answers in hopes that the teacher will think they are smart by just thinking up such a difficult question.
Have you ever tried raising your hand to answer a question only to basically say you don’t know? Like literally, “Does anyone know the answer? You there” “Ah. Well, no.”The first couple of times you get a nice feeling, like “HAH! Mission accomplished.” unless there’s some dreadful silence that makes you feel about as idiotic as what you just did. =|
@torontobabyblue – LOL You should have cut him off. “The Not-So-Subtle-UNFF :: book in face :: ” Would’ve been so worth it.