Defeated In An Argument

One day during recess at school.

Teacher S: Mr. Tai Tai, Have you marked all your students' compositions?
Tai Tai :I have marked all of them.
Teacher S: May I see one of them?
Tai Tai: Yes, here you are.
Teacher S:(reading through the composition)You made one mistake, Tai.
Tai Tai: What is it?
Teacher S: You did not do the student justice. Her original sentence is 'I was
stressed out in work' but you changed it to 'I was stressed out with
work'. Her use of the preposition 'in' is correct.
Tai Tai: There's nothing wrong with my sentence.
Teacher S: No, it's absolutely wrong.
Tai Tai: I am very sure I am right.
Teacher S: I have been teaching English since 1983 and I know what I am talking
about.My English teacher, Mdm.Txx taught me to say 'I was stressed out
in work'.

(Two Other English teachers passed by)

Teacher S: Hi, Miss N and Mdm O, come over here.
Miss N & Mdm O: What can we do for you?
Teacher S: Which sentence do you think is correct?'I was stressed out in work' or'I was stressed out with work'?
Miss N : The former.
Mdm O: I was stressed out in work.It is undoubtedly right!
Teacher S:(turning to Tai Tai)See, everyone agrees with me.
Tai Tai: My sentence is still right.
Miss N:(saying archly) C'mon, Tai Tai, it's common to make mistakes.
Mdm O: Teacher S is such an experienced teacher.She knows English better than we do.
Teacher S: You can seek guidance from me if you're not sure of how to use certain grammatical items.
Tai Tai: (face flushing with anger)You are entitled to your own opinion. But I am still right!
Teacher S: Ha Ha!
Miss N: Ho Ho!
Mdm O: Hee Hee!

Comments

rugs said…
but "stressed out with" is fine, in the sense of "with this amount of work that i have, i am stressed out". i'm afraid "stressed out in" is taking grammatical license into the realm of anarchy.

your colleagues sound terribly bossy.
August 25, 2011 at 4:25 AM
sintaicharles said…
Thanks for your explanation. I will explain to my colleagues using your point.
August 28, 2011 at 9:49 PM
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