Teacher‘s list of 32 ‘prohibited’ phrases sparks online debate

A teacher has divided opinion after printing out a lengthy list of words that are “prohibited” in class, with Gen Zers branding the list a “power trip”.

A teacher has banned a long list of Gen Z phrases in the classroom. Picture: @hearts4zaniyahh/X

A teacher has sparked a major debate after printing out a list of 32 words that students have been banned from saying while in the classroom.

The anonymous teacher warned students that if they are caught using any of the listed phrases then they would have to write a short essay “explaining why you chose to use these words in an academic setting to express yourselves”.

The full list was recently shared to X, formerly Twitter, and included a number of slang phrases often used by the younger generations.

The list included phrases like “you ate that up”, which is used when something is completed successfully, “that’s cap”, which is used to describe something fake or dishonest, and “it’s giving”, which is a way to say something has a certain reaction..

Some of the more questionable phrases include “ooh-wee, skee-yee”, “in the cut with my twin” and “gyat”.

A teacher’s list of banned words has gone viral. Picture: @hearts4zaniyahh/X

In explaining the reasoning for the rules, the teacher claimed there were many ways for a person to express themselves without using slang.

“Please know using slang in an academic setting can diminish your capability to become a successful writer. More often than not, the way you speak is the way you write,” the teacher wrote.

“The gibberish some of you choose to use is improper English and sometimes inappropriate for an academic setting.”

The teacher also noted that the list of prohibited words was subject to change throughout the year.

The educator demanded that the students carry themselves as “scholars” in the classroom.

The photograph has been viewed more than 33.7 million times and has racked up more than 4000 comments from divided social media users.

Multiple users claimed the teacher was on a “power trip” when writing this list.

One social media user accused the educator of not valuing the language of the students and being “more concerned with compliance” than learning about the students’ identities.

The anonymous teacher said students caught using the banned phrases would have to write an essay. Picture: Getty Images

“I get where they’re trying to go with that but I don’t agree with cutting out slang,” another said.

“Language is always evolving and there’s more than one way to speak English. This just seems like power tripping and respectability politics to me.”

Many users claimed the rules meant they would have immediately been kicked out of the class, while one simply called the list “unhinged”.

However, there was a significant amount of people who came to the defence of the teacher.

“Being able to talk with and without slang and adapt to whatever room or surroundings you’re in is important,” one person wrote.

“Just ask yourself this, how would feel if you were in court, with your life in the hands of a judge and jury and your lawyer used all of these words and phrases?”

Another claimed that, while they didn’t agree with banning all the words on the list, many children need to learn when it is appropriate to use this kind of language and when it is not.

“That teacher is trying to help that class. Communication skills are important in life,” another said.