Accentuating Towards A Confession

(Our Conversational English teacher graduated a while ago, and has a horrible Ukrainian accent. This means that quite a few students are far better at English than she is. This time, the task is to explain the meaning of the collocation ‘amateur professional’.)

Classmate: *in a perfect British accents, and with no ill intentions* “Well, let’s say someone majored in English. That makes them a professional. But someone who studied the language on their own and is as good or better than someone who majored in it is an amateur professional.”

Teacher: *looking offended* “Look, [Classmate’s Name], the difference is that someone who majored in English can teach it, and someone who didn’t can’t. So you shouldn’t underestimate those who majored in it!”

Classmate: “I never said anything about teaching…”

Me: *to [Classmate]* “It’s as though she were confessing, isn’t it?”