Do you know the meaning of this word?

[Missingmybabysomuch]

Just that really, my DD was doing descriptive writing at school about a fire. She wrote about "acrid" smoke and her teacher hadn't heard of the word and had to look it up. My DH hadn't heard of it either. It surprised me as I didn't think it was a particularly unknown word but now I'm doubting myself! So I just wanted a hive mind poll to see whether it's a word generally known or not.

YABU - It isn't a word I've come across before.

YANBU - I know what acrid means.

If you asked me for three adjectives that could describe smoke, acrid would definitely be one of them - so absolutely not an unheard of word, but equally not one often used unless describing smoke!

Exactly - it’s a common word, but people have blips in their knowledge. The main thing is that she didn’t insist she was right and the OP’s daughter wrong - she looked it up and accepted it was something she didn’t know. Assuming she did that with grace, she’s modelling decent behaviour and a good approach to learning.

Yes, this thread is taking on a huge presumption of language use in all areas of the UK. Flowering language with words such as ‘acrid’ (whilst very descriptive certainly) would not necessarily mean it’s a ‘common word’ to everyone.

’Would of’ makes me grind my teeth though.

I really hope you’re joking regarding the teacher.

Either this teacher is my DSibling, or it's commonplace!

It's a common, every day word. I'd be surprised if someone said they didn't know it.

It is weird that a teacher who is setting an exercise for students to write about fire hasn't heard of acrid. It's weirder still that your DD was the only person to use the word for this exercise. It's super duper weird that the teacher then told you they didn't know the word.

As other posters have said, I have heard teachers (and other native English speakers) say "would of" or "we done" or "was you?" so I guess it isn't totally surprising.

I know it but wouldn't think it unreasonable or ignorant not to know it. I think if it was me and I was encountering a word I hadn't seen/heard before I would probably try and infer its meaning from the context rather than highlighting my ignorance; but I suppose as a teacher she needs to be more thorough to be sure she interpreting the work appropriately. So if she simply said "I don't know that word, I'll look it up" I don't see that there's an issue. I know a lot of words but I'm a literature grad and a prolific reader. I know fuck all about phonics 😆 so I wouldn't look down on a teacher for not having as much vocabulary as me. What would bother me is if they were ignorant of their own ignorance, and tried to tell my child it wasn't a word/wasn't spelled that way just because I didn't know.

Yes, absolutely this. I don't have a particular issue with the teacher not having heard of it. Primary teachers teach 13 subjects from Maths to Art to History, Music and French, they can't know everything! I think it's more important to teach and model good learning behaviours, and looking it up and accepting you don't know everything seems like the right approach to me. They need to teach the children how to learn, and a love of learning, not just be an encyclopedia of facts.

That's a common word and I'm surprised the teacher hadn't heard of it. We all have things we don't know though -look through the brilliant thread recently on things you only learned as an adult.

Always coming up in crosswords

YANBU. I don't think the word acrid is unusual

Yes, I know it but my vocabulary is extensive because I've always been a 'voracious' reader. DD used the word 'macabre' in an A Level English Literature essay. Her teacher queried it as he'd never heard the word before FFS. And DD attended a top performing grammar school!

It was the one and only time I sent a slightly heated email to her school.

Okay, so lots of us know the word 'wrath'.

But how many of us could teach a class of 30 kids with varying needs and behaviours in English, Maths, Science, IT.

I have respect for anyone who can do this demanding job day after day.

im familiar with the word in use to describe types of smoke, but i couldnt say that i was completely sure what sort of smoke they meant by it. I think maybe thick pungent clingy smoke maybe?
I dont think you can always blame or judge people by what sort of level of vocabulary theyve grown up around.

Primary teachers often aren't that well educated.

But this one was open about what she did/didn't know, took the trouble to find out and gave appropriate feedback. I'd say that was a good teacher and one that the kids can fully respect.

I've come across much worse teachers who double down on their mistakes and won't look things up.

It's a word I'd expect the majority of children to know by the end of primary, let alone teachers.

I don't think it shows a decline in teaching (my primary head used to make up words 😁 35 years ago!) but I remember we were all encouraged to read newspapers as well as books to develop our language skills. This doesn't seem to be such a thing any more but I think it really does help increase vocabulary etc...and the teacher would probably have come across the word 'acrid' by now if they'd done so. 😄

I've noticed this - and DD2 is better than many of her friends.

"acrid" smoke is a common description so I'm a bit surprised though at least the teacher looked it up rather than incorrectly correcting or insisting she was right.

Yea that teacher is very wrong.

Yes, I've heard of it and use it (, science teacher).

I agree with this. The teacher modelled the correct behaviour and this will make a lasting impression on your DD. If you're not sure of the meaning of a word, look it up.
I had a history teacher in high school who encouraged us to expand our vocabulary and I was delighted when I used a word that he was sure was not a real word, but I proved him right by looking it up in the dictionary -- "transmogrification".

Being a primary school teacher doesn't necessarily mean they have strong GCSEs or A Levels. They may well have the aptitude to teach but won't always be especially academic. When DD was in Yr5 she had weekly maths sessions at another school because no teachers at her school were capable of teaching Level 6 Maths. It was slightly concerning that a 10 year old was better at maths than any of her primary school teachers.

I learned it whenever I was learning about WWII in Primary; many many years ago though.

Acrid in connection with smoke is extremely common, so is wrath. I find it appalling that teachers don't know these basic words. I can't imagine my primary school teachers not having known those words. In general younger people nowadays don't read as often and as widely as they used to, neither do they read as much classic literature, which I feel results in a smaller vocabulary. Scrolling through Instagram and tiktok is going to diminish the ability to use correct grammar and vocabulary given the crap that's on there.