Teacher snatched students' notebook to read their personal thoughts aloud – until what was written left him defeated and it was returned in silence
The quietest students often stay silent not because they have nothing to say, but because they choose when to speak. That’s exactly what happened when a teacher tried to humiliate two quiet students by reading their private notes aloud, according to Twisted Sifter. But, to his surprise, he couldn’t read a single word of what was written. A Reddit user who goes by the handle u/CorwinTheBlack shared on November 22, 2025, that he was often mistaken for an easy target. “If you had any jock-like tendencies, I was someone you'd think might be a good target for your bullying.”
On the outside, he looked like "a glasses-wearing geek," but inside, he was carrying “20 pounds of Jules Verne and Tolkien hardbacks and was also a theater kid.” He explained that he was not just a nerd but also “clever, vicious, and vengeful.” Reflecting on his high school years, he revealed that he liked a girl who was a senior. He was enrolled in advanced placement classes, and because of that, he received special permission to audit her psychology course, taught by a “great” teacher. He shared the same interests as the senior, and both were studious.
They mostly kept to themselves, but like many teenagers of the time, they passed handwritten notes during class. The teacher had a dramatic way of handling this. “Teacher, however, was a master at sneaking up on those folk, grabbing their missives, and then reading them aloud in front of everyone once the lights went back on,” he said. The teacher caught them, and their “small notebook was seized and spirited away.” The class was eagerly waiting for their fallout as the "teacher, with an evil grin, flourishes the book and anticipates our embarrassment," he shared.
That’s exactly when the twist came. “With theatrical flair, our notebook was opened, and page upon page of our most private thoughts were laid bare before his eyes... or they would have been if he'd not been up against two teenagers who had committed to memory not one, but both of J.R.R.'s Elvish alphabets,” he explained, sharing that the notes were written entirely in Elvish, the fictional script created by J.R.R. Tolkien. The teacher was shocked to see the notes, as he couldn’t read a word, and his reaction was unforgettable.
The story didn’t end there; he took the same psychology class for credit the next year, and he “knew both the study material as well as his jokes.” The post opened the floodgates with people sharing similar experiences and tales from their school time. “I tried that in my religion class, and it turns out my teacher was a bigger Tolkien nerd than I was because he started translating it over my shoulder,” wrote u/fromofandfor. “Now that's funny. I was the history nerd... sophomore year, the teacher always looked at me with an evil smile. He knew that I knew,” recounted u/IDGAF53. u/VivianDiane commented, “The ultimate 'I am not the one' moment, written in Tengwar. Brilliant.
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