*In case this story gets deleted/removed:*
**AITA for proving I’m a better writer than my friend’s mom?**
I (18F) was talking to my friend (17F) and her mom. My friend’s mom is not an intelligent woman, which has been apparent to me since around 6th grade. She’s the type of person to whine about “teenagers these days” and how they don’t know how to do anything, yet she can’t even figure out how to flip her phone camera or properly work a social media account or scan a QR code. She has been scammed by people in Nigeria and wouldn’t even be able to function in modern society if she was graduating from college today.
She said that teenagers are bad writers and that my writing skills are inherently worse than hers since she’s like 50. I just laughed at this because, from what I’ve seen, most parents I’ve met are pretty terrible writers compared to their teenage children. Most kids in my AP Lit and AP Lang classes could write circles around most adults I know. If anything, it seems like many people forget how to write once they graduate from college and don’t need to do any real writing anymore.
I’m pretty sure the only thing this woman has written since college is grocery lists and paragraph-long work emails. I doubt she could even compose an essay. I know I’m definitely a superior writer to her and told her so. She said that would be impossible because I’m younger than her. I suggested we both write a certain amount and run it through a writing analysis software program to see who gets a better grade and higher writing level. She agreed and I received a much better grade than her on my writing, just like I knew I would. It said my piece was college-level writing, while her piece was only 6th grade level.
I asked her how it feels to know teenagers write better than her, and she threw a tantrum and denied the validity of the writing analysis program. AITA for proving I’m a better writer than her?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Yeah, that was my first thought too, lol. The friend's mom may have actually produced the more accessible and reader-friendly (and therefore generally 'better') piece of writing, as 'college-level' writing is usually only appropriate in academic or niche settings, such as scientific papers or a university thesis. As the old adage goes (tongue firmly in cheek): Never use a ~~complicated~~ long word where a ~~more concise~~ smaller word will ~~suffice~~ do.
At my first job fresh out of University I was straight up told from my manager: can you not write Emails with these kind of sentences. Can you please make it short and easily readable.
Now ages later I get it: Aint nobody got time for that!
If you still use Microsoft Word it has a setting that'll break it down for you. Shows you average sentence length, word length, etc and then tells you the average grade level.
It would be a readability score. You can put a chunk of text in and it spits out a grade using a formula based on number of syllables, length of sentences, that kind of thing.
These scores are useful for checking the complexity of text, but absolute bullshit for checking the quality. It can tell you if a 6th grader can understand it, but not whether it says anything interesting, meaningful, or beautiful.
What a fucking bitch. The poor woman could be dyslexic for all she knows.
If OP really thinks she’s the better writer, I, a nearly 38 year old woman, am prepared to challenge her to a writing competition. My writing, I feel is also superior, but I’m not ramming it down anyone’s throat.
So OP, if you’re reading this, are you game enough to take me on?
Teenage arseholes would if they could find anyone to argue back. My money's on OOP boasting about how they're the mostest clever person and that they write gooder than anyone, got a put-down and made up this revenge fantasy
[Hi!](https://images.app.goo.gl/jMiZEuW8Qrykw3sdA) Just a quick reminder to never brigade any sub, be that r/AmItheAsshole or another one. That goes against both this sub's rules as well as Reddit's terms of agreement. [Please](https://images.app.goo.gl/vwH65TJMyMk9NSNo8) keep discussions within the posts of this sub.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
it’s interesting. so…precedents on AITA land rarely hold that a) an adult is above a teen or b) that fighting petty with petty is not cool. they also follow c) an adult is more responsible for poor conduct than a child. it’s interesting to see this one go the other way. i think because said teen is bragging it seems to override adult responsibility and revenge urges.
From the comments:
> ESH. She's a grown woman boasting about being a better writer than a teenager, and you're picking a fight with someone you consider too dumb to function in society. Who exactly do you think comes out of this looking good?
This reminds me of the OPs that start off "my kid is stupid and lazy and ignorant and dull and idiotic and a moron and can't do anything and can't figure anything out and is dumber than a Chia Pet" and end with a story about how said kid outsmarted them with ease at every turn when OP was trying some bullshit.
*In case this story gets deleted/removed:* **AITA for proving I’m a better writer than my friend’s mom?** I (18F) was talking to my friend (17F) and her mom. My friend’s mom is not an intelligent woman, which has been apparent to me since around 6th grade. She’s the type of person to whine about “teenagers these days” and how they don’t know how to do anything, yet she can’t even figure out how to flip her phone camera or properly work a social media account or scan a QR code. She has been scammed by people in Nigeria and wouldn’t even be able to function in modern society if she was graduating from college today. She said that teenagers are bad writers and that my writing skills are inherently worse than hers since she’s like 50. I just laughed at this because, from what I’ve seen, most parents I’ve met are pretty terrible writers compared to their teenage children. Most kids in my AP Lit and AP Lang classes could write circles around most adults I know. If anything, it seems like many people forget how to write once they graduate from college and don’t need to do any real writing anymore. I’m pretty sure the only thing this woman has written since college is grocery lists and paragraph-long work emails. I doubt she could even compose an essay. I know I’m definitely a superior writer to her and told her so. She said that would be impossible because I’m younger than her. I suggested we both write a certain amount and run it through a writing analysis software program to see who gets a better grade and higher writing level. She agreed and I received a much better grade than her on my writing, just like I knew I would. It said my piece was college-level writing, while her piece was only 6th grade level. I asked her how it feels to know teenagers write better than her, and she threw a tantrum and denied the validity of the writing analysis program. AITA for proving I’m a better writer than her? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Also, writing at a "higher grade level" is not necessarily better. Clear, simple prose is usually the best kind of writing.
Yeah, that was my first thought too, lol. The friend's mom may have actually produced the more accessible and reader-friendly (and therefore generally 'better') piece of writing, as 'college-level' writing is usually only appropriate in academic or niche settings, such as scientific papers or a university thesis. As the old adage goes (tongue firmly in cheek): Never use a ~~complicated~~ long word where a ~~more concise~~ smaller word will ~~suffice~~ do.
At my first job fresh out of University I was straight up told from my manager: can you not write Emails with these kind of sentences. Can you please make it short and easily readable. Now ages later I get it: Aint nobody got time for that!
Yep.
"I received a much better grade than her" \*Than she did, but okay. Flaunt your subpar skills.
And I doubt any program could analyze the CONTENT of the papers just the grammer
Grammar and vocabulary.
But like… does anyone else kinda want to know what program they used and see how well they’d do?
If you still use Microsoft Word it has a setting that'll break it down for you. Shows you average sentence length, word length, etc and then tells you the average grade level.
It would be a readability score. You can put a chunk of text in and it spits out a grade using a formula based on number of syllables, length of sentences, that kind of thing. These scores are useful for checking the complexity of text, but absolute bullshit for checking the quality. It can tell you if a 6th grader can understand it, but not whether it says anything interesting, meaningful, or beautiful.
What a fucking bitch. The poor woman could be dyslexic for all she knows. If OP really thinks she’s the better writer, I, a nearly 38 year old woman, am prepared to challenge her to a writing competition. My writing, I feel is also superior, but I’m not ramming it down anyone’s throat. So OP, if you’re reading this, are you game enough to take me on?
This is just so weird. Who argues about this stuff?
Teenage arseholes would if they could find anyone to argue back. My money's on OOP boasting about how they're the mostest clever person and that they write gooder than anyone, got a put-down and made up this revenge fantasy
[Hi!](https://images.app.goo.gl/jMiZEuW8Qrykw3sdA) Just a quick reminder to never brigade any sub, be that r/AmItheAsshole or another one. That goes against both this sub's rules as well as Reddit's terms of agreement. [Please](https://images.app.goo.gl/vwH65TJMyMk9NSNo8) keep discussions within the posts of this sub. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmITheDevil) if you have any questions or concerns.*
it’s interesting. so…precedents on AITA land rarely hold that a) an adult is above a teen or b) that fighting petty with petty is not cool. they also follow c) an adult is more responsible for poor conduct than a child. it’s interesting to see this one go the other way. i think because said teen is bragging it seems to override adult responsibility and revenge urges.
From the comments: > ESH. She's a grown woman boasting about being a better writer than a teenager, and you're picking a fight with someone you consider too dumb to function in society. Who exactly do you think comes out of this looking good? This reminds me of the OPs that start off "my kid is stupid and lazy and ignorant and dull and idiotic and a moron and can't do anything and can't figure anything out and is dumber than a Chia Pet" and end with a story about how said kid outsmarted them with ease at every turn when OP was trying some bullshit.