Sometimes, we hear sayings so often that we don’t give a whole lot of thought to where they come from…or what they actually mean.

A teacher named Steph found that out the hard way when she finally found out that the popular saying that she’d been saying to her students wasn’t actually appropriate…

Steph told viewers, “Storytime about how I found out I’ve been saying something extremely inappropriate to children for my entire career.”

She said a student handed in an essay and she added, “They were really excited about it, so I gave a big ol’ high-five, and I said, ‘Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.’”

Steph continued, “My lovely vice principal walked by, and they said, ‘What did you just say?’ And I said, ‘Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, you shouldn’t say that, like, that doesn’t mean what you think it means.’”

She added, “I was super confused because I think I’ve been saying that for my entire life, and nobody’s ever said anything about it.”

Steph then said, “So after school, on the school Wi-Fi mind you, I Googled what it meant, and yeah. I shouldn’t be saying it.”

The TikTokker added, “Then, about two weeks later, my husband and I are watching a commercial for a TV show, and a woman says it to her colleagues and they’re like, ‘that doesn’t mean what you think it means.’ So I know this is not a unique experience. So how many of us are there out there walking around saying that not knowing what it means?”

Check out the video.

@stephlynncam

WELP ☠️ #teachertok #teachersoftiktok #teacherfail #teacher #lol #fyp

♬ original sound – Steph

TikTokkers shared their thoughts.

This person spoke up.

Another individual chimed in.

And this TikTok user shared their thoughts.

Well, that was pretty embarrassing for her…

So awkward.

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