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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Illuminatus-Prime on 2024-11-12 19:01:46+00:00.

tl;dr: Obeyed “the letter of the law.”  Teacher could not object.

Back in the Dark Ages (e.g., before teh Interwebz or mobile phones), one of my algebra instructors forbade any of us from using electronic calculators during an exam – he even wrote it on the blackboard in big letters (see Title of this thread).

So there I am, in the back row, whipping out the answers faster than anyone else in the class.  Teach comes up to me, holds out his hand, and demands I give him my calculator.  I hold up my Pickett slide rule and say, “Do you mean this?”

“I said no calculators during the exam!”

“You said no electronic calculators during the exam.  Show me where the batteries go, and I’ll give it up.”

He got a kinda thoughty look on his face and went back to his desk.  I continued the test and turned in my answers about 30 minutes before anyone else.

When I got my grade back, it was 98% (missed 1 out of 50 due to a slipped decimal point).

Of course, there were the usual calls of “Cheater!  Cheater!” from the other students, but eff’em – they shoulda studied harder.