Ladies Online Have Gone From Hiding Their Dunderhead Boyfriends To Promoting Them

Happy World Literacy Day. Or, as an increasing number of people would apparently prefer to spell it, Wurld Literasy Daye. Today, September 8th, is the day UNESCO set aside to celebrate the ability to read and write. But these days it feels like a welfare check on a patient whose vitals are not looking so peachy.

In true TikTok fashion, a new trend has been doing more to surface this crisis than any government report. The Illiterate Boyfriend trend, which is exactly what it sounds like, involves women presenting their male partners with a list of words and filming the results. The words include epitome, hyperbole, faux pas, gnocchi, hors d’oeuvres, fuchsia, conscientious, and challah (although, don’t be embarrassed by that one if you aren’t Jewish). The boyfriends and their partners seem very unbothered; the comment section less so. “The fact that his vote matters just as much as mine,” one woman wrote, “is really pissing me off.”

One man completed the list with a perfect score, which you would think would end well for him. It did not. “This is the barest minimum of bare minimums,” one commenter noted. “The men are being praised for literacy. We’re in hell.” Another correctly identified colonel and regime, prompting a commenter to observe that he was “obviously a Republican.” He may simply have an interest in military history, which is a time-honoured hobby of boyfriends everywhere, but nuance has also had a difficult year.

Most of these boyfriends would be upset if they could read the comments. Last year, boys were thinking of the Roman Empire; now we are here. But is this what we deserve? Is this the culture we have bred and longed for? Let’s find out.