The teacher asked the class to stand up in turn and say a correct English sentence. A succession of boring sentences was then pronounced, until it was Jimmy's turn.

He looked around the class and cleared his throat, maximising the drama of the moment. After an expectant pause he launched his sentence:

"I is .....", but the teacher burst in with a shout. "Goodness, Jimmy. Don't you know you can't say 'I is ...'. It's 'I am ....'. Start again, please."

Jimmy gave her a cold stare with a faintest hint of a smirk, cleared his throat, looked around, and started again.

" I is ......."

This time the teacher was apoplectic .... "JIMMY, THAT IS JUST STUPID ....."

Jimmy looked at her and said: "But my sentence is correct, Miss."

"Really," she replied. "Ok, let's hear it all then and all have a good laugh. If it's good then the whole class is excused homework for a month."

Once again, Jimmy went through his starting performance, with the whole class listening expectantly ...... Finally, he started:

"I is the ninth letter of the alphabet," he said with a smile, and the class went into hysterics ....