What exactly is a gunner????? Forum

[mikeytwoshoes]

Exactly...I get that...but it still doesn't answer my question, why people who do extra work on their own and don't throw it in others' faces get labeled that way. I mean, if I choose to be in the library every night reading extra, I don't say anything to anyone about it, but people consistently SEE me in the library, would I be labeled one?

Not that I'd be one...I'll be lucky if I keep up on reading hahahaha...I'm just wondering, because it's used so much here that I think it's getting out of hand.

If you choose this path, your contempt for your fellow students will find a way through your shell. After all, you do all this extra shit and you will want to show it in class, in study group, etc. The old saying is, "if you don't know who the gunner is, it's probably you.

Everyone reads all the time, in the library, at the coffee shop, in the apartment, etc. No one will lable you a gunner for reading. Your feeling of superiority, however, will make you a gunner. It's like the transition of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader.

Did you even read my post? How, exactly, do I have a feeling of superiority?

People post on the forum for law school students trying to carve out exceptions to the don't read over 0L summer rule, the we cannot validate your study habits rule, and the don't tag posts rule. Some of us, esopecially me, have gotten quite cynical.

I'm sorry if I offended you but I maintain that if you do the things you stated in that post, you will feel superior to other less-diligent students. Eventually, that feeling will lash out. Hence the Anakin-Chicago law 2013 analogy.

[mikeytwoshoes]

Honestly? HONESTLY?!

Go study.

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

You have a point as I once specifically called my wife over to my computer to see your tar.

That was big of you A'nold. I like that you also consider it a legal term of art. Did you know that in at least three Caribbean banana republics, the court recognizes kicked in the dick as a tort? Sometimes the court there even allows you to recover in both battery and kicked in the dick. It's in the banana republic version of Prosser and Keaton on Torts.

[rando]

You may not like questions in class but asking them doesn't make you a gunner. In fact, if you have a valid question, lack of clarification can often leave you in the dark for a significant part of the lecture. While you may have contempt for those who ask questions in class, most people don't.

I disagree with you on this point. Many profs prepare for their classes pretty extensively, and asking a ton of question or offering your opinion on every topic may limit the amount of material covered. Granted, some profs prefer the interaction in class, but I think as a general rule, that should be left for smaller class sizes. In a class of 80 or so (like 1L classes), it's more respectful of both the prof and your classmates to reserve your points for office hours. Moreover, office hours let you prove your intelligence to your professor without any impact on how you're viewed by your classmates.

No one is talking about offering up opinions. And as per your point, professors account for time to interact with students. I have never had a class where the professor just lectures the entire class period without questions.

[mikeytwoshoes]

You may not like questions in class but asking them doesn't make you a gunner. In fact, if you have a valid question, lack of clarification can often leave you in the dark for a significant part of the lecture. While you may have contempt for those who ask questions in class, most people don't.

I disagree with you on this point. Many profs prepare for their classes pretty extensively, and asking a ton of question or offering your opinion on every topic may limit the amount of material covered. Granted, some profs prefer the interaction in class, but I think as a general rule, that should be left for smaller class sizes. In a class of 80 or so (like 1L classes), it's more respectful of both the prof and your classmates to reserve your points for office hours. Moreover, office hours let you prove your intelligence to your professor without any impact on how you're viewed by your classmates.

No one is talking about offering up opinions. And as per your point, professors account for time to interact with students. I have never had a class where the professor just lectures the entire class period without questions.

To your first point, sure they do but only when they cold call.

[A'nold]

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

You have a point as I once specifically called my wife over to my computer to see your tar.

That was big of you A'nold. I like that you also consider it a legal term of art. Did you know that in at least three Caribbean banana republics, the court recognizes kicked in the dick as a tort? Sometimes the court there even allows you to recover in both battery and kicked in the dick. It's in the banana republic version of Prosser and Keaton on Torts.

Hey, I know when I am being tar pwned, let it be known.

So, have you proposed this topic for your LR note or is it up for grabs? Maybe I can use you as an authoritative source?

[A'nold]

Oh, irt gunners ruining class time for everybody with their questions:

We are now becoming excused early from class more and more, as the professors seem to care less about pounding stuff into our brains this semester. Even if class ends 15-20 minutes early, we get out at the normal time and sometimes even a little later b/c gunners take this opportunity to waste everyone's gifted free time. THAT is not something you want to be remembered for, IMO.

[DoubleChecks]

lol is the definition of gunner that hard to reach a consensus on? id imagine it isnt a list of things (though i guess a list of "actions" would be a good starting point)

OP, chances are you already fully understand what a gunner is -- the pervasive usage of the term on TLS, however, has gotten you a bit confused

it's just thrown around a lot because this is...an online msg board w/ anonymous strangers replying to posts. for example, pretend "gunner" == "nerd"...if i said in high school that i wasnt going out on friday nights because i do all my hw then, everyone would call me a nerd...but they would not know anything else. maybe i never study for tests. maybe i party and do drugs (okay i should stop using the term "i" for this example) mon-thurs + sat + sun. i could do a million things that would make me NOT a nerd, but ppl would still use that term w/ me when i say im doing x thing.

same thing for how often "gunner" is used on TLS. it's fun to type. gunner. heehee.

seriously, it is about doing a lot of things to become "that guy" that nobody likes. so dont worry about it so much; if you try too hard to avoid becoming one, you might just become one

[chicagolaw2013]

lol is the definition of gunner that hard to reach a consensus on? id imagine it isnt a list of things (though i guess a list of "actions" would be a good starting point)

OP, chances are you already fully understand what a gunner is -- the pervasive usage of the term on TLS, however, has gotten you a bit confused

it's just thrown around a lot because this is...an online msg board w/ anonymous strangers replying to posts. for example, pretend "gunner" == "nerd"...if i said in high school that i wasnt going out on friday nights because i do all my hw then, everyone would call me a nerd...but they would not know anything else. maybe i never study for tests. maybe i party and do drugs (okay i should stop using the term "i" for this example) mon-thurs + sat + sun. i could do a million things that would make me NOT a nerd, but ppl would still use that term w/ me when i say im doing x thing.

same thing for how often "gunner" is used on TLS. it's fun to type. gunner. heehee.

seriously, it is about doing a lot of things to become "that guy" that nobody likes. so dont worry about it so much; if you try too hard to avoid becoming one, you might just become one

Thanks DC, taking your advice...I think I need to stop getting sort of worked up about it...it's true that LS is totally like HS...name-calling tactics and all hahahahaha.

[PDaddy]

Chuck Conners!

[bgdddymtty]

Chuck Conners!

+1

No one will get the reference, but +1.

[mac.empress]

Honestly? HONESTLY?!

Go study.

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

Bitter, bitter. GTFO!

Thanks A'nold!

[A'nold]

Honestly? HONESTLY?!

Go study.

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

Bitter, bitter. GTFO!

Thanks A'nold!

[mikeytwoshoes]

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

Bitter, bitter. GTFO!

Thanks A'nold!

Mac Empress needs to see the kicked in tit version.

[mac.empress]

Mac.Empress you have the best tar evar!

False, at least three different posters have used that tar but you only see one "kicked in the dick" tar (indicating a legal term of art).

Bitter, bitter. GTFO!

Thanks A'nold!

Mac Empress needs to see the kicked in tit version.

Nope. Your current 'tar is much more appropriate. For you.

[blsingindisguise]

I think "gunner" gets used in a couple different, possibly overlapping ways.

The first use just describes someone who seems to try harder than anyone else to do well in law school. Resenting someone for this alone is mostly masked fear - you're afraid it might actually work and they'll beat you, or you're afraid they're raising the bar for someone like you and you don't want to have to work that hard. People deny this to themselves by convincing themselves that that person isn't actually going to do well, but often these people actually do well - the people who finish their outlines early, take every practice test of every prof, read the professor's law review articles etc. Sucks for you that those people are out there, lucky for you there aren't going to be enough of them to fill the top 10% of your class.

The second use tends to describe a kiss-up/hotshot -- podium sprinter, raises hand all the time but not with legit questions, does extra IRRELEVANT shit like looking up the backstory on a case and then raising his hand to share it with the class. Talks boastfully, class participation consists largely of pretentious opinions or personal stories. This type of gunning may or may not overlap with the first kind, and this person may or may not do well - in my experience there's not much correlation one way or the other.

[FunkyJD]

[mac.empress]

+1000000000

/thread especially since you used Henry. And I'm a ManU fan.

[Kohinoor]

After answering about 30 or more formatting questions today, I am afraid I am going to have to cut off such questions.

Pass/Fail LRW class. Pass/Fail.

[mikeytwoshoes]

.

[HiLine]

I think "gunner" gets used in a couple different, possibly overlapping ways.

The first use just describes someone who seems to try harder than anyone else to do well in law school. Resenting someone for this alone is mostly masked fear - you're afraid it might actually work and they'll beat you, or you're afraid they're raising the bar for someone like you and you don't want to have to work that hard. People deny this to themselves by convincing themselves that that person isn't actually going to do well, but often these people actually do well - the people who finish their outlines early, take every practice test of every prof, read the professor's law review articles etc. Sucks for you that those people are out there, lucky for you there aren't going to be enough of them to fill the top 10% of your class.

The second use tends to describe a kiss-up/hotshot -- podium sprinter, raises hand all the time but not with legit questions, does extra IRRELEVANT shit like looking up the backstory on a case and then raising his hand to share it with the class. Talks boastfully, class participation consists largely of pretentious opinions or personal stories. This type of gunning may or may not overlap with the first kind, and this person may or may not do well - in my experience there's not much correlation one way or the other.

Makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

[Jones, Dow]

I think "gunner" gets used in a couple different, possibly overlapping ways.

The first use just describes someone who seems to try harder than anyone else to do well in law school. Resenting someone for this alone is mostly masked fear - you're afraid it might actually work and they'll beat you, or you're afraid they're raising the bar for someone like you and you don't want to have to work that hard. People deny this to themselves by convincing themselves that that person isn't actually going to do well, but often these people actually do well - the people who finish their outlines early, take every practice test of every prof, read the professor's law review articles etc. Sucks for you that those people are out there, lucky for you there aren't going to be enough of them to fill the top 10% of your class.

IMO, the hard worker isn't the gunner; it's the idiot who worries about everything the hard worker is doing and tries to copy it.

The second use tends to describe a kiss-up/hotshot -- podium sprinter, raises hand all the time but not with legit questions, does extra IRRELEVANT shit like looking up the backstory on a case and then raising his hand to share it with the class. Talks boastfully, class participation consists largely of pretentious opinions or personal stories. This type of gunning may or may not overlap with the first kind, and this person may or may not do well - in my experience there's not much correlation one way or the other.

exacto.

hard workers aren't gunners, show-and-tellers are gunners.

[mikeytwoshoes]

I think "gunner" gets used in a couple different, possibly overlapping ways.

The first use just describes someone who seems to try harder than anyone else to do well in law school. Resenting someone for this alone is mostly masked fear - you're afraid it might actually work and they'll beat you, or you're afraid they're raising the bar for someone like you and you don't want to have to work that hard. People deny this to themselves by convincing themselves that that person isn't actually going to do well, but often these people actually do well - the people who finish their outlines early, take every practice test of every prof, read the professor's law review articles etc. Sucks for you that those people are out there, lucky for you there aren't going to be enough of them to fill the top 10% of your class.

IMO, the hard worker isn't the gunner; it's the idiot who worries about everything the hard worker is doing and tries to copy it.

The second use tends to describe a kiss-up/hotshot -- podium sprinter, raises hand all the time but not with legit questions, does extra IRRELEVANT shit like looking up the backstory on a case and then raising his hand to share it with the class. Talks boastfully, class participation consists largely of pretentious opinions or personal stories. This type of gunning may or may not overlap with the first kind, and this person may or may not do well - in my experience there's not much correlation one way or the other.

exacto.

hard workers aren't gunners, show-and-tellers are gunners.

Don't paint with such a broad brush. Some of those hard workers have been known to check books out of the library and hide them in a journal office or pull other dirty tricks.

See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UDEtsRo ... r_embedded (ending the what is a gunner question once and for all)

[FunkyJD]

This is a gunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYTWnjFqTDk

[mikeytwoshoes]

This is a gunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYTWnjFqTDk

Interesting but not quite on point. You just failed your "Law and the Gunner" seminar.

[FunkyJD]

This is a gunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYTWnjFqTDk

Interesting but not quite on point. You just failed your "Law and the Gunner" seminar.

Then that means I'm not a gunner.