"Do I do the prostitution?"

As a wrap-up to our unit on Emmett Till, we are doing a review the day before the test, but instead of a game or a review sheet, we will be doing a mock trial, complete with a judge (myself), lawyers (select students) and a jury (everyone else). I explained the ins and outs of a trial, including when the prosecution presents its case and when the defense presents its case, opening and closing statements, etc.

I didn't realize that they had no idea what "prosecution" and "defense" mean, so an interesting conversation followed my explanation. R, one of the lawyers for Emmett Till's side (the prosecution team), came up to me and asked a question. Now you need to know that this girl, along with many of her classmates, speaks so softly that I have to practically touch my ear to her lips in order to hear what in the hell she's saying. Here it goes:

RG: "(mumble mumble mumble)"

Me: "What was that?"

RG: "Can I do (muuuuuummmmbbblee)?"

Me: "Can you what?"

RG: "Is prostitution okay?"

I honestly thought that I heard those words come out of her mouth.

Me: "Is prostitution okay? No, it is not okay. Why?"

RG: "Well, I'm making my case for Monday and I'm not sure where I go. Do I do the prostitution? Do I prostitute?"

Me: "No, R, that's prosecution. To prosecute. And yes, you are the prosecutor. You will prosecute the defendants."

I couldn't stop laughing. I informed her in ever-so-politically-correct terms that prostitution is, in fact, walking the street and soliciting to pervs, while prosecuting is making a legal case against a defendant.

And, thus, her vocabulary grew.