My English teacher said that "artwork" isn't a word

[sandman]

"Artwork" isn't a word? Tell your so-called "teacher" she can bite my big hairy one. What an IDIOT! I hope you're not paying more than NT$100 per hour for that kind of ignorance!

[Mucha Man]

There are some simple tests that do a good job for determining if something is a word. Google it.

I tried Google but didn't come up with anything, so I'll just write two simple methods out here:

(1) Separability: if you can add something between the free morphemes (a free morpheme is a unit of speech that can stand alone like 'art' or' work') then it is probably not a compound word (*= not grammatical); for example: 'bus stop'; bus big stop'*; 'big house'; big red house'.

(2) Meaning: if the meaning of a compound word is different from its free morphemes together, then it is probably a compound word; for example; 'bus stops'; 'bus stop'; and the work of art / artwork example above.

I just look up the word in a reputable dictionary.

[niaoahgin]

"Artwork" isn't a word? Tell your so-called "teacher" she can bite my big hairy one. What an IDIOT! I hope you're not paying more than NT$100 per hour for that kind of ignorance!

A bit more context from the OP would be necessary in order to determine whether or not the teacher is incompetent. Consider the following (intentionally ridiculous) scenarios:

Scenario 1: Does your friend Artwork very hard at his job?
Scenario 2: This picture is an artwork.
Scenario 3: Do you think artwork to get me laid?

The use of "artwork" or "work of art" is not in dispute. It seems unlikely that either a native or non-native speaker/teacher of English would insist upon the ungrammaticality (google it) of "artwork". What remains completely unknown is a) the context in which the interaction between student and teacher occurred, b) the accuracy of the student in his/her recollection, and c) the intention of the OP in mentioning this, otherwise banal, incident.

Alas, the troller has hooked yet another red herring.

[TheGingerMan]

"Artwork" isn't a word? Tell your so-called "teacher" she can bite my big hairy one. What an IDIOT! I hope you're not paying more than NT$100 per hour for that kind of ignorance!

You are a work of art, mate!

[MikeN]

There are some simple tests that do a good job for determining if something is a word. Google it.

I tried Google but didn't come up with anything, so I'll just write two simple methods out here:

(1) Separability: if you can add something between the free morphemes (a free morpheme is a unit of speech that can stand alone like 'art' or' work') then it is probably not a compound word (*= not grammatical); for example: 'bus stop'; bus big stop'*; 'big house'; big red house'.

(2) Meaning: if the meaning of a compound word is different from its free morphemes together, then it is probably a compound word; for example; 'bus stops'; 'bus stop'; and the work of art / artwork example above.

As in "Louie's doin' ten years in the big house for messing up on that bank job."

[archylgp]

There are some simple tests that do a good job for determining if something is a word. Google it.

I tried Google but didn't come up with anything, so I'll just write two simple methods out here:

(1) Separability: if you can add something between the free morphemes (a free morpheme is a unit of speech that can stand alone like 'art' or' work') then it is probably not a compound word (*= not grammatical); for example: 'bus stop'; bus big stop'*; 'big house'; big red house'.

(2) Meaning: if the meaning of a compound word is different from its free morphemes together, then it is probably a compound word; for example; 'bus stops'; 'bus stop'; and the work of art / artwork example above.

As in "Louie's doin' ten years in the big house for messing up on that bank job."

Nice

[sandman]

What remains completely unknown is a) the context in which the interaction between student and teacher occurred, b) the accuracy of the student in his/her recollection, and c) the intention of the OP in mentioning this, otherwise banal, incident.

Mere poncifying (look it up). The OP was clear and unambiguous.

[lostinasia]

What remains completely unknown is a) the context in which the interaction between student and teacher occurred, b) the accuracy of the student in his/her recollection, and c) the intention of the OP in mentioning this, otherwise banal, incident.

Mere poncifying (look it up). The OP was clear and unambiguous.

Just because they were clear and unambiguous doesn't mean that they're accurate or that there wasn't some kind of initial miscommunication. I'm sometimes amazed by what my students tell me I've told them.

[niaoahgin]

What remains completely unknown is a) the context in which the interaction between student and teacher occurred, b) the accuracy of the student in his/her recollection, and c) the intention of the OP in mentioning this, otherwise banal, incident.

Mere poncifying (look it up). The OP was clear and unambiguous.

Poncifying? I have not intention of turning myself, or anyone else for that matter, into a ponce. Nor is dandification among any of my ulterior motives.

As per the clarity and unambiguity of the OP, I beg to differ with your assessment. Remember the original title of the post? It was "I don't even". Without beating this dead horse any more than necessary, please consider the statements "she said it [artwork] was two different words" and "Then she put 'work of art' [emphasis added]". These are two very ambiguous statements, in my humble opinion. I am not trying to attack anyone, but I believe that readers would be able to provide better advice to the OP if a bit more detail was provided. (Assuming that the OP was seeking clarification). Perhaps the provision of additional details would even add support to your argument that the teacher in this account is an "IDIOT" who would be well-suited to the task of biting your "big hairy" appendage.

[sandman]

Whatever. I read the OP and responded to what was written, not to what might have been written or what might have been meant. What the fuck would be the point of that?