Classic: This time, with feeling

Classic funny moment (though it's pretty nerdy):

At marching band practice one October afternoon senior year of high school, the assistant director (AD) asked what our dynamic (i.e. how loud we should play, e.g. forte, piano, mezzo-piano) was. A few people muttered something, but the AD couldn't hear, so he asked again. A few people spoke up louder, but the AD shouted "What is your dynamic?!"

I thought this was one of those games music directors sometimes play; when you're supposed to play loud they want you to yell back the dynamic so that you understand what loud means. Then I decide to be a leader and shout back a dynamic. "Forte!" (means loud).

He shouts back, "NO!! It's mezzo-forte!" (literally "medium-loud", softer than forte). I shrunk to about two feet and didn't say anything for the rest of the day.