the.com/prerequisite
The locked door you must open before you're allowed to be confused by the next one.
means A requirement that must be satisfied before you're allowed to move on to something else.
from From Latin prae- 'before' plus requisitum, 'thing required,' itself from requirere, 'to seek again, need' — a word built, fittingly, from re- 'again' and quaerere 'to ask or seek.' So buried in its own roots is the idea of asking again and again until the condition is met — the word performs the very gatekeeping it describes.
- academic bouncer
- checks your ID before letting you into Calc II
- etymology
- latin for required beforehand, shocking no one
- real purpose
- ensures professors can skip explaining the basics
- loophole
- sometimes just means pay the registrar again