This analysis identifies six problems with the the popular terms "rigorous academic curriculum" and "academic rigor": they bear multiple meanings, they contain negative connotations, they are survivals from the discredited learning theory called mental discipline, they have more to do with status than substance, they refer to an over-narrow conception of curriculum, and they are imprecise--that is, by definition, the term "rigorous academic curriculum" is not an academically rigorous term. The paper concludes with a proposal to set new terms for students' school experiences, namely, a call for a "vigorous educative curriculum."