Understanding「雰囲気で点が取れるとはなんだったのか」


A guy invited his friend 伊理戸 to hang out in his room. Unfortunately, he only
wants to study for a test. So the guy thought

> 伊理戸のやつテストばっかしててつまらねー!! 雰囲気で点が取れるとはなんだったのか

I am not quite sure about the meaning of「雰囲気で点が取れるとはなんだったのか」. The translations
said "so much for very little effort" but I can't see where this meaning came
from. I think it means something like "What is the point of getting high marks
from atmosphere"? I don't understand what 雰囲気 means.




The literal translation of 雰囲気で点が取れる is indeed "can get high marks from
atmosphere". Here, 雰囲気で is a slangy phrase that means something like "relying
on one's guessing ability or intuition (rather than knowledge, logic or
experience)". So it's a kind of test where you can guess the correct answers
just by reading the questions carefully and using your common sense. If you
happen to know [空気を読む](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12790/5010), this
雰囲気で is in the same vein. There is a net meme
[俺たちは雰囲気で～している](https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E3%81%9C%E3%82%93%E3%81%9C%E3%82%93%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E4%BF%BA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1%E3%81%AF%E9%9B%B0%E5%9B%B2%E6%B0%97%E3%81%A7%E6%A0%AA%E3%82%92%E3%82%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B).
雰囲気で in the title of [this book](https://nextpublishing.jp/book/10979.html) is
the same. 雰囲気で話す人 is someone who says plausible-sounding things that are not
based on logic.

～とは何だったのか means "What was ～?" or "What was the point of (saying) ～?". So since
Irido is studying hard now, this guy is wondering why he said 雰囲気で点が取れる
earlier.




The literal translation of 雰囲気で点が取れる is indeed "can get high marks from
atmosphere". Here, 雰囲気で is a slangy phrase that means something like "relying
on one's guessing ability or intuition (rather than knowledge, logic or
experience)". So it's a kind of test where you can guess the correct answers
just by reading the questions carefully and using your common sense. If you
happen to know [空気を読む](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/12790/5010), this
雰囲気で is in the same vein. There is a net meme
[俺たちは雰囲気で～している](https://dic.pixiv.net/a/%E3%81%9C%E3%82%93%E3%81%9C%E3%82%93%E3%82%8F%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E4%BF%BA%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A1%E3%81%AF%E9%9B%B0%E5%9B%B2%E6%B0%97%E3%81%A7%E6%A0%AA%E3%82%92%E3%82%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B).
雰囲気で in the title of [this book](https://nextpublishing.jp/book/10979.html) is
the same. 雰囲気で話す人 is someone who says plausible-sounding things that are not
based on logic.

～とは何だったのか means "What was ～?" or "What was the point of (saying) ～?". So since
Irido is studying hard now, this guy is wondering why he said 雰囲気で点が取れる
earlier.

