Some things you just shouldn't ask people. One of the top of the list would definitely be asking, "where did you get that scar?" when you see a physical marking on someone's body. But these Redditors have revealed all, telling the stories of how exactly they got their scars.
Redditor ARTX11 asked:
How did you get your scars?
CONTENT WARNING: Some of the stories discuss self-harm.
A yes, toddlers. AKA, tiny demons.
"I have a scar on my eyebrow from when I was an a**hole 4 year old. I threw a tantrum and tried to pick up a small plastic kids table to throw it over my head. Instead I dropped it, the leg hit me with a sharp broken edge on the eyebrow/eye, I started bleeding, and I had a black eye for Christmas."
"I was a terrible toddler."
What a bad influence.
Giphy
"My brother and I were playing WWF in the house (even though we weren't supposed to!). He grabbed the back of my head and slammed my forehead into the "turn buckle" which was the wooden corner of the arm rest on our couch. Blood started running down my face, he ran and hid under his bed. I got 7 stitches in my R eyebrow."
"He didn't mean to hurt me, just got a little too into the game. Lol."
Oof.
"When I was 15 I had keyhole surgery for appendicitis. Three barely noticeable scars, one of which is in my belly button. Unfortunately, something was left inside me and the morning after being discharged I woke with a fist-sized cyst on my abdomen."
"I had gone septic and had to have whatever was left inside of me removed via non-keyhole surgery which left me with a neat straight line scar about 12cm long. Also had to have a drain into my lower abdomen so I've got a big ol' hole about 6cm below my belly button. Unsightly as hell."
That sounds horrifying.
"I have a big scar down the center of my chest, and 2 little "star scars" right under it."
"I had just turned 3 and I was at my grandparents' house with my family. My older cousin was spinning me around in a swivel chair. I fell off of the chair and landed on my side, on top of my grandmother's knitting stuff that was sitting in a basket by the chair. A knitting needle went through my side and pierced my heart. My aunt thought the needle was just caught in my shirt, and ripped it out of me. I went unconscious almost immediately. By time I got to the hospital, I had lost a lot of blood and the doctors basically told my parents to prepare for the worst. Luckily, there was a badass heart surgeon there that performed emergency open heart surgery and saved my life! The star scars are from feeding tubes that were hooked up to me post surgery."
"Very thankful!!"
Cat scratch fever, what does that mean?
Giphy
"I have a pretty noticeable scar on the right side of my neck that often gets mistaken for a really bad hickey. The story I tell everyone because I'm sick of explaining is that I was stabbed in the neck with a knife. The real story is that when I was 5, I had been scratched in my eye from one of our house cats while I was asleep. The scratch had infected lymph nodes in my neck, causing it to become extremely swollen, where it was difficult for me to even breathe."
"Doctors were baffled by what it was, where I spent several weeks/months in and out of the hospital. They speculated it was lymphoma at the time. I had my neck drained from the fluid from massive syringes that I still have nightmares over, and also have a paralyzing fear of needles."
"The scar ultimately came from me undergoing 3 separate surgeries where they removed infected lymph nodes from my neck, and late discovered I suffered from a very severe case of cat scratch fever. Yes it's a Ted Nugent song, and yes it also my anthem."
That's kind of bad*ss.
"I got shot in the face during a car-jacking. Bullet went in about an inch in front of my ear, through my cheekbone, through my sinus and maxilla bone, then hit the mass of bone in the roof of my mouth and stopped. The ballistic energy from the round caused it to blow about a 50 cent piece coin-sized hole through the roof of my mouth, and a combination of the blood pouring out and gravity caused the bullet to fall into my mouth from where it came to a stop in the bone right above it."
"I ended up spitting it out on the ground thinking it was a tooth. Didn't realize it was the bullet until a doctor at the hospital told me it wasn't a tooth I spit out because I didn't lose any teeth. Wish I had that bullet now though tbh."
IspitoutabulletonceBad pupper.
"I got windmilled by a panicking shiba inu before I could clip her nails."
"I've worked with perhaps dozens of pitbulls, and my one dog-related scar came from a shiba inu small enough to be carried with one arm."
"I've forgiven her, though. She's a sweetheart in her own way (shiba inu can be like the weird antisocial cats of the dog world), except when it's time to clip nails or have a bath."
Bad kitty.
Giphy
"I was forced to be in a room full of people and clutching my cat for comfort. What I forgot was that my cat also has social anxiety and she bolted from my arms. Caught her back claws down my chest."
"It was two years ago and I still have a long scar (it's a good four or five inches) running from my collarbone halfway down my breast."
Sweet little Axl.
"My favorite one is from my husband's cat."
"My husband (we were only dating at the time) and I had just moved in together a couple of days prior and he warned me that his cat was going to be difficult. He was right. I had burnt the piss out of myself making dinner the night before and had a blister on the side of my hand, near my wrist."
"The cat, who I'll call Axl, was being sweet and rubbing up against me while I sat on the floor getting ready to put my clean, folded laundry away. Axl had not even so much as acknowledged me in the two days we had lived together, so I was happy at the sudden attention. I decided to take a picture to send to my husband and got up to grab my phone."
"I was petting Axl and took a couple of pictures when he presented his belly to me. In cat speak, that means he feels comfortable enough to be vulnerable around you. Only this was a trap and as I went to pet the belly, I was immediately caught in the Feline Four Claw Death Trap. As I attempted to free my hand, Axl decided it was time for a full attack and he ripped open my freshly burnt skin."
"As an added bonus, during the time I was gone in order to clean the wound and stop the bleeding, Axl pissed on all of my clean, folded laundry. He also pissed on my dirty laundry and all further laundry he found that didn't smell of my husband for the first week and a half we lived together."
"Less than a year later he passed away. I was the only one with him and I stayed with him as he drew his last breath. He had eventually come around and would often cuddle with me rather than my husband. I miss that cat. I'm crying now just thinking about him. I'm happy to have a reminder of him permanently on my body."
It can be a hard thing to quit.
"Probably a darker answer than OP was expecting/looking for, but I have quite a few self-harm scars."
"I'm two months clean. Almost three. Not that long in most people's eyes, but to me it's one of my biggest accomplishments yet. It had gotten to the point where I would hide razor blades in my phone case and cut myself in public bathrooms if something happened. My thighs, legs, arms, and stomach are covered in scars of various sizes."
"I think what hurts the most is looking at certain ones and remembering the painful event that triggered me to cut myself in the first place. I have a scar that says "dad" carved in my left arm and some pretty deep marks that are actually from scratching myself on my left shin/closer to my ankle after a friend back-stabbed me."
"So, yeah. I'm recovering now and hopefully this helps someone out there know that they can do it too."
This are some harrowing stories!
Do you have similar scar stories to share? Let us know in the comments below.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
The old wives' tales.
They are the stories of legend.
I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.
Where did they originate?
WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!
You don't hear about them as much anymore.
It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.
But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.
Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:
"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"
"Wait an hour to swim after eating."
What a crock!
So many summer hours wasted.
I want revenge for that one.
Say Nothing
Giphy
"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."
LonelyMail5115
"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."
I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA
Say Something
"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."
Severe_Airport1426
"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."
crappycurtains
"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."
AlbinoShavedGorilla
Body Temps
"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."
chriseo22
"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."
"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."
apocalypticradish
Arms Down
"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."
Fatmouse84
10 Years Actually
Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Giphy
"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."
"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."
Gecko-911
I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.
This tale is haunting.
High/Low
Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace
Giphy
"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."
LeastFormal9366
"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."
IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
The Cursed
"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."
"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."
SmoreOfBabylon
Stay In
"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."
"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."
worldbound0514
Dreams and Facts
"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."
"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."
mattshonestreddit
"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."
Darthdemented
Cracked
Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office
Giphy
"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."
Choice-Grapefruit-44
"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."
MacyTmcterry
I love my knuckles.
Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
