Moment of honesty: some connections are just NOT worth it.
Friends are in your life for 'a reason, a season, or a time' ... and some of you should have called time a whiiiiiile ago.
Reddit user 'Jojosiwasbadussy' asked:
"Hey people of Reddit what was the 'hell nah I'm out' moment in a new friend group?"
A good chunk of us will read through these answers and see situations we recognize. Some of us will see situations we tolerated, or made a different choice in.
We're going to talk about your experiences at the end, first it's time for Reddit to get all red-flaggy.
Everyone But
"They started a second group chat called 'everyone but percy1614' when I couldn't hang out ONE TIME, which became the new group chat."
"I found out when one of them said something like: 'Oh my god, the group chat's blowing up!'
" And I was confused because it was silent, so I responded: 'No, it's not. What are you talking about?' "
"At that point, I think it had existed for about three months."
"I wish I was angrier, but honestly, I was just sad."
- percy1614
"Ah man that hits close to home."
"I had a group of friends in college I thought were like family to me. Stayed with them 3 years."
"Then, one of them got married. At the wedding they called for a family picture and when I walked over they asked me to TAKE the photo, not be IN the photo."
"That really f*cked me up for a long time and I still have trust issues years later because of it."
"Shortly after, I learned of all the stuff I wasn't invited to like weekly dinners, camping trips, etc. Realized that I was always the one initiating."
"Stopped talking to them cold turkey. What hurt most is they never reached out to ask where I was or why I never hung out with them anymore."
"Luckily that breakup led to me meeting some actually good friends who I'm still very close with 10 years later."
- Misdirected_Colors
GiphyUnhygienic Thieves
"I made friends with some girls in the first couple weeks of university."
"We hung out a lot at first. Then I sat in on a conversation of them talking about how they'd been sharing a toothbrush between them for weeks (there was 3 of them) - they were arguing about whose it actually was."
"That kinda put me off them because ew, but the nail in the coffin was when I found out they were all kleptomaniacs- all of them LOVED stealing and would have competitions to see who could steal the most when we went to the mall... no thanks!"
"Unhygienic thieves? I'll pass."
"I ghosted them completely"
- Susuwatari0
GiphyThe Narcos
"My ex friends claimed to be narcos from Mexico. They were underage, had guns illegally, and they lied so much it was just cringy."
"Anyway, one day I invited them to my mom's birthday and they were a disaster. They kept acting hard and tough, saying I was soft."
"They pointed a gun at me so I could become 'harder' and be 'one of them.' "
"They were treating the gun like a BB gun and acting like little kids that were playing war with each other. Those guys were plain ridiculous and really dangerous, just not in the way they thought."
"I was like yup I'm done."
- Affectionate_Pop5239
"Yeah no. I socialize with several actual narcos, and if there is one thing they would never do it is disrespect a mom's birthday like that."
"Hell no. You don't f*ck around with Mexican moms."
"Sounds like you were friends with a bunch of sh*tkids. Good they are not down in Mexico, they would be told/made to stop pretty quickly."
- Wooden_Researcher_36
"Mexican moms have chanclas faster and more accurate than any bullet"
- kai325d
GiphyOut Loud
"Hanging out with an old friend and her group of friends. Nobody I had met before besides her."
"She left before we all went to one of their apartments to keep the party going. Dude's roommate comes home and he's obviously a bit imbalanced, which the other occupant had sorta warned us about."
"Starts yelling, being grouchy that people were over. We weren't even loud at all, just chilling and having a drink and chatting."
"At one point he punches a wall, and we were all just sitting there kinda stunned."
"At that moment I realized -and said out loud- 'Oh wow...no one here knows my name.' "
"So I just got up and left. Walked like 10 miles back home in the middle of the night."
"Heard later the cops got called for sound complaints and domestic abuse concerns. Happy to have dodged that whole scene."
"There has been more than one party where I saw some drama brewing (scandalous makeouts, friend drama, some folk way too high or drunk and getting out of hand, etc) and literally said out loud 'bail' and just left."
"Never regretted it."
- Dangercakes13
"I was recently at a party as an adult with other adults."
"A pushing match broke out and was moving towards me. I just said, 'this would be a bad thing for me' out loud and walked to the other side of the room."
- Chazzybobo
GiphyBill Murray
"I'm into films and was invited to an Oscar party."
"I've never been to an Oscar party and I was looking forward to having a stimulating dialogue with other avid film lovers. Instead everyone got crazy drunk."
"When Sean Penn won, this girl started screaming like her team just won the super bowl."
"When the camera cut to Bill Murray she said: 'F*ck You Bill Murray you talentless f*ck!' and then a group of people chanted 'f*ck Bill Murray.' "
"I said, 'I don't get it? I think Bill Murray's a great actor and did a great job in 'Lost in Translation.' "
"Same drunk girl got in my face 'HAVE YOU SEEN 'MYSTERY RIVER'? HAVE YOU SEEEEEN 'MYSTERY RIVER'?!!!!"
"I said no, that I had not seen 'Mystery River' then she said 'Then what the fuck do you know?!' "
"I replied 'I know enough to know the movie is called 'Mystic River.' "
"and then she came after me."
"I don't do Oscar parties anymore."
- shaka_sulu
GiphyNo D.D. For You
"When we met at my house to go to a bar, and one of their friends I had only met a few times was pregaming with the remnants of some kind of liquor."
"We headed to the car to go out and he whipped the bottle down my street shattering it all over the corner and sidewalk where people walk and play daily."
"A couple neighbors having a bonfire in their backyard heard the shatter and came over to make sure everything was okay."
"I stopped in my tracks, said 'what the f*ck?' and went to grab a broom and dustpan. He refused to clean it up and the mutual friends said I was blowing it out of proportion and should just leave it."
"I cleaned it up and told them to have a good night without me. I was going to be the DD since they had already all been drinking, but I had no desire to put up with this behavior for the rest of the night."
"Especially if this was how he was and he wasn't even really drunk yet."
"Guy thought since his daddy owned a dealership and was loaded he could do whatever he wanted."
"I went back in the house. F*ck people like that."
- EnigmaGuy
GiphyStealing From The Homeless
"Back in my university student days I had the hots for this 'bad girl' type chick for the longest time, despite all the warnings my friends gave me."
"When I finally ended up getting with her, I realized she wasn't just a 'bad girl,' she was MEAN. AS. HELL."
"The last straw was when I saw her from afar approach a blind beggar that used to frequent the campus area and everyone and their mother knew for years, pretty likeable fella."
"Instead of giving him money, she went and grabbed the money he had gathered for the day and took it for herself."
"Thankfully someone else caught her in the moment and called her out on it and it became this massive deal where everyone, including myself, basically shamed her into giving the money back to the poor dude."
"That was my 'f*ck this, I'm out' moment. I just couldn't associate myself with her or treat her with any semblance of respect anymore. She just outright stopped being human in my head."
"The worst part was her badmouthing me behind my back later on telling anyone who would lend an ear to her that I was a limpd*ck because I 'didn't support her on her moment of need.' "
"HER need. Not the beggars need. HERS. F*cking twat."
- Yisuscrais69
GiphyToo Many Gangster Movies, Not Enough Common Sense
"Out of high school my childhood friends started getting more and more involved with organized crime. They were low on the totem pole trying to 'break into the scene.' "
"They plotted to rob a store to advance their 'standing' and the plan was just ridiculously stupid."
"They asked me to be a look out. I would have never ever gone through with it and the fact they wanted to rob something is what made me decide to leave my group of child hood friends forever."
"The stupidity of the plan was the cherry on top."
" 'You guys spent all night planning and decided the best way to do it is to drive a van through the front window and grab what you can?! And your insurance plan of not getting caught is for me to hide out in my car down the street and look for police???' "
" 'Ya I'm out lol. But like out out. Like out forever. Later' "
"Too many gangster movies, not enough common sense."
"Inner city Italian kids. Each one of them has a drug problem, a few of them have gone to jail, luckily nobody is dead."
"I'm 39 now. By far the greatest decision I made was realizing I grew out of these friends and moving on with my life at the age of 21."
"I own property, I'm high up in my career, newly single and quite literally living my best days."
"If those were their best days I pity them."
- Vivid82
GiphyParenthood
"When I got pregnant and they ghosted me."
"Then 3 months later they popped up and asked if they could bring their friend to stay at my house because she's never been to Hawaii, where I lived."
"Like HELL NO. You guys just want a cheap trip to Hawaii, I'm not going to let you come stay with me when you haven't talked to me in months!"
- Fragrant_One_6445
"Big relate on the getting pregnant and then being ghosted."
"I had one girl who was supposedly my 'best friend' hit me up for the first time in like a year for a ride not long after my son was born."
"I was lonely, so even though I was basically just a taxi I was like sure!"
"She talked non stop from A to B and then my son started to fuss in the back seat in his car seat."
"She turned UP the radio to drown out his noise and shouted over the radio that when I come back to give her a ride home I should just not bring him."
"I turned off the radio, called her a b*tch, and told her to get an Uber home."
"We never spoke again."
- Alohamora95
GiphySudden Aggressive Racism
"I lived in the US for about three years as a kid, before my family and I moved back to Denmark. Went back to the US on a vacation with my family a couple years later, and I made plans to visit and old childhood friend."
"We used to be really close, like inseparable. Hung out several times a week after school. He was a really friendly, kind and funny kid."
"He brings me to hang out and have a few drinks with some of his friends (people I'd never met before). Starts off a perfectly normal and pleasant night. Mostly people were just asking me questions about myself and my life in Denmark. Seemed like a friendly group of folks..."
"... Until one guy made a remark akin to 'Must be nice to live in a country without so many f*cking n*****s ruining everything.' "
"I've never seen so many people switch so quickly and aggressively from normal conversation topics, to going on a collective full on, hard core racist, white-supremacy tangent."
"It was instantaneous and unanimous. There was not a single person there who wasn't incredibly eager to contribute to the cascade of racial epithets, stereotypes and ignorant hate-remarks being thrown out at a staggering velocity."
"They quickly started bragging about incredibly f*cked up stuff. Apparently most of them had at least one prior or pending assault charge for beating up a black person."
"I just stood there in shock for a while, not having the slightest clue what to do with myself. I was deathly afraid that if I gave them the slightest clue that I wasn't in complete and total agreement with their viewpoints I might very well be assaulted for being a 'n***** lover.' "
"Luckily, they had distracted themselves enough by getting into what I assume was their normal conversational rhythm, that they almost entirely forget to include me in the conversation."
"That means they didn't notice that I retreated into the background, pulled out my phone and texted my dad to come pick me up 'immediately!' "
"As soon as my dad texted me back he was outside, I quickly but quietly left without a word. Once outside I ran to the car as fast as I could, got in and told him to drive NOW."
"Funnily enough, I haven't spoken to that childhood friend since."
- DeadPendulum
GiphyYahoo
"Not a friend group, but I met this one guy a while back in a yahoo group, who was initially pretty cool."
"We became friends after a while, and one day he was like 'You wanna see something?' so I was like 'sure!' "
"And he showed me one of those hidden links. (Those links that you enter into a website to get a condensed link that hides where the site is). It leads to a download thing. So I download it an open it."
"Turns out it was a link to some child porn download hub."
"I noped the f*ck out of there, reported the guy to yahoo, and scrubbed the sh*t out of my computer with every antivirus, anti-malware, computer cleaner I could find. I was extremely paranoid about yahoo chat for a while after that XD"
- darkninja0200
Block GIF by Debby RyanGiphyDisability Is Boring?
"When my long time friend told me she couldn't go along to an important medical appointment with me, which we'd organized months in advance. This was fine because I thought it was work related."
"Turns out she went on holiday with a friend."
"When I asked her after she said it's not as fun to hang out with me because I'm disabled. Obvs she said 'no offense' before hand so I guess that's all patched up now?"
"She moved out for a new job and hearing my flat-mates complain about her being rude to them I had that aha moment, that I wasn't the bad friend, it was her."
- essiej98
Team Usa Paralympics Sport GIF by Team USAGiphyAward-Winning
"I was invited to a Christmas party that was being hosted by some friends of a friend."
"They had two massively overweight Spaniels, and they went on and on bragging about how one of them was an award-winning show dog."
"This dog looked like it hadn't been groomed in over a year, it's nails were crazy long, and had some of the bulgiest eyes I've seen on the breed. It clearly wasn't being cared for."
"Never hung out with them again. I figured if they couldn't be bother to do basic care on an 'award-winning' dog, they weren't worth being friends with."
- ThePluckiestDuck
walt disney art GIF by hoppipGiphyEvery Time We Drink
"At a house party and one of the girls gets sloppy drunk and starts arguing with her dude who was just playing beer pong with other dudes in the group, fine whatever."
"She escalated it so much that there was now a crowd trying to calm them both down. At this point she's crying, yelling, shoving at him and he's just leaning against a counter not saying anything, hand on a cup the other in his pocket."
"Things calmed back down as fast as they started up, and everyone just got back to playing. But she got hysterical again claiming that her dude hit her."
"Except he hadn't moved. He was still leaning against this counter in the same position looking completely done with the night."
"Half the crowd that saw him do nothing and heard him say nothing to her."
"It took like 3-4 of this girl's friends to pull her away from getting in his face again and comfort her because she started yelling about all their inner relationship problems. I asked why they comforted her if she was obviously the one in the wrong."
"Simply put, they responded like 'this is just what she does every time we drink.' When I asked why they still feed her drinks, it was like deer in headlights."
"Just nope."
- papsinchaps
drunk GIFGiphy"House B*tch"
"About 20 years ago I started to hang out with other dads."
"We would get some beers and bullsh*t around. Then I noticed they really talked negatively about their wives."
"One common term was 'house b*tch'."
"I decided there was no need to hang out with these guys. I cannot ever see myself using the words they used to describe their wives."
- toad__warrior
sick cringe GIFGiphyGingivitis
"In high school I worshipped these heavy metal kids who were like 22 at the time. Tried for years to get into their friend group."
"I finally get invited to a party and this dude, Gary, immediately throws a glass liquor bottle across the room and nails this girl in the mouth. She's bleeding like crazy."
"Nobody helped her and no sh*t, she looks right up and say 'it's ok I have really bad gingivitis.' "
"I left immediately."
- Gilbert_Sanchez
Im Out Shark Tank GIF by ABC NetworkGiphyUncomfortable
"I remember back in middle school there was this girl that would follow me everywhere. She personally made me uncomfortable, and I signaled it. She didn't exactly get the sign."
"I didn't want to outright tell her but it seemed to be the only way. One day, I told her on Discord, and then she didn't seem to care about anything I said. I saw this as very disrespectful and tried avoiding her for a few days."
"Eventually we start talking again and she adds me to a group chat without my consent."
"I take a look at the chat, and it was filled to the brim with horrible people making horrible comments. They were talking about having sex in the school bathroom and how to use condoms."
"I immediately went to complain to her in the direct messages, and she said that they were kidding. So I stayed, but then she started joining in to 'roleplay.' Yeah. Like, furry roleplay."
"I left the group chat shortly after, and then I blocked her. She then harassed me so much at school that I had to tell school administrators. Well, there went her dream to be student council president."
- TemperatureLegal8400
Oh God Reaction GIFGiphyEveryone Keeps Overdosing
"Had just started a job at a warehouse. His told me that the last six workers had Overdosed, two dead and one in a coma."
"Started hanging out with co-workers, they were really sweet and for once. I felt like I belonged!"
"As an anti social and introverted person, that meant a lot to me. Fast forward to a month and a half and I'm invited to a party. I'm thinking it's going to be a nice dance party."
"Nope. Every worker, my supervisor AND boss were snorting lines of cocaine laced with fentanyl!"
"I'm like what the f*ck, that's why everyone is ODing!"
"I quit the job and blocked everyone's numbers that night."
- SteveRogersAss
Season 3 Nbc GIF by The OfficeGiphyNot A Prank
"Seeing one of them putting something in my drink while I was away, while the others were smiling like idiots."
"I just knew one of them who brought me, and he was sitting with them. I don't have any idea what it was that they put into my glass."
"I never asked. Instead, I called a cab, got my jacket, and left without returning to their table."
"Never met the dude again after that evening. He wasn't a close friend after all."
"I have to mention I'm a dude, so they probably just tried to prank me rather than hurt me. Didn't matter for me."
"You don't do this to someone you just met."
- myhamsterisajerk
Not Funny GIF by VH1GiphyNow that you've read through the Reddit Red Flag parade, it's your turn to share.
Tell us about those "OMFGNOPE" moments where you realized a friendship or connection just wasn't worth it.
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Things People Secretly Love But Would Never Admit To In Public
Reddit user sweet_chick283 asked: 'What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?;
What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.
Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:
"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"
These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.
Good Clean Fun
"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."
– MrDDog06
"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."
– Bogus_34
Act Of Unwrinkling
"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."
– eerie_white_glow
"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."
"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."
– xdq
Our solo actions can spark joy.
Big Brother Is Watching
"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."
– Bec_121
"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."
– doeswaspsmakehoney
The Multi-Tasker
"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."
– thickening_agent
Releasing The Kraken
"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."
– therapoootic
"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."
– TheWarmestHugz
Ultimate Comfort
"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."
– crazyloomis
Some people are obsessed with collecting things.
So Kawai
"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."
– HavingNotAttained
It's A Staple
"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."
"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."
– _CozyLavender_
Not Caring Anymore
"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."
– Bi-Beast
"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"
– deanie1970
Honorable mentions start here.
The Savior
"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."
– sky_kitten89
Hero Of The Moment
"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"
"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."
– chris14020
Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?
Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.
As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.
We've probably all heard some variation of the saying "Truth is stranger than fiction."
Real life isn't just strange, it can also be downright ridiculous.
History is riddled with moments of absurdity.
So ridiculous that people have a hard time believing real life is, well, really real.
A Redditor asked:
"What’s an event in history that is so ridiculous it sounds fake?"
Moostaken Identity
"Hannibal saved his army by tying torches to the horns of 5,000 cows and driving them in one direction."
"The Romans thought they were the enemy army and converged on them, while Hannibal quietly snuck his 10,000 man force out of the valley by another route."
~ Marxbrosburner
War Without Casualties
"That time Denmark and Canada (I think) had a 'war' over Hans island."
"Every time a Navy vessel drove by they picked up the flag of the over nation, planted their own and left a bottle of alcohol."
"I heard it stopped not that long ago."
~ FairyQueen89
"It also means that both Canada and Denmark now share a land border with more than one country."
"Also (jokingly) means that Canada could potentially join the EU, as it now borders an EU nation."
~ millijuna
Oh, 💩
"The Erfurt Latrine Disaster occurred on 26 July 1184, when Henry VI, King of Germany (later Holy Roman Emperor), held a Hoftag (informal assembly) in the Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt."
"On the morning of 26 July, the combined weight of the assembled nobles caused the wooden second story floor of the building to collapse and most of them fell through into the latrine cesspit below the ground floor, where about 60 of them drowned in liquid excrement."
~ amerkanische_Frosch
Running On Empty
"The 1904 Olympic Marathon in St. Louis."
"32 athletes took part, but only 14 were able to finish—there was only one water station in the entire 26-mile course. The 'winner' was later disqualified because they found out he drove half the race in his car."
"The new winner (the guy who came in second) had to be carried over the finish line by his trainers because they’d been dosing him the whole time with a strange mixture of strychnine, brandy, and egg whites."
"Several people almost died of internal injuries. Multiple runners stole things from passersby."
"Most people in the race weren’t even Olympic-level athletes, just amateur runners, many of whom didn’t even have to run a full marathon to qualify."
~ Blacl-Owl
Stonewalled
"When two perfectly working pistols failed to fire on US President Andrew Jackson who then beat his would-be-assassin so badly that the presidential security detail had to pull him off to save the man's life."
~ sleepwalkfromsherdog
The Log Shot First
"The guy who founded Scientology once engaged in a multi-day naval battle with a log. He would then go on to commit an act of war against Mexico."
~ Duck_Whistle
"In June 1942, Hubbard was given command of a patrol boat at the Boston Navy Yard, but he was relieved after the yard commandant wrote that Hubbard was 'not temperamentally fitted for independent command'."
"In 1943, Hubbard was given command of a submarine chaser, but only five hours into the shakedown cruise, Hubbard believed he had detected an enemy submarine. Hubbard and crew spent the next 68 hours engaged in combat."
"An investigation concluded that Hubbard had likely mistaken a 'known magnetic deposit' for an enemy sub. The following month, Hubbard unwittingly fired upon Mexican territory and was relieved of command."
"In 1944, Hubbard served aboard the USS Algol before being transferred. The night before his departure, Hubbard reported the discovery of an attempted sabotage."
"I believe he had his men fire into hills in Baja California. He must not have realized that you can’t just use another country for target practice."
~ csfshrink
Bling, Bling
"The Field of the Cloth of Gold, where King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France tried to out-bling each other."
"The fact that two monkeys covered in gold leaf were far from the most ostentatious display is a good indication of how tasteful it was."
~ notatravis
"I assumed you meant two statues of monkeys in gold leaf."
"But no, actual real-life monkeys. Somebody painted actual real-life monkeys gold."
~ Youre_so_damn_fat
Sorry We Can't Shoot You
"When America went to war with Spain, the Spanish forgot to tell their territory, Guam.
"The US sent a single warship to the island where they took 13 shots at the fort."
"The leaders on the island rowed out to apologize they couldn't return their 'salute' because they had no gunpowder."
"That is why Guam is a US territory."
~ Wetworth
Ribbit
"The Great Windham Frog War."
"In 1754 Windham, Connecticut was still a frontier settlement. One hot night the residents awoke to gruesome sounds that convinced them that the local Natives were attacking."
"Throughout the night they strove to drive off the attackers with steady gunfire. In the morning they crept out, to find thousands of dead frogs who had spent the night competing for the dwindling water."
"Rather than being ashamed, this has become a central part of the town’s character. The town’s symbol is a frog and the bridge is decorated with large frogs at each corner."
~ DdraigGwyn
Psych!
"Operation Mincemeat."
"Basically, the British dressed a random dead guy in a military uniform, put fake invasion plans in his pocket, and dropped him on the shore of Spain."
"The Spanish found the body (and invasion plans) and informed Germany."
"Germany, believing the invasion plans were real, sent an army to Greece—which is exactly what the Brits wanted, because they were actually going to invade Sicily."
~ ThePinkTeenager
They Got Worms
"For a very long time the Roman empire was able to acquire silk through trade over 'the silk road' to China, but never able to unlock the secrets of producing it domestically themselves."
"Until 552AD, when two monks preaching in India then travelled to China, where they witnessed the guarded methods of using the live silk worm to spin the famous thread."
"Knowing the importance of what they'd learned, the monks returned to Constantinople to report directly to the emperor Justinian."
"He personally met the monks, heard all the details of what they'd seen, then asked them to return to China and find a way of smuggling these worms back to the empire."
"They agreed, and prepared for the 2 year ~6,500km (4,000mi) trek back to China on foot, hoof and wheel."
"Once back in China they acquired either eggs or young larvae, since the adults are too delicate for transport, and tucked them into hollowed bamboo canes for the long journey straight back home."
"Once the monks made it back to Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey), domestic silk production slowly ramped up and the need for long journeys along the 'silk road' ramped down."
"Over time, this allowed the same type of silk monopoly which China had enjoyed through the prior centuries to now be established in the Mediterranean, becoming one of the bedrocks of the Byzantine economy for the next 700 years.It's crazy to think about these two guys."
"1500 years before you or I were born, making their second multi-year, 6,500km trek back from China, smuggling two bamboo canes full of bugs which would fuel the economy of one of the world's largest civilizations for the next 700 years."
"I wonder if they knew and understood these possibilities when they went to scoop the worms from their baskets in China...Imagine the anxiety trying to keep them hidden and alive the whole way back!"
~ ChipHazardous
Ape 💩
"The Gombe Chimpanzee War."
"It sounds like something right out of a Planet of The Apes movie."
"The Gombe Chimpanzee War, also known as the Four-Year War, was a violent conflict between two communities of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in the Kigoma region of Tanzania between 1974 and 1978."
"The two groups were once unified in the Kasakela community. By 1974, researcher Jane Goodall noticed the community splintering."
"Over a span of eight months, a large party of chimpanzees separated themselves into the southern area of Kasakela and were renamed the Kahama community. The separatists consisted of six adult males, three adult females and their young."
"The Kasakela was left with eight adult males, twelve adult females and their young."
"During the four-year conflict, all males of the Kahama community were killed, effectively disbanding the community. The victorious Kasakela then expanded into further territory but were later repelled by two other communities of chimpanzees."
~ DeadalusJones
Hong Xiuquan Christ?
"The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)."
"Hong Xiuquan, who failed the imperial exam on the third try to become a civil servant, had a breakdown and dreamed that he was the brother of Jesus Christ."
"He later led a revolution resulting in between 20 to 30 million deaths. That's the bloodiest civil war in the world and the toll of death surpasses the totality of casualties in WWI."
"British diplomats at the time wanted to support the revolution but later discovered that Hong Xiuquan literally never read the Bible and they thus deemed it would be disastrous if he were to get the throne."
"This historical event feels like a fever dream everytime I hear about it."
~ Freezemoon
Pied Piper
"John 'Mad Jack' Churchill was a British officer in World War Two. He’s famous because he brought along a Scottish claymore, bagpipes, and a bow and got the 'only confirmed longbow kill of the Second World War'."
"One time he was with part of his commando unit and a shell exploded and injured everyone but him, so he played a Scottish Jacobite song on his bagpipes until the Germans captured him and sent him to a prison camp."
"He promptly escaped via a tunnel he dug and almost got to the ocean before he got recaptured."
"By then, it was April 1945, and the German military was falling apart, so they let him go pretty quickly."
"He’s famous for the quote 'any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed'."
~ 3000ghosts
What absurdly, ridiculous event would you add?
Companies and products rebrand for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes they want to revitalize a dying brand.
Or stay fresh and modern.
Other times they're trying to put a negative public image in their rear view mirror.
And sometimes, someone somewhere in a company has low impulse control.
Anyway...
Reddit user PulakHasan asked:
"What's the Weirdest Rebranding of all time?"
Weight Watchers
"Weight Watchers abbreviated their name down to 'WW' and in doing so, increased the syllables needed to pronounce their new company name."
~ hambone10
"You burn more calories uttering the extra syllables."
~ jungl3j1m
waitr
"Waitr was an extremely successful delivery service here. They had full time employees and you could get food delivered in 30-45 minutes."
"Then, they made everybody an independent contractor and started calling themselves ASAP."
"'As slow as possible' caught on and they lost the majority market share within a month."
~ bravesgeek
GiphyHBO
"I still don’t understand HBO dropping probably the most prestigious name in cable tv/streaming."
~ stoneman9284
"Right?! Also it literally means Home Box Office - that’s the best name for a streaming service????"
~ oreos_in_milk
Nordic Choice Hotels
"Nordic Choice Hotels rebranded to 'Strawberry'."
"They have to mention their old name all the time, because Strawberry could be absolutely anything."
"If only it were 'Strawberry Hotels' but it's not. It's just Strawberry."
"They removed the part that explains what kind of business it is."
"Madness."
~ WoodSheepClayWheat
GiphyUSWest
"USWest-->Qwest-->CenturyLink-->Lumen I don’t care what your name is."
"Can I have more than 10mbps DSL at my address?"
~ Trickycoolj
"In Europe, and it's now Level3--> Centurylink--> Lumen--> Colt."
"I'm sure they rename in the hope people forget the incompetence."
~ ConsciousValence
"My mom has worked for them since 1977 when they were Northwestern Bell."
"She's been through a billion name changes."
~ CorporalBB
Circuit City IQ Crew
"Circuit City rebranding their PC technician division from IQ Crew (which predated Geek Squad, by the way) to..."
"Firedog."
"I worked at a Circuit City from 2005-2008 and we all thought it was a prank when we saw the announcement."
"'The intensity of fire with the loyalty of man's best friend'."
"I sh*t you not—that was the marketing."
~ Tiberius_Jim
GiphyBritish Petroleum
"When after a major oil spill, BP changed their branding to Beyond Petroleum for an ad campaign showing how they were investing in renewables."
"Logo change too."
~ RandomAmuserNew
"An oil spilled followed by a huge effort to cover it up, including dumping Corexit into the water to mix with the oil and make it sink."
"So it was no longer visible from aerial shots, but it did far, far more damage mixed with a dangerous chemical and sitting on the sea floor than slowly evaporating or being soaked up on the surface."
~ LurkerOrHydralisk
Amoco
"When BP purchased Amoco, they quickly rebranded all the stations to BP."
"Not sure if it is everywhere but Amoco had a lot of brand recognition in the Midwest and a lot of people just didn’t like BP."
"Eventually, they started rebranding some of their stations back to Amoco to cash in on nostalgia."
"I always thought it was dumb but never realized that so many people hated it until after I worked for BP (very briefly) and was told the story of how much pushback they got."
~ anitabelle
British Petroleum (BP Oil)/Paul Sableman
Overstock.com
"Overstock.com I think qualifies for weird rebrand."
"Bed Bath and Beyond went out of business and was bought out by Overstock and then Overstock just rebranded everything to Bed Bath and Beyond."
"If you go to overstock.com it’s just BBB."
~ WhatsABuckland
Snoop Dogg
"When Snoop Dogg (temporarily) changed his name to Snoop Lion to make a reggae album."
~ RomanOnARiver
"Snoop’s original name on Death Row was 'Snoop Doggy Dogg'. When he left Death Row and went to No Limit, he had to alter his name (which might have been his original name) to 'Snoop Dogg'."
~ GotMoFans
"Snoop’s mother used to call him Snoopy as a nickname which is the origin."
~ OpanaMan
"The Charles Schulz people would have had a field day."
~ GotMoFans
GiphyBooks-A-Million
"Books-A-Million to 'BAM'."
"I was in a parking lot with one and had no idea it was a bookstore, as I was a bit too far out to see more than 'BAM' from where I was parked."
~ lynnyfox
KIA
"Everytime I see the new KIA logo I assume its a NIN [Nine Inch Nails] fan."
~ vinyalwhl
"I thought it was KN for an embarrassingly long time."
~ VulfSki
"KIA changed their logo on their cars and Google showed an uptick in the searches for 'K N cars' because people liked the look of them but didn’t realise it was a KIA."
~ User_Deleted_Content
Mark Chan on Unsplash
Royal Mail
"Royal Mail deciding Consignia was the way to go forwards."
~ PonITdude
"They wanted to go international but they lost so much money that year they had to stay national and reversed the name back."
~ ShinyHead0
"Twitter to X."
~ sandiercy
"And then everyone still refers to it as Twitter."
~ Safety_Drance
"'A user on X, formerly known as Twitter, posted…'.”
~ tommyk1210
"Rather like to see 'A user on Twitter, erroneously known as X, posted...'."
~ SagittaryX
"'A user on twitter, largely unknown as X, posted...'."
~ Pinksters
"A few days ago, I saw an article that said 'Twitter, which Elon Musk incorrectly thinks is called X for some reason...'."
"That was pretty funny."
~ temalyen
GiphyCity Landmarks
"In Chicago we still call it the Sears Tower [renamed Willis Tower in 2009]."
~ baccus83
"And in Pittsburgh, it’s still Heinz Field [renamed Acrisure Stadium in 2022]."
~ NoVaBurgher
"And in Toronto, it’s still the Skydome [renamed Rogers Centre in 2005]."
~ nonanarchist
"And in New York when you take 287 across the Hudson it's still the Tappan Zee Bridge [renamed Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in 2017]. "
~ keytarin
"A lot of LA people still call it Staples Center [renamed Crypto.com Arena in 2021]."
~ New_Simple_4531
"In Denver we will always say Mile High Stadium [renamed Empower Field at Mile High in 2019]."
~ SheBrokeHerCoccyx
Some rebrandings make perfect sense to the public.
Others are utterly baffling.
What would you add to this list?
I freely admit I'm of a certain age where my primary education occurred before the age of the internet—when our questions were answered with conversations with experts, encyclopedias or knowing how to use card catalogs.
My knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System is largely useless today.
Research is drastically different now—sorry Melvil Dewey. Internet search engines quickly became the difference between occasionally finding an outdated version of the information we were looking for and rarely not finding current information on the most obscure of topics.
Unless your Google game is super weak, you're likely to find what you're looking for or something close to it unlike the good old days when our chances were hit or mis—with lots of misses.
So what do we use this amazing, life-changing tool for?
Well...
Reddit user b-secret asked:
"What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever Googled?"
How Much?
"what's the alcohol percentage in 70% rubbing alcohol?"
~ LightsJusticeZ
"55% alcohol, 15% rubbing"
~ FishOfFishyness
Who?
"I Googled my work because I couldn’t remember my boss’ name after working there for 8 months."
"I just blanked and couldn’t think of it."
~ HCxTC
Spellcheck
"I Google how to spell restaurant all the time."
~ ParkOk6450
"I'm like that but with Febuary."
"EDIT: February"
~ NeoNero_x
"I go into incognito mode to check spellings of words I should know how to spell."
~ LordCaptain
GiphyUm, No.
"I was trying to find the name of those signs where a word is written down the side and each letter is used for a descriptive word."
"Confusing I know."
"So here’s an example: False Evidence Appearing Real"
"I know it has to have a name. So I googled 'Sign where every word starts with a letter' and Goggle responded with 'Did you mean a sentence?'.”
~ Team_Lift
Looks Like...
"Googled green beans once, was super high and forgot what they looked like."
~ testies2345
"I did the same thing with beets."
~ Jjetsk1_blows
Gaby Yerden on Unsplash
That Movie, With the Guy and the Stuff...
"I'll forget the name of a movie and just type in random sh*t I think I remember. Usually it works."
"Like 'that movie where the kid sleeps and has weird dreams and flies on a bed'."
"Works like a charm."
~ fohsupreme
Did They Have Blue Feet?
"big boobies"
"I was only 10."
"I was surprised to find some."
~ PoopPower99
"I’m 39 and I Google this every day."
~ dekkact
"They're nice birds but are they really worth Googling everyday?"
~ redwolf1219
Blue-Footed Boobies
GiphyPredictive Text
"I used to search something like 'no clothes' or 'without clothes' or something like that when I was a kid."
"Then I learnt the word NAKED because of the TV show Naked and Afraid."
"Then searched it so many times that my autocorrect started to show that word first when I wanted to type something."
~ sniper8207
NSF...S?
"My favorite band growing up was 'The Barenaked Ladies'."
"When I was at school, I once Googled them and clicked on a link that said 'free shows!'."
~ BW_Bird
Good Description
"I forgot what a 'gondola' was called so I typed in 'Thing that carries you through the mountains in a basket'."
~ TheGreatJaceyGee
"I once forgot the word for 'door' so my brain reached for adjacent concepts, smashed them together and threw them out my mouth: 'house portal'."
~ Tail_Nom
GiphyIt Just Doesn't Translate
"I have to search a random word 'auf Englisch' or a random word 'auf Deutsch'."
"Every damn day."
"It took me a minute to realize that there was no way to translate Schadenfreude into English."
~ grammar_fixer_2
Ah, Memories...
"I found out that as long as you're logged into Google, all your searches are saved to your Google account (I'm not talking about browser history)."
"So I looked back, and the 1st thing I ever googled after getting a Google account was 'Can ducks fly'."
"I've no idea why I googled this. I know ducks can fly."
~ caca__milis
GiphyYou Ate What‽‽
"Once I was with some friends and I was telling them about how when I was a kid we only got to eat nuts as a special treat around Christmas."
"Then I mentioned how much I liked squirrel nuts and no one knew what they were. So I Googled 'squirrel nuts' with image search."
"Not at all what we ate at Christmas time."
"Finally found out what my family called 'squirrel nuts' were actually called hazelnuts."
~ 123fofisix
100% NSFW
"A few years ago my coworker and I were looking at the calendar at work. It had pictures of birds and we were trying to figure out what kind of bird was pictured for that month."
"I can’t remember what she thought it was, but I darned sure it was a Great Tit."
"We have a great relationship and have been working together for a long time but we tend to argue like an old married couple. So we went to Mr Google for the answer."
"Let me tell you that Googling Great Tit at work isn’t something I will ever do again."
"For the record, I was right. The bird was a Great Tit."
~ pi11bott
Great Tit holds an insect in its beak
A Perry on Unsplash
Hope some of these folks remembered to clear their browser and search histories.
So, what's your hilarious—or embarrassing—little Google secret search?
People's Wildest 'WTF Is Wrong With You?' Experiences