The truth can be the most painful thing to hear.
People are going say awful things to you that view as truth.
And the worst will probably be from people you know and love.
You have to learn that most of it has nothing to do with us.
It's all about them.
And that still hurts.
Redditor Gaia-of-hell wanted to see who was willing to discuss the things we've heard that have sunk the heart a bit. They asked:
"What is the most painful thing someone has ever told you? "
I can't recall any truly heinous thoughts being told to me. So I grateful to be spared. But I feel a big dose of ugly coming on...
Truth Hurts
"A year after he died. 'Your father never loved you anyways. That's why he pays me child support to look after you.' BS. His room was decorated with my childhood art. All his passwords were my name or birthday. He would have long talks with me about his regrets when we hung out. I knew it wasn't true but nothing has ever hurt so much."
Ackbarwasthetrap
Mean what you say...
"Once, my ma told me and my brother that she would have been relieved if we were dead. We were annoying siblings but that's pretty dark, given we were quite young back then. Now I'm 25, my brother is 20. I am pretty sure she didn't mean it word by word, but still sad thing to say to your kids."
perpetualgrunt
Adopted
"I was adopted at age 3. Last year at age 26, my adoptive father told me he never wanted me. That hurt like a *itch."
Super_Thunder_Walrus
"My father was adopted at 7yo, when he was 43 his adoptive mother looked him dead in the eye and said: 'you owe me your life, you would be a low life if it wasn't for me.' I was by his side when that happened. I have never seen him cry like that."
rostrovski
Mistakes
"I was told by my mother that she would still be happy and married if I hadn't been born."
Tjoliva
"My mom told me I was her second biggest mistake, her first was marrying my father, so many times I don't even remember the first one. My dad is seriously one of the best people I've ever met. I'm still angrier for him than I am for me."
So_Many_Words
Home
"Wasn't anything he said, but it was the action of him walking the door. My mom was in the hospital with terminal cancer. Dad lived there, and hadn't been 'home' in ages. We were staying at my aunts house and my brothers and I were sleeping on the living room floor. The front door opened, I woke up and looked at him, he said nothing, I said nothing. I just knew. She was gone."
"Edit: thank you all for the kind words. I also wish I knew what to say to those of you going through this awful experience as well, I’ve never quite figured out what to say other than time is finite and we take a lot for granted. If you can, give someone a call, a visit, a word. There’s a lot I never got to learn about or say to her, so if you can, my advice would be to do so."
Ithxero
Well that is a lot of darkness and crazy. It makes you never want to leave home.
Death
"That my father didn't die the way i was led to believe for 20 something years of my life and he actually died from an OD."
hypr_activehyprdrive
"My husband died of prescription meds when my daughter was 13 days old. When she was young, I said it was an asthma complication. When she was older I told her the cold hard truth. Also, being a young widow & someone asks how my husband died, I don’t owe them my story."
Chutneyonegaishimasu
It's all Messy
"I have a father who I’m not really in contact with anymore (messy) and my mom is really the only person left in my life. One day she was pissed off with me and admitted that she never actually liked who I was, even as a child. She loved me and did her duty as a mother, but other than that- she didn’t like me."
Mediocre_Highlight_4
Moving Day
"My mom telling me that me moving to the other side of the country was going to be another one of my mistakes that I would regret. I didn’t regret almost anything I had done in my life and was really hurt by her thinking my life was full of mistakes."
"I asked someone I was in love with and thought I was in a pretty good relationship with if we could celebrate our one year anniversary of starting dating and he answered no because it was just supposed to be a fling and not something to celebrate. I’ve never felt lower or less important in my life."
polkaspot36
Gotta Go!
"A few months after I had turned 18 my Dad came downstairs as I was getting out of the shower to tell me that I was a terrible son and that I had a day to move whatever I needed out of the house. I had to go into work that day and let my boss know what had happened and that I couldn't work that day. I came back and hugged my little brother and sister, packed my crap and left. My Dad and I have (sort of) made amends since then but I'll never be able to get what he said out of my head."
tunesis2cool4youk
Crazy
"My mom once told me she must have committed some terrible sin to have given birth to me and that I was pure evil All because I told her I was quitting dance classes. Overreaction, much?"
the-book-anaconda
"As a mom, your mom was downright crazy. That is an insane thing to say to anyone, much less your own child. I am sorry that you grew up with that, you did nothing to deserve it and it’s not your fault."
Good_parabola
Realities...
"I'm a city bus driver. With very good intentions I once informed a homeless woman of where she could get free showers in the city as she smelled horribly of feces. I thought i was helping her. She informed me very calmly that she chose to live in filth and smell that way because it was the only thing that kept her from being attacked every night. Nothing has ever crushed me like learning that has. That is the reality of many homeless women."
BootiMcboatface
Nasty
Mean Girls Shut Up GIF
Giphy
“You don’t have any friends do you?”
"My teacher in 10th grade in front of the whole class."
rurubarb
Back Pain
"Husband had images done for his horrendous back pain. I went to the orthopedic appt with him. Doctor walked in, stuck the films on the light panel, and pointing to numerous shapes along the entire length of his spine said, 'Your spine is covered in cancer.' We were so stunned we just looked at each other for about a minute. My partner of 40 years, health nut, clean liver, had multiple myeloma. Eight weeks later he was dead from a brain bleed caused by a chemo drug. I miss him every minute of every day."
imrealbizzy2
Awake
"When the paramedic told me, 'we did all we could, but we couldn't save her.' after I woke up to find my wife dying next to me."
Mcsmack
Wounds
"'You should’ve just let her stab you.' My mom after I told her my aunt slapped, pushed, and tried to stab me with a kitchen knife earlier that day. She just doesn’t care at all. she’s just a very terrible mother and telling my stories about all the emotional, mental, and physical abuse i got from her would take hours."
"That also happened when I was just 16 years old, i’m 20 now and everyone (including my aunt mentioned) acts as if nothing happened in the past, but i still remember every detail as if it just happened yesterday."
01bia_
being 15
"When I was 15 and badly depressed my parents found out a diary I kept (where i vented a lot). My dad was very worried and upset about it which prompted my mom to tell me to 'kill myself if I wanted to do it so bad instead of making my dad worry so much.'”
obooooooo
Seeing Red
"Just yesterday my mother (during an argument) told me I was the reason my dog died of cancer. My dog that I drove to a special clinic almost every week for her chemotherapy since 2019. My dog that I would've given everything for. It was her puppy that she abandoned and I took in. What she said wasn't just painful. It was the first time in my life that I saw red."
modsherearebattyboys
The Witch
"'I don't love you and never have' we were together for almost 5 years and I was literally stepping on the bus to go to war. I came home to literally an empty house. The witch took the appliances. This was 14 years ago. The last I knew she was on her 3rd divorce and living in Wyoming. I'm happily married with a child now. But that first night back I drank a 5th of vodka and slept on the floor hoping to not wake up."
boxedcrackers
Horrible Woman
"When I was in Middle School we took a class trip (Theatre Arts) to NYC. Went to Broadway and Statue of Liberty etc. I was a fat kid at the time. We went to Chinatown to eat at a Buffet and one of the Mother chaperones told me she felt sorry for my parents. It always stuck with me the cruelty of her comment to a 12 year old kid. What a horrible person in hindsight."
Nairbfs79
lazy bones...
"It’s not as heavy as almost any of these, but growing up all the way to age 18 I was perpetually called lazy and that I’d just need to settle for some kind of factory work because that’s all I’d ever be able to get. My sister was the golden child and overachiever. For some reason it always just cut me deep even when I was older. My mom didn’t even work, the irony of it all."
samiam871
Sometimes the truth hurts. And sometimes the people telling the truth are just evil.
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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.
Every now and then, a friend of ours might say something, or we might overhear a complete stranger say something that makes us stop in our tracks.
More often than not, what we can't believe we just heard is something so ridiculous, we can't help but put the person who said it in their place.
Other times, however, what we just heard might have stunned us silent because of how shockingly clever it was.
Resulting in our not wanting to scold or yell at someone, but rather give them a handshake.
Redditor SubmergingOriginal was curious to hear the sharpest and wittiest things they've ever heard, from friends and strangers alike, leading them to ask:
"Enough with the dumbest; what is the wittiest thing you've ever heard someone say?"
Don't Give Me So Much Credit...
'I was on a team at work that was on a project working insane overtime."
"One night after an 80-90 hour week, we were all sitting around the table trying to finish up so we could go home."
"Around 11, my buddy's wife called, dubious about the hours he'd been keeping."
"We heard her through the line - 'are you cheating on me?'"
"Exasperated, he looked at our boss, then replied 'honey, if I was cheating on you, I would have been home by now'."- lionbatcher
Eternal Optimism...
"Asked a blind guy if he'd been blind his whole life."
"He said 'Not yet'."- Feeling_Mode_6465
Free time Isn't The Only Thing He Has On His Hands...
"My brother got a vasectomy and when the doctor was releasing him and giving him instructions (with the nurse listening in), one of the orders was to 'come back and have a follow-up appointment after you’ve ejaculated 30 times'.”
"Without missing a beat my brother asked 'what time do you open tomorrow?'”
"The nurse couldn’t keep it together after hearing that."- UtahUtopia
Awkward Season 8 GIF by The Office
Giphy
Double Whammy!
"My pal uses the phrase 'he doesn’t look strong enough to carry information' and it cracks me up every time."
"Calling someone stupid and weak in one fell swoop."- JennyW93
Can't Hide Your DNA...
'Whenever I jokingly insult my mum, she says 'that must be where you get it from'."
"She cracked the code."
"I can never offend her without offending myself."- JennyW93
Self-Sufficient!
"My brother was a line cook at a New Orleans restaurant."
"My mom was in town, staying at a fancy hotel, and he stopped by after work, still wearing his kitchen whites."
"He was reading a newspaper in the lobby waiting for her to come down when the shocked lobby manager sputtered at him, 'MAY I HELP YOU!?!?'
"He answered, 'thanks, but I know how to read',” and went back to his paper."- jobrody
Morph Current Affairs GIF by Aardman Animations
Giphy
A Miracle!
"My brother-in-law’s comment."
"The entire family went out for my mother’s 80th birthday and after the meal we all went to a local park, largely occupied by the elderly, to rest."
"My mother needed crutches at this point, and they were resting against her bench."
"My 10-year-old niece, who looked like every starving waif image from Dickens, grabbed the crutches and started hobbling round the park."
"All the OAPs were following her progress with looks of pity until my brother ran up behind her, and kicked away the crutches."
"There was an audible gasp from round the park and then my niece picked the crutches back up and started chasing my brother, clearly intending to hit him."
"In the confused silence my brother-in-law’s voice rang out 'Praise be! She can walk again!'"
"We still think this was the highlight of the birthday celebrations."- DdraigGwyn
Still Legal, Whichever Way You Cut It...
"I picked up my pleasantly tipsy boyfriend from a nightclub."
"We were stopped by the Police for a random breath test."
"They asked me my age, and I said, 33."
"My bf blurted out '33? You told me you were 22'."
"Police just laughed and let me go."- Aggravating-Corgi379
Music Video Police GIF by Andrew W. K.
Giphy
A Bit Too On The Nose?
"Business law class in college years ago, talking about the issues that black Americans had before the Civil Rights."
"Amendment, trying to travel through the south with the discrimination so rampant, trying to find restaurants to serve them and decent lodgings."
"My instructor was posing a hypothetical: 'So you pull up out front of this place, you're exhausted from driving for hours, and you see the sign out front says 'Ku Klux Klan Motel'."
"'What would you expect to find there?'"
"Without missing a beat, from the back of the room came this gem: "'Extra sheets in every room?'"- NedsAtomicDB
Not Yet, Anyway...
"I was working with my friend and his dad."
"My friend (26) heard an ice cream truck near where we were working."
"He asked his dad if he could have a couple dollars."
"His dad asked, 'what for?'"
"My friend told his dad that there was an ice cream truck in the neighborhood, and that they were playing music."
"My friends dad told him "'They don't charge anything to listen to the music'."- tatersalad1234567890
Words Escape You In The Literal "Heat" Of The Moment...
"A friend of mine is a teacher and her husband is known for his wit."
"She told this story to him:"
"One day at school a kid took the hall pass and returned reeking like smoke."
"She asked the kid if he’d been smoking and he denied it over and over."
"She was about to send him to the office when she noticed smoke coming from somewhere."
"She told the kid and he realized that he didn’t put his cig out completely and it was burning in his pants pocket."
"The kid noticed and frantically tried to put it out and someone finally poured water on it."
"Her husband sat listening to this with a weird look on his face."
"She asked him what was wrong."
“'What’s wrong???'"
"'This was probably the only chance you’ll have in your life to say literally, ‘liar,liar, pants on fire’ and you missed your chance'."- Luder714
On Fire No GIF by PEEKASSO
Giphy
Amazing What You Might Say A Few Drinks In...
"When I went to a renaissance faire once, I went to a beer tent and ordered a Newcastle Brown Ale (seemed the most fitting for the surroundings)."
"The beer wench, without skipping a beat, said, 'Everyone wants a Newcastle - no one wants to remodel!'"- jayhof52
Read The Room People!
"My dad wiped out when skiing down a mountain and lost a ski."
"After a few minutes of hunting for it, he gives up, slings the one remaining ski over a shoulder and starts walking down the mountain in his ski boots."
"About half-way down, another skier stops and goes 'Gee! Did you lose a ski?'"
"My dad instantly replied 'No, I was out for a walk and found one!'"- PeterJoAl
There's a reason your mother always told you to "use your words".
As clever remarks can have a much more lasting effect on people than a push or shove.