I once had someone apologize for cheating on me by saying "I should have told you about 10 pounds ago. You're right."
I had gained weight after going on medication for PCOS. Don't worry, though. He found me on social media a few years ago and yeah ... he played himself.
Anyway, one Reddit user asked:
What is the sh*ttiest apology you've ever received?
... you ever want to just secondhand side-eye someone? Like they didn't do anything wrong to you directly, but they still deserve the side-eye?
Yeah.
#SorryNotSorry
sorry not sorry GIF by Demi Lovato
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'I'm sorry you feel that way' - not actually an apology!!!
- RN_MD
It's sh*tty and condescending, but sometimes it's appropriate. Like if the person is mad at you for some perceived slight that you shouldn't have to apologize for.
For example, if a family member is mad at you because you voted differently to them.
It's not really meant to be an apology. It's acknowledging that you know they are looking for one; but you aren't going to simply accept blame unfairly for the sake of their ego.
So Selfless
My ex cheated and when we broke up she said:
"I'm so sorry. I wanted to breakup months ago, but I didn't want to hurt you. I'm so selfless."
She was literally sobbing so hard "I'm so selfless." wiping tears away. The moment really shattered the rose-tinted glasses. It's very funny to think about now, but at the time...
- -Coreyj-
Only Sensitive People Are Insulted By Insults
'Sorry, I didn't realise you were so sensitive'
From the guy that just insulted me to my husband. He was shocked, shocked I tell you!, that I got upset.
We were hanging out and he commented:
'God, if I was married to her I'd have to go out and have an affair'
My husband didn't hear him. I did. I didn't make a scene. I just said 'wow' and got up to walk away.
He 'apologised' when everyone looked at me and saw that I was upset.
A Forced E-mail
A manager at work asked for my help with a promotion we were running. I offered some advice, which was met with "I can cover that up, r*tard!"
I stopped, told him he cannot ever call me that and shouldn't ever use the word. The apology I received was: "I'm sorry you're offended by that."
The very next day, this manager was in a meeting with our General Operations Manager - for over 3 hours. With 10 minutes left in his shift, I received a lengthy apology email that was very obviously forced.
I kill this guy with kindness every time I see him, just to drive it home how awful of a person he is.
- nopeduck
I Was Right The Whole Time
Group project for school, and one of my team members wasn't happy with my part and decided to berate me publicly in our group chat, and then told our other teammates to stay out of it when they defended me.
I privately messaged him and said that while my part may not be up to his standards and I was sorry for that, the way he went about it was incredibly rude to both me and our group members and he needed to apologize.
Here was his "apology" back to me:
"Thank you for apologizing about your part of the project, and while you thought I was rude, I was actually right the whole time."
Now Can We Stay In Your Beach House?
tv land sea GIF by nobodies.
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"Ok fine. I apologize if you have found my behavior objectionable in some way. Now can we stay in your beach house?"
That was from my sister-in-law. She is the woman who wrote my husband telling him not to marry me and who has not spoken to me in 12 years unless she wants something.
After we bought a vacation home, she wanted to stay there 2 weeks in the summer for free.
The answer was no.
An "Apology" For The Abuse
My mom abused me for most of my childhood.
I had to cover bruises on my throat, eat out of the kitchen garbage can, shield my little sister from my mothers beatings. That's not even close to the worst, but it's as deep into that as I'd like to go.
In a therapy session she was dragged into, my therapist told her that I, at twelve years old, had CPTSD to such a crippling degree that she was considering getting me references for a service dog to help me cope with life. It spurred an argument.
Halfway through she threw her hands up and sarcastically yelled "I'm sorry for being such a sh*tty person. You happy now? For f*cks sake, you stress me out more than your fathers funeral!" and walked out.
I'm officially cutting her off next week after finalizing a couple things to get my life independent from her.
We Both Know
Person, after not talking to me for a month:
"Well we both agree we know what you did wrong, and even though it was super rude and I was obviously right, I forgive you and we are moving on."
.... except I did NOT know. We didn't agree on anything. I have no idea what happened.
All I know is the person literally called me a b*tch before they stopped talking to me.
I'm not even sure this counts as an apology
A Tone Of Self Deprecation
Honestly, apologies that are backed by "I am shi*ty person" or "I know I am a crappy friend" etc.
Basically, apologies with a tone of self deprecation so that you feel bad about them being not okay so that you have to keep your hurt aside and take care of them because you do care about them.
People need to understand that apologies don't work that way.
I Decided I Forgive Myself
(Paraphrasing) "I know I shouldn't have called you a c*nt and thrown things at you. But you were acting like a child and made me mad on purpose."
Followed the next day by:
"I did a bunch of mdma, and decided that I forgive myself. I expect you to behave differently in the future."
Learning To Lose Weight
"Well I'm sorry that you feel that way, but I didn't do anything wrong. I'm trying to help you learn to lose weight"
It's what my mom has told me after hitting me and calling me "fatso" and "fat@ss" daily. I understand she's trying to help, but I don't need to be abused.
Peace Be With You
saoirse ronan reading GIF by A24
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My old school friends shunned me. Literally. They spent 3 months talking trash about me and pretending not to see or hear me; like I wasn't even in the room.
Then one day at the end of mass (a few weeks before graduation) they turned to me and said "peace be with you" and hugged me like nothing happened!
This happened almost 10 years ago but because of that, I learned to choose my friends wisely. I am still careful and do not trust people easily.
Late To Basketball
Someone at school was supposed to apologize face-to-face in front of me and the principal for flipping my phone.
Instead of just getting on with it, he went on in a ten minute ramble about why he did it. Most of it was bullsh*t anyways, but when the principal told him that he had no time left, he just uttered a quick 'sorry' and fricking left.
I didn't even get to say anything back!
Him talking for forever combined with the fact that the bus was late, meant that I was late to my basketball after school activity.
Grab My Wife's...
I cut off contact with my father about 12 years ago when he tried to grab my wife's breasts. This was the final staw after a lifetime of bad behavior that I had repeatedly demanded he fix.
A few years later he sent some asinine email that talked about the importance of family. It wasn't an apology exactly, but it's the closest I've seen him ever give.
Then, below his signature, he posted a Bible verse. It was the line from the prodigal son story where the kid falls to the ground and apologizes for being such a bad son.
We still aren't speaking. He's almost 80 and in poor health. He won't meet his granddaughter and will soon be forgotten.
Not Enough Seratonin
My best friends and I used to all hangout in a group. After a while they kept hanging out without me.
One day I asked them one of them to hangout and they said "sure."
I just said "ok lemme know when you're free."
Later, they all started sending me pics of them hanging out together. That night, I called one of them - the one who has been my best friend for 4 years and who I have known for 7.
I very maturely asked "Hey I've noticed that you guys keep doing stuff without me. Did I do something wrong?"
She said "No you didn't do anything necessarily wrong we just didn't want to get you."
We legit all live 5 mins away from each other and I could have drive myself. But I just let it go like oh okay.
BUT THEN
Like 2 hours later, she Snapchat's me a picture and it just has like a long @ss paragraph blaming me for being too quiet sometimes when we hangout. She says that's a problem "because it doesn't give her serotonin."
WTF
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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
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"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
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"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
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"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
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"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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.