Time and time again, people spreading lies about others for no reason has demonstrated the lack of humanity in our gossip-obsessed society.
People have nothing better to do other than to bring down others out of spite.
What's even more disappointing is that some of us have at one point played a part in perpetuating these rumors without even knowing it.
And other times, we are the subject of a rumor, and that's never fun.
Curious to hear examples of the situation, Redditor PieNo17 asked:
"What’s the worst rumor you ever heard about yourself?"
Kids can be so cruel.
Introduction To Antisemitism
"I was bullied in elementary school for being Jewish. I very much am not Jewish. Apparently there was a rumor going around school that I was a 'Jew boy.' I was utterly confused and didn’t understand why being Jewish would even be something to be bullied about."
– goobermuslim
The Racist
"Ah, I used to get bullied for being Asian....I am not Asian. Turns out it was a rumor started by a kid who was actually half Asian. I think he just didn't want to be the only Asian kid at school."
– tn00bz
Seeking Pleasure At The Buffet
"When I was in sixth grade our whole grade (~100) was on a field trip out of town. We stopped at an Old Country Buffet to eat. I had to poop while we were there, and another kid in my grade was peeking through the stall at me while I was on the toilet. He then yelled that I was pleasuring myself in the stall. This turned into everyone talking about it outside of the bathroom, and now I was the kid who m*sturbated in an Old Country Buffet."
– slob_johnson
Teacher Killer
"When I was a kid, I was in the (for lack of a better term) special ed program at school due to a muscular condition that affected my fine motor skills, which meant I got bullied mercilessly. Determined to change my rep, I worked ridiculously hard to improve my skills so I no longer needed that program in middle school. Somehow, a rumor got started that I'd been kicked out of that program because I'd tried to kill the teacher, and that became the rumor that defined me until the day I graduated high school."
– jessthefacts97
These Redditors' friends thought they'd seen a ghost.
Wreck Survivor
"I had a car wreck on a country road. Black Cow and calf in the road, and I hit both of them. My mother called into school the next day but pretty much just told them I was in a wreck and nothing else. Word got around that I was dead in a car wreck."
"Showed up at school 2 days later because car wrecks hurt and a couple of buddies actually cried when I showed up saying they thought I was dead."
– DisGruntledDraftsman
Name Mixup
"Once, at work, we came across the obituary of a former coworker. Due to the long hours we were working on this project none of us managed to go to the wake or funeral, but we sent flowers. Months later the dude turned up on another job site, very much alive. Apparently this dude that died was totally unrelated, had the same name and was also an industrial painter… we sent flowers, that must have been confusing for his family."
– trijkdguy
Different Coworker
"Similar story happened to me. Had severe covid at the very beginning of the pandemic. Was out of work for 6 months. Someone with my exact name and in the same town passed away my coworkers thought it was me. Some people didn't even know i was alive until I was back to work for three months"
– ZombieLebowski
The Friendship Test
"That I had died. I woke up one morning to find about 50 messages on my phone and dozens of missed calls (my phone was on silent). It was my ex girlfriend of all people who I spoke with first as she was freaking out because (as it turns out) someone with my name had died. It got lost in translation and next thing you know a lot of my out of state friends thought it was me. It was nice to know they cared so much."
– Yeeaaaarrrgh
Rumors about crushes, love and relationships seem to be a commonality.
Some "Friend"
"My friend introduced me to a girl at his high school and we were into each other. She was having some friends over for a sleepover and took the opportunity to invite me over, cuddle and make out while everyone else was asleep. The next morning we groggily hung out for a bit and made plans to hang out again soon. I’ll never forget how she hugged me and kissed me before I left. I ran into our mutual friend while walking home and I told him where I’d been. I didn’t know that he had a crush on her and he was pissed. By the time I got home, she had blocked and deleted me. I found out later from another friend that our mutual 'friend' had told her that I had an STD and only wanted to use her for sex."
– regnarbensin_
Friendship Destroyer
"Hey, this same thing happened to me! I moved around a lot as a kid and ended up in the same place for 7th to 12th grade. The first few people I met were some kids in the neighborhood, 1 girl and 1 guy. They weren't mutual friends, but I became good friends with both of them and ended up introducing them to each other. The girl and I would stay up late texting on old flip phones and sneak out with each other over the summer. Then, almost out of nowhere, she just stopped talking to me. Turns out the guy developed a crushed and spent literal weeks trying to convince her that all I wanted was sex. Luckily, I was able to find out and defend myself, but unluckily, I found out later that he did that with many, many people. He probably ended up ruining at least 30 friendships with people throughout my time in high school."
– LycheeTrash
A Bad Romance
"i think the only rumor that i ever really heard back in highschool was that i communed with satan. and when a few people asked, i just went with it. i was just like ya, satan and i talked last night, hes doing well. we have dinner plans for the weekend. just stupid stuff like that."
– another-redditor3
We never know how the rumor mill picks some of these out and seemingly distributes them to everyone in our community, no matter how big or small or far away. But we're glad these Redditors were willing to share!
Rumors are usually not smart to begin with. Making up a story about someone and then spreading that juicy bit of gossip-people can only get so creative with lies.
Sometimes it's straight up so dumb that why bother to correct them? Surely anybody with half a brain could see through these.
And yet...
u/coolkitty1654 asked:
What was the dumbest rumour spread about you?
Here were those stories.
Life Saved
That I was dead. Was late getting back to uni so my 'buddies' decided it'd be funny to tell people I'd been killed in Europe. The story started with 'killed in an accident' and blossomed to 'got a girl pregnant, wouldn't marry her, decided to marry her, killed in an accident'.
One girl I knew actually believed it and cried when we bumped into each other. Had no idea she cared.
At Least The Principal Didn't Believe It
That my parents were drug dealers, and they involved me in selling drugs at my elementary school.
What actually happened was that I gave my friends a dollar each from my lunch money so we could all buy cookies. Somehow the rumor spread all the way to the principal, so he dragged me to his office and lectured me about not giving my money away in front of other people.
Now Maybe They'd Believe It
I was once sick for an entire week of 9th grade. Somehow it spread that I went to Hawaii. Even a teacher made a comment. I have no idea how the heck that started and nobody would tell me why they thought it because they thought i was just being cheeky by denying it
I Was Always Scottish
I moved from Scotland to England at like 13, I had a thick accent and I got a lot of flack for it so almost subconsciously I slowly started to like fake an English accent, was really stupid as I'd flip back to Scottish as soon as I got home..
After I left school I dropped the accent but by that time the majority of people I knew in the small town I was in, had met me as English Spliffwizard so when I'd see people they'd be like wtf happened to you!? Why are you suddenly Scottish!? I used to just make things up like "I had a voice transplant an' this is all they had" but eventually it stopped.
Roll on a few years and I'm back in town havin' a drink with some mates, I get talking to 2 guys and when I mention my name one is like "oh you're that guy who pretends to be Scottish" and so now apparently there's a fable around the town of some English kid who one day was just like I'm Scottish now.... and the kid is me. Class
Pure Evil, Perhaps?
This was spread by an adult in a volunteer organization I was part of. Me, happily married, running for a leadership position. Her, many years married to someone running for one of the other positions. Apparently she didn't want me on the leadership team because she told people I had the hots for her husband? Who was, bless his heart, a nice guy, but homely.
I respected what he'd done to achieve leadership in the organization, but could not have been more uninterested in that aspect of him if he had been a cow pattie. I didn't know anything about this until after I lost the election. She also started a rumor about two other adults who were friendly, but not doing anything untoward.
Unfortunately the wife of the man believed that rumor and it totally ruined a number of relationships and events because she wouldn't permit them to attend the same meeting or event. I never understood what motivated that person to spread those types of rumors.
Whoopsie
When I was in grade one some girls thought it would be funny to tell everyone I had 'boy private parts' which upset me greatly. I don't remember this but my mother has told me that during an assembly I was talking with the people around me and it was brought up and I felt the need to stand up and pull down my pants and undies in front of everyone. I cringe every time I think about it.
Community Service
When I was 21 and in college, I worked with a boy who was a senior in high school. His girlfriend broke up with him about two weeks before prom for another guy. I offered to go with him. The girl was dumped by her new boyfriend a few days before prom and wanted my coworker to take her to prom, but he said no, as he was going with an 'older woman.'
At prom, I was quite the topic of conversation. This girl had come by our store when I was working, and she and her friend told everyone I was a wench who had multiple children with multiple baby daddies.
I don't even go here! Anyway, prom was nice, dinner before was great, and after the dance I went home (alone) and had many legal drinks in my child free house.
I'm Here, Though
In middle school some sub that no one knew that looked like a narc pulled me from class because of a family issue, walked me out of the school to my mom. Somehow this turned into the sub being a cop, and it being a cop car, and I was in trouble for something. One rumor a few weeks later was that I had gotten in trouble for bringing tons of huge guns to school or something. I was like guys, I'm still at school, I told you what happened....
This Is What We Call Attempted Murder
It wasn't mine, but my friend is allergic to peanuts and someone started a rumor that he was lying. So, someone waved a peanut butter sandwich in front of him. That started a allergic reaction. We were in 5th grade.
Ah, We Love Racism
In middle school someone started a rumour that I was a voodoo priestess (stereotypical Hollywood voodoo, nothing like the real thing). I'm white and live in Canada. People believed it, they'd shriek and run when they saw me, at the end of one year a girl who had been nothing but awful to me asked if she could sign my yearbook and her signature was basically her pleading with me not to curse her.
Even in my first year of high school I had a few people who didn't go to my middle school walk up and ask me if it was true that I did voodoo. Thankfully it died down after that.
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk to him about it.
Rumors are born from some basis of truth. If you kissed a girl back in middle school, the rumor mill would take that nugget of truth and transform it into a full-on marriage story, ending with both of you running away from home to live in a cottage by the sea. Clearly, something gets lost in the transition and they can spiral out of control if not kept in check.
Reddit user, u/redmambo_no6, wanted to know the strangest half-truth you ever heard about yourself when they asked:
What was the weirdest rumor you've ever heard about yourself?
Heard a wacky, out-there rumor about yourself? Tell us all about it!