So listen, we don't expect teachers to have a master-level grasp of everything they teach. Nobody expects you to be a marine biologist with a specialization in cetaceans to teach a third grader about dolphins.
You should at least know they aren't fish.
As an educator, I'm not here for expecting teachers to know everything all the time with no mistakes.
Humans don't human that way, so the way that the original poster framed the question gave me pause...
Reddit user A_Purple_Pengiuns asked:
"What is the moment you realized 'my teacher is an idiot.' "
But the answers absolutely convinced me that this needed sharing. Most of the responses weren't about the teacher not knowing something, more about the teacher's attitude.
A willingness to argue with and/or mock small children is a pretty solid indicator that you're not cut out to be a teacher.
Look at some of these responses.
Lava
Lava Thumbs Up GIFGiphy"2nd grade teacher had our class naming the hottest things we could think of."
"A few kids already said the most obvious, like sun and fire so the third thing I could think of off the top of my head was lava."
"Turns out lava isn't real; the teacher had the whole class laugh at me for believing it was."
"She made me feel stupid as hell for years until I learned that lava IS real, and my teacher was a d*ck."
- Morpheus11011
Lettoochay?
Hannibal Buress Diet GIF by Adult SwimGiphy"When my ENGLISH teacher (I’m from Italy so we have English as a second language) said 'lettoochay' instead of 'lettuce.' "
"She was also one of the worst teachers and ended up getting replaced."
-Kriumpus
"I may start calling lettuce 'lettoochay.' Sounds so fancy."
-iamamuttonhead
What Makes An Animal
Disney Pixar Ocean GIF by DisneyGiphy"I remember the time my 4th grade teacher tried educating us on what makes an animal. One of the criterion she came up with was all animals have brains."
"I asked, 'What about jellyfish? They don’t have brains.' ”
"To which she replied, 'Well then they aren’t alive, are they?' ”
-cakeman936
A Unit Of Measurement
Confused Gary Coleman GIFGiphy"In primary school, I asked my teacher what an ounce was."
"She hushed me, told me it wasn't real and to never ask that again. As though as a nine year old I was asking about an ounce of weed and not the unit of measurement."
-elfbro
" 'not here kid, meet me in the parking lot after class.' "
- Disposable591
"Probably was on weed if that was what they immediately thought you were talking about."
- ADABISCUIT
Thanks, Mom
Mothers Day Eyes GIFGiphy"My 2nd grade teacher wanted to hold me back because of my math grade."
"Her evidence? She did these things called mad minutes where you had to try and solve as many problems as possible."
"I don't perform well under that kind of pressure. My anxiety doesn't allow it."
"My mom laughed in the teacher's face when she explained her reasoning for wanting to hold me back. The teacher tried to put my mom in her place by saying that only a professional educator can make these kinds of assessments."
"My mom had a master's in education. I didn't get held back."
-IntentionalTexan
How Projectors Work
Music Video Colors GIF by Polyvinyl RecordsGiphy"My biology teacher in high school asked me a question, the answer to which was projected onto the whiteboard via an overhead projector."
"I looked at the whiteboard, and she quickly placed her left hand over the part that had the answer to try and hide it."
"Except instead of covering what was on the projector, she covered the whiteboard it was projecting onto. I pointed out that everything was still projected onto her hand ... cause it's a projector. So I could still see the answer."
"She was visibly upset, kind of panicked, and then she slapped her right hand on top of her left hand as if that was going to cover it. It didn't, of course, cause projectors just keep projecting onto whatever surface."
"I bursted out with laughter. She kicked me out and called my parents."
-ok-ox
Possibly Senile?
What The Wtf GIF by Fluffy FriendsGiphy"When my grade 2 teacher tried to hold me back a year, only to discover that she thought I was my older sibling (3 years my senior) whom she had also taught in the 2nd grade."
"To be fair, she was way too old to still be teaching. She may have been legitimately senile?"
"I had good grades for a 7-year-old, whereas my sibling (though not a dullard) didn’t. So I came home with an excellent report card ... along with a letter to my parents that I was going to be held back due to poor grades."
"Wtf?"
" My parents sorted it out and I didn’t get held back, but it was definitely a big deal. This was in 1980 and teachers could in fact fail kids like this back then, and did so often. Or at least this one teacher did."
"I guess it was an accepted practice at that place and time. I'm glad they don't do it like this anymore."
- CrieDeCoeur
Ocean Life
the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy dolphin GIFGiphy"She thought dolphins were fish. No amount of arguing by third grade me was enough to convince her otherwise".
" 'They live in the ocean, they're fish.' "
-AssociationJumpy
"Should have asked her about seaweed, or sponges."
-ReallyHadToFixThat
People Explain Which Movie Never Fails To Make Them Cry
People Explain Which Movie Never Fails To Make Them Cry People talk about their go-to films for when they need to let some emotions loose.Native Speakers v. Peggy Hill
I Agree Episode 2 GIF by P-ValleyGiphy"My mom went to take a university class in Greek. She’s a native speaker, so she was hoping for an easy A and to maybe just read some new literature."
"The professor was Peggy Hill-ing it hard and my mom tried to correct her pronunciation. This woman really told my mom that she was wrong about how to pronounce it!"
"Then another native speaker in the class spoke up and confirmed my mother was right."
"She never called on either of them in class again lol"
-Is_Bob_Costas_Real
Since You're Not Checking...
surprised gerry dee GIF by CBCGiphy"College professor has us reading a handout; at one point the essay mentions 'Acmeism' and the professor stops to ask the class if anyone knows what that means."
"Silence. 'Darn, I was really hoping someone would be able to tell me.' "
"A quick spotlight search showed to me that this was essentially a genre of Russian poetry, but what was really revealed is that she was too lazy to search an unfamiliar term before teaching with it and therefore she wouldn't be searching anything in my essays either."
"I started making up terms and schools of though, just stringing words together like 'Post-Counter Bifuturism.' I got A after A."
-JewcyBoy
Just Teach Us About Enzymes
jesus GIFGiphy"When a substitute biology teacher spent the whole class telling us evolution wasn’t real and we should rip those pages out our textbooks."
"He also felt it was vital for us to know that Jesus was a vegetarian (pretty sure there was a whole lot in the Bible about Jesus and fish, though) and if we weren’t vegetarians we were going to die of cancer like his brother did."
"We were meant to be learning about enzymes."
- TechnicalZucchini6
Because Plants Can't Scream
Food Salad GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"My high school biology teacher somehow found out I was a vegetarian and took the time from one of our lessons to say this, standing in front of my desk, slightly pointing at me with her fingers:"
“ 'I know some people believe they are different because they don’t eat meat, but you’re still just as cruel as anyone else. Plants have feelings too, you just don’t care about them because they can’t scream.' ”
"I signed up for another biology class, but she kept talking sh*t about me to my classmates in the other class just because I decided not to eat meat. I'd never even spoken to her about it!"
- Impossible_Past_7225
Yaks Are Extinct?
Giphy"My sister's teacher in grade 2 thought saying 'yeah' was wrong somehow."
"She also thought it was the sound that yaks make."
"And that yaks are extinct."
"So if you said 'yeah' to her she'd just say 'is there an extinct animal in here?' until you said yes."
"Imagine all those little kids growing up arguing about yaks being extinct and eventually finding out they're still around and quite common."
- WaterChestnutII
The White Man's Burden
Season 19 Episode 10 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"9th grade global history. It's an overview survey style class at best, nothing too deep - except the teacher."
"Teacher is a self proclaimed tough guy; but he failed out of state trooper programs, local police program, and was cut from every team he tried out for in high school, and college."
"Finally he ended up a teacher in a small town that doesn't have a good reputation. Maybe that explains his attitude?"
"Anyway, he gets up in front of the class and tells everyone when we do an overview of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He doesn't stop there, though."
"He then tells us that all religion is garbage, and Christianity is the white man's burden. If you believe in it please drop this class..."
"To 14yr olds. In 9th grade. In a small town school where there is only 4 different history classes; one for each year of high school."
"Get real dude, we couldn't drop your class if we wanted to and you know it. And believe me, we all wanted to. He was exhausting and all we wanted was for him to shut the hell up."
- DaylightPrarie
Too Young To Play That
fail black and white GIFGiphy"In grade 6 our English teacher has as write out a fictional police report."
"I wrote about Grand Theft Auto; not the game, but the actual crime of stealing a car. We were supposed to write about a crime and that was just the one I picked."
"But because I used that term Grand Theft Auto, she instantly failed me without even reading it or letting me explain."
"She said I just wrote about a video game that I was too young to be playing at the time."
- skunkdude13
Ladies Don't Hydrate
selena gomez water GIFGiphy"Not a teacher but she's still a secretary or something. The point is she had a high position of authority at my school, and she would watch classes if the teacher was out."
"If she caught you doing something she didn't like in the hallway, she'd pull you aside and ask why you did what you did (you could literally have your phone in your pocket and she would still pull you aside because it wasn't in your bag) in a super accusing tone."
"She was in the hallway talking to some teachers when I went to get some water, and she told me to stop and said 'ladies don't do that.' "
"Ladies, is it improper to want water? Am I some freak of nature for being thirsty?"
- scarieststar
I Didn't Go Here!
she doesnt even go here mean girls GIFGiphy"I had just moved to a new school in the beginning of the second term of the school year in 10th grade."
"The math teacher gave me - the new kid- demerits and detention for not doing the homework she had given the class the previous term before the break. You know, the term that I was in a completely different high school and city for?"
"I couldn't even defend myself or else I'd just get more detention."
- tyedontdye
Square Watermelons
Hungry Watermelon GIFGiphy"My sons teacher. In 4th grade they had to do a project on GMO’s. They had to read a provided article and then write an essay on the positives and negatives of GMO crops and then state their opinion on the use of them."
"It was online learning during lockdown, so I was in the room listening when I heard the teacher tell the kids some examples of a GMO crops were square watermelons and pumpkins."
"Now, the Japanese got real innovative with vegetable and fruit molds to grow produce into fun little shapes and so there are, indeed, square watermelons and pumpkins. We actually got a pumpkin to grow into the shape of a 5 gallon bucket once!"
"But what she was explaining to the kids is that they were square because they were genetically altered to grow like that. She, apparently, was unaware that they only look like that because they put the immature fruit into a mold and allowed it to fill the space taking on the shape of the mold. There is no genetic modification involved."
"I had to tell my son to completely erase everything she taught them about GMOs because none of it was true, thankfully the online article and movie they provided was pretty accurate."
"They are so young, imagine all the kids that took her square watermelon GMO lie as fact."
- ViciousFlowers
Teachers are human, humans make mistakes. Facts are facts. Please, teachers, do not decide to be Smugbob Smuggypants about it.
These answers got me wondering, do your negative teacher experiences follow the same pattern?
Was it the incident, or the attitude ABOUT it that seared it into your mind?
Let me know in the comments.
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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?