It's pretty typical to want to impress people, especially if it's the first time meeting them, but some folks go out of their way to make it seem like they're superior. Sometimes their attempts fall flat, and sometimes they do exactly the opposite of what was intended.
Reddit user noteprocupes asked:
"What is something people do because they think it makes them look smart, but it actually makes them look really dumb?"
Traffic
Giphy"I'm convinced people dart in and out of traffic thinking they're "beating the system" and they congratulate themselves on being efficient. In reality, they've saved no significant amount of time and came out looking like an uneducated a*shole."
"Those are the people that slow traffic down by causing everyone else to hit their brakes. Lots of lane changes are a huge cause of traffic."
Popularity
"Hating anything that's "popular" just because it's popular. Trying too hard to come across as sophisticated, edgy, and "better."
"I just genuinely don't like that many popular things and I hate it when people are like "haha yea, how can you like that garbage?"
"Like, dude, just because I don't enjoy it doesn't mean it's bad?"
Answers
Giphy"Answer questions on the spot."
"It's ok to say "I don't know" or "let me do some research and get back to you on that one".
"Getting comfortable with that really changed my career for the better because I was killing myself with anxiety when I didn't have answers or making dumb mistakes when i tried to have an answer for everything off the cuff."
Diagnosis
"Diagnose every person involved in a spat on r/AITA and r/relationships as narcissists without knowing what that actually means."
"Okay so it's not just me. I noticed EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is a jerk is labeled a narcissist and I don't get it. Is that the new buzzword for sh**ty person?"
Band Shirts
"Do you even listen to (band you're wearing a shirt of)?"
"Yes. Why would I wear a Pink Floyd shirt if I don't like Pink Floyd?"
"Also, "name 3 (band on shirt) songs."
"If they can, congratulations. You look like a jerk."
Stand up guy
"This guy at work likes to stand up at his desk and practice his martial arts. Always talks about how if someone were to attack him how he would defend himself in the situation and take him down. With specifics. Gah its annoying."
Teacher
"My favorite are the "teacher please notice I read this book/article not on the syllabus but kind of relevant to the class" questions."
"Especially since most of the time the professor doesn't have much of a response beyond acknowledging the connection. I took a yearlong intensive business program and this one kiss-*ss managed to bring up a book that was mentioned during orientation in just about every class the whole year."
Winding sentences
"Use extra long, endlessly winding sentences and niche jargon."
"I can't remember how many students I had to tell, that no, writing sentences which hardly anyone can follow and use words which are super specific and hardly anyone knows, does not make you seem clever or smart, let alone educated or intelligent. It makes you look like an idiot who has no idea what they are talking about, since they can't find the words to make other people understand the issue."
Late
"I really really hate when people show up late to lecture, sit in the front, then start answering questions the professor is asking just by rewording what they said."
Buzz
"Using "buzz" words when talking about something they know little or nothing about. I got the blue screen of death and one of my friends told me it was because of my isp, or could be my bandwidth. Do you even know what isp stands for?"
"Oh man, I do tech work for fire alarm panels and I had a coworker that managed the accounts but knew nothing about the tech side. That's fine, it's not her job to know the tech, but she didn't like to admit it and would call and try to ask me questions using a bunch of industry related words she'd heard me use but didn't understand and it would just be a mishmash of incomprehensible gibberish."
"To give you an idea, imagine it's a pizza shop and a customer calls to complain about a cold pizza. She calls me up since I made the pizza and says "Hey the customer said their pizza was cold, do you think the mozzarella might have caused the oven to crust over from anchovies being topped from the parmesan bell peppers with olives being cut?"
Whom
"You'll never look bad for saying "who" when you mean "whom".
"You'll always look bad for saying "whom" when you mean "who".
"Likewise, "its" instead of "it's" is really easy to overlook, but the reverse sticks out like a sore thumb."
Correction
"Correcting everything and everyone in the smallest things. It's just annoying. Even worse how they get offended when someone corrects them."
Berate
Giphy"Berate you for not understanding a joke or phrase—and refusing to explain it, because they obviously don't get it either."
Respond
"Ah, the ole, I am going to tell you this joke to see how you respond and hope that you say the punchline so I finally get it routine."
IT
"We have a serious problem with this on my team at work (IT-related job). We are a small group, only 5 people plus my supervisor. We have two people that constantly do this. I read an article about how to combat when people constantly talk over you because I was so worn out over it. They mentioned that it's usually best to stop talking, wait until they're finished then say, "as I was saying before..." It has helped tremendously with one of the over-talkers. Fingers crossed that the other will become more self-aware."
Shortbread
"When you say, "Hey I didn't know this, but shortbread cookies don't have eggs in them," and the other person says, "You didn't KNOW shortbread cookies don't have eggs in them?!" "No Karen, that's why I started that sentence with, Hey I didn't know this." Maybe it's more specific to me...."
"Omg guys, look at this utter doofus who at one point didn't know something which he then learnt and knew afterwards. How embarrassing must that be!?"
Traffic rules
"Weave in and out of traffic only to wind up no further ahead."
"I always laugh when someone weaves like they are in fast and furious, and then I catch up to them at the next light."
Explain
"Pretend to be informed about and insist on having an opinion about anything and everything: above all, a total refusal to ever employ the expressions 'I don't know', or 'Please explain.'
"This instantly marks you out as an essentially uneducated person. Well-educated people know, above all else, what they do not know, and they have no compunction whatever about admitting what they don't know-- implicitly, because they know that an admission of ignorance is the surest way to remedy it, and have confidence that they can understand and learn about basically anything, given time."
"Know-it-alls are almost invariably covering up for their own intellectual insecurities, while effectively putting them on full display."
Conversations
"Steering conversations towards their area of expertise."
"I just asked if you saw Endgame, how are we talking about the Russian boycott of the 1984 Olympics?"
Everything
"Be contrarian or negative about absolutely EVERYTHING. It's ok to have a negative opinion about something, but some people just love to argue for no reason other than to seem like they're smart."
Well how do you do it? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditorcltdawg08 was curious to learn what things are deceptively dangerous, leading them to ask:
"What is a lot more dangerous than most people think?"
No harm in hitting the snooze button, right?
"Playing the 'well, my alarm turned off, but I just wanna rest my eyes for a bit' game."- IIITysonIII
Don't be fooled by their "chinny, chin, chins"...
"Pigs."
"They look slow and fat."
"Saw a guy nearly get killed by a pig."- theycallmelilsnowy
Always try to get those 40 winks...
"Sleep deprivation."
"It slowly kills over time."- CyndaWott
Don't underestimate the importance of a helmet.
"Being knocked out."
"In movies, the hero hits someone on the head, or the hero is hit on the head, and they're out for hours."
"In reality, if you are knocked unconscious for more than a few seconds, you'll be inundated with traumatic brain injuries."
"Even a mild brain injuries can drastically change a person's personality, if it doesn't kill them, which is a real possibility."
"TL;DR: Don't get knocked out, and if you do, see a neurologist."
"I speak as someone who has had over 10 concussions."- canucksquatch
bart simpson mosquitoes GIFConsider calling a professional...
"Garage door springs."- Cvrk2·
Especially without proper supervision
"Factory work."
"I started one like 2 weeks ago and quit after the first week."
"A mistake in a metal fabrication shop could easily cost you your life or serious injury."
"Not for the clumsy type like myself."- StoneySphynx
ALWAYS get a second opinion...
"Reddit advice."- Pro_Banana
Get your body moving!
"Sitting for long periods of time."- Accurate-Bread-7574
Kitten Stretching GIFGiphyTalk to a doctor first.
"Using OTC meds."
"There is a very good reason why these drugs emphasize to not use more than _____ days consecutively without a Doctors orders."
"Some of these drugs can very easily cause long-term damage under the right circumstances, even if you never exceed the daily dose limits."
"I'm a good example."
"I used Aspirin long-term near max dose on a regular basis."
"I'm now in stage 3 kidney failure."
"Don't self-medicate, seek guidance."
"At the least, talk to the pharmacist."
"They offer FREE advice and consultation about all medications, both OTC and Rx, whether your on it presently or looking to ask your Dr about it."- SpacemaniaXu
Don't let appearances deceive you, and always proceed with caution.
A wise and safe way to go through life, even if you prefer to live dangerously.
And particularly before you pet that pig...
RedditorGemJoltik34wanted to spread the word on the ways we can recognize toxic parenting.
"What is a sign of toxic parenting?"
I know I wasn't built for parenting. That's ok. It's just not for me.
Know it All
Knowing Cedric The Entertainer GIF by CBSGiphy"Always believing they're right because they're the adult and therefore not letting the child have any say."
rhi_x
Not Bad
"If you feel like you can't be open and honest with them, even over things that are not bad."
keiome
"I can’t remember the last time I was deeply honest about my feelings or things I was struggling with. Somehow they always either 1. find a way to use it against me or 2. they find a way to blame it on things that are unrelated when in the end, it’s usually their crappy way of parenting."
"This is mainly about my mom. But in my dads case, he is emotionally cut off. He doesn’t express himself like ever. My mom is the complete opposite."
tequila-la
Standards
"Being unable to apologize, setting and enforcing standards they themselves don't follow."
19whale96
"When I tell my parents about something I feel like they should apologize my dad listens to me, if he disagrees with what I said he tells me why and if he thinks that my reasoning is correct he says 'you're right, I'm sorry,' my mom yells at me, cries, 'you're talking back, I would've never done that to my mother.' Guess who I have a better relationship with."
Confident-Thanks-143
Feelings
"When they constantly invalidate your feelings."
Hot_Comfortable_6373
"This one in a huge way… my feelings were never validated. Every time I cried it was 'stop the crocodile tears, you’re just looking for attention.' Every time I was mad 'you don’t have real reasons to be upset.' Hell, even when I was physically hurt it’d usually be something like 'rub some dirt on it.'"
Garden_Circus
Lessons
frank costanza seinfeld GIF by HULUGiphy"Never actually teaching your kids anything, just criticizing, 'I told you so' and 'because I said so.'"
eveningspliff
"This was my life just about every day until I moved out. My parents expected me to know things and got pissed when I did something wrong."
playingitloud
People should be required to take parenting classes. Seriously...
Mental Space
Doctor Help GIF by Apple TV+Giphy"Parents not understanding kids have bad days too. They may not have a bad day like an adult would, but to their little minds they can get just as overwhelmed as we can mentally."
minimomma1989
Learning Bad
"Not being allowed to make mistakes and constantly being shouted at for them."
sami2503
"My significant other has legit PTSD from not meeting his parents standards and being yelled at and screamed for it. Apparently if he didn't clean to their standards they would trash the room and make him start all over again instead of just getting the parts he missed."
YoHeadAsplode
I Feel It
"Treating kids like they aren't supposed to have emotions."
Bee0099
"Damn... felt this one. My mom was this way and reacted with anger anytime I tried to talk to her about my feelings, whether it be something she did to me that traumatized me or just something that upset me during the day."
"Then had an ex who did the exact same thing (not relevant to parenting but yeah). So the treatment I received from my mom and ex made me put up a wall around my emotions. Completely ruined my recent marriage. Just hope my son always knows he can talk about his feelings around me."
leebron-jahamez69
Expectations
"The 'I guess I’m just a bad parent' line."
HoneyOaksTree
"Or 'Well, I wasn't perfect,' or 'I don't think I ever claimed to be perfect,' or 'I know I was not a perfect parent,' always with the implication that the only reason their offspring have a problem with them is due to their expectations of perfection, and therefore, the problem is with the child and their unrealistic expectations."
LeisurelyLoner
Just say it!
Sorry Pop Tv GIF by Schitt's CreekGiphy"Never apologizing. Own up to your mistakes!"
bellum1
"Seriously. Like my mom will give a somewhat apology, it'll be along the lines of 'I was in the right, but maybe I shouldn't have blown up and overreacted like I did.' Like sometimes she's right with that but other times she's just trying to only take partial blame."
berrys_a_ghost
Some parents cause far more damage than happiness. And we have proof... It's not a decision to be taken lightly.
Redditor Inspire3110 wanted to share all the best reasons to not partner up.
"What’s a benefit of being single?"
I'm single. I think I want to mingle. Convince me otherwise.
Just Me
Dave Chappelle Freedom GIFGiphy"You only have to worry about yourself."
clayur
"I just started a casual relationship after about a year and a half of being single. Even though that previous one lasted 4.5 years, having to care about someone even a little bit is taking some adjustment. It was nice being free lol."
irishdude1212
Nobody Cares
"It's my day off. I have a bunch of projects to do around the house, but I'm laying on the couch reading Reddit. No one cares."
satanwon
"So true. I just wanna laze in bed all day on my day off sometimes. Bring in some snacks, watch a movie, read my books, take a nap or two. I don't need someone constantly asking 'are you getting up yet?'"
Zealousideal_End2330
Merry Peace
"Christmas is chill af. None of that 'Ok so we spend the eve at your parent's place, then Christmas day is split between my mom's and my dad's/his new girlfriend's place, and then we visit your brother's family to say hi to the newborn, plus uncle Jeremy invited us to his place since we are there anyway..."
foxmachine
Me Boss
"Not answering to anyone else. I've been single for a long time after my marriage ended. The temptation to just pick up with someone new was strong for the first few years, but once I got used to just being by myself, I came to really enjoy it. I'm free to do what I want, when I want. While I'm open to it, it will take someone very special to change my situation now."
ferox965
Places & Things
Heart Coffee GIF by 100% SoftGiphy"Everything is exactly where I left it."
Countryegg1
"Yeeessss. That little bit of milk you left for your morning coffee. It will be there in the morning."
sunflakie
These are all valid choices. I'm in.
Betrayal
i see you no GIF by Shalita GrantGiphy"Don't have to worry about having your trust betrayed. Don't have anyone to lie to you. You have complete control over how peaceful things are for you (barring things out of control like traffic or construction work in the neighborhood)."
HelixDraxzonyx
Career Moves
"You have the opportunity to focus on your own needs and/or make giant strides in your career progression without having to factor in and address the needs of your companion."
Lyrick_
Control
Janet Jackson Dancing GIF by VevoGiphy"Don't have to worry about having your trust betrayed. Don't have anyone to lie to you. You have complete control over how peaceful things are for you (barring things out of control like traffic or construction work in the neighbourhood)."
HelixDraxzonyx
"I know someone who turned down a top-tier professional sports contract because his girl would break up if he would've accepted it, since she didn't want to move from Europe to America. He killed his hockey-career with that decision, and his girl is almost threatening to leave him if he gets out of shape. Can't believe he's still with her."
mr4ffe
I'm Out
"Don't have to answer to anyone about where you're going."
detective_kiara
"This. When I became single after almost 10 years, for a good few months every time I would walk out the door I would instinctively feel the urge to say where I was going. Weirdest feeling ever, kind of like the Altoids thing Jim did with Dwight."
smorsmores
"Unless you have a pet. I tell my cat where I'm going every time I leave the house, even if it's just outside to smoke a bowl. If I don't, she screams like a banshee until I open the door... then I get a low solid meow, like she's saying 'Really?'"
AnAngryJawa
Keep you warm...
"Getting a good night's sleep. I got so tired of being awakened by someone groping me or poking me in the lower back. The whining about 'why don't you sleep naked' coupled with the 'you don't need blankets - I'll keep you warm.' I can't spend 8 hours every night f**king. I need sleep."
VapoursAndSpleen
EAT IT!!
Tina Fey Nbc GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy"You can take a complete cake home and eat all of it."
Both-Ad-3763
Who knew being single could be this fun?! Plenty of people apparently.
Curious to hear some of the more negative moviegoing experiences, Redditor Outrageous-Abies8391 asked:
"What is the most disturbing movie you've ever come across ?"
The atrocities of war are dramatically represented in some of the most powerful films.
WWI Soldier
"Johnny Got His Gun, saw it in early ‘70’s, still can’t forget it."
– vousoir
Depiction Of Nuclear Winter
"Threads (1984) is by far the scariest movie I've ever seen. It shows the events of a nuclear war breaking out, and the chilling aftermath. There's no hope and no happy ending, truly terrifying stuff."
– LuxGang
A Devastating Letter
"The answer to this and all questions like it is always 'dear zachery…' I cant unsee that rage from the grandfather. Its maybe 30secs and it's stayed with me longer than anything I've ever seen in a movie. Want real proof that a good, loving person WISHES he had murdered someone in calculating, cold blood? Got your movie for you."
– Goldbera1
Parents' Worst Nightmare
"Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight. Movie synopsis: WTF, really!?"
– Upper-Job5130
Real-life horrors make for even greater disturbing cinematic experiences.
Trapped In Delusion
"Requiem for a Dream. It's one of those you can really only watch once."
– MichaelScottssmug
They're called horror movies for a reason.
Torture
"The first Hostel movie really got to me. Not sure if I was just unprepared or what, but that movie disturbed me more than I expected."
– TimeclockTurtle
It's Banned In Many Countries
A Serbian Film
"Came to say this. There were scenes that I wish I could scrub from my memory."
– evmt95
"I own this one and honestly it's just sort of shock value for the most part. Ironically because the cinematography is relatively professional it makes some of the scenes somewhat goofy for their disturbing content."
"The actual content itself is pretty f'ked but somehow because it's well made I didn't really feel as disturbed as I should have. Films like Cannibal Holocaust, Irreversible, Antichrist, and although I haven't seen them Audition and Martyrs, those films make you feel sickly and carry a heavy weight of knowledge with viewing them."
"A Serbian film is the transformers of the disturbing film genre, there's alot that goes on but it's mostly shock value and well put together production value. I've seen A Serbian film 4 different times."
– aFan0Film
Vomit Gore
Slaughtered Vomit Dolls
'If you need a movie to have some form of a linear story, don’t bother with this one. If you are tired of seeing women constantly berated and insulted and shown as weak and scared, don’t bother with this one. And if vomit isn’t your thing, yeah, definitely don’t bother with this one.' - Horrornews.net
"Yeah, might give it a pass."
– Painting_Agency
Mad scientists coming up with the most twisted experiments is the premise in these revolting flicks.
Enough Said
"The human centipede."
– nuttynutz00-D
"I have not seen that, so can't really answer. The worst part of Human Centipede for me was the bodily claustrophobia and psychological horror, not the visible gore. There are only two films I have ever seen that I wanted to walk out of: that and Lars von Trier's Antichrist."
– ipakookapi
Obsession With A Walrus
"Tusk."
– ChuyImposter
"Agreed ! f'king made me feel so uncomfortable soo weird!"
– snakeysauce
The movies that disturbed me most were, as mentioned above, Tusk and Human Centipede.
I could have stopped watching them as soon as I got sick to my stomach. But as a completionist, I voluntarily subjected to torturing myself.
If you are faint of heart, I strongly suggest you avoid these films. You've been warned.