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40 Incredibly Dumb Things People Have Said That They Probably Regretted Afterwards
Interview
You’ve probably been there—you’re talking to your friends and then you say something that makes everyone go quiet. You thought you were being incredibly smart, but it later turns out that what you said was so ridiculously wrong that you’ll be facepalming and cringing for weeks when you remember your mistake.
The good news is that you’re not alone: practically everyone’s embarrassed themselves with their knowledge gaps. Even better, the odds are that what you said was nowhere near as wrong as the stuff that the people in this viral r/AskReddit thread heard from their friends and acquaintances. If you want to feel better about yourself, scroll down to check out the dumbest things people have heard, and upvote the worst of the bunch.
Bored Panda reached out to the author of the viral thread, redditor u/PagalScientist, and they were kind enough to shed some light on the inspiration behind the question, and shared their thoughts on how to react when someone says something that is massively incorrect. You'll find our full interview with the OP as you scroll down below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
“Why don’t you go back to where you came from” - racist guy at the grocery store checkout
“I’m Native American, this is literally where I came from.” - me
Bored Panda was very interested to find out what the inspiration for the OP's viral thread was. According to the redditor, they drew inspiration from their own life. "I heard one of my friends say something extremely dumb, and had a thought in mind about how much dumber people can get, so I didn't really give too much thought to it and just asked it on the subreddit," u/PagalScientist shared.
According to the redditor, they were taken completely by surprise by how the thread took off. "I absolutely didn't expect to get this much attention from my fellow redditors. Maybe when I think about it now, it makes sense why this happened," they said.
"Perhaps because everyone almost certainly had something dumb being said to them, and it's also a fairly common occurrence," u/PagalScientist pointed out that many people probably have a ton of examples to choose from, so they were happy to share their experiences on Reddit.
RELATED:
#2
That we don’t need farmers because we have grocery stores.(i live in a rural area)
#3
I'm American of Mexican descent. Someone asked me where I'm from. I said California. He then asked where my parents were from. I said Michigan and Texas. Looking at me rather upset he said no where are your people from. I said dude I can trace my family back to within the United States to 1817. Where the hell are you from? He just walked away after that.
For the OP, there are two types of dumb things that people say. "One is the dumb things you say when you are having fun with friends or family and want to make everyone laugh, just those casual things," they noted that in this case, it's best to have fun with these comments because they're meant to be taken in jest.
"But if there is some serious topic going on, and someone says something dumb, I usually try to correct them with logic or with facts," u/PagalScientist told Bored Panda. They added that their approach also differs on whether or not they're talking to that person privately or in public.
"If we are privately talking, then I prefer telling them straight that, 'Whatever you said isn't correct' or just straight up 'dumb.' But if we are in a group, then I prefer not to possibly embarrass them in front of others, and tell them about their mistake in private. And I would be lying if I didn't say that there are also those moments when you straight up laugh at them, that's what the whole post was about."
#4
“You shouldn’t drink carbonated water, it’s full of carbs!”
I’m rarely at a loss for words but I almost lost brain cells when I heard that
#5
Used to work in Yellowstone. The amount of stupid coming through the park is unimaginable. Had a bison come and lay down close to the boardwalk at old faithful. A woman holding a toddler started running up to it. Luckily I had grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her down.
She kept screaming she was going to sue me and the lodge for ruining her perfect vacation photo.
Then watching a 20 something walking out of the lodge in a swimming suit to go soak in the pots.
Telling another tourist that he could not walk off the boardwalk. He became angry and demanded to be allowed to do this. When this happens we are on higher alert.
We always had to watch tourists, like they had IQs of 10.
Skara Brae 1 year ago
Maybe the US National Park Service should entice the undereducated with "Best of Yellowstone" zones near the entrances to the actual park, where everything is fake and safe. Pools and geyser water are lukewarm, Bison are cows wearing full-body wigs, the boardwalks lead to hot tubs next to burger and ice cream shops, and little nozzles spritz the smell of sulphur if people get too close to the real park.
#6
My husbands mom is very ignorant and known to say really stupid things. Most recently we were in Italy and she asked why they don’t just tear down the colosseum because it looked so old…
Edit to clarify: She wasn’t physically there just seeing it on social media. She doesn’t believe in leaving the US because she thinks it is the best place, so she doesn’t need to see any other places. Honestly probably better she stays where she is at!
Now, to be fair, you can’t expect everyone to know, well, everything there is to know in life. We’re all human beings with limited time. We all make mistakes. We all embarrass ourselves in silly ways. And we might have in-depth knowledge in a bunch of subjects but may be oblivious to even the basics of other topics.
That being said… there are some common sense things that everyone ought to know. Like how food is grown on farms and does not magically appear in grocery stores. Or that when you get on an airplane, you don’t actually fly above the stars. Or that eggs are neither fruits nor veggies. One thing’s for sure—common sense isn’t all that common.
Redditor u/PagalScientist’s thread went viral and got over 36.6k upvotes. The topic hit very close to home for many internet users. And they had a lot of fun spilling the tea about the very worst offenders to common sense and science that they had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting in their lives.
#7
From a family member, years ago, "My husband and I are having problems, so we're trying for another baby,. That should make things better. "
I smiled inanely and walked away, stunned.
#8
That the Golden Gate Bridge connects North-America and Europe.
Yeh.. don't even ask
#9
Elementary school, we were learning about local Native American cultures and legends.
One legend had all the men go off to war except one boy or something, and it was left to him to continue the tribe's existance, or something like that.
Got in a debate with a girl who loudly asked why didnt he just go and die too, the women can keep the tribe alive.
Me, being worldly and having had The Talk already, tried to explain that there would be no more tribe without at least one guy present.
She yelled back 'Thats not true! We know how to fish!'
I had to be told to sit outside because I couldnt stop laughing.
There are a few potential reasons why so many people might not have (what many would consider to be) basic knowledge. For one, their education might have been limited or very chaotic, whether due to the low-quality teachers they encountered or because they put very little effort into their lessons and homework.
Meanwhile, these people might have grown up in families that didn’t prioritize education or didn’t help their kids understand the importance of independently verifying information. Moreover, these individuals might simply not be curious about how the world works or may have focused on other subjects at the expense of common sense knowledge.
At the end of the day, no matter our individual circumstances, the responsibility for doing better and learning new things rests with each and every single one of us. Though life may be easier if you can afford a good education, there are plenty of free resources out there just waiting to be used. If you have access to the internet and have a public library in your local area, then all you need is the drive, discipline, and perseverance to tackle new subjects.
#10
“Wait you’re Asian? I thought you said you were Vietnamese”
#11
I’m a skydiver. I once had a woman ask me if the plane stops for us to get out.
Yeah, it parallel parks next to the 747.
#12
A friend of mine asked me why we didn’t see stars when we flew over them. She truly believed that when you were flying on an airplane , you flew over the stars. I was speechless.
You could start off by delving deeper into a subject you’ve always liked but never found the time to analyze, whether that’s physics, programming, psychology, or personal finances. Or you could start off with a topic where you’ve embarrassed yourself before because all you’re relying on is hearsay and random tidbits of information that you’ve picked up from social media.
In the meantime, if you realize that your lack of education is having a negative effect on your job, daily life, and relationships, you may want to consider signing up for some classes. You could go to night classes, apply for a crash course, or even go to college. But that’s always easier said than done if you have responsibilities like work and taking care of your family. So a bit of planning is in need here. But it’s sure to pay off in the long run.
#13
Someone once said that they couldn’t wait for Halloween to fall on Friday the 13th.
#14
Some guy on a discord server insisted Pakistan is in Africa, i told him that Pakistan is in Asia and he called me racist and had a little rant.
#15
My old roommate pointed an laser thermometer at a pencil on a table, inside our house.
The laser thermometer read “68F”
He exclaimed “this thing is broken!”
I asked why he thought it was broken?
“This is a pencil. It doesn’t produce any heat. This thermometer should say 0”
I stared at him for a few seconds, unable to collect my jaw off the floor…
“Well 0F would mean it is frozen, or well beyond frozen, so I think 68 is the temperature of the air in the room”
This man was 26… his two adult brothers were sitting in this room. I was the only one who understood why the thermometer was correct.
Richard Willis 1 year ago
Specific heat only mentioned by one person below! The specific heat of a substance is the number of calories required to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius. The specific heat of (?most) metals is higher than that of wood. Assuming both the metal and wood have acclimatised to room temperature, the number of calories required to raise the metal to the temperature of your skin is greater than for the wood, so it extracts more heat from your skin and feels colder. If you held one in each hand, once they had risen to body temperature they would both feel the same.
#16
“Tigers are girl lions!” Said by my 40 year old ex boyfriend who is a nuclear engineer.
#18
My mom, to me one time, “you son-of-a-b***h!”
We both laughed quite heartily about it later :)
#19
Last month a coworker asked if I'll run out of blood eventually because donate very couple months. He's 34 years old.
#20
“Isn’t it amazing how dogs just come out knowing commands like sit and lay down?”
The man was *stone cold serious*.
#21
When I was in 5th grade in Mississippi, a girl asked me if I saw everything "flat" because because of the shape of my eyes (I am Asian).
#22
Apparently what was causing my mother's computer problems was "Mercury in retrograde".
#23
A supervisor told me “You can only get sick, if you want to be sick”.
#24
I’m from New Mexico and was once told that my English is excellent. Have also been asked for my green card once.
#25
*my boss after I had to leave work to save my suicidal mother-in-law*:
“When you leave like that, it’s not fair to us because you just leave us hanging”
EDIT: Thank you all for sharing your experiences and kind words. My MIL is okay and has recovered greatly. I promptly quit that job and have been living the freelance life.
#26
I have a "friend" who doesn't believe many things if he hasn't experienced them himself.
Ex: He told me he doesn't believe allergies are real. I asked why not? He replied, "Well *I've* never had them. It's all in people's minds."
AJay 1 year ago
Ah yes so the large number of allergies I have, including some that are literally LIFE THREATENING, don't actually exist so I really CAN eat a peanut or something if I want to because it will be FINE and I won't actually die if I don't want to because it is all in my MIND? And I don't have to carry around multiple forms of expensive medicine including an emergency needle with me at all times just in case? Wow, I am learning so much today! /s. In all seriousness though, if someone said this to me I would quite possibly punch them in the face.
#27
“I don’t mean to stereotype, but you look too white to speak Spanish” after I told my college suitemate that I was taking Spanish courses. Coming from a girl that always denounces stereotyping.
#28
Not me, but my brother, his wife is a pharmacist. A friend introduced him to his fiancé and upon hearing my brothers wife was a pharmacist, she went with "Oh cool I've never known anyone who worked on a farm before" he tried to correct her but she doubled down with "I think I know what someone who works on a farm is called"
#29
IT work a few years back. Had a director blow up after day two of trying to resolve a complex firewall issue that was affecting the finance department receiving invoices.
And I quote: “STOP trying to figure out what the problem is and JUST FIX IT !!!”
#30
"I'm never going to quit smoking [cigarettes]. My aunt was healthy until she quit. Then she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer."
This was said to me by my manager at a Domino's Pizza (Pennsylvania, USA). I didn't have the time or energy to explain to a man 3 decades my senior that she probably had cancer for a long time, but didn't go to the doctor until she was feeling withdrawal from the nicotine.
So we finished our cigs and went back to slingin' pizzas.
I quit smoking and delivering pizza not long after.
#31
That 100lbs of metal weighs more than 100lb of feathers
I’m sure this has happened to a few people.
Edit: I should have just used metric…
#32
When I was doing tech support:
"How do I type the upside down i?"
"Ma'am, that's an exclamation mark."
#33
Was talking to the cashier at a 24 hour Tesco's at about 1 in the morning and he said
"I don't mind working nights because I'm a necrophile"
Me "do you mean nocturnal?"
#34
"I thought windmills cool down the earth to stop global warming".
#35
"You can only get AIDs from butt stuff."
This is from a guy who thinks pulling out is a good method of contraception and never uses condoms.
#36
Had a guy I was working construction with say “I hope the sun comes up on that side today” pointing west “because yesterday it came up on this side and it was so hot” with us being on the east side of the building, ya bud that’s not how the sun works lol
#37
Duck is seafood because it swims.
#38
I was told that if I did some breathing exercises for six months and then checked my blood sugar my T1 diabetes would just disappear.
#39
Not me, but a friend of mine travelled to the US with her family when she was younger. Upon hearing her family’s accent, an American asked “where are you guys from?” the answer was Australia, and that person confidently responded with “ah, which state is that?”
Skara Brae 1 year ago
Hopefully they respond "New South Wales" or whichever state/territory they were from.
#40
"Was it difficult for your husband to learn English? Is there a language barrier for you guys?"
My husband is Scottish, born and raised.
ETA: Wow this really blew up. So I'm going to add some additional info, especially for those saying this is totally valid. The people asking me this question were supposed to be well educated teachers. They had never met my husband so they didn't even have the excuse of hearing his accent. But had they met him they would have been more surprised at how diluted his accent was due to having left Scotland at 18 to live in London for 7 years and by the time I met him he had been in the states for 14 years. He had an accent but was very easy to understand and had adopted a more American style of speaking so people could understand him (so he said things like pants instead of trousers).
What do you think ?
Noname 1 year ago
"There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, (Helena) Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" - Hamlet (Shakespeare) We all perceive our existence differently.
Load More Replies...
Simon 1 year ago
Was stargazing on A clear night with a date and I said our sun is also a star, she went on to ask me which of the stars our sun was. I was suddenly worried about my potential future offspring(s)
Noname 1 year ago
For a very long time, I didn't understand how it was possible that there was a side of the moon not visible from earth. I just didn't understand the mechanics of the moon's orbit around the earth until one very patient person showed me using a grapefruit and an orange. The best teachers are patient and don't ridicule the student.
El Howard 1 year ago
I think the fact the the Earth and Moon are rotationally locked so that the same side of the Moon faces the Earth is actually pretty weird! As is that the Sun and Moon are the effectively the same diameter from the viewpoint of the Earth. And the ratio of size between Moon and Earth is far greater than any other planet/satellite pair we know of. Face it, our Moon is WEIRD!
Load More Replies...
Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
From a person who had their bachelor of science in nursing: "You can't get Covid that way (:snot/fluids:)! The lights kill it. Just keep lights on." _______ Fortunately, she quit nursing over "political reasons". What I really want to know is, who the heck gave her a passing grade in science at *any point in her life*.
pico diablo 1 year ago (edited)
Leo Domitrix: Thanks for describing this common problem about teaching/learning science. Either the wrong questions were asked on tests, or, the right questions weren't weighted enough in order to clue this person into the fact that a science/technology/nature-study career might not be for them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'd go a step further though. Part of the solution to the problem you described is to stop calling everything science (even if it "science-adjacent"). For example, the "science", classes in nursing school should be called 'technology' classes. These classes involve learning a lot of step-by-step procedures. It's common for people to have the ability be trained how to do technology, but fail at thinking of their own hypothesis or designing experiments to test them -- and most importantly -- *Changing Their Minds* when results don't match expectations (aka: Science). Also, people should stop referring to memorizing the names of things as 'science' -- call it, "Basic Nature Study".
Load More Replies...
Amelia Jade 1 year ago
My uncle was upset that a mouse was spotted in the basement because what if it laid eggs. My cousins ex husband asked me and my husband if it was weird flying over the international dateline. We'd flown to the states from Japan. He thought that as soon as you passed over this imaginary line it went from dark to light as if you flipped a switch.
Zophra 1 year ago
I find this very depressing as a science high school teacher. My subjects and so many other all try to teach critical thinking - but it just doesn't seem to work. I wish I could see the memories and thought processes that lead people to believe stuff stupid stuff.
Noname 1 year ago
Read up on history and the previous "critical thinkers" whose theories were widely accepted until proven false. René Descartes comes to mind as he attempted to ascend the ranks as a critical thinker only to retract his theories because he was afraid of excommunication. If only he had melded his 2 different philosophies into one coherence, it would have been the game changer for western science.
Load More Replies...
Toby Flenderson 1 year ago
Fortunately many of them do it on a scratch-off ticket
Load More Replies...
the mad downvoter 1 year ago
Somebody once told me that Indonesia is in Bali. Another time, other people do not know Indonesia but know Bali, and they thought Indonesia and Bali are different countries.
Bec 1 year ago (edited)
Helping two different college students in our math tutoring lab take a ratio of two numbers that was in decimal form and they were to interpret its meaning as a percentage. Me: PerCENT means per what? Student: I don't know, I'm bad at math. Me: Ok, it has the base CENT as the word, so how many cents in a dollar? Student: like 25 cents? Me:...Student and friend: They didn't teach us this stuff in school. Our state standards have percentages in 5th grade, so you've made it through 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade, encounter advertisements with %'s in the real world, got into college, went to lecture for this class, no idea what percentage means? They may have partially been playing dumb to get me to just tell them the answer, at least that is what I hope. I did go over how to convert a decimal to a % with them but at some point they have to want to learn it.
Bec 1 year ago
Colleague also had a student who missed a conversion question that involved time. Teacher: Ok, here is your mistake you put that there are 100 seconds in a minute. Student:??? Teacher: How many seconds are in a minute? Student: You know, I've always wondered that. Colleague said she had to bite her tongue to keep from pointing at the clock on the wall and telling her to count the ticks. Student was an adult woman.
Load More Replies...
BoredPamda 1 year ago
I'm into mountaineering, and I understand a lot of the questions people generally ask (like, "why do you have a rope?"). But someone asked me if there was a lot of snow on the glacier. Ma'am, what do you think a glacier is?
David Leick 1 year ago
I was wearing a mask at work when an unmasked coworker asked why I wore one. Her concern was that I'd "just breath the covid back in". I was so dumbfounded, I could not respond.
Noname 1 year ago
Eugenics is a commonly used method that's been empiracal proven in the breeding of horses, cattle, dogs, and cats, so why not humans? This is the question we should be asking: why is it ethical to use this method on other mammals but not humans?
Load More Replies...
PoAngielsku 1 year ago
Yet another post about dumb Americans saying dumb things. This site should rename itself to Dumb Panda.
Noname 1 year ago
"There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, (Helena) Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" - Hamlet (Shakespeare) We all perceive our existence differently.
Load More Replies... Simon 1 year ago
Was stargazing on A clear night with a date and I said our sun is also a star, she went on to ask me which of the stars our sun was. I was suddenly worried about my potential future offspring(s)
Noname 1 year ago
For a very long time, I didn't understand how it was possible that there was a side of the moon not visible from earth. I just didn't understand the mechanics of the moon's orbit around the earth until one very patient person showed me using a grapefruit and an orange. The best teachers are patient and don't ridicule the student.
El Howard 1 year ago
I think the fact the the Earth and Moon are rotationally locked so that the same side of the Moon faces the Earth is actually pretty weird! As is that the Sun and Moon are the effectively the same diameter from the viewpoint of the Earth. And the ratio of size between Moon and Earth is far greater than any other planet/satellite pair we know of. Face it, our Moon is WEIRD!
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 1 year ago
From a person who had their bachelor of science in nursing: "You can't get Covid that way (:snot/fluids:)! The lights kill it. Just keep lights on." _______ Fortunately, she quit nursing over "political reasons". What I really want to know is, who the heck gave her a passing grade in science at *any point in her life*.
pico diablo 1 year ago (edited)
Leo Domitrix: Thanks for describing this common problem about teaching/learning science. Either the wrong questions were asked on tests, or, the right questions weren't weighted enough in order to clue this person into the fact that a science/technology/nature-study career might not be for them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'd go a step further though. Part of the solution to the problem you described is to stop calling everything science (even if it "science-adjacent"). For example, the "science", classes in nursing school should be called 'technology' classes. These classes involve learning a lot of step-by-step procedures. It's common for people to have the ability be trained how to do technology, but fail at thinking of their own hypothesis or designing experiments to test them -- and most importantly -- *Changing Their Minds* when results don't match expectations (aka: Science). Also, people should stop referring to memorizing the names of things as 'science' -- call it, "Basic Nature Study".
Load More Replies... Amelia Jade 1 year ago
My uncle was upset that a mouse was spotted in the basement because what if it laid eggs. My cousins ex husband asked me and my husband if it was weird flying over the international dateline. We'd flown to the states from Japan. He thought that as soon as you passed over this imaginary line it went from dark to light as if you flipped a switch.
Zophra 1 year ago
I find this very depressing as a science high school teacher. My subjects and so many other all try to teach critical thinking - but it just doesn't seem to work. I wish I could see the memories and thought processes that lead people to believe stuff stupid stuff.
Noname 1 year ago
Read up on history and the previous "critical thinkers" whose theories were widely accepted until proven false. René Descartes comes to mind as he attempted to ascend the ranks as a critical thinker only to retract his theories because he was afraid of excommunication. If only he had melded his 2 different philosophies into one coherence, it would have been the game changer for western science.
Load More Replies... Toby Flenderson 1 year ago
Fortunately many of them do it on a scratch-off ticket
Load More Replies... the mad downvoter 1 year ago
Somebody once told me that Indonesia is in Bali. Another time, other people do not know Indonesia but know Bali, and they thought Indonesia and Bali are different countries.
Bec 1 year ago (edited)
Helping two different college students in our math tutoring lab take a ratio of two numbers that was in decimal form and they were to interpret its meaning as a percentage. Me: PerCENT means per what? Student: I don't know, I'm bad at math. Me: Ok, it has the base CENT as the word, so how many cents in a dollar? Student: like 25 cents? Me:...Student and friend: They didn't teach us this stuff in school. Our state standards have percentages in 5th grade, so you've made it through 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade, encounter advertisements with %'s in the real world, got into college, went to lecture for this class, no idea what percentage means? They may have partially been playing dumb to get me to just tell them the answer, at least that is what I hope. I did go over how to convert a decimal to a % with them but at some point they have to want to learn it.
Bec 1 year ago
Colleague also had a student who missed a conversion question that involved time. Teacher: Ok, here is your mistake you put that there are 100 seconds in a minute. Student:??? Teacher: How many seconds are in a minute? Student: You know, I've always wondered that. Colleague said she had to bite her tongue to keep from pointing at the clock on the wall and telling her to count the ticks. Student was an adult woman.
Load More Replies... BoredPamda 1 year ago
I'm into mountaineering, and I understand a lot of the questions people generally ask (like, "why do you have a rope?"). But someone asked me if there was a lot of snow on the glacier. Ma'am, what do you think a glacier is?
David Leick 1 year ago
I was wearing a mask at work when an unmasked coworker asked why I wore one. Her concern was that I'd "just breath the covid back in". I was so dumbfounded, I could not respond.
Noname 1 year ago
Eugenics is a commonly used method that's been empiracal proven in the breeding of horses, cattle, dogs, and cats, so why not humans? This is the question we should be asking: why is it ethical to use this method on other mammals but not humans?
Load More Replies... PoAngielsku 1 year ago
Yet another post about dumb Americans saying dumb things. This site should rename itself to Dumb Panda.
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