What's the funniest misunderstanding you've had?

[CuriousLadyBird]

Do you have a funny story about a misunderstanding where it be you've misunderstood something or another person has misunderstood you?

I'm just starting this thread because I thought about something that happened last week and giggled to myself.

I'm currently under the community mental health team as my mental health is not where I want it to be but next year I've been accepted on to a mental health nursing course and can start If my mental health is stable enough (just a bit of background).

So I had a home visit off someone from the CMHT and we were chatting and discussing my future etc and they asked what my goal was and I said "I think my long term goal is to be sitting where you are" and I meant like becoming qualified as a mental health nurse and helping people but this person must not have understood what I meant and said "Well you live here so you can sit here anytime you want".

I was a bit like what? But didn't say anything and carried on with the conversation so I don't know, I think maybe this person thinks my long term goal is to sit on the other side of the sofa (and I appreciate people with other mental health conditions may have issues sitting in certain places so maybe that's where we've got mixed up) but thinking back to it has really made me giggle.

Next time they come I might sit on that side of the sofa and they'll think I've reached my long term goal

My friend did similar but said 'Gill, with a G". And it arrived addressed to "Jill Withergee".

20 years ago I said to a Brazilian colleague came in to work in thigh High boots and a short red dress, afro hair, big hoop earrings, she looked amazing. I said WOW Fernanda, you look like Uhura. Everybody nodded. Later my boss told me that she had heard "wow you look like a hooor"

Not so much a verbal misunderstanding but...

In around Y4 or so my son decided to go a bit ahead during the school run, crouch behind a bush, and leap out to scare me and his younger sister.

Well he did leap out but he mistimed it, leaped out early, and scared the wrong people - another mum and older child who jumped about eight miles straight up in the air. I was torn between laughter and apologies, fortunately the strangers saw the funny side and now it's enshrined in family legend "Remember when you scared the wrong people?"

🤣

Going to totally out myself here, but many years ago my clean living good Catholic mum got a job working on the counter in a pharmacy. A man came in and asked for a packet of Nuform (a condom brand available at the time). She obviously had never heard of them, thought he meant Nurofen, and said by way of conversation, ‘No problem. Is it for your head?’

I work in a hospital and we had a little old dear wheeled into clinic who'd been very poorly on the journey in on the Patient transport ambulance. She was covered in vomit so we checked how she was and she cheerfully told us "Not very well, but the ambulance staff were lovely. I've been awfully sick but they gave me this lovely hat to cheer me up" and pointed to the cardboard vomit bowl she was happily wearing on her head. We explained and she realised it wasn't just given as a nice distraction technique! 🤣

This thread has given me a good laugh thanks OP. Years ago a work colleague was describing her wedding outfit to myself and another colleague. She described a jacket trimmed with Caribou. My other colleague said ‘oh I think you mean Marabou’ not reindeer! The wedding colleague said ‘yes yes that’s what I mean. It’s the same stuff your pussy is made of’ to my colleague. My colleague had just put up an art display the children had made. It had a cat made of Marabou feather trimmings. 😂

This was the friend of a friend.
the friend had an 18 year old son who was a bit of a tearaway. The landline went and the caller asked for her son. she asked who was calling. He answered ‘inspector Havers’
she ran upstairs and asked in a shout whisper what he had done as there was an Inspector Havers on the phone. He looked confused and took the phone in his room, so she listened at the door to hear him saying he could come in tomorrow.
when he came out she asked why he had to go to the police station and what on earth had he done.
his reply - mum it wasn’t inspector Havers. It was specsavers.

The story about the Roman pillow reminded me of when we were at school and had to label a diagram of a steelworks. Someone labelled the slag heap "slut".

Not me but my brother - he did a French exchange when he was in sixth form and when he went over to stay with the French family he told them he had brought them some English preservatives as a gift (ie a selection of local jams/ marmalades). What he didn’t realise is that “preservatif” is condom in French and he had assumed that the word “preservatives” was the same in French as it sounded like a French word… the host family apparently looked at him in disbelief when they thought he had gifted them some English condoms!

I don't understand the Paolo nutini/cheese toasties confusion!!

But that reminds me, I heard one, not told to me, but An American tourist wandered I to a chemist in Dublin and said "do you have those shades that clip on to your prescription glasses?"

Oh FurrrAdults said the retail assistant.
Yes "Fraddles!!", I never knew that's what they were called.

😆

@HowNice23 You absolutely win!! That's made my week!

The surgical knicker hat has nearly killed me 🤣

I speak with a very strong northern accent but my dp speaks with a soft southern one which causes problems with him not understanding me

Anyway,one day I'd seen a lovely plant in a sheep shaped plant pot
I wanted it but wasn't sure about it so dragged him in for a second opinion a few days later
We got there and they'd sold out-they had the dinosaur/dog etc and the normal ones-but no sheep

He heard 'oh no,there are no sheep and pig ones left!' as 'oh no,there are no shitting pigs left!'

Yes because shitting pig plant pots will be the next big thing in homewear...

Twenty odd years ago I had a conversation with a friend where I mentioned going to belly dancing lessons, for the next half hour she argued against it, culminating in her practically screaming that we would look stupid in tutus, it's a good job I love her ☺️☺️☺️

Ah it was the 80s. These things happened.

Moved to the North East from down South. Working admin in a warehouse and someone came up asking me if i had a tab. Told them no with a fair amount of confusion (acid? delayed payment?).
Ran into them later in the smoking area later and they said 'thought you said you didn't have any?'. In my defense though what a weird name for a cigarette.

that’s epic!

Jumped in my friends car when I was 21, said “let’s go bi*” turned out it wasn’t my friends car, was a poor woman and her toddler sitting there horrified! She did laugh after I explained…

I love this!!

Parrot / carrot - fantastic!

Not me but my aunt...
Family member said they were repainting the front door. She said 'oh good, I've never liked the colour you have, great that you're changing it'
Family member clarified that they were using the same colour, just freshening it up 🤭

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Kind of a misunderstanding but more misheard. DH and myself were on our evening walk and I was telling him about a mumsnet thread where a poster was complaining she had very large labia and it caused chaffing. DH misheard and thought I said she had very large labia that got caught in the chain. He looked absolutely aghast and we could barely stagger home for laughing when he realized his mistake !

I was visiting the midwife for a routine appointment and she asked me if I lived at home. Without thinking I said yes. She then spoke about how nice it would be to have my family's help when the baby came. I was too embarrassed to tell her that I had my own home with my husband so just nodded along.