Taking things literally; any funny stories to share

[Keith]

As far back as I can remember I have never had too much trouble with taking things literally. Maybe as a kid, but that can also be dismissed as naivete. However, I view myself as the king of bad puns, so I'm obviously fine regarding that problem.

There's this guy on YouTube I follow who does playthroughs of video games, and he often makes bad puns and I crack up whenever I hear them. Not because of the pun, but because of how bad they are.

I used to work as a part-time employee for a psychologist as a document scanner. I was helping create a computerized patient database. I noticed on one document an explanation that people with Aspergers have trouble with abstract language. I don't recall having too much trouble with that. However, I do find the British euphemism "blooming" rather silly. I know what it's standing for, but most other euphemisms don't sound that sanitized.

 

[Grace13]

I envy you both your undirty minds. I can't help picturing a human-sized penis in a suit.

GROSSS!!

 

[Suzanne]

As far back as I can remember I have never had too much trouble with taking things literally. Maybe as a kid, but that can also be dismissed as naivete. However, I view myself as the king of bad puns, so I'm obviously fine regarding that problem.

There's this guy on YouTube I follow who does playthroughs of video games, and he often makes bad puns and I crack up whenever I hear them. Not because of the pun, but because of how bad they are.

I used to work as a part-time employee for a psychologist as a document scanner. I was helping create a computerized patient database. I noticed on one document an explanation that people with Aspergers have trouble with abstract language. I don't recall having too much trouble with that. However, I do find the British euphemism "blooming" rather silly. I know what it's standing for, but most other euphemisms don't sound that sanitized.

Two thoughts come to mind on reading this. One, I am pathetic with puns and inevitably get them mixed up! Two: I find it interesting that you are not a literal person and shows that indeed, we all have areas where we are worse or better than another. I am terrible with maths for example and understand that most apsies feel comfortable with numbers. I think the best psychologist for an aspie, would be an aspie lol

 

[Ylva]

GROSSS!!

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[Spazmelda]

My 8 year old son, who we suspect of being somewhere on the spectrum (testing next month, hopefully), detests figurative language. He will often berate us for using sarcasm or any type of figurative language.

We were eating supper a week or so ago and he had eaten only noodles. I told him to please eat a few bites of vegetables and chicken. He protested saying he only liked the noodles and didn't like any of the other things. I told him, "you need to eat some of those. They are good for you, so just choke down a few bites." He looked shocked and upset and said, "You want me to CHOKE?!?" My daughter started laughing and explained that it was just an expression. He slammed his hands on the table and said, "I.TOLD.YOU... DON'T USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE!" After being angry he started to laugh with us after he realized why it was funny.

 

[Grace13]

My 8 year old son, who we suspect of being somewhere on the spectrum (testing next month, hopefully), detests figurative language. He will often berate us for using sarcasm or any type of figurative language.

We were eating supper a week or so ago and he had eaten only noodles. I told him to please eat a few bites of vegetables and chicken. He protested saying he only liked the noodles and didn't like any of the other things. I told him, "you need to eat some of those. They are good for you, so just choke down a few bites." He looked shocked and upset and said, "You want me to CHOKE?!?" My daughter started laughing and explained that it was just an expression. He slammed his hands on the table and said, "I.TOLD.YOU... DON'T USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE!" After being angry he started to laugh with us after he realized why it was funny.

I would think the same...

 

[shinyedge]

My mom told me that when I was very young we had a small kiddie pool in the yard. I didn't like that my pants got wet in the pool--I was just getting the hang of toilet training--so would take off my swim trunks and run around with no clothes on. When my mom saw that, she told me I should go inside to take off my swimsuit. So, of course the next time she saw me outside with no clothes on, she said, "Didn't I tell you to go inside to take off your swimsuit?" And I answered, "I did."

I have always had trouble with sarcasm and teasing. In my college dorm one time I was complaining about how much time it took to fold my underwear after washing it. The person I was talking to said, "Wrinkled underwear is soooo uncomfortable." I didn't think it was all that uncomfortable, but I said, "It certainly is," just to be agreeable because I didn't think it was worth arguing over. It wasn't until later that I realized he was making fun of me for bothering to fold the underwear in the first place. Then I felt foolish for agreeing with him that it would be uncomfortable if I didn't fold it.

 

[Suzanne]

My 8 year old son, who we suspect of being somewhere on the spectrum (testing next month, hopefully), detests figurative language. He will often berate us for using sarcasm or any type of figurative language.

We were eating supper a week or so ago and he had eaten only noodles. I told him to please eat a few bites of vegetables and chicken. He protested saying he only liked the noodles and didn't like any of the other things. I told him, "you need to eat some of those. They are good for you, so just choke down a few bites." He looked shocked and upset and said, "You want me to CHOKE?!?" My daughter started laughing and explained that it was just an expression. He slammed his hands on the table and said, "I.TOLD.YOU... DON'T USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE!" After being angry he started to laugh with us after he realized why it was funny.

Lol even reading what you put about choking, my first thought was: WHAT? That is terrible! So yep I was shocked too, but knew what you meant. As it happens, I have never heard of that expression!

 

[Spazmelda]

Lol even reading what you put about choking, my first thought was: WHAT? That is terrible! So yep I was shocked too, but knew what you meant. As it happens, I have never heard of that expression!

Interesting that you had the same reaction, and that you had never heard he expression before. I'm finding that as my son gets older he sort of has a mental catalog of expressions that he (intellectually) gets, but a new one is always an adventure and I enjoy seeing into his world a bit and examining the (sometimes shocking) nature of common expressions interpreted literally. Usually I'm pretty good at catching a new expression as its coming out of my mouth and offering an explanation or at least saying something like, "that's a figure of speech, do you know that one yet?" He is getting better at recognizing sarcasm as well and will often stop for a minute after hearing a sarcastic remark. I can almost see the gears turning in his head (literally, lol) and then he will say, "that was sarcasm, right?!" He's so pleased with himself when he recognizes it.

 

[Suzanne]

Interesting that you had the same reaction, and that you had never heard he expression before. I'm finding that as my son gets older he sort of has a mental catalog of expressions that he (intellectually) gets, but a new one is always an adventure and I enjoy seeing into his world a bit and examining the (sometimes shocking) nature of common expressions interpreted literally. Usually I'm pretty good at catching a new expression as its coming out of my mouth and offering an explanation or at least saying something like, "that's a figure of speech, do you know that one yet?" He is getting better at recognizing sarcasm as well and will often stop for a minute after hearing a sarcastic remark. I can almost see the gears turning in his head (literally, lol) and then he will say, "that was sarcasm, right?!" He's so pleased with himself when he recognizes it.

He sounds like me, for I do exactly the same thing ie ask if my husband is being sarcastic and chuffed that I realised it. I used to be dreadful, but find I can be sarcastic and have to stop myself.

 

[SameStars]

I was with two friends after school, at one of their houses. There was a large bookcase, to which I was immediately drawn. One of the girls then told me (which I'm sure now was a joke) 'Go read then'. So I ended up reading a John Grisham book on the couch, and they went into the garden to play. That was a pretty nice afternoon actually.

 

[Cerulean]

Yesterday my friend got a gift card to a nearby store and asked if I needed anything. I was confused and said no, even though I need a number of things, because it seemed implied that she was going to pick them up for me and I should really try on my own pants and bras. Two hours later I realized she was asking if I wanted to come shopping with her. Oops.

 

[Grace13]

Yesterday my friend got a gift card to a nearby store and asked if I needed anything. I was confused and said no, even though I need a number of things, because it seemed implied that she was going to pick them up for me and I should really try on my own pants and bras. Two hours later I realized she was asking if I wanted to come shopping with her. Oops.

I don't know what other things she meant... i think the same as you... i don't understand how that can mean.. do you wanna go shopping with me?

 

[Keith]

Interesting that you had the same reaction, and that you had never heard he expression before. I'm finding that as my son gets older he sort of has a mental catalog of expressions that he (intellectually) gets, but a new one is always an adventure and I enjoy seeing into his world a bit and examining the (sometimes shocking) nature of common expressions interpreted literally. Usually I'm pretty good at catching a new expression as its coming out of my mouth and offering an explanation or at least saying something like, "that's a figure of speech, do you know that one yet?" He is getting better at recognizing sarcasm as well and will often stop for a minute after hearing a sarcastic remark. I can almost see the gears turning in his head (literally, lol) and then he will say, "that was sarcasm, right?!" He's so pleased with himself when he recognizes it.

That's kind of why I've never had much trouble with abstract language. I've always had an obsession with "What does that mean?", so I probably always looked it up before I actually had the problem.

 

[Grace13]

Yesterday my friend got a gift card to a nearby store and asked if I needed anything. I was confused and said no, even though I need a number of things, because it seemed implied that she was going to pick them up for me and I should really try on my own pants and bras. Two hours later I realized she was asking if I wanted to come shopping with her. Oops.

Wanna chat in Chat room?

 

[Suzanne]

Yesterday my friend got a gift card to a nearby store and asked if I needed anything. I was confused and said no, even though I need a number of things, because it seemed implied that she was going to pick them up for me and I should really try on my own pants and bras. Two hours later I realized she was asking if I wanted to come shopping with her. Oops.

Wow when my husband asks that it is for him to get something for me, otherwise, he would say, do you want to go shopping. And yep if he asks what do I want, my mind goes blank, despite knowing there are tons of things I need.

 

[Keith]

Yesterday my friend got a gift card to a nearby store and asked if I needed anything. I was confused and said no, even though I need a number of things, because it seemed implied that she was going to pick them up for me and I should really try on my own pants and bras. Two hours later I realized she was asking if I wanted to come shopping with her. Oops.

Reminds me of my history of not wanting to go on outings with my parents, only to regret it later.

 

[Ellylldan]

A couple of months ago my husband's friend needed some help with a database work and he came over to our place to pass me the stuff.
He had this big old flash drive and he asked me: how do you like my new super tiny flash drive?
I looked at it for a minute trying to figure out what the trick was because it looked obviously old and big, so I thought there must be some kind of a pocket in it where the new tiny flash hidden...
Seeing my struggle, the friend laughed and said: Hey, I was just kidding about how really ugly and huge it is!
Um.. okay.

 

[SueD]

Hi my aspie friends

My husband was the first one to alert me to the fact that I take things literally and oh my, talk about a conversation break down because of it! But really, one can find the humor in it.

When ever someone says: I wish I was a fly on the wall. Even though I know what that expressions means, I still think: yuck, I wouldn't want to be a fly thank you very much and so always say: I wish I was a butterfly on the wall.

I am currently watching Mozart and the Whale and honestly the girl is sooo ME. She describes when she was a child how her parents were watching the Olympics and all got excited and said how they broke a record and I watch her, as she takes records into the garden and breaks them up, because it will make her parents happy. Well even though I know that expression, immediately she said it, I too saw a literal record being broken and so it was NO surprise when she went outside.

Another aspie describes how a friend said she is going to lay it on the table now. I was waiting for the aspie to continue to describe the thing her friend was about to lay on the table and yet, I know that expression.

So obviously it is a mental image that comes to the mind?

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When I was a kid, people would say to me "say hi to your mom for me". I was so confused by that. I thought I was to go home and say "Hi" to my mom and say "that was from your friend so and so". It took me long into my adult hood to realize I could say Mom, so and so says hi!

 

[Harrison]

Years down the line I realise my mother was an aspie. One of the things I learnt was to never tell her I liked something, this came after telling her I really liked roast beef and mustard sandwiches for school. Well, that's what I got daily for six months

I still like 'em, and find myself making them for a week, cheers mom