Literalisms

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What do you think when you hear this:

"A woman walked onto a bus and there were no seats."

I imagine a bus without any seats installed. But this was supposed to mean that the bus did have seats installed but there were no empty seats.


Also, how would you reply to the question "What's happening?". I replied by explaining what was going on at the moment. Apparently 'What's happening' means 'how are you doing'.


I usually think I'm pretty normal but then I realize how I am different when I interpret things differently from most others.

Post some of your literalisms.

This is typical AS rationalization. NT's do mistakes like that sometimes but because they are used to talk so they don't do it so often. So it's not strange for NT's standards.

I totally have a problem answering questions like "What's up?," What's happening?," "How busy are you?," "How hard would it be to...?" - since they seem to be asking for specific details. I do understand (intellectually) that the greetings are just greetings - so I've learned to respond "not much." The other two questions that start with "How..." I understand to be opening lines for people who want me to do something for them. Nevertheless, I can't help starting to calculate a quantitative answer in my head every time someone asks these questions.

my sister gave me a (horrifically ugly) Tshirt that had a picture on a rodent holding an equine and the words " i don't give a"
I opened it and read it out loud : "I don't give a mouse's donkey?"
I felt stupid when i realized it was i don't give a rat's @$$.
this sort of thing happens to me almost daily....

i pictured a woman actually walking head on into a bus... *palmface*

I have literal thinking as well. I also pictured a bus with no seats. If the sentence said "There were no empty seats," then I would have the right picture in my head.


"Time flies."


I picture a clock flying and it has wings. But I know full well what it means but it's the words that gives me the funny picture.


"Raining cats and dogs."

Cats and dogs are falling out of the sky.

"Kicked the bucket."

Someone literally kicked a bucket.

"Hit the nail in the head."

Someone had pounded a nail in someone's head.


"Crocodile tears."


A crocodile is crying.


I did not know "What's happening?" meant how are you doing. I thought it meant what is happening and I would tell them what was happening lol. I wonder what those people thought of me when I answered it wrong?

Still the most embarrassing blooper of my working life was when we were having a party and I was told to bring a plate - so I did.

Nobody told me that there was supposed to be food on it.

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Most of the other trite phrases fall into to categories. I ignore the actual words that are said and assume either Hey or Goodbye.

Hello or HEY!
"What's up"
"How's it Going"
"How's it hanging"
"How are you doing"
"Got a moment?"
"Watcha doing?"
"How are you keeping?" (this always sounds like what you'd say to a piece of cheese in the fridge).

Bye
"have a nice day"
"see ya"
"well, I'll be off then" (my wife used to say that and I'd ask her if she was going off?)

You bringing an empty plate but not telling you to bring the one with food on it reminds me of the time my mother told me to "Take the rug and shake it" so I did just that and she told me "No, do it outside" and she started laughing and calling me a silly girl. I did not know she wanted me to take it outside and do it.

But I was told it was a logic problem than a problem with reading between the lines so when is being literal, being literal, not a logic problem? mmmm.

I do get in to trouble sometimes. People say "would you like to do this for me?". I think. I decide I wouldn't really like to do it. I say "no". Turns out what it usually means is "do this for me". I get pretty good at recognising these, and so I don't get caught out as much as I used to.