Phrases you hated growing up

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"Act your age!"
"Are you stupid?"
"Are your legs broken?"
"Because I said so."
"Damn you!"
"Do I have to do everything for you?"
"Don't act innocent; I know better!"
"Don't be stupid!"
"Don't give me that look!"
"I know what you're thinking."
"I know what's going on!"
"I never did that."
"I never said that."
"I should just hit you upside your head and knock some sense into you!"
"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't know what to do."
"If you want to act like a child, I'll treat you like one."
"I'm always good to you."
"I'm always right."
"I'm not laughing AT you, I'm laughing WITH you."
"It's not your classes that are dull and boring, it's you."
"No one's ever going to believe you."
"You can sleep in the basement/garage tonight!"
"You don't know what's good for you."
"You wipe that smile off your face or I'll wipe it off for you!"

*I'm hyperactive*
"Stop being silly, you're 6 years old!"

*8 years later, still hyperactive*
"I expect that silly behaviour from a 6-year-old but not your age!"

But you said the same thing when I WAS 6 years old.

Sorry, I forgot another phrases:

"Someday, you will be doing this." ...This is actually referring to getting into stuff that makes me feel uncomfortable, like listening to iffy music, drinking alcohol, taking/dealing drugs, etc. AKA Toxic Peer Pressure.

"It's a free country. I can do whatever I want." I hate to say this, but in reality, nothing is free!

Not really a phrase but...
Yelling at me when I'm so overstimulated that I can't do anything but tremble.
Surprisingly everyday experience of my childhood.

The one that springs to mind is this little gem:

"...but imagine how good it'll feel if you manage to pass without X."

Where X is whatever extra help or resources I was asking for in order to be able to pass at all. Essentially offering up some sort of meaningless "moral" victory in exchange for them getting out of having to do anything at all (including following the law). This was a theme from about mid grade school all the way up to University.

''Why can't you be normal?''
Probably because I was diagnosed with Asperger's, which means misery for everyone involved. I wish I was normal more than you wish I were

''Why can't you behave?''
Probably because I have ADHD

''I bet [name of friend/cousin] doesn't behave like this''
Probably because they don't have Asperger's or ADHD

''Stop moaning''
I have an anxiety disorder and the world can seem rather daunting at times. Also I can't always hear myself 'moaning', so it's best you approach my issue properly instead of dismissing it using those two annoying words that doesn't actually stop me moaning

''How come you're so quiet in the classroom but so hyper at home?''
I have social anxiety in a class full of 30 children so I'm not exactly going to start jumping about on the desks and being silly in front of them, am I?

''If you can be good in the classroom then you can be good at home''
It's called masking. It wasn't easy for me to sit still and be good all day at school, which is why I was so hyperactive at home, because it's where I was most comfortable and could be my natural self

@Joe90, that reminds me whenever I said: "I have Aspergers, I have ADHD."
They say "THAT'S AN EXCUSE! STOP MAKING EXCUSES!"
It hurt to hear that. Especially when I point to my brother lazing around and say "Why aren't you forcing (Bro) to do some work."
"HE'S DIFFERENT!" Yeah he's diagnosed Aspergers with ADD. Way different. So when I say something it's an excuse. But when my bro does nothing it's because of his disability. (My brother tends not to talk and I tend to talk. If we don't want to do something we respond differently, my brother turns away or tries to ignore, I confront and (yes) try to make excuses, I admit I do it sometimes)




"Look at my friend's kid, straight-A student helps out around the house without being asked, can you try to be more like him."
I always replied, "We're different people, I'm not that capable."

Not sure that this fits in with the theming going on here, but I've got a couple that come to mind.

"Rise and shine". In my mind, this is f*****g stupid. I'm not a lightbulb or a glowworm or the goddamn sun so I can't "shine" as you say. To this day, I still cringe whenever I hear this statement. It was honestly a struggle for me to even type it up for this post.

"Never judge a book by its cover". This is a phrase that I never cared for much when I was younger, but as an adult and a writer, I now view this phrase as being total BS. Literally everyone judges books by their covers. It's why authors pay good money for an eye-catching cover that'll get the casual reader to buy their book. Without that, a potential sale could slip right past them as the reader looks for something different to read.

"Everybody knows that". Well clearly I didn't know about it so your statement is invalid. Had a girl from work tell me that when she mentioned that a friend of mine was pregnant. This was the first I'd heard about this and she gave that response. Well thanks for making me feel like a f*****g ret*d.

"does that make sense?". Like their opinion is a fact and my opinion is a delusion. Not everything makes sense. Some things appear to make sense and they are not correct. Appearances sometimes deceive.

"Why?" Could be a justified question, but usually the speaker just wants to pull rank and put the recipient on the defensive. There doesn't have to be a reason, nobody has to tell you the reason, the reason doesn't have to satisfy you.

How about "why are you asking 'why' " ?

How about, "why are you alive?". Please prove the answer to my satisfaction. You can't do that.


"Are you ok?". Manipulative. The speaker knows full well that they don't have the skill or authority to "help" the recipient . Farce. The recipient still has to say thank you


"May I help you?" . Same as "are you ok?".

"Do not have a question?". Like if you have a question, I have an answer







f**k manipulative arrogant judgmental entitled precious lil "people"

They act like they are so innocent and have never done anything wrong before in their lives t "the meaning of life is 'helping people'



Mussolini was helping the Gestapo




f**k mister redelings

I get it, so much meaningless crap. Whenever someone asks "How are you?" I answer literally or just say "I'm ok."
Even though I know they expect, "I'm alright, how are you?" I mean what the hell, why ask that if you don't mean to ask. Still, I didn't figure out that they didn't mean it until a few months ago. I'm rather slow at the social stuff.

Damn, I hate conversing in real life, because I always think I'm missing something and I probably am. I can never tell when someone's being sarcastic, making fun, or just joking around. Or if they say one thing, but due to their tone or by their facial expression I'm supposed to know they meant something else entirely, like what the hell, am I psychic, am I supposed to read your F****** mind.
Well, despite everything, I just got to keep on going no matter how many mistakes I make or else I'll just be stuck at home every day of my life until the end.

"You need to act like everyone else"
Thanks, that's like telling a wheelchair bound kid they need to stand up.

"It's all in your attitude"
My best friend ALWAYS said this whenever I complained about anything. Easy for him to say with rich parents who practically gift wrapped a career for him. I assume my first child died because I had a bad attitude too, huh?

"Stop being difficult"
I was always going out of my way to not be difficult when told this.

"I know you know how to do this"
"You are smart, there is no reason you should be struggling with anything"

"You know everyone hates you and wishes you would drop dead, right?"
A variation of this was usually said by someone who never met me in school.

The absolute worst was "Your brother got straight A's: you need to stop being lazy and try"

I also noticed that it was mentioned many kids were picked last in sports. I was too but it was further compounded by the fact I was a pretty good athlete and teammate. Heck, this continues to this day in that my softball team treats me like the worst player on the team when in reality I have led the team in both batting average and triples for three straight years, show up to every game and never once complained about anything.

i wish I could remember all of mine, but my memory is not that good.

The worst was a great-uncle visiting, which rarely did, saying: "Now I see what the problem is in this house". Whether he was referring to my behavior or not, that's the way I took it. He was from the NT, but undiplomatic, side of the family.

My ND mother would make most of the inappropriate comments and do so in a distressed, nervous voice, which would then inhibit me from wanting to discuss her concerns:

"Why aren't you outside playing with the other kids?"
"People tell me you never look them in the face"
"Your father and I didn't know what we were going to do with you", after my father had died.

My father would say "I wish I never had kids". But this was not directed at me specifically and was only after he was drinking.

When I was younger, I tried asking online where I could find information on American Idol auditions cuz it was my first time looking into it and someone who never knew me, never met me, had no idea what my singing abilities were straight up said, "let me just tell you you suck and save you the trouble". Excuse you!?! Who f*****g died and made you king!?! At least I got all the way up to the Celebrity Judge auditions and was even on TV for a few seconds. What have you done with your life, stupid? I hope to audition one more time for American Idol before I'm too old come my next birthday, but I'm open to trying out for America's Got Talent or The Voice if that doesn't work out as they don't have an upper age cap.

Sorry if I got off track there.

"You're selfish and self centered"
"Grow up!"
"Stop worrying!"
"You're making mountains out of molehills"
"You're blowing everything out of proportion"
"Stop crying!"
"All she ever does is draw cartoons"
"You got AIDS!"
"You do drugs!"
"Garfield's DEAD!" (I was obsessed with Garfield comics when I was a teenager. This continued into my 20's)
"They're just jealous of you"
"Ignore them and they'll leave you alone"
"What did you buy? More junk?" (would hear this from my mother when I bought a toy with my allowance money)
"You need more interests other than cartoons"
"You have to listen to what other people are interested in."
"Why don't you wear makeup or a nice dress outfit?"
"You're going to have a heart attack if you don't lose weight"
"What are you eating?"
"You can't be hungry"
"Go outside! It'll blow the stink off of you!"
"You're too hard on yourself"

"can you"? , Like if you can, you have to

"Do you mind", "yes" and "no" indicate consent

Compliments are just as judgmental as insults, s**t

From peers: "Don't you have any other friends?"
"Sex is all you're good for."
Overheard: "I don't have a daughter - I have a dog." "She's a goddamned burden."

So many more! I'm almost 60 - who cares now? I watched a documentary on "Comfort Women". I now feel ashamed to complain about anything. My life is a paradise compared to many other lives. I'm grateful for any scrap of goodness that comes my way. Let's say I'm a happy, grateful failure. I'll die happy and grateful. The failure part won't matter.
Did you ever watch dolphins play in waves? After I die, I will be that thing (energy) that is driving the wave. The dolphin in the wave will be the sum total of me - but only the wave with a dolphin in it.