# Saying dumb things because youre so nervous



## KelsMcL (Sep 4, 2009)

Anyone get so nervous they make total fools of themselves? It's a daily occurrence for me. I forget mid sentence what I'm saying. I also made up a syndrome called "verbal dyslexia". Sometimes I get so nervous I start making up words. Once, when asking someone where the COMPUTER was, I said "where's the cheeseburger"? WHATTT??!?!? Luckily, people find it humorous and not weird, but it is challenging, especially in job interviews.

What are some of the things you do when put in social situations?


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

constantly. and always in the situations where i most want to make a good impression of myself but instead i just feel horribly embarrassed and silly.


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## Quibble (Mar 31, 2009)

I used to have some trouble with that, basically with responses that didn't make much sense. Nothing completely random though (lol where's the cheeseburger).

The worst was when talking to the Dean of my college. I think we were talking about thanksgiving plans, but I couldn't think of what to say. I tried to spit out something about like if he was traveling to see family, but instead just asked where he lived. It was kinda out of context and I was too nervous to simply explain what I meant. So the dean looked at me with this wierd face and kind of blushed, as if I was asking to come to his house out of the blue.

There was another time a girl talked to me at the bus stop. See, what I used to do all the time was simply say as little as possible, just a polite smile and nod. But this time I tried to do small talk. Anyways, we sat on the bus next to each other, I commented about the weather. I thought she didn't hear, so I said it waaay too loud a second time. She kept looking forward and ignored me the rest of the bus ride. hehe

Anywho, over the past year or two I've improved a lot with small talk, and can do it no problem; though I'm not very interesting, find it impossible to be funny (though i laugh a lot), and am always a bit on edge. I ask a lot of questions, mostly because I'm too afraid to talk about myself, but I think it works well since people take it as being really interested in them. 

Being forced to do job interviews, reading some books on talking, and getting a job that required talking to customers all helped me a lot.


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## Just Lurking (Feb 8, 2007)

KelsMcL said:


> Anyone get so nervous they make total fools of themselves?


Nothing like "where's the cheeseburger" - but I start bumbling and stumbling over my words whenever I have to speak more than 2-3 words at a time. It's very annoying.


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## KelsMcL (Sep 4, 2009)

Quibble said:


> The worst was when talking to the Dean of my college. I think we were talking about thanksgiving plans, but I couldn't think of what to say. I tried to spit out something about like if he was traveling to see family, but instead just asked where he lived. It was kinda out of context and I was too nervous to simply explain what I meant. So the dean looked at me with this wierd face and kind of blushed, as if I was asking to come to his house out of the blue.


Oh myyyyyy. I can SO relate. I've received so many awkward looks from my professors. I also do the thing when a waitress says "have a good meal", or the guy at the movie theater says "enjoy your movie", i say "you too"! Hahaha.


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## KelsMcL (Sep 4, 2009)

Just Lurking said:


> Nothing like "where's the cheeseburger" - but I start bumbling and stumbling over my words whenever I have to speak more than 2-3 words at a time. It's very annoying.


So annoying and frustrating. The worst is during group projects (Im in college) and people make small talk. I hate awkward silence so I attempt to keep the conversation flowing and fail miserably.


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## Havalina (Dec 18, 2004)

hmm yesterday I told someone I have a thing for.....to have a good summer, but meant to say good school year since summer is over = redface.....yeah nothing horrible but seems like I can't put together more than three words with out screwing something up....especially around anyone my age.


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## BDY18 (Nov 8, 2008)

Lol, same thing has happened to me at the movies


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## JayC123 (Nov 3, 2010)

I was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome not too long ago, which pretty much explains everything.

Ive said way too many dumb things in social situations to remember, althogh i am quite intelligent. The one thing im not is rude, I am a kind honest person, I see the best in everyone, i'd do anything for anyone (just the way i am). So when I speak and people take it the wrong way and think im rude/arrogant/stuck up etc... it is quite hurtful.


Just recently I was at the orthodontists getting brace fitted, he is a nice man, and I have a hell of lot of respect for him for taking me on as a NHS patient at 19 years old. Its almost unhead of in the UK to get braces on the NHS after age of 16, never mind 18 (which is the limit). I had to put some sun glasses on while he glued the braces onto my teeth. When he finished I got up still with the glasses on somehow completely oblivious that i had them on and when the nurse said can we have them back, i said "oh yeah, i couldnt see through them anyway they need a wash" in my usual monotone voice and expressionless face. I was thinking for ages about whether he thought i was rude or not...


Another thing happened yesterday, i saw a man who obviosuly had one to many and was lying flat on his back about 20 foot away from a pub, with his zimmer frame on the floor and shopping bags everywhere. The so called "normal people" walked past him, some laughed at him. The guy was trying to get up, but couldnt. As soon as i saw this i couldnt help but ask if he was ok, so i crossed the road and approched him. I asked "are you ok?", i was very concerned. He asked me if i could give him a lift, and what did i say? "sorry im getting the bus" he said again "would you give me a lift (arms in the air), "oh yes of course". He was heavey as hell, and i had to put him against the wall while i got his zimmer frame back up and his shopping bags back on it. At this point everyone seem to come over to offer assistance... unbelieveble.


He was ok, and slowly, he was on his way again. Me, l went home with my dodgy walk, and red face as usual because of some dumb thing I said to someone. Im just glad this man wasnt a violent drunk lol


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## StarryNights2089 (Jun 22, 2011)

I have the same problem. I always seem to fumble over my words or forget what I was saying in social situations. x.X It's pretty annoying to deal with.


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## Dan iel (Feb 13, 2011)

I'm pretty good at this, a lot of the time I will talk about nothing and then go on about a irrelevant topic. Funny though because they join in as well.


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## VidaDuerme (May 28, 2011)

Aww. Verbal dyslexia. That's a lot better than what I've been calling it. I always just tell people I experience bouts of 'word vomit'. 

I go from stuttering incoherence to rambling sentences with no discernible link between the two and then I blush like a madwoman, which fuels the anxiety, which ups the word vomit..it's a wonderful cycle. 

Honestly, the only thing I've been able to use to cope with this is auto-pilot. I have to interact with people at work, so I just throw my brain into a series of preprogramed responses. It means I end up asking a lot of people "How's your day been?" two or three times, but it's better than nonsensical commentary I suppose.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

It happened to me yesterday - even after all these years of overcoming it, it can still happen. :stu


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## JamesM2 (Aug 29, 2012)

Sometimes I end up blurting out things just to fill a silence, and my brain is screaming at me to "hurry up and just say *something* - anything at all!".

I also sometimes end up trying to say two things at once, as though my brain decides to say one thing but then at the very last moment sends a memo that the previous sentence has been canceled and is now to be replaced by another one, but the memo doesn't quite get there fast enough to entirely stop the first sentence from beginning. For example, at the KFC drive thru the other week when being handed my order, I went to say "thanks", and then I decided on "cool" (yeah, I really don't know why), and it came out as "thool"... at which point the guy closed the drive thru window. Thool. :blank


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## Heart of Glass 14 (Nov 24, 2012)

Haha. happens so many times with me I lost count.


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## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

The first day for a class last year we were paired up and had to tell the class about our partner. When it came to my turn, I said his name was "Tyrogue".

People kind of laughed and I thought it was just because I got his name wrong, until much later I realized that "Tyrogue" is a Pokemon.


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