Literal thinking

I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about things that you’ve only just learnt or realised that everyone else seems to just know, the typical - “I was today years old when I realised…”. Made me think of some things that I didn’t register about straight away, and now wonder whether this is part of my autistic way of thinking about things, that I just thought about things literally. Some examples… 

On for sale sites when people put something about collections, I always thought they meant that the person that bought the item had to be a collector to purchase it, as in a stamp collector or a coin collector, like it was their hobby. Not that they had to physically be able to go and collect it from the person selling. 

In the song ‘one man went to mow, went to mow-a-meadow’ I always assumed there was a place called mow-a-meadow. I didn’t realise he was going to a meadow to mow/cut the grass.

when people put ‘Tia’ at the bottom of a post I thought it was that their name was Tia and it always amused me how many people shared the same name. It was only recently that I realised it was ‘thanks in advance’ 

Has anyone else got any examples of things like this? Do other people do it? Is it an autistic literal thinking thing or am I just stupid? :) 

  • What your nearly 98? 
    congrats to you. I hope I can make it to that age

  • Trust me - I'm almost double your age and still dont get it!

  • Yes for sure. 27 years this June and I’m still not getting it. Joy

  • How hungry are you? My Mum used to ask   " Do you feel like a giant refreshed, or a frog who snapped at a fly and missed it?" Weird.

  • I think that even NT guys can struggle with interpreting what their wife says!
    Apologies for any offence caused to female members - it's a bloke joke thing  Grinning

  • It’s not so much the riddles that get me, it’s when someone can say something to me and then I will go ask another person expecting the answer. Then I get laughed at for taking it literally and asking someone what they asked me. For example my wife a while ago told me she thought I may be autistic because of many traits. I phoned my son’s therapist that day to ask her thoughts, she said most probably. When I spoke to my wife about it and what I had done she was so embarrassed and cross with me. I didn’t understand what I had done that was so wrong. Apparently if something is said in a certain way you are not to act on it?? Why not just say afterwards “please do not mention this to anyone else” 

  • given 'holiday in lieu'.

    I used to think that Lieu was a extra bank holiday 

    Brilliant

  • I remember a couple of years back, I was visiting my mum and she asked me to pick something up but I wasn’t sure what she meant. She told me where to look and as I got a bit closer she said “you’re getting hotter” and for a moment I was really confused. 

  • Could be. I just learned that Tia means thanks in advance also. Lol 

  • At the risk of lowering the tone, I feel it pays not to take certain measurements too literally. Wink

    I'll not elaborate for fear of being booted off, but in my defence I'm feeling in a slightly silly mood.

  • The music artist "will. i. am.". I didn't realise until about 15 years after first hearing his name that it was a pun on "William". I first realised when somebody wrote it wrong.

    Similar for the music artist Flo Rida (pronounced Flow Rider). I didn't realise until I was walking past a sign with bad kerning for "Florida Fried Chicken" that it was a pun.

    I have loads of these, because I have a very black and white way of thinking and don't notice when there are multiple interpretations of a word. It doesn't occur to me to check for an alternative meaning, I just take everything literally.

  • Yes lol XD 

  • Yes!!! So true.

    Just like - I'll only be a minute.

  • Just two seconds,  a saying that must NEVER be taken literally.

  • Can 100% relate, can everyone pleasestop speaking in riddles and actually say what they mean haha!

  • Soo weird! 
    Surely it would be I’m so hungry I could eat a cow for instance, at least then it’s something that’s edible! It makes absolutely no sense! Haha 

  • It's so weird isn't it lol xD 

    I often wonder why people thought of stuff like that and how it became a normal saying for some people 

  • Also I don’t understand how you’re meant to know how hungry you are until you start eating and then feel full??  Do people actually expect a proper answer from that question? How do you quantify hunger?! :) 

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