There are times when words hurt more than actions do. Especially so if they come from the mouth of someone you thought you were close with. Bonus points if the addressee doesn't quite * get * why their words were hurtful. Mix these three things—hurtful words coming from your loved one without them being aware of being an a-hole—and you get the perfect combination to mess with someone's self-esteem.
When one young woman asked people on Twitter "what are things a guy has said to you that he has no idea severely hurt your feelings?" dozens of people delivered. While we're not saying that only guys say offensive things, this list is precisely about that—30 people sharing the times that a man has hurt their feelings without being aware of it. So scroll down to see the full list and tell us in the comments below whether * you * have ever been offended by a guy who thought he was just being honest!

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I so rarely hear the term gobshite... uncommon in the US, but I'm going to adopt it now.
Load More Replies...Well this guy didn't give a s**t abt his gf. He's not worth giving a s**t about himself
It's not that I don't want to find your thingy big enough but I have been conditioned by the media and it really looks tiny...
A*****e comment. Be grateful he showed you who he is before you wasted any time on him.
wow, that doesn't sound ignorant at all ... please read that with the heaviest level of sarcasm you can muster. thank you that is all.
You must be new here. Posts are outrage central 'round these here parts.
Load More Replies...Seriously, it's not like someone becomes an A-hole overnight. Don't give your time to bad people and you won't have to deal with this. If all you care about is looks and you're not interested in someone for who they are, don't be surprised when they say or do terrible things.
Women have a hard enough time with being a Survivor of mistreatment so us men do not need to add more to them!!!
Me, too. Not so much these days, but it's still an issue.
Load More Replies...That is sad, that his cruel statement has made you self conscious. I know I talk a ton when I am into someone and that would have shaken me too.
I dated a guy who had been told something like that. Poor guy would apologize after totally normal behaviors. I tried so hard to reverse it by telling him I liked that behavior.
Such things get to your head for a long time... My ex (also around 10 years ago) once told me I "smile too widely" and "he can see all my teeth" and "I should practice smile"... I still think about it sometimes.
He may have been right or not. But if you're still obsessing over something someone said, in passing, 10 years ago, that shows that you still need to grow into your self confidence, your realization that the opinion of others doesn't have to be the barometer of your value. I also used to fixate on insults from my high school days or from years and years ago, as I get toward my late 30s I'm trying to emotionally see, with some success, just how insignificant all of that is.
That's horrible. I love to talk. Im married and love a women who has a lot to say. If people are quiet that's fine, but you don't have live in world where you have to change yourself for a lame guy. I'm sure there's a nice quiet girl out there for him somewhere...
Oh boy... I think that must've happened to me, too, because I always feel I talk to much or too little and it's like, what am I supposed to do?? Can I not just??? Be myself??????
I feel that. I look like the trash I am :,)
Load More Replies..."Good thing you're cute because you don't have much of a personality." -me, to this guy, in my head, weeks later...
I feel we share the same ability with high velocity sarcastic answer ;p
Load More Replies...O M G I hope you said " it's a good thing you have a d**k, because there isn't much else to like about your body"
I know plenty of girls (nonetheless guys ༼ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° ༽) who are not cute but definitely good-looking... but one must learn to talk more nicely
"Baby, talking to you is like taking out the trash. Or cutting the grass. Or cleaning my dirty plates."
Hahaha! That is actually a good one! Poor guy! Engage the brain before putting the mouth into gear!
That's just funny - and he said it to get some peace to be with her. I wouldn't be offended at that.
Oh my god, I wish it could be easily solved by saying "no that's not what I meant". But this is unsolvable!
Start saving and showing him photos of super hot men who also look as unlike him as possible.
I don't understand this b******t. How about you strive to look like yourself
If he'd only stopped at the first half of that, he might've come off sweet
I would've said that AND "You sounded like a toddler when you said that!"
Load More Replies..."Fool! If you cannot comprehend my grasp of the modern English language, then our time together has proven to be fruitless, worthless, and as rapturously joyous as a hole bored into my cranium. Now be gone from my sight, lest you desire to suffer my wrath a second time, you insufferable cur."
Say: "Evidently, I am the superior in this relationship when it comes to intelligence." Then gift him a dictionary for his birthday just to rub more salt in that wound.
I LOVE THIS ONE! I do that to my big, use big words he doesn't understand and it makes him feel dumb. This gives me so much comfort
THIS HAPPENED TO ME. Only, I told him I was falling in love with him and he said, I got caught in the garden with my best friend's wife so I'm moving to Canada to live with my brother. ................ I said, So that's why she wasn't very friendly to me. And, you could have told me you were taken and we could have been just friends. He went to Canada and I dated him again, twice, later, and finally gave him the boot when I went to his place and his ex-best friend's ex-wife was there... Took me a while but I got there.
That sounds a little staged. Like he's still making digs at the ex.
He def. should have kept that to himself, it would've been well justified dishonesty.
1- Why said that to your ex month after your breakup ? Makes no sense to me 2- Good thing you broke up, you were'nt made for one another 3- I don't see how this was offending
They were still dating, she told him after months of dating, the moment she fell in love and his response was 'That was the day I was going to break up with you'. It wasn't after they broke up, she broke up because of it. Now do you get it.
Load More Replies...Soo, don't hang me for this, but does that mean that on the day he was probably the coldest and most uninterested in her, and maybe even a little annoyed by her, she fell in love with him? I'm just asking, every conclusion you draw is yours.
I hope you burned the bridge that was between you. Along with the rest of his stuff.
Does this moron know what boobs are made from? i love boobs and all my wife's "bits and pieces that come with it.
So he's never seen a real female then before? Not in art? Probably just in porn 😕
He acts like he's doing her a favor or something, like, dude, not cool
we dont know if they agreed to talk on the topic, or the girl in question asked for his opinion
Load More Replies...? Ok ladies, the correct response to this is, "Go f**k yourself, loser."
Preach!!!!!! If you don't respect yourself, no one else will either!
Load More Replies...Don't let men treat you like that. He honestly isn't worth your time.
My response would have been "Why are you talking to me as if you think I like you?"
Ish what a disgusting piece of garbage. I hope that little boy has grown up into a decent human.
what I see is basically "you can be the prettiest girl in the world to others but if you wear makeup - you are not pretty to me". That's not very nice to hear if you like that person but if you are really attractive and that ONE is good for you, not wearing makeup is very little sacrifice. (To me, it's very similar to "I don't like you because you look not to my likes". I am against that "everyone is beautiful" b******t - I have my own tastes and lots of so-called models and celebrities are way from pretty to me - not bad but I am not into it.) ¯_(ツ)_/¯
My best friend's father, to whom he was extremely close, had brain cancer and died. Two weeks later, my best friend's (now ex, thank god) wife, knowing he also had pre-existing severe mental health trouble, which was exacerbated by this event, said "Eugh, what's your problem, just get over it!" When they split up, she took both dogs and gave his away. There are no words to describe how intense my hatred is for her.
Every time you find her car, slash her tires. Or put sugar in her gas tank.
Load More Replies...What a monster. My bf said he might have a sad day sometimes, so I told him I'd send memes or let him sit alone for a while if he needs it.
Oh, yes. Being told you're hard to be around because you're sad/depressed/anxious but not given any support or tools to help is so useful.
Relationships are another kind of performance in a world full of them.
I mean, I guess it's all opinion, but in my view unless you've got vampire problems, there is definitely such a thing as too much garlic.
Load More Replies...That happened to a chef friend of mine. She made him a pasta dish from scratch, I think she had to buy a special attachment for her pasta machine for the style of pasta, and his reaction was "Why couldn't you just make a box of mac and cheese?"
My husband does this. He thinks I want his input. I. Do. Not.
Had a GF once who commented that I treated garlic "like a vegetable". which was OK. She was Italian and loved to cook with it!
first of all there's no such thing as 'too much garlic' second, not minimal at all what an idiot
ProTip: When you think the food is bad. Appreciate it, then lovingly feed it to her as well. She would now know how it is and will point out the faults herself.
*shakes tiny spit-take fist* Ok, gotta get the coffee out of my sofa now!
Load More Replies...Say - shame, it was self-raising and I would have made you a cake.
Oh I had a variant of this :)) Guy literally asked me what I liked, replied, then gave me the above response. :)) I didn't even know how to react.
Sounds like gaslighting. I'd stay far away from this sort of person.
Load More Replies...Dump immediately. I do not like cut flowers bur putting it that way, No.
Once had a guy buy me perfume for my birthday. He looked at me after seeing how happy I was and said" Yea don't expect it again cause I don't have anymore girt certificates left over from Christmas" I was so turned off. Not that he used his Christams gift to buy me a b-day gift but that he took my excitement as some sort of greedy I want more gesture. I ended up giving the perfume to my Mother and never went out with him again.
Gave an ex a rose from my garden..."What the f**k am I supposed to do with this?"
it doesn't. It's blaming both women for his actions.
Load More Replies...If you're kissing women because they're shaped like a butternut squash, you have a weird fetish. More importantly, cheating of any kind is wrong. Even if you are a thirsty-a*s b***h who likes gourd-shaped women.
Translation: "I'm so weak, that I have no control over my actions... poor me... I'm such a weak man".
I have a feeling the only thing he will be kissing from now on are actual butternut squashes
Guy, you keep misinterpreting these stories. Are you really that dense or are you trolling?
I initially thought she was a medical professional as well. I'm autistic and take/read things at face value and the way this was worded caused me to read it as such. Now I know she was the patient, she was right, she should've dumped him right then and there!
Load More Replies...Did he actually know that she was going to an in-patient suicide watch? I'd like to hear his side of the story.
Depending on what you actually told him in your text, as to who was being a dickwad.
It says inpatient. Was just split into two words instead of one
Load More Replies...She should have said,"I don't know if I like you or just have low standards."
I hope that was the absolute last contact you had with that jerk.
He’s probably boring himself, and certainly not a keeper, but I like his honesty. It’s “honorable.” 👍
I won't name any names here but someone in the comments is being very quick to judge this girl. To that person: I don't know if she was being annoying. Neither do you. All we can see from this exchange is some shitbag putting her down by DICTATING TO HER how SHE feels, and using some poorly fabricated philosophy to justify his lack of feeling for her. And then expecting her to apologize for it. Maybe you'd like to date someone like this, but you can't blame anyone else if they don't.
He's blaming her for everything and try to put her down on purpose. 100% a narcissist. Run.
oh, I see, he is playing dr. House. Dr House's credo was "annoying b***h"
one of my friends is like this... he is infuriating and kept trying to get me to date him for a while... luckily he found someone else and leaves me alone for the most part
Point to his penis and say "you're a large? really? are you... sure?"
I asked the same to my ex, she had DD boobs and stupid me thought she couldnt fit them in
In case you are serious they mean in clothing - wears size 'small'.
Load More Replies...A friend of mine when we were growing up once told me her boyfriend said why do you wear a bra, its not like you have anything to put in it. She replied you wear pants dont you? Boom haha. (Pants here mean underwear)
maybe he got teased by his work colleges and he felt embarrassed? there are always two sides to a story.
While a possibility an explanation would be in order, and preferably face to face. To me it reads more like the bf is dismissive or annoyed by it.
Load More Replies...This seems like an obvious case of one person being over the relationship while the other wasn't.
Maybe it was in the vein of "you should not have troubled yourself for me".
Would your rather him lie? Either embrace your own pudginess, or be with someone who likes chubby girls.
What's wrong with both? Having a scholar for a girlfriend would be awesome. Sitting by the fire, drinking cognac, discussing why Freud made everything about Penis Envy, and how much acid Piet Mondrian must have dropped when he started with his grid-based paintings.
TropicalPanda, uh no. She never said she was offended about being called a scholar. She is clearly offended that he doesn't value her intelligence and he thinks gf's should be "dumber" basically.
Hmmm . . . justifying that being dumb is better than being smart. Please tell me this warning signal was not ignored . . .
He's bitter because you're smarter than he can ever hope to be. Find a grownup.
Essentially, "I don't like women who evince any manner of intelligence." What a moron.
He noticed, and said nothing until YOU brought up the subject. I see respect here (I don't have full context though)
You don't talk about how you noticed something when you KNOW that person is insecure about it! No context needed. Maybe learn what the word "insecure" means.
Load More Replies...Did he mean he noticed the hair on your arms, or did he mean he noticed your insecurity about it?
YOU are the one that brought up hairy arms!!! What did you expect? For him to say how lovely they look? Maybe for a Sasquatch!
You deserve it. Why would you ever tell anyone that you are insecure about hairy arms? There's stuff you keep to yourself, and this one's on you.
Is that a thing btw, women who remove their arm hair? Just curious. It's not a thing here as far as I know bt I feel like I've seen beauty products for that. Like lightening creams etc And yes, what a jerk.
A friend of mine does - she has very strong, dark hair and so uses an epilator on her arms. She told me about it once and then denied she did it several years later. 🤷♀️
Load More Replies...That guy was one of those things that women are getting unsolicited pics of.
It's always nice when your lover praises other women for attributes you lack. NOT.
I was watching tv with a boyfriend and there was an attractive actress that he just went on and on about. about how she was his ideal woman, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen with her black hair and blue eyes (I'm a brown-eyed blonde) and etc. then he turned to me and asked if he was upsetting me. I said 'if you think you can get HER, go for it.
You could have replied " Well, see if she's available" and walked away!
Would not let it bother me. My husband and I are the exact opposites of each other's "type." There is a lot more to a relationship than looks, though we both find each other very attractive. We have been together 30 years. It sounds like an off the cuff comment, not literal. I mean, would Selena really want him? Unrealistic.
Maybe he finds you attractive still but fell in love with your personality too?
Oh, yes, I've had moments where I wanted to cut out my tongue and do some self-trepanning to get rid of the part of my brain that prompts this kind of horrific s**t.
You don't have to blame yourself for not feeling ready to receive presents or goodness. Some people are just wired and groomed to be antisocial. It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself about it.
This is why it's important to know people's "love languages." He may not be ok with telling you you're pretty but if he's expressing his love for you in other ways (being faithful, telling the truth kindly, buying you treats, doing chores, etc.) then he may still love you very, very much. But people can learn to express themselves in new ways when they need to, or if they want to.
If she needs to be told she is pretty to the point she ends up telling him, then his actions don't speak loud enough... or not at all.
Load More Replies...True,my husband doesnt either because of his upbringing.Its quite painful but I appreciate he is open minded and says it now even when I am dressed anyhow.lolz
You can't force ppl to told you that you are pretty if this is not what they think. At least he was honnest, not a lier or an hypocrite
Your girlfriend isn't someone you should be parenting like that. Creep.
Load More Replies...Oh saaaaaaaaame. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now" and then a week later he introduced me to his new girlfriend. Still, they're still together 20 years later so well done them.
Sound like what about half the girls I went to HS with said/did to me ...
Count yourself lucky. A relationship after hearing this would only have been HORRIBLE.
"She may very well pass for 43 in the dusk with a light behind her" -- W.H. Gilbert, "Trial by Jury".
Load More Replies...No that's a totally backhanded compliment. Maybe he had hurt feelings about her not messaging him. It's better just to say that he was wondering if they were gna go out again, not starts silly head games
Load More Replies...Most of these "accidental" ones are honestly just toxic relationships.
What's the point of this? It's just a collection of guys saying hurtfull or insulting things. I'm sure if I'd asked on Twitter "Guys, what's the meanest thing a woman ever said or done to you? "' I'd get a similar collection of women doing or saying hurtfull or insulting things. This is just another bashing of men because "Men BAD!!!" SMH.
Yeah. I don't understand why it wasn't just asking about anyone accidentally hurting feelings. Why single out guys? I see a few guys responded anyway with their stories, which made me happy.
Load More Replies...I know I offend my husband on occasion by accident, but the stuff that comes out of his mouth on a weekly basis by 'accident'? Omg
Load More Replies...Guys and girls, if your relationship doesn't make you feel good about yourselves, or it's not in your dating partner's personality to ever encourage you or compliment you in any way, but they have no problem being critical of something about you, then it's a good indication that you are not in a good relationship. While I realize there are many reasons that people choose to stay in these relationships, you are much better off without people that don't make you feel good about yourselves. It's also important to say that it's no one else's duty to make someone else feel good, but if you're in a good relationship, it will happen naturally. I do know how it feels to think you can't be without these people, but you absolutely can. Sometimes you will be so much better and happier for it also. Take time to love yourself and treat yourself and most of all be kind to yourself! If someone else isn't doing that very basic of all things in a relationship, being kind, then that's absolutely not a relationship for you. This applies to men or women either one, you both deserve to be happy in your relationships. Enjoy life and be kind to those who are kind to you.
The very first one that apparently started this idea is ridiculous. If someone I'm dating texts me to say that some other guy told them they had gorgeous eyes I wouldn't know what to say first and second I certainly wouldn't agree. I'd probably be preparing for being dumped. That's not something you should share with the person you're dating.
Soooo, I wrote an instrumental piece for my bf... he liked it very much.So I asked him "Did you notice how it sounds unlike anything I play in general?" And he goes: "Yeah, this one is very good". I got a good chuckle out of it, he was mortified once he realised how that sounded.
The new CMO at our company, who is a branding and marketing superstar, after working with me for a few weeks, asked me to join his team as head of brand. My background is in translation and technical communication, but I had been dabbling a lot in writing copy and coming up with messaging while our marketing department got up to speed. This represented a major promotion and (for me) an exciting career change. My husband's reaction? "But you don't know anything about Marketing!" It only occurred to him months later that this was probably something we should celebrate.
Idk why this gets downvoted, yes that's a thoughtless thing to say, but I do hope that you did or will acknowledge to him that you were hoping to celebrate the occasion and would have love to have support and encouragement going forward. If you focus on what you hope for and need instead of being accusatory, as much as we all feel like we need to sometimes, it will usually take the pressure off the other person and hopefully they will receive your message better.
Load More Replies...I know I'm not great, but at least reading these makes me understand that there are a lot worse people than me.
"The trouble with you is you're a rusty VW beetle at a car show, you need to stop hanging around with attractive women because you can never compete with them". Thanks bro.
Most of these "accidental" ones are honestly just toxic relationships.
What's the point of this? It's just a collection of guys saying hurtfull or insulting things. I'm sure if I'd asked on Twitter "Guys, what's the meanest thing a woman ever said or done to you? "' I'd get a similar collection of women doing or saying hurtfull or insulting things. This is just another bashing of men because "Men BAD!!!" SMH.
Yeah. I don't understand why it wasn't just asking about anyone accidentally hurting feelings. Why single out guys? I see a few guys responded anyway with their stories, which made me happy.
Load More Replies...I know I offend my husband on occasion by accident, but the stuff that comes out of his mouth on a weekly basis by 'accident'? Omg
Load More Replies...Guys and girls, if your relationship doesn't make you feel good about yourselves, or it's not in your dating partner's personality to ever encourage you or compliment you in any way, but they have no problem being critical of something about you, then it's a good indication that you are not in a good relationship. While I realize there are many reasons that people choose to stay in these relationships, you are much better off without people that don't make you feel good about yourselves. It's also important to say that it's no one else's duty to make someone else feel good, but if you're in a good relationship, it will happen naturally. I do know how it feels to think you can't be without these people, but you absolutely can. Sometimes you will be so much better and happier for it also. Take time to love yourself and treat yourself and most of all be kind to yourself! If someone else isn't doing that very basic of all things in a relationship, being kind, then that's absolutely not a relationship for you. This applies to men or women either one, you both deserve to be happy in your relationships. Enjoy life and be kind to those who are kind to you.
The very first one that apparently started this idea is ridiculous. If someone I'm dating texts me to say that some other guy told them they had gorgeous eyes I wouldn't know what to say first and second I certainly wouldn't agree. I'd probably be preparing for being dumped. That's not something you should share with the person you're dating.
Soooo, I wrote an instrumental piece for my bf... he liked it very much.So I asked him "Did you notice how it sounds unlike anything I play in general?" And he goes: "Yeah, this one is very good". I got a good chuckle out of it, he was mortified once he realised how that sounded.
The new CMO at our company, who is a branding and marketing superstar, after working with me for a few weeks, asked me to join his team as head of brand. My background is in translation and technical communication, but I had been dabbling a lot in writing copy and coming up with messaging while our marketing department got up to speed. This represented a major promotion and (for me) an exciting career change. My husband's reaction? "But you don't know anything about Marketing!" It only occurred to him months later that this was probably something we should celebrate.
Idk why this gets downvoted, yes that's a thoughtless thing to say, but I do hope that you did or will acknowledge to him that you were hoping to celebrate the occasion and would have love to have support and encouragement going forward. If you focus on what you hope for and need instead of being accusatory, as much as we all feel like we need to sometimes, it will usually take the pressure off the other person and hopefully they will receive your message better.
Load More Replies...I know I'm not great, but at least reading these makes me understand that there are a lot worse people than me.
"The trouble with you is you're a rusty VW beetle at a car show, you need to stop hanging around with attractive women because you can never compete with them". Thanks bro.
