Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Misunderstandings That Resulted In These 50 Hilarious Fails
I remember sitting going to a restaurant once with a group of friends. We’d been placed under a speaker that was blaring music, and making it quite difficult to have any sort of conversation. When the waiter arrived, I ordered my meal, and a Coca-Cola. “And could you turn that softer, please?” I asked, as I pointed to the speaker above my head. I noted his slight look of confusion as he wrote down the order, turned and walked towards the kitchen. Moments later, he was back. “Excuse me, Mam," he said. "I’m just not sure I understand how we turn the coke softer.” Needless to say, everyone at the table burst out laughing as I clarified it was the music that needed to be turned softer, the Coke was fine as is.
With more than 8 billion people in the world, and thousands of different languages and accents, there are bound to be more than a few misunderstandings between us. Some miscommunications can have dire consequences and lead to mass chaos. Others are just plain hilarious. People have been sharing the funniest times someone totally misunderstood the words, picture or assignment.
Bored Panda has picked our favorites and compiled list for your viewing pleasure. From a purse being mistaken for a dog, to some more than mildly embarrassing words being engraved on a tombstone, there's enough here to have you rolling on the floor with laughter.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Does He Know How Expensive Avocados Are?! Why Would He Complain About Free Ones?
RELATED:
#2
We've Been Trying To Teach Him To Drop Toys In The Bucket Before He Goes Outside. He Clearly Misunderstood
#3
Really Thinking Outside Of The Box
#4
I Went To The Room Exactly Beneath The Correct One, Which Happens To Look Identical In Every Way
#5
This Cake Deserves Two Nobel Prizes In Different Fields
E Menendez 1 year ago
This is better. I would like to know the people that misunderstood as most people wouldn't. Lol.
#6
My Favourite Store, Louie’s
#7
So I Came Out The House At 5 This Morning And I Saw This Bloke Leaning On A Wall With A Walking Stick I Thought He Must Be Out Of Breath. Just Went Back Out And He's Still There I Shouted Mate You Alright? No Reply, So I Walked Over To Check On Him And Its A Trampoline Net Hanging Over The Wall
#8
Was At My Kid’s School For A Costume Parade. One Dad Misunderstood In The Best Way Possible
MalayDragon 1 year ago
He 100% knew what he was doing I'd say. especially if his child went as a Ghostbuster.
#9
Fully Accepted And Welcomed
#10
As A Fellow Speech Impediment For R’s As Well I Feel So Bad For This Kid. His Parents Gave Him The Worst Name Without Realizing It
Hellcaste's Wife 1 year ago
I knew a kid whose name was Titchen Alekadew. Christian Alexander. LOL It was adorable to hear him introduce himself!
#11
Assuming This Is A Community College Course
E Menendez 1 year ago
I would forgive them. They seem reasonable as they did admit their mistake and apologized.
#12
I Believe That's Meant To Be The Date
#13
More Alarming To Me Is The 127 Unread Texts
#14
Your Address, Mark
Cerise Hood 1 year ago
I know this was meant to be a fun exercise, but this seems like a trick to get people to answer standard security questions.
#15
That Took A Minute But I Got It
setsuriseikou 1 year ago
*in my ESL teacher voice* And this, kids, is why we need to expand our vocabulary and learn synonyms
#16
Mommy Misunderstood The Assignment
#17
Hahahahaha I Love This
#18
In Fairness, That's A Pretty Adorable Sleeping Purse
#19
Dad Made The Classic Mistake Of Buying Something On Amazon Without Checking It's Size. We Now Have Two 10 Foot Lamps
E Menendez 1 year ago
This is the first time I have seen something come too large. Usually it is much smaller than depicted.
#20
A Goose Family Calmly Hanging Out With The Scary Wolf Statue That's Supposed To Deter Them From Doing Just That
#21
Our Theme Was 'Grease'.... I May Have Misunderstood
#22
I Wish This Was Fake. Meet Jenn
#23
Best Thing I've Seen All Day
#24
Something I Would Do
#25
I Just Found Out This Isn’t Me... My Parents Never Took Out The Stock Photo And It’s Been There For Like Ten Years
#27
Lots Of Luck In International Travel After That One
#28
Potluck Misunderstandings
#29
Imagine Being In Line At Starbucks Glancing Up To Misunderstand What Was Taking Place. 🤦🏽♂️ My First Initial Thought On God Was… “Put It In Reverse Terry. Put It In Reverse.” 😂
#30
Someone Misunderstood The Sign At Starbucks Today
#31
My Sister Asked For A Nintendo Switch For Xmas... Her Boyfriend Must Have Misunderstood
#32
Supposed To Say "Our Little Jedi"
So had a cake made and she asked what I wanted put on it & I said "Happy Birthday to my little JEDI" (Star Wars reference). She clearly misunderstood me. I thought it was so funny I kept it like it was instead of having her fix it. My friend whose birthday it was (he is 45 years old) thought it was hilarious.
#33
The Time This Boyfriend Made It Apparent He Had One Thing On His Mind
#34
I Loved This For Him, Not So Much For Myself
#35
My Friend's GF's Dad Sent Them An Xxxxl Cutting Board For Their Housewarming By Mistake
#36
Uh, It Was Supposed To Say "Happy Bastille Day"
#37
These Are Supposed To Be Pillsbury Croissants But I Didn’t Know That I Had To Physically Shape Them Croissants Before Putting Them In The Oven
I thought they’d magically be croissants when I took them out. So now I have bread shaped like right triangles.
Lee Gilliland 1 year ago
My dad did that for Thanksgiving one year, my mom was furious. We just laughed.
#38
He Said He Wanted It Blank So Let's Write Down What He Told Us!
Richard Iachetta 1 year ago
Just another person who was pushed through the education system rather than make them repeat grades until they got it right. Of course that assumes there are competent teachers in the system
#39
This Made Me Laugh
#40
My Mom And Dad Stayed In A Hotel Last Night. My Mom Didn't Understand How The Microwave Was Supposed To Work
#41
Same! I Have To Wear A Suit Because I Was Too Anxious For A First Timer. Meanwhile, My Seatmate Was Wearing Casual Pants And Shirt
#42
I Think There Was A Bit Of A Misunderstanding Here
#43
I Got A Coconut Shake From A Local Burger Joint And Thought It Tasted Weird. I Looked At The Label Before I Threw It Away And Learned That There Was A Big Miscommunication In The Drive-Thru
#44
Best Wishes Suzanne. And Underneath That, We Will Miss You
#45
Guess Who Thought The Soy Sauce Was Syrup This Morning :/
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
Not sure why, but my Mom once put Hersheys syrup in a butter bowl, I got me some vanilla ice cream poured the syrup over it. Only to find out she also had some homemade BBQ sauce in another butter bowl..0 out of 5.. would not recommend.
#46
I Once Saw Someone Order An Omelette With Muenster And They Got Scrambled Eggs Mixed With Mustard
#47
Should I Tell My Mom She's Supposed To Take The iPad Out Of The Box?
#48
I Spelt Out My Name (Jeremy) 4 Times For The Girl At Carvel And She Still Managed To Spell It Wrong
#49
Think They May Have Misunderstood The Point Of This Space
#50
Best Of Craigslist Gem: "Whether It Was A Misunderstanding Or What, The Stone Wall Was Not Included In The Free Items Offered Up On Craigslist. Please Bring Back The Stones And The Pillars, As These Belong To Our Landlord, And The Wall Was Of Sentimental Value."
#51
I Made A Mistake And Bought The Wrong Gas Lift For My Chair
Scott Rackley 1 year ago
Ordered the stool one. Coincidentally, removing one of those is one of the most difficult things I've done in a while.
#52
Brown Eye Points
#53
My Fiance Tried To Have Our Groceries Delivered Today. She Said She Wanted Five Bananas And Somehow The Woman Misunderstood And Bought Thirteen Pounds Of Bananas
#54
Yesterday, I Asked My Coworker To Send Me A Description Of The Investors I’ll Be Meeting Today. This Is What He Sent Me
#56
I Think He May Have Misunderstood The Mask Requirements
#58
My Wife’s Thirtieth Birthday Cake Confusion
#59
Misunderstood My Last Amazon Purchase
#60
Really Tickled Me How She's Put It Uni Front Of Her Desk
#61
My Mom Thought She'd Ordered A Carton Of Cigarettes Online
#62
Every Holiday I Get A Card From My Boyfriend's Nan. It's Supposed To Say ' To Jaz '... But I Feel Insulted
#63
Super Defensive
#64
I Think They Misunderstood The Sign
#65
Oh What A Misunderstanding. English Is Her Second Language
Geoffrey Scott 1 year ago
Danish exchange student when asked if she wanted "soup or salad" in a restaurant in Michigan( we talk kinda fast) "I don't know, how big is it?" Love ya Camilla!
#66
When I Was A Freshman, During Homecoming, We Had A Black And Blue Day. I Misunderstood The Assignment. The Opposing Team Had Black And Blue Colors
#67
I Put My Merino Wool Sweater I Took Few Weeks To Make In The Washing Machine By A Mistake. Well, This Sucks
#68
That's Some Strong Straw You Got There
#69
Peer Pressure
#70
There Should Be Laws Against This
#71
Who Needs Doorknobs?
#72
How Did Google Misunderstand This?
#73
My Alexa Misunderstood Adding "Shrinky Dinks" To My Shopping List
#74
My Dad (Trying His Best) Cooking Soup Made Me Laugh Quite A Bit. He Misunderstood My Mom's Instructions Over The Phone While She's Out Of Town
#75
That's One Way To Try To Find A Partner, Wonder How Many "Wrong Numbers" She's Texted
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
A girl 1 year ago
I'm 13, newly 'a woman'. I'm headed to the store with my mom and I mentioned that I needed Stayfree (pads) and she replied "Can't you just use Right Guard(antiperspirant)?". Um, no
Bonnie 1 year ago
I was 14 and told my dad I needed pads from the store. He came back with 3 pads of writing paper
Load More Replies...
Marnie 1 year ago
I sent a coworker some details so he could set up a load test against an application. He was to set up several different requests, all requiring a password. I listed each app, various details, including the password. Password was the same for all, so I wrote it once, then wrote "Ditto" for all the rest (so he would be sure he could copy just once and paste multiple times). Well, most of the requests failed and I kept double-checking that I'd given him the right password. Finally we figure out he'd set the passwords to the word "Ditto". I do take partial blame for it, but I mean, come on!
Warren Peece 1 year ago
I can understand this one being a problem. It has been at least ten years since I have heard the word "ditto".
Load More Replies...
Annabel Again 1 year ago
This article lacked cool hilarity too much very recycled material sorry
A girl 1 year ago
I'm 13, newly 'a woman'. I'm headed to the store with my mom and I mentioned that I needed Stayfree (pads) and she replied "Can't you just use Right Guard(antiperspirant)?". Um, no
Bonnie 1 year ago
I was 14 and told my dad I needed pads from the store. He came back with 3 pads of writing paper
Load More Replies... Marnie 1 year ago
I sent a coworker some details so he could set up a load test against an application. He was to set up several different requests, all requiring a password. I listed each app, various details, including the password. Password was the same for all, so I wrote it once, then wrote "Ditto" for all the rest (so he would be sure he could copy just once and paste multiple times). Well, most of the requests failed and I kept double-checking that I'd given him the right password. Finally we figure out he'd set the passwords to the word "Ditto". I do take partial blame for it, but I mean, come on!
Warren Peece 1 year ago
I can understand this one being a problem. It has been at least ten years since I have heard the word "ditto".
Load More Replies... Annabel Again 1 year ago
This article lacked cool hilarity too much very recycled material sorry
Related on Bored Panda
