We’ve all probably had a brain fart or two in our lives. A momentary lapse where we said something that made us think later: “Wait, that was really dumb…” In the moment, these utterances can feel like the most awkward thing that has ever happened to you. Later, you can probably laugh about it with friends in good humor.
But are all dumb things we say brain farts? Maybe sometimes people really are so oblivious and ignorant that the funniest things come out of their mouths. In this Quora thread, when one person asked, “What are some dumb questions you have been asked?”, folks shared the silliest things they ever heard people say.
Do you have any embarrassing brain farts you can share with us, Pandas? If so, let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to upvote your favorite dumb entries below!
#1
Once, at my shop, I stood with my register open, counting a fistful of 50-dollar notes in my hand, when a woman came up and asked me if I worked there. I looked at her, then at the money, then at the open cash drawer, and said, ‘Nah, mate. I’m just robbing the till.’
Image source: Leigh L., Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#2
I was working in the emergency department when I received this call from a frantic mother: ‘My toddler just drank out of the dog’s water bowl! What should I do?’ I told her: ‘Give the dog some more water.’
Image source: Angela A, Tima Miroshnichenko/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#3
*On arrival at a new school*
Girl – So, where are you from?
Me – Nigeria
Girl – Where’s that?
Me – It’s a country in Africa
Girl – No, Africa is a country
Me – I’m sure it’s a continent
Girl – No, Nigeria must be a town in Africa
Another girl – He must be confused
Image source: Divine Anamekwe , Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#4
A true story from a forgotten backwater of Donegal:
“Hey, Graeme, are you coming to church on Sunday?”
“No, I’m an atheist.”
“It’s ok. Being a Protestant doesn’t matter. We’re very welcoming.”
“I’m not a Protestant, I’m an atheist.”
“Are you Jewish?”
“No, I’m not Jewish, I’m an atheist.”
“What do you mean?”
“An atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in gods.”
“No it isn’t.”
“It kinda is.”
“No you’re wrong there, you can be an atheist and believe in God.”
Me: stunned silence.
Image source: Graeme Shimmin, nappy/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#5
One of my aunts asked about what I do, so I told her that after completing my electronics engineering degree, I started working in a chip-designing company. After a pause, she asked: ‘What are your most popular flavors? Are the chips as good as Lay’s?’
Image source: Abhinav G, Jeferson santos/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#6
‘Do you have internet in Indonesia?’ — and it was asked by email
Image source: Andre O, Buro Millennial/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#7
My sister was adopted from Korea. She was only about 10 weeks old — an almost newborn infant — when she came home to us. Several people asked me at the time, ‘So does she speak Korean?’ or ‘Does she have an accent?’
Image source: Sonnet F, RDNE Stock project/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#8
How come chicken breasts don’t have nipples?
Image source: Vineet K., Brenda Timmermans/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#9
When I worked at Disney world one summer I was asked this question at least 10 times every day:”when is the 6 pm parade” I learned to smile and politely say,”6pm”
Image source: JoAnna Griffin, Craig Adderley/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#10
I got onto an elevator on the fifth floor, which already had people who had boarded on the sixth floor. I pressed the button for the third floor and observed that the button for the second floor was also pressed. As soon as the third floor came and I started to get out, a girl piped up, ‘Why, that’s so unfair. I got into the elevator before her! Shouldn’t I be dropped off first?’
Image source: Ritika G, cottonbro studio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#11
What is the correct spelling… Iran or Iraq?
Image source: Diane C, Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#12
I can remember being asked by a close friend at the time, “How can you be so nice when you don’t believe in God?”
Image source: Chloe Hunter , Maurício Mascaro/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
As an Australian traveling overseas, I’ve been asked: ‘Do you carry a stick everywhere you go to fight off the snakes?’ ‘Oh, you’re from Australia? Do you know my niece in New Zealand?’ and ‘How many miles is it from where you live to Sydney? No, not miles, liters. How many liters is it?’
And when someone I met in a foreign country found out I was Australian, she said, ‘Why don’t you sound like Hulk Hogan?’ I didn’t know how to react to this because I had no idea why she would think I would sound like The Hulkster. I was wracking my brain trying to work out what had connected me to the former World Heavyweight champion. Finally, I said, ‘Why do you think I should sound like Hulk Hogan?’ She said, ‘Because he’s such a famous Aussie.’ We then had a brief argument about the nationality of Hulk Hogan. You may have already made the connection, but it took me ages to realize she was talking about Paul Hogan, aka Crocodile Dundee
Image source: Dave S, Los Muertos Crew/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#14
Girl: OMG, are you a muslim?
Me: Yes
Girl: that’s cool, can you say something in muslim?
Image source: Emir Selman, Prince Photos/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#15
Getting into the elevator on the 6th floor of a 6 floor building….
Them: “Going down?”
Me: “No, I plan to shoot right out of the roof! Wanna join me?”
We both had a good laugh and it was said with a smile.
Image source: Ariel Williams , Kelly/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#16
A teacher, soon after I arrived in the US: ‘How long have you been here?’ Me: ‘A week.’ Teacher: ‘How did you learn English so fast?!’
Image source: Vinati S., Max Fischer/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#17
Can you get infected from the virus on your computer?
Image source: Salim U, Oladimeji Ajegbile/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#18
When I was a waitress at Buffalo Wild Wings, a woman once asked, ‘What part of the buffalo do the Buffalo wings come from?’
Image source: Charissa E., Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#19
After telling a friend I am a psychology major, she said, ‘Great. Can you tell me what I’m thinking right now?’
Image source: Amruta W, Roberto Nickson/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#20
Answering a call at my home:
Me: Hello?
Friend: Hey dude, where are you?
Me: At pizza hut, I took the landline with me….
Image source: Nirmal-Sabu, Zen Chung/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#21
Shopkeeper: ‘I will get you a 30% discount on this.’ My friend: ‘If I buy two, I will get it at 60% off, right?’
Image source: Anonymous, iMin Technology/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#22
My friend, upon seeing a Jaguar car: ‘So now PUMA has started manufacturing cars, too?’
Image source: Vinkateshwar J.,, Roman Pohorecki/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#23
While visiting Vietnam:
“Look, that’s the moon. Do you have it back in France?”
Image source: Alexandre Thiery, Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
#24
I wasn’t asked this but, I overheard this in a bus, in Vancouver.
Guy – I’ve been to India, twice!
Girl – That’s so cool. Where?
Guy – Tibet and Nepal.
Image source: Anupam Srivastava , Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#25
When I told a girl that I have a twin, she asked, ‘So, do you, like, have the same birthday?’
Image source: Venkat R, Yelena Odintsova/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#26
Do you have planes in your country? Nope I rowed from half way across the world.
Image source: Vinati Singh , SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#27
A lady in Japan: “Do Indians have a shower in their houses or do you bathe in the Ganges everyday?”
Image source: Suman Rao, RDNE Stock project/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#28
As I’m Greek, I’ve been asked, ‘So…do you believe in Greek gods like Zeus and stuff?’
Image source: Zoe, jimmy teoh/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#29
I had a student email me to ask how to convert years into centuries
Image source: Peter L., Taryn Elliott/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#30
This friend of mine said, ‘I don’t think I’d understand Fantastic 4. I haven’t seen Fantastic 1, 2, and 3.’
Image source: Vivek R, 20thcenturyfox (not the actual photo)
#31
I come from the southern hemisphere, so it is Summer in December.
I told this to my friend in the US, and he immediately asked, “Wow, so you guys celebrate Christmas in June”?
Image source: Anonymous
#32
Q: People in Asian countries are so damn skinny and there are so many obese people in America, so why doesn’t the Earth tilt towards the west because of all the extra weight in the west?
A: Silence.
Image source: Neha Sharma
#33
Idiot: Your name is “Roses?” Like the flowers?
Me: No, as in “Guns n’.”
Image source: Michelle Paul , Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#34
Being a Brit, while working in a Theme park in Ohio one summer:
Asked genuinely…
– Do you have traffic lights?
– Where in the London is the eiffel tower?
– My aunt is called XXXX XXXXX, Do you know her?
– Do we celebrate Christmas.
– Is England near Europe?
– Is it true that doctors decide if you live or die?
– Do you have McDonalds ( I then said yes, and they looked wonderfully relieved)
– Do you have Freeways?
Was never sure if these were jokes, but to be honest I don’t think they were.
– Do you have electricity?
– Do you know the Queen?
Image source: Tom Goodwin
#35
‘So will the website you build for us work on Internet explorer and Godzilla both?’
Image source: Sidharth Rao , Lukas/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#36
From my ex (we were quite young back then) referring to my you-know-what: ‘So where does the bone go afterward?’
Image source: Swekar P
#37
I once knew a girl from college. We used to travel together by the local trains. Once she wanted me to send her one of the songs that i had on my phone using blue-tooth. We tried but her phone was showing some kind of problem with the settings. We gave up when my stop/station arrived and I left. Later in the night, I got a text message saying “hey send the song now …my blue-tooth is working.”.!!!
I had a good laugh that night !!
The worse part is.. we are engineers!!
Image source: Abishek Sethuraman
#38
My friend after watching Batman Begins…
” Dude, who is this Gotham they keep talking about all the time ? “
Image source: Venkat Krishnan ·, Picography/Pexels (not the actual photo)
#39
After a party, I was giving a friend of mine a ride home. He is not a dumb guy, but we were both pretty tired as it was late, and possibly still a little impaired too.
We were stopped at a red light and he looked around and asked, “Is this where we are now?”
Image source: Matt Stevenson
#40
Idiot : So what do you want to do later in life?
Me : I want to be a mathematician.
Idiot : Mathematician? Didn’t they exist only in ancient times?
Image source: Anunay Kulshrestha
#41
I wasn’t asked this directly, but a former Indian co-worker of mine was asked while visiting Texas: “Are there cars in India?” That one really stuck with me.
But the Texan was equally dumbfounded when my co-worker didn’t recognize the name of the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach.
Image source: Tom Whitnah
#42
Why don’t all Africans have the same name, you know, like Chinese people?
Image source: Eghosa Omoigui
#43
“Are you sleeping?”
Image source: Narayan Babu
#44
“Do women stop peeing when they’re pregnant?”
Image source: Lucy Chen
#45
This one, I have to admit, I’m guilty of asking a coworker a few years ago: ‘What date is Cinco de Mayo?’
Image source: Ambra B, Canva Studio/Pexels (not the actual photo)
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