Every day, we perform so many tasks that we instantly forget about them. Meeting the deadline at work, picking kids up from school, reserving a dinner table, paying bills, doing this and that; no wonder our heads are spinning by the end of the week.

Whatever we do, even if we do so voluntarily, we have to follow some general rules, sometimes strict instructions or simply common sense to complete each task. But what happens when a person not just does what they’re supposed to do, but does so in such a literal way that it modifies the initial task altogether?

Call it a sense of humor, malicious compliance, a miscommunication, or a human error, but one thing is clear, every now and then, people take stuff at face value. Below Bored Panda wrapped up some of the funniest examples to remind everyone that we had better be clear than sorry. More literally completed jobs await in our previous post here.

#1 This Is The Picture Amazon Sent My Bill To Say The Packages Were “Delivered To A Family Member Directly”

Image credits: mayorofutopia

#2 Someone At A Festival Offered Me A Little Bag Of Coke

Image credits: BGFlyingToaster

#3 My Grandma Wanted Some “Creative” Grad Photos Of My Friend Since We’re Graduating At The Same Time. This Was Her Least Favorite

Image credits: Toll_House69

Let’s make one thing clear – people are destined for miscommunication, for one reason or the other. Sometimes it happens by accident, other times it depends on the wrong assumption or interpretation, and other times we do it deliberately to prove a point. Call it an act of malicious compliance, a phenomenon well documented on various online platforms.

At the same time, if we want to make a real connection, miscommunication between us and the other person will break the deal. After all, social interaction follows us everywhere: at work, on a date, while out with friends, or having a coffee with your bff. So how could we possibly gain that confidence to express ourselves so that we are understood? Bruce Lambert, a professor, scientist, and consultant who has taught thousands of people all across the United States how to communicate more effectively, may have some answers.

#4 Experts Recommend Keeping Your Daily Rituals Even While Working From Home

Image credits: czmanix

#5 She’s A Genius

Image credits: 777jorgeivan

#6 Mom Told Her Daughter To Grab Her Mask So They Can Go To The Store. This Was The Mask She Grabbed

Image credits: jorhey14

First, we have to realize that being misunderstood is one of those common things that are virtually impossible to get rid of altogether. As long as we are a community, we will misunderstand each other. Nevertheless, it still puzzles us.

“People say they want to learn to express themselves more clearly so that they won’t be misunderstood. When we are misunderstood, we think it is because we chose the wrong words. We didn’t convey our ideas properly. Or we blame the other person. We expressed ourselves perfectly clearly, but they misinterpreted us. They got the wrong idea out of what we said,” Lambert explains on his website How Communication Works.

#7 My Buddy Was Told He Could Wear A Costume

Image credits: _L3g10n_

#8 Can You Talk Real Quick?

Image credits: SamSillis175

#9 Always Asked For A Skateboard As A Kid. My Parents Said Not Until I’m 35. Today They Delivered

Image credits: johncpeterson71

But Lambert argues that it’s not that simple. “It’s not about putting our ideas into words and having other people decode our words and extract our ideas,” he writes. “It’s about saying and doing things in the world so that other people, drawing on mutual knowledge about you, the context, language, and how the world works, can make accurate inferences about your beliefs, emotions, attitudes, plans, goals, and intentions.”

#10 My Dad Asked Me If I Wanted An Egg Sandwich. I’m Not Even Mad, This Is Genius

Image credits: SamManiac1998

#11 They Asked For A Lion Cut, They Got It

Image credits: keerwashere

#12 We Told Our 3-Year-Old That New Year Is Special Because You Get To Toast. Later, She Said: “Are We Gonna Make A Toast Now?” And Thus, A New Year’s Day Tradition Was Born

Image credits: reddit.com

According to him, when communication breaks down, it is a breakdown in this inferential problem-solving process, not a breakdown in encoding or decoding. “Avoiding misunderstanding means supporting this inferential process, or, when possible, minimizing the need for inference by being explicit,” he says.

#13 Garlic Powder

Image credits: kaileeaj_

#14 There You Go

Image credits: __Dawn__Amber__

#15 Told My Boyfriend I Was Getting Him A Burger For Christmas

Image credits: Ao-Eleni

So in order to avoid being misunderstood, Lambert’s advice is to ask yourself whether there is enough common ground to support accurate inference. “Accurate inference requires mutual knowledge, i.e., a set of facts that we share in common. We make assumptions about what other people know and what they know we know, and what they know we know they know, etc.”

What’s important to understand is that these assumptions are often wrong. “When the doctor tells the patient to put the patch on a different place every day, she assumes the patient knows to take yesterday’s patch off. Dangerous assumption,” Lambert explained. To avoid misunderstanding, it’s always great to check your assumptions about mutual knowledge, and where it’s lacking, do the work needed to fill in the gaps.

#16 Asked For My Cheese Steak To Be Made With Love. They Delivered

Image credits: OMGASQUIRREL

#17 I Was So Busy In The Kitchen I Didn’t Know What To Do First, My Little Brother Asked Me What He Can Do To Help. I Told Him To ‘Get That Bag Of Potato, Peel Half Of Them And Boil’

My little brother is a true genius.

Image credits: AbanaClara

#18 They Got What They Asked For

Image credits: awwwnchal

Another tip from Lambert is to ask yourself if the person knows you well enough to realize when you’re speaking literally or not. “Most of what we communicate, we communicate indirectly, by saying one thing and meaning much more,” he argues and adds that it’s efficient when people share enough knowledge and know each other well enough.

However, “When people do not know you well, they will be unsure when to take you literally and when to use inference to go beyond what you said to get at what you really meant. Avoid irony, sarcasm, and other forms of indirect, non-literal speech when speaking to people who may not know you well enough not to take you literally,” Lambert suggests.

#19 Looking For People With TV On Their Wall

Image credits: EldestGriever0219

#20 Fifty Shades Of Gray

Image credits: coreytimes

#21 My Cousin Wanted Cake And Ordered One. Told The Bakers To Write Whatever They Wanted Because It Was For Just For Her Anyway

Image credits: B1ockh3d

#22 My Buddy Jokingly Decided To Get A Henna Tattoo Of A Mustache While At The Beach. The Foreign Worker Didn’t Understand What He Was Saying

So she asked him to write down what he wanted. This was the result

Image credits: RyanHasWaffleNipples

#23 Picked It, Thanks

Image credits: Ryozuo

#24 My Brother’s Camp Requires The Kids Write A Letter Home After The First Week

Image credits: reddit.com

#25 This Brazilian Girl Is A Big Fan Of K-Pop And All Korean Culture, So Her Father Without Understanding Much Wanted To Personalize Her Party

With the most famous Korean character he found

Image credits: SayMarin

#26 Can’t Blame The Answerer

Image credits: Hacka4771

#27 Found Some Amazing Indian Writing

Image credits: mikedudical

#28 My Sister In Law Told My Brother “Use Those DIY Books And Fix The Chair!” Done

Image credits: jtmonkey

#29 My Bro Told My Grandma, Jokingly, That He Wanted 100 Things From The Dollar Store For Christmas, Grandma Doesn’t Like Being Challenged

Image credits: AceWayne4

#30 My Friend’s Tattoo. When Asked “What Does That Mean?” He Replies, “I Don’t Know, I Don’t Speak Chinese.” That Is Literally What It Means

Image credits: chojurou

#31 Not Gonna Lie, This Is A Little Too Accurate

Image credits: Natural-Ad-1464

#32 A First Grade Class Was Asked What They Would Say If The Pilgrims Showed Up At Their Door On Thanksgiving

Image credits: gnarcore666

#33 My Daughter When She Said She Wanted To Be A Transformer For Halloween

Image credits: brandoj23

#34 I Wonder What He’s Gonna Do When He’ll Become 90

Image credits: ElectroBOOMGuy

#35 Every Year I Get My Boyfriend A Cake For His Birthday. This Year I Asked What Type He Wanted. He Said, “I Don’t Care”

Image credits: shesafireball

#36 How Do You Want Your Sandwich Cut She Said. I Don’t Care I Said. Turns Out I Do, Mildly

Image credits: TenfootSlime

#37 I Asked My 5-Year-Old To Keep An Eye On His Sister While I Served Him Dinner, I Peek Out Of The Kitchen And Find Him Like This. His Sister Is In Good Hands

Image credits: Rizbiz99

#38 My Son Wanted “Cold Hard Cash” For His Birthday

Image credits: reddit.com

#39 This Is What A Human Hand Looks Like Under A Microscope

Image credits: Classic-Cod-7952

#40 Two Is Less Than Three

Image credits: AzureDoo

#41 Our Wedding Shower During Quarantine. We Made The Best Of What We Had

Image credits: harmonicr

#42 They Asked Me To “Dress Like What You Want To Be When You Grow Up”. So I Went With Retired On An Island

Image credits: egnards

#43 Everytime Everywhere Follow The Signs

Image credits: mdtau11

#44 As God Intended

“Which is right? Under / Over. Who will win? Vote with your bum”

Image credits: xQuickpaw

#45 Some Kids Take Things A Little Too Literally

Image credits: Pupikal

#46 Did My Job Boss. Barber Shaves Triangle Into Man’s Hair After He Pauses Video Of A Model He Wanted To Look Like

Image credits: __Dawn__Amber__

#47 My Wife Doesn’t Want Our Newborn Son’s Face Posted On Social Media, So She Asked Me To Censor It. Needless To Say, I Won’t Be Asked To Do That Again

Image credits: MoeHanzeR

#48 Why Indeed

Image credits: stick1953

#49 I Asked My Boyfriend To Bring Me An Ice Cream Sandwich, I Am Exhausted From This Disrespect

Image credits: kenziealizabeth

#50 Literally

Image credits: lalasagna

#51 This Guy

Image credits: letsagochamp

#52 We Are Now A Hands-Free State

Image credits: Mr-KyleV

#53 I Always Follow The Rules

Image credits: Flightorfighter

#54 When You Ask For A Half Pint In Ireland They Take It Literally

Image credits: burghquay

#55 He Is Simply Following Orders

Image credits: Mental_Log4115

#56 My Wife Is A Teacher And Found This While Marking An Assessment

Image credits: jimmypompom

#57 He’s Turned Them Into The Literal Metallica Band

Image credits: fjamie013

#58 This Domino Effect On The Domino’s Delivery Scooter

Image credits: laughtale0

#59 Just Finished The New Pool And Deck

Image credits: Newton-ian_Physics

#60 A Customer Called Asking If We Were Practicing Social Distancing With Her Sandwiches. I Told Her We Are, But To Be Honest Guys I’m Running Out Of Space

Image credits: lachary1234

#61 My Korean Mom Asked Me If Her Friends Can Come Over To My Place And “Pull My Wood.” Having No Idea What This Was, I Was So Relieved They Only Wanted To Do This

Image credits: shaka_sulu

#62 The Box For My Daughter’s Bath Bomb Said It Had A Calming Message Inside

Image credits: Fender6187

#63 I Can Make The Gap Bigger If You’d Like

Image credits: mignightsnack

#64 When I Asked My Little Bro Why There Were Polar Bears And Penguins In The Freezer, He Answered “Because That Is Where They Belong”

Image credits: Justchillun

#65 My Sister Asked For A Nintendo Switch For Christmas. Her Boyfriend Must Have Misunderstood

Image credits: WildInSix

#66 Pizza Shop Asked Me “Who’s Name Do You Want The Order Under?” I Replied “My Wife Michelle”. This Is How They Announced Her Name When She Picked Up The Food

Image credits: ibanaz93

#67 My Coworker Decided He Wanted A Standing Desk

Image credits: tsaven

#68 My Brother Had To Work, So He Asked Me To Save Him A Little Bit Of Everything

Image credits: Seely2593

#69 Me To My Class, “Okay Boys And Girls, Hang Up Your Snacks So We Can Go Into Art Class!” I Laughed So Hard. I Love Kindergarten

Image credits: pBr_R1ot

#70 Told Abby This Is Where She Can Put Her Letters For Santa. So She Gathered Her Toy Letters And Put Them In For Santa

Image credits: iship2manyanimegays

#71 It Seems That Malicious Compliance Begins At The Young Age

Image credits: daltasuar

#72 This Is Too Literal

Image credits: baseketball91

#73 When You Get Told You Can Only Use One Side Of A Piece Of Paper To Write Formulas For The Final

Image credits: sansix

#74 Asked Wife To Write A Small List For The Grocery Store. She’s Not Wrong

Image credits: TemporaryUsernameUntilIThinkofSomethingClever

#75 I Asked My Sister To Knit Us A Sweater For Christmas. I Think She Took It A Little Too Literally

Image credits: mkglass

#76 Touch With Eyes Only, Thank You

Image credits: call911noww

#77 I Ordered An Espresso Shot Over Ice This Morning

Image credits: kgodzilla

#78 I Asked My 17-Year-Old Son What He Wanted To Eat For Breakfast

Image credits: Expwar

#79 I Asked My Thai Place To Make It So Spicy Someone Would Get In Trouble. They Gave Me This

Image credits: Ralphie25

#80 I Told My Teenager To Unload The Dishwasher Before Going Out With His Friends For The Evening

Image credits: silencegold

#81 We Ordered A Pound Of Carrots. We Got A Pound Of Carrot

Image credits: circusboy

#82 I’ve Found It In My Childhood Stuff Box And Now I’m Wondering If 7-Year-Old Me Was An Idiot Or A Genius

Image credits: Yapet

#83 When You Order Two Cakes With “Happy Birthday” On Them But Get This Instead

Image credits: rallykv

#84 He Did What They Asked

Image credits: jamesmlarson

#85 Told Him To “Please Line The Shoes Up By The Back Door”

Image credits: corlyn

#86 My Friend Works For A Contracting Company That Is Renovating A Hotel. They Asked For Room Numbers, With Braille On The Bottom For Blind People To Read

This is what their supplier sent them. Every single one is like this

Image credits: CavemanSlevy

#87 My Dad Told Me There Were Brownies In The Pan

Image credits: WontEverUseThis

#88 When You Ask Your Darling Husband To Bring You Socks And Put On Your Cold Feet

Image credits: professor_gato

#89 They Asked And I Did

Image credits: a9ZOc

#90 Please Flush

Image credits: isitaboat

#91 They Asked For A Recent Photo

Image credits: Thelinkaboveisgood

#92 A Tight Squeeze, But I’ll Do My Best

Image credits: boredcircuits

#93 Taking A Sign Too Literally

Image credits: trumpet4lyf3

#94 Ordered A Hot Dog With Ketchup Only. They Sorta Got It Right

Image credits: WashGaming001

#95 Someone Took The Drive Thru Sign A Bit Too Literally

Image credits: BallisticsNerd

#96 Quite A Few People Took This Sign Literally

Image credits: BillClinternet42

#97 So I Ordered A Lettuce Burger, Thinking It Would Come With Two Pieces Of Lettuce

Image credits: xlittlewolf

#98 My Kid Said I Gave Her Too Many Grapes. I Said Just Eat Half Of Them

Image credits: janepatticynmo

#99 I Am Picking My Wife Up At The Airport After A Long Trip. A Friend Said To Bring Her Some Nice Flours As A Surprise. I Am Bringing Her A Basket Full Of Her Favorite Flours

Image credits: dc_IV

#100 I Ordered A “Sprinkle Donut”. They Took It Very Literally

Image credits: 3KidsInTheTrenchCoat

#101 Literally

Image credits: shutupmark

#102 I Think There Was A Bit Of A Misunderstanding Here

Image credits: The42ndTurtle

#103 I Asked My Teacher For A Note To Go To The Library. He Gave Me This. They Didn’t Let Me Into The Library Because I “Didn’t Have A Whole Note”

Image credits: wiggles14

#104 My Girlfriend Wanted A Sponge Cake. Still Not Sure What’s The Problem

Image credits: zphantom

#105 I Think They Took The Term “Hand Soap” A Bit Too Literally

Image credits: dmce01

#106 Not Sure They Intended For The “Grand Opening” Sign To Become Quite So Literal

Image credits: billybates1933

#107 My Boyfriend Ordered A Plain Pizza. Literally

Image credits: JasminaChillibeaner

#108 On The Package, It Was Written: “Heat To 120 Degrees.” I Don’t Know Why It’s Not Ready Yet

Image credits: davids_carmona

#109 My Son Wanted To Feel Like He Had An Important Role In Helping Me Cook. Told Him To Keep An Eye On The Oven Tray

Image credits: katyyhh

#110 Took It Literally

Image credits: daweinst

#111 My Son Asked The Elf To Bring Him A Nintendo Switch. He Found This In His Stocking This Morning And Was Sorely Disappointed

He is now drawing a picture for the elf, trying to help him know what he really wanted

Image credits: Picklesk

#112 Don’t Get A Tattoo In A Language You Don’t Understand. This Is Supposed To Be Butterfly In Hebrew, But Instead It’s A Literal Translation As In Butter-Fly

Image credits: noob_like_pro

Source: boredpanda.com