16 Super Common Things People Do Or Say That They Don't Realize Are Super Rude (2024)

A while back, I wrote a post on a Reddit thread where people shared the things other people say or do that they don't realize are rude. And the BuzzFeed Community had a lot of their own examples to add, so here they are:

CBC

1. "I’m a veteran, and my wife is originally from Southeast Asia. A fairly common question I get is whether we met overseas. We didn’t, we met in the US while she was studying for her Masters in Business Admin. I have absolutely no judgment toward people who meet that way, but the question about whether we met overseas reveals an assumed stereotype."

—norty

2. "While it's rude to look at your phone while someone is talking to you, it’s equally rude to just start talking to someone who is looking at their phone. You don’t get to judge that what I’m doing must not be important. I could be reading emails from work. I could be reading the news. I could be texting with a friend or family member. If someone looks engaged with their phone, ask if it’s okay to interrupt first."

—popculturemama

3. "When walking on a footpath, for example, the footpath will fit two people! But there are two people coming towards you, and neither of them moves to let you pass! I hope I have explained this correctly. It drives me insane!"

—charleneo498a75a3d

4. "Don’t say, 'You don’t look autistic' when someone tells you that they’re on the autism spectrum. It’s offensive to us individually because you’re invalidating our identity or implying that we’re making it up, and it’s offensive to our community as a whole because you’re claiming that there’s a stereotypical 'look' that we should be adhering to. It is in no way a compliment."

—hailcthulhu

5. "People touching my hair. It’s really weird and inappropriate. Yes, it is curly, and yes, it is naturally this curly.'

—broken-foot

6. "When people say to me, 'I wish I could take time off work every time I was sad!' My dude, it's not sadness. It's the kind of mental illness that can kill you. I'm not taking time off. I'm fighting for my life."

—dandelano

7. "It annoys me when you are driving in a parking lot, and someone or a family comes walking out of the store or just crossing the driveway into a parking lane, and they take an extreme diagonal path! Just walk straight across and get out of the way!!!"

—bluebee49

8. "If you find out someone’s an adoptee, don’t start asking them a million questions and forcing them to share their personal lives and narratives with you. For example, don't ask questions like: 'Where are your parents?' 'Why did they give you up?' 'Do you see your adoptive parents as your 'real parents?' 'Do you want to find your 'real parents?' 'Are you happy or grateful you were adopted?'"

—kkad

9. "Talking with food in your mouth. I love having meals with family and friends and catching up with their lives. We all place our hands in front of our mouths if we speak with food in it, except my mom. She'll talk with a huge mouthful of food, showing everyone her rank teeth as well as all the food that's mangled around them. It's disgusting and embarrassing!"

—luckypizza31

10. "Please don’t ask people why they aren’t parents. It’s none of your business and might be for traumatic reasons! Not everyone has children, even people over a certain age."

—LeopardHat

11. "Leaving a shopping cart near the cars and not returning to the proper spot in the parking lot is so rude."

—uniquetiger32

12. "It's so rude when people tell me 'You speak English very well.' They tend to be surprised or defensive when I say, 'You as well.' I wonder why. Also, any compliment that includes the word 'exotic' is rude. I hear it so often (since I was a kid) that I loathe that sort of compliment with the intensity of a thousand suns."

—prolix

13. "Wait for people to disembark from the subway or rapid transit trains before squeezing your way on."

—ginnyjensen

14. "Approaching someone's dog without asking first. I have a super shy dog, who is wary of strangers. I have a sign on the leash saying, 'Do not touch' yet people try to pet him weekly."

—whale_tail

15. "Please don't say it's a fad diet or trendy or dumb when I say I can't eat gluten. I found out I couldn't over 20 years ago, and it was a lifesaving discovery."

—zazupitz

16. And finally, "Insulting something about yourself in front of someone who has that same trait. Specifically, saying something like 'OMG, I look so fat!' around someone who is actually fat. Whatever you say about yourself, other people will hear and know you feel that way about them too."

—ninasalamilee

What are some other rude things people do often that they don't realize? Let us know in the comments.