Eavesdropping used to refer to the water dropping from literal eaves on a house. It later became a nickname, "eavesdropper," meaning someone who stood under the eaves to overhear a conversation.
Now, we have eavesdropping, meaning "to listen secretly to what is said in public," and Redditors have heard some pretty f*cked up things in public.
It's often something in passing that seems completely inappropriate even in the right context.
Redditor everlovingburns asked:
"What’s the most f*cked up thing you’ve overheard someone say in public?"
Here are some of the best - or worst - comments depending on how you look at it.
Cussing out a 12-year-old.
"Heard a woman quietly cussing out her daughter at a train station, calling her a b*tch and a sl*t. Daughter couldn't have been older than 12. She was just taking it in. Staring straight ahead, completely silent."
- angelcakexx
"People wonder why their kids just leave them to die alone and never contact them again as soon as they can leave."
- Alzusand
"My mam has done something similar in a really busy train station and pushed me against the wall. No one helped. They just watched it happen and it's a moment that sits in my head rent free. There's plenty of other things she's done and she wonders why we aren't close."
- VeggieChickenWings
Jim pooped on her lawn.
"'Listen I know Jim is homeless but that doesn't mean he can sh*t on my lawn.'"
"'I'll talk to him.'"
- mrbojingle
"I'm not homeless, the world is my home! And your yard is my bathroom."
- PrisonIsOppression
Not the most scientifically accurate statement.
"I was on a Greyhound. A guy a few rows back was loudly talking on the phone about his cheating ex-girlfriend who said she was pregnant. He said that he knew she was lying because she has AIDS and everyone knows that when a person with AIDS gets pregnant, 'The AIDS eats the baby.'"
- Objective-Solid-4537
"Honestly greyhounds are absolutely wild for the stuff you’ll overhear. Entertaining and traumatic in one cheap ticket."
- AMJ94
Admitted to killing the dog.
"Woman on her phone calmly telling her boyfriend that she was the one who gave his dogs antifreeze and that he was a wuss for crying over them dying."
- 46from1971
"I'm not saying she should've been hit by a car, I'm just saying I would understand if it happened."
- PotatoDispenser1
Wait...
"My daughter just had a baby, I must go over and visit.. and poison their dog."
- hyteck9
"Is that the lady from the anti freeze in the other comment?"
- AussieBelgian
"Think we solved a few mysteries here on Reddit today."
- 13Luthien4077
"'Well dear, I don't care what your thoughts are. I banged your cousin and she is a fire crotch.'"
"I'm not sure how that phone call ended, but I remember passing the guy leaving a restaurant and trying not to die laughing."
- WitchinIl
"Whatever happens, Christmas dinner with the family won't be boring this year."
- GoGoris
At the Cedar Rapids IHOP.
"IHOP, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 'So the SECOND time I got stabbed...'"
- DrunkmeAmidala
"Man, in an IHOP? That sounds like a Waffle House conversation if I’ve ever heard one."
- userdeleted
A boy in hysterics.
"I was in line for a scary ride at a theme park. A little boy was in the row next to me, in hysterics about not wanting to get on. His father was visibly angry, telling him to 'man up.' It was the first time they had gone when the boy was tall enough to ride but it was clear he wasn't mature enough to actually enjoy it. When it came time for them to board, the man dragged the kid to his seat and buckled him in while the kid was screaming. Why they didn't remove them both I'll never understand."
- votedog
"Former ride operator. I would pull scared little kids off rides because 'I didn't want them to have a medical emergency.'"
"It usually worked. Sometimes they'd call for a supervisor and I'd get the a**hole who wouldn't back me up, but that was rare."
- insertcaffeine
Casual support of Hitler.
"'Hitler should've finished the job.' Russian student to his Polish professor in a Canadian college class."
- Cleaver2000
"If Hitler had finished the job there would be no Russian around lol."
- S1ashAxe
With seven billion people on the planet, we are bound to hear some pretty f*cked up conversations.
Even if you weren't trying to eavesdrop on someone's conversation, this might make you think twice next time you want to overhear someone's conversation.
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