There's an old saying: "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you."
Well, we all know that's tataŋka čheslí (🦬💩). Words can be extremely hurtful.
They can also be scary.
Reddit user Sweet_Square_7598 asked:
"What is the scariest sentence or phrase you have ever heard?"
Gotcha!
"Boss said:"
"When you come in tomorrow don't clock in, come straight to my office."
"Turned out I was just getting a new laptop at the same time we changed to a new timekeeping system."
"A night of panic all for nothing."
~ WendigoCrossing
"I'm terribly sorry. I regret to inform you that... the coffee isn't ready in the break room."
"OMG!!"
~ TaxsDodgersFallstar
"HE DID IT ON PURPOSE!"
"All because I made fun of the Eagles losing the week before—this was a few years ago."
"It was funny. AFTER."
~ WendigoCrossing
Bedside Manner
"'There’s a lump in your neck…' *poke-poke-poke* at 16 and alone in the doctor’s office."
"Biopsy, surgery, and radioactive iodine later, I’m thyroid cancer free!"
~ Terrible-Olive-3657
"Heyyyyy, this was me at 19. Doctor says:
"Hm. This is suspicious."
"Going on 15 years cancer-free now. Samesies friend, glad you’re well!"
~ eatingartingdonnie_
Elder's Wisdom
"An F4 tornado tore off the back half of the house my family was hunkered down in—in the middle of the night."
"Right after the power kicked off, as I'm covering my one-year-old son with my body, I hear my husband's grandfather say:"
"Here it comes."
"I remember my ears popping from the pressure shift. It was all over in about 30 seconds.
"I have chills as I’m writing this. Scariest night of my life."
~ adrikate
That Call
"Getting a call saying:"
"Can you get to the hospital, right now, please?"
"It’s a horrible little sentence no matter what the circumstances."
~ doloresfandango
Ouch...😧
"While getting a Brazilian wax, the gal whispered:
"Oops... I need to get my manager."
~ ladyjenren
"How did that work out?"
~ Stillcant
"Painfully."
~ ladyjenren
Sasquatch Sighting
"I was out camping with friends, and it was the middle of the night."
"We were sitting at the camp fire and my friend looks behind me with a panicked face and just whispers:"
"Who is that?"
"I almost sh*t my pants."
"It was just some random guy looking for his campsite."
~ iliyakara
The Other Woman
"Getting a call, and she says:"
"Hi, this is your husband's girlfriend."
~ GingerT569
"One of them did this standing on my porch."
"That was the last straw, so thank you, Nichole, wherever you are!"
~ Valuable_Anxiety_246
"One of them‽‽ = yikes!"
~ Pando5280
Time Slows Down
"It was seconds after my first son was born, and he came out not crying.
"Call the resuscitation team!"
"It was quiet for what felt like hours—really only seconds—until the team worked on him."
"My ex husband went up to him and said, 'hey, buddy'. That's when my son started crying."
~ Brilliant_Effort_Guy
Communication Is Key
"Your significant other texts:"
"We need to talk."
~ MightGuy420x
"When I first met my husband, he would constantly text me:"
"call me asap"
"So much unnecessary anxiety."
~ sammiesorce
Feeling Trapped
"While underway (submerged) on an SSBN (Ship: Submersible-Ballistic‐Nuclear, a.k.a. nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles):"
"Fire!"
"Fire in the missile compartment!"
~ Stampede_the_Hippos
"Oh god..."
"There's a fire in the explodey section of our currently underwater submarine."
~ YourNeglectedNeopet
"Been there."
"Worse yet, fire in the vicinity of the oxygen generators. Oxygen + fire = 💥🧨💥💣💥"
"We had that once, even though it was essentially a small trash can fire, that was not a fun thing to wake up to."
~ Coblish
Soft Sell
"If a doctor ever says this:"
"You might feel a little pressure."
"...prepare for soul searing, acid being injected, red hot poker pain."
~ TNShadetree
Only In America
"On the radio at work:"
"There's been a mass shooting at..."
"The same place a loved one is at."
~ BlacksmithCandid8149
"Yep. Mine was hearing the news report:"
"There's been a mass shooting at the Gabby Giffords event at Safeway."
"The event where Representative Giffords and 18 other people were shot and six of them died."
"The same event my sister had mentioned the day before she wanted to try to make it to."
"Terrifying few minutes before I managed to get her on the phone and find out her other plans had run long and she had ended up missing it."
~ essthebee
Maddening
"My husband used to start things with:"
"don't get mad..."
"Which immediately made think he had f*cked up. It was always something stupid that wouldn't have made me mad, but he had already primed me to get mad!"
"After about the hundredth time of this, I told him he needed to just say whatever it was because I was either going to get mad or I wasn't, but he was making me mad ahead of time by telling me not to get mad."
~ cabinetbanana
Helpless To Help
"On 9/11 I was in Manhattan, three blocks from the towers, on the roof of my building after the first plane hit."
"Second plane!"
"A second plane is coming in!"
"One person saw the United plane over the water and started screaming about the second plane."
"Terrifying!"
~ ANTristotle
Too Fast, Too Soon
"Today is 17 years since my dad departed. I had called to check in with my mom in the morning as was our daily ritual, but I got no answer."
"My brother was coming to the city for a concert later that night anyway. When he got down where I lived, I asked, 'What the f*ck? Why did I get no answer from mom this morning?'."
"He tells me:"
"They were at the doctor. Dad has cancer. It started in the esophagus and has already spread to the kindeys...and the brain. It's terminal."
"My world slammed into a brick wall. We got the diagnosis a week before Christmas. Between December 18 and February 17, I spent about half that time at his side in hospital."
"We managed to have a 'really good day' on the 15th with all of the family around sharing stories, then dad said I should go back home and return to work for a bit. I reluctantly agreed.
"On the 17th, my sisters walked into the restaurant where I worked and I literally dropped everything in my hands and ran down to the office to grab my sh*t.
"Someone had called down to let the manager know already, and she just said, 'Go. take all the time you need'. It's frightening how vivid all of that still is in my mind."
"Hug your people, folks. Now."
~ mikeyriot
What's the scariest sentence you have ever heard?
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter