Sometimes silence really is golden.
When a friend, loved one or even a coworker is going through a difficult time, it can be tough to find the right words to show your support.
In a recent Reddit thread, a user asked the community, “What’s a saying that you’ve heard that is totally unhelpful?”
Based on the thousands of responses people answered with, the moral of this thread is: if you don’t know what to say to someone, your best bet is to zip it.
Here are some of the things no one wants to ever be told — even if there are good intentions behind it.
“After I was initially diagnosed with cancer, a family member tried to comfort me with ‘everything happens for a reason,’” shared one person.
Never say, “People have it worse than you,” according to another commenter.
“That money can’t buy happiness. I’m pretty sure I’d be happier with too much money than not enough,” a user chimed in.
“‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ No. It certainly doesn’t. It may in some cases, but there are lots of scarred people out there for whom life’s challenges have not made them stronger,” a valid point a commenter made.
“God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers,” shared a fed-up person.
A line many people are guilty of but should avoid going forward: “It is what it is.”
If someone told you they lost something, please don’t respond with, “It’s always in the last place you look.”
“It could be worse,” a person shared.
Another person doesn’t like the pressure that “Live every day like it’s your last” puts on them.
If someone is grieving, they most likely don’t want to hear you console them with the phrase, “They’re in a better place now.”
“Follow your heart’ is one of the most damaging sayings ever. Our hearts can be black or twisted. They may want things we logically know are wrong or hurtful…” a comment read.
“‘Calm down.’ No one has ever actually calmed down hearing that,” someone else pointed out.
“If I can do it, so can you. No. We are two different people with different skills…” another commenter wrote.
“‘Just don’t think about it.’ It bothers me, and I’m gonna react to it the way I see fit. And it usually means wanting to punch whoever said it in the face. The worst part is that half the time it comes from someone who said or did something that annoyed me,” chimed in someone else.
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