Every day is opposite day

[Mesonoxian]

I was wondering if anyone else has experienced a tendency to do things the opposite of what was described or intended. For instance, being told to look right and you turn your head left. I have a very common tendency when peeling fruit to start to make the motion to throw out the fruit and retain the rind (I usually stop myself in time).

[Charlie]

I wouldn't say I look the opposite way like you mentioned in the first example, but I do relatively regularly tend to "almost" throw away the wrong thing as in the fruit example - maybe it is the mind playing tricks as it is thinking about throwing something away and also thinking about the fruit so it merges the two and thinks about throwing the fruit away. Or it may be be a normal thing and encompassed by the selective memory phenomenon.

The trouble is I wouldn't really know how often I do it and how often is "normal"

[beware_the_sluagh]

Another fruit annecdote, when I am removing the stones from many cherries or plums, after a while I start putting the stones with the fruit and the fruit in the rubbish, lol. Other than a few examples like this one, I don't really experience it, but I wonder why it happens? Especially since in cases like this I would have thought doing it correctly a dozen times initially would have reinforced the correct action and thus prevented mistakes.

[Aspen]

I do the exact same thing when pitting cherries and I have a fancy cherry pitter, so you would think that I would not get the pits and fruit mixed up like that, but I do.

[goddessoflubbock]

I do it all the time with vegetables. As I'm prepping them I have the trash can right next to me and the stew pot or freezer container in front of me. Yet it's like the old child's game of rubbing your belly while tapping your head, I always manage to get pieces in the wrong places.

[Charlie]

I do it all the time with vegetables. As I'm prepping them I have the trash can right next to me and the stew pot or freezer container in front of me. Yet it's like the old child's game of rubbing your belly while tapping your head, I always manage to get pieces in the wrong places.

I have no problem with rubbing/tapping one way (left hand tapping, right hand rubbing) but the other way is impossible

[goddessoflubbock]

My mom and I were discussing this, she reminded me that as a child (until age 12 or so) I constantly confused salt and sugar, hamburgers with hot dogs, and ketchup with mustard. I even made peanut butter cookies, but then dipped the fork for the criss cross on the top in salt... My dad ate them anyway LOL

[Civet]

If every day is opposite day, does that mean every day is not opposite day?

Oh the paradox!

And, yes, I get things like that mixed up too. Particularly with left and right.

[Mesonoxian]

I was wondering if someone would perceive a little jest I put in the subject line.

To truly understand its complexity you must meditate on the concept for seven days while suspending yourself from the ceiling by your ankles. Either you will have a vision and receive true understanding of infinity or your head will explode.

I suggest bringing a towel.

[Sophist]

East and West are my problem areas, hehe.

[rocketturtle]

i have a natural tendency to flip things around. this has been happening since i was very young

some old examples when i was a toddler:
key cars -> in fact my grandmother still fondly uses the "key cars" phrase
new brand -> i always loved getting "new brand" shoes when i was really young, i actually remember saying this phrase until i was around early 7ish so it took a while for me to correct that phrase.

some newer examples:
rocket wrist -> a co-worker wanted to get a wrist-rocket to shoot at pesky squirrels in his backyard but i kept calling it a rocket-wrist and i didn't even notice it until he kept correcting me.
"he threw the ditch into her" -> i was describing a dream i had and my sister corrected me when i mixed it up

i very frequently interchange noun phrases. there are probably hundreds of other times that i've done this and am still not aware to this day just because nobody has brought it up or corrected me.

i've also put dirty coffee spoons into the fridge and the cream into the dishwasher at work after preparing my coffee, good food into the garbage and it's clippings/wrappings into a pot for cooking, eating candy wrappers and throwing away the candy ... to name a few.

i always laugh when i catch myself doing this because it is funny to me. it's one of my childlike quirks that really small "backwards" things are extremely humourous to me, especially if it's grammatical. i don't get too stuck on it because i could use some childlike joy every now and then so i welcome the chance when i make a mistake like that.

[Charlie]

If we are going down this route then I have had a tendency to slip (quite regularly at times) into Spoonerisms, the most often one being "Par Cark". At least I have an ability to laugh at myself when I do it, and also at more famous examples (including a Two Ronnies sketch or 10 on the same lines)

[rocketturtle]

i love when the first sounds of a two-word phrase are flipped around!

two off-hand that i can think of are
- pheasant plucker
- smart feller

[Aspen]

Those are funny.

[Sophist]

I like Pheasant Plucker.