Idioms and literal interpretations

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I just got diagnosed, so I've been doing some research on Asperger's. It looks as if having a problem with idioms is common. I never had a significant problem, except for maybe when I was a kid, but I could easily see a normal kid having this problem as well. I've always assumed that if something doesn't make sense at first, then there's some secondary meaning attached to the statement that is dominant. I remember when my high school English teacher assigned us to come up with metaphors. I barely managed to think up something, but the rest of the class seemed to have no problem. This last weekend, a waiter asked me if he could "see" my glass. It took me a second to realize that he actually wanted to fill up my cup, but there was a delay due to the misinterpretation. It's a very slight problem with me, and I've always had a knack for inference, which probably saved me alot of trouble.

I'm just curious if this type of verbal comprehension has ever actually debilitated anyone; either now, or when they were younger.

Hmm, I used to get told off quite a bit for taking things literally when I was younger because it was seen as disrespect ("stop acting like you're stupid!"). But I think by middle school, I was OK with them. Like you, I tend to assume that there is some other meaning that I am not aware of...but at the same time, I tend to still blurt out responses. I will think, immediately after commenting, "oh, that must mean something else" and then be embarassed for saying something stupid.

Hmm, today at my physical, I was sitting on the exam bed. My doctor says "stand up," and I do. So then she says, "I meant stand on the carpet." I stood up on the little retractable step thing, not the bed itself.

I have learned a lot of idioms and can interpret them given a few moments, but I still react literally to a lot of things and fail to infer things that, I assume, others might. I also still need to translate many idioms every time I hear/read them, although I sometimes use them by pattern matching them to whatever I'm saying without explicitly translating them.

I have this piano teacher that always likes to demonstrate finger technique by having me press my fingers on my lap so I can feel how the weight is distributed. One lesson, he randomly told me to play on my knees. I get down on my knees and play.

Sometimes I like to translate idioms as well. birds=goals stone=task kill=accomplish. Kill two birds with one stone.
I actually got really good at translating that sort of thing because my closest friend spoke English as a second language. She was always asking about these sayings, so I found myself trying to explain them.

I have always been literal. But never got in trouble for it except for that one time about "stop that teasing" incident. Maybe because I was in special ed so no one ever assumed I was being a smart ass. But phrases still confuse me. I know they don't mean it literally because it doesn't make any sense but I don't know what they mean.

I used to wonder as a teen why people would ask if they can see something but instead take it and use it than looking at it. Then I finally figured out it's something you say when you want to use the item.

If I encounter a new idiom it can be confusing, yes, but I've found that if you commit the true meaning to memory it isn't so difficult. In fact, some of them can be interesting and quite amusing.

I've never really got into a big deal of trouble over taking things literally, but it has resulted in several misunderstandings, the worst of which was assuming my partner wanted us to terminate a relationship. Thankfully, though, that was cleared up!

Rather than negative, more often than not, positive things come from being literal. Without intending it, I have made some sort of reputation as being incredibly witty. I don't speak often, but when I do, it's usually due to some literal interpretation of something someone else has said and it comes out as a highly intellectual joke.

Unfortuately, I can't think of any examples right now, but my point was that it can be good as well as bad by being funny.

I know exactly what you mean. I connected to this Russian girl because we both felt like outsiders, so we would often speculate on this strange culture. It was actually she who would make the unintentional witty sayings by taking something literal. I'd say, if you ever need to find someone to bond with, try a foreign neurotypical. We were basically like Holmes and Watson, always trying to interpret and decode (and trash-talk) everyone around us.

I apparently use them enough that one person I know tried to tell me he didn't think I was autistic because I used too many idioms and too much humor.

I think I actually "dodged" a provisional AS diagnosis because I translated an idiom. The psychiatrist doing the evaluation asked me "What does 'don't judge a book by its cover' mean?" I told her what it means. If she'd asked me "What do you think of when I say this," I would have told her that instead - two different things. I didn't realize it at the time or I would have gone ahead with the literal interpretation.

The doctors seem to have a misconception that if you know phrases they asked you, you don't have troubles in that area. But how do they know that sometimes you can do it and sometimes you can't or you had already learned those phrases so you already know them? But if they asked you a phrase you never heard, then they might see their real answer.

And I think "don't judge a book by its cover" is so easy to understand because of how it's written. I knew it in a heartbeat when I first heard it on PepperAnn and I knew instantly what it meant. You see the book and right away assume what the book is about because you are looking at the title and assuming what it's about or assuming you won't like it because of the title. It's the same with people, you look at them and right away assume what kind of people they are based on what they have on and their appearance. So people might tell you "You can't judge a book by its cover." I think that's where the idiom would come from and it lead to using it for people.

And "we'll worry about it when we get to that bridge" however the phrase goes. I first heard it from my ex and right away I knew what he meant. You are walking along a creek and you see a bridge up ahead and you have to cross. It looks narrow and only has one rail on the side, not both sides, it looks unsafe and any child could fall off if you aren't careful as they cross. You fret over it and your wife tells you, "we'll worry about it when we get to the bridge" because they would rather think about it and worry when you get there to cross. So it's the same in situations. Worrying about things that hasn't happened yet so people say "we haven't gotten to that bridge yet so we'll worry by then.

Maybe this is why I can figure out idioms sometimes, I connect it to real life stuff like this and then can figure out the idiom. It's all logical so I was able to make the connection without having to be told what they meant.

Last edited by League_Girl on 29 Mar 2011, 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think that diagnostic criteria is more relevant for young kids. Then again, I'm sure plenty of NT kids would probably not understand idioms. You'd think these doctors would understand that alot of aspies have enough sense to figure things out. If someone says "it's raining cats and dogs" I'm going to assume that's an idiom. I'm not a complete moron.

It's all environmental and you learn it by rote, just like any other aspect of speech. I guess some aspies have stronger powers of inference than others. It's kinda funny how alot of NTs can't decipher idioms if you ask them.

I never really take things literally. Occasionally I do, but not enough to speak of. That's one Aspie trait I don't really have. Sometimes I take things literally depending in what mood I'm in, but that's typical in every human. NTs don't always want to hear jokes then ''get it'' right away.

With idioms and figures of speech, I don't have a problem with either. If somebody says, ''oh my drink's gone everywhere!'' I don't say, ''everywhere? It's only splattered on the floor.'' I don't think anything of the word ''everywhere'', except that it describes somebody's knocked a drink over.
''Some people like me who has Dyspraxia, high-functioning Asperger's and an anxiety disorder tend to fall through the net''. Each time my social worker says that, I never think, ''fall through the net? What net?'' I just know that it means something to do with being too ''normal'' to be able to have lots of help, yet being slightly ''unable'' to actually keep up with life's pressure. In fact, I never knew what ''fall through the net'' meant (I still don't quite now), but when she first said it, judging by the conversation and her face and hand expressions, I sort of gathered what it means.