My literal mind at work

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Because the order in English is usually subject, verb, object. The use of 'mind' here is clearly a verb.

Lol. Despite getting the "MollyTroubleTail" original example and the OP's literal example pretty quickly (Within 1-2 seconds, I'd guess), I didn't comprehend this one quickly and disregarded it as unimportant. I didn't think she was talking about constructing a dog mind, haha, although it flittered across my mind for half a second.

So, my latest "misunderstanding" (That I'm aware of) was when I was up at my professor's office to start the demonstration of my software project, and another team member was there, and he asked me... "So, where do you go?", and since I saw his computer that I thought I could use for the demo and he was referring to me specifically and not to "we", I replied "Well, I have to go to my email address to download two files for the demonstration and I have to go to the SVN repository to download the software project", and then he clarified, "No, that's not what I meant, I mean where do we physically have to go for the demonstration?" and then I realized his computer was off-limits and I directed the demo to the lab downstairs. I'm not sure if that's an "Aspie" literal moment or if that's just an everyday misunderstanding that plagues NTs who lack common sense.

My recent literal interpration happened when I was discussing getting married with my fiancee and why she was anxious about the idea of getting married. She said that because of old bullying traumas she was afraid that she would stumble and everyone would laugh at her. So I said that thats a really stupid reason not to get married and that we could just get married at the magistrate with a handfull of relatives or just plain get her a shorter dress so that she would not stumble so easily. She was a bit confused at my solutions because she had beed really talking about a different type of stumbling, like what if we get divorsed and such, boy was I embarassed once again

Too numerous to write down. I have been plagued with literal mindedness since I learned how to talk.

At times it has gotten me into awkward situations.

ruveyn

New example. Last night I'm watching "Harvie Krumpet" (on the "Mary and Max" DVD) and Harvie's mother is described by the narrator as a "weary woman with lead in her veins from working in a mine." I think to myself, how can you have lead in your veins? I remember something similar happening in the past, when I heard someone describe another person as having "piss and vinegar running through his veins." My immediate thought was, how the hell did that get in there?

Same here! : D

One that got me recently was actually in Rudy Simone's book Aspergirls. Oh, the irony. She said something about "breadwinners" in the family and I sat there for a couple of seconds wondering what kind of crazy part of the world she lived in where bread-winning contests were a major part of daily life. @_@

But once people explain to me what something like that means I don't have an issue in understanding it anymore. I still always picture the literal meaning of whatever I come across like somebody said earlier, but I can remember the meanings of stuff like that well enough. And I kind of feel like NT's are like that too. I mean, how does anyone know what something like "breadwinners" means without having it explained? So maybe I really don't have a figurative language problem.

I have noticed NTs take things literal too. Like the time at Babycenter someone made a thread about this babyshower invitation she got and it said in it "Don't be cheap, dig in something deep for something special" and the theme was baby chicks and it had chicks in the sentence. It was meant to be a cute joke, word play but the woman was shocked by it and so was everyone else in the thread. I just sat there and thought it was a joke and all those women were stupid. I doubt they all had autism. It was a joke because the OP kept updating.

Another time someone made a post about her lazy sister and she said about how she wish she just beat her kids. A few women took that literal. I knew she meant like spank or discipline and she was using irony there.

For some reason I am not always literal and maybe it's because that's how I talk and think. I am funny that way. But I read online that it's never okay to joke about child abuse. I guess it's the same as joking about shooting up a school or killing or doing terrorism. People take those things seriously.

I do that with a lot of topic titles - not just here but on any forum.



Yeah. I remember learning a lot of these things. I remember the first time I heard "breadwinners" and "bringing home the bacon."



NTs used to frequently take me literally when I was being sardonic, ironic, or sarcastic. Since I tend to do all of these deadpan without any cues that I am doing these things, it's not surprising.

As with everything, the difference is a matter of scope. NTs don't take as many things as literally as we do. I've seen NTs take things literally occasionally but more often they find meanings between the lines. I take things literally all the time, and have to stop and consider whether what I see is all that's there, and what might be there if there's more - and I am not very good at this.

Yet another example. Today I'm in a store at the checkout aisle and see a tabloid magazine about some celebrity. The headline: "STABBED IN THE HEART!" I assumed that the woman pictured had been murdered this way. Apparently not, just a break-up with a boyfriend.

LOL, I pictured the person being stabbed in the heart, literally.

At a work meeting at the machine shop I worked at we were getting yelled at for wasting time. It sucked because I was used as an example of how to use your time better so everyone was coughing the word "brown-noser". Then the boss set in our biggest time waster who would spend 20 minutes in the toilet. We would hear him talking on his phone or playing video games on his phone. So the boss told him he spends as much time in the toilet as everyone else uses to eat lunch in the break room. For some reason I got it into my head he was eating his lunch in the toilet. So I said something about him eating in the toilet. Everyone laughed like I was telling a joke. The boss then looked at me and said this was not a time for jokes. I really thought he was getting bitched at for eating while on the toilet.