Top 10 Things Parents Commonly Say and What They Actually Mean

Our parents say some stuff more often than others, while they most likely don't have a secret agenda behind what they say, their words can have an underlying meaning to them. This is a list of such things parents commonly say and what they actually mean by them. The items are listed in this manner - "What they say" - "What they actually mean"
The Top Ten
1 "We'll see" - "No"

When your parent says this, it means that you will be on a sort of a probation period for the next 36 hours. It means that there is a 90% chance that things are not going to go according to your plan. However, your behaviour in the next 36 hours is very critical in determining the outcome, as you need to behave your best and one misbehaviour incident would straight away draw the word "No" from your parent's mouth.

My parents. Not gonna be me when I become a parent. I would rather my future kids get the message "No! ".

Very wise words

2 "Go ask your dad" - "He can say no"

Mothers who are married to strict fathers usually use this, but in such a case, your dad will mostly say no, or in the best case scenario, he tells you to go ask your mom again and you get trapped in this vicious cycle, while not getting your thing done. Mothers do this so that they don't have to play the 'bad guy' role and are still able to prevent you from getting what you want.

My dad always tells me to ask my mom because he doesn't want to say no, but my mom says yes.

Best to a plan for that

3 "I'll be there in 5 minutes" - "I'll consider leaving the house to pick you up after 5 minutes"

This is an extremely common thing for parents to say, most children have experienced this enough times that they just multiply the number of minutes your parents say by 4 (At least I did that). You know this very well if you were the last kid to get picked up after sports practice, or after school.

This is extremely relatable.

4 "I just need to grab a few things" - "I'll go all-out on grocery shopping and you'll have to wait in the car for 45 minutes, at least"

Your mom or dad usually say this when they take you in the car for some other purpose, and they spot a wild grocery store with their eyes. By saying that they're going to grab a few things, they actually mean that they're gonna go all-out on grocery shopping and you're going to wait in the car for 45 minutes. That's actually better than some situations where you have to go with them and must carry all the junk that they purchase, from entry to exit.

5 "We love you so much" - "Please look after us when we are old and mad"

As your parents get older, they get more worried about their health, and they probably don't want to end their life in one of those old folks' homes. They realise that after they become quite old, you are the only person they will be able to depend on and are behaving nice towards you in expectation for returns in the future.

I don't know if I'll be able to look after my dad if I'm older because I haven't seen him for 4 years and my mom is back in Casablanca with my siblings so I doubt I can see them if I'm older. But I want to.

Children who are planning to abandon their parents are the reason there are old age homes and suicides committed by elderly parents.
No limit of human depravity.

This... just hit me deep into the heart and is what I'm afraid of. I suppose I should take my parent's acts of kindness with a grain of salt.

6 "When I was your age I would never do that" - "When I was your age I would have never got caught by my parents doing that."

This statement they say is a clear lie. They are actually telling you that during their childhood, they were smart enough to not get caught doing that, but they can't say this bitter truth to you, as they're your parents.

I'm pretty sure they did crazy stuff when they were my age, both my parents are 80s kids and apparently the 80s was a pretty crazy decade.

7 “Maybe for your birthday” - “No”
8 "I can't believe you did that" - "I'm disappointed in you for doing whatever you have done, but I'm also slightly impressed at the same time"

Your parents say this when they are disappointed in you for doing something, but at the same time they are slightly impressed by you, either for having the courage to do whatever you have done, or maybe they had fun doing the same thing in their childhood.

9 "Next time" - "Never gonna happen"

The worst excuse of them all.

How about now

10 "Dinner's ready" - "Dinner is almost ready, but I could use some of your help"

Your parents say this so that you finally come out of your room, and when you arrive at the dining area, you realise that dinner is not actually ready and they tell you to assemble a few dishes or something else in the meantime.

This one never ceases to annoy me.

Mom: hey, diners ready!
me: *comes down* Where is it?
mom: in the frying pan and while you are here why not help set the table?

The Contenders
11 "Because I said so!" - "I don't have any legitimate reason and you're correct, but I'm in charge and I don't have the patience for this, so I'm going to abuse my power."
12 "Maybe" - "I don’t have time to deal with the argument that will come if I say no, but I don’t want to give you too much hope."

Parents usually say this when you request them something after they have come home after a long and tiresome day. They use this when they don't have the energy to argue with you if they say no, but they also don't want you to get what you want, so they just leave your request hanging by saying 'Maybe', such that after they get energetic enough, they tell you no, argue with you and win the argument.

13 "Maybe when you’re older." - "Never, hopefully you forget it after a few months"

Parents say this so that they don't completely fade your burning enthusiasm to do something while they are clearly not interested in it. They are hoping that you will forget whatever you want right now in a few months.

My dad said I can sit in the front seat of the car when I'm 9, but now I'm 10 and...

14 "Can you help me?" - "Can you do all of the work while I be lazy?"
15 "Let's see" - "No"
16 "No crying" - "Your feelings don't matter"

My mom once told me that if I ever need to cry, cry. Three years later, and every time I cry she says "Stop crying! " in a harsh tone. I'm just waiting for High school when I have a full on ugly cry cause of her and she says to stop and I remind her.

My dad said feelings don't matter and that crying doesn't fix anything. To me, that's wrong, because if I don't express my feelings someway, SOMEONE is getting hurt!

This doesn't happen to me anymore because I don't show my feelings much.

17 “We love you” - “We at least loved you enough to keep you”

This sounds quite paranoid. If I made this list (but unfortunately I couldn't come up with this idea, it's really creative), I would have included some items where the actual meaning is more positive than the literal one.

18 “Can you please help me unload the car?” - “Can you please unload the car for me while I sit down and shop on Amazon?”

No, it means "Can you please unload the car for me while I sit down on a granite freestone and I shop on the amazon app on my iPhone 5? Why so specific?

I do help unloading the car, but she stays inside and plays candy crush

19 "Maybe next time" - "I will at the time you are not interested by it"

Or no in simple ways

20 "It's too far to drive there" - "We're too lazy to drive you anywhere"

And that's the frustrating thing about freshman year of high school

21 “Because I said so” - "I don’t know"

When you run out of comebacks against your kid.

22 "We will buy it for you" - "We will see"
23 “Don’t argue with me” - “I don’t want to hear what you have to say so shut up”

This is not only true for parents.

24 "I'm very disappointed in you" - "You have dishonored the family"
25 "You're too old for that" - "That's for babies"

I wanted a yokai watch one year and my mom said no because it was for 4+

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