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Lip reading is an amazing talent to master. And whether it was learned out of necessity to communicate effectively with people due to hearing loss, or whether it’s just an adult who wants to eavesdrop on a conversation across the room at a family gathering, the point is lip reading can be a handy tool.
Below, people share the most memorable conversations they ever “oversaw”.
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That’s how I found out Santa wasn’t real. My brother reads lips [he’s deaf] and that’s how he learned the sad sad truth.
RoryWinnifred
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My grandmother saw my brother’s ex say to him “I don’t love you anymore” at our family Christmas. Yikes
cremefraiche92
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I rely partially on lip reading because my clarity isn’t great. I wish I could remember more of them but once I got lost in a conversation about babies and thought we were talking about umbilical cord stumps when we were really talking about foreskins… so I said “I heard that they just fall off on their own if they’re left alone.” And everyone burst out laughing.
VanStock1992
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I was overheard by a deaf woman while I was talking about how sheep are essentially the larval form of sweaters. I caught her when she started laughing while sitting alone at the table next to us.
ImaColombianHippo
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“I hit him and I drove off” is what I heard followed by the guy having a minor cringe face, then saying “it’s alright”.
My best guess is that he was her boyfriend and he had to support her OR he wanted to be her boyfriend. Judging by his attitude and nervousness while she cried, I’d guess he was single.
Yakalot
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I was at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert years ago in the second row. The show was at a resort in California, so there was a hotel adjacent to the Amphitheater. At the end of the show, I noticed the guitarist mouthing words to some girls in the front row. “Room 404! Room 404!!” I figured he was inviting them back to their room for a few after show drinks.
On the way back to our room, we walked by 404 and sure enough the door was wide open with some band members inside. Eventually got to meet the whole band and hang out with the lead singer for a bit. It was a pretty good night!
goincd3
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Amazing what can be “heard” in Starbucks. I think of several examples of lesbians talking about their former boyfriends before they “turned” (to use their word).
Back2Bach
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I am deaf, and I don’t sign – I’m 100% speaking/lipreading. At one of my previous jobs, the VP of my division was often late for and/or missed meetings, much to my manager’s chagrin. On one instance, my manager decided to stop waiting for him and start the meeting without him. My manager: “OK, so David is at a sweat lodge.”
I mis-lipread that as “David sweats a lot.” My manager: “Have you guys ever done that?” Me: “Umm, no, I wear deodorant.” – silence around the conference room – Finally a co-worker figured out what happened and said, “Oh no, she said ‘sweat lodge,’ not ‘sweats a lot!'”
chronicexpat
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