‘What tiny detail instantly gave away someone’s whole personality?’ – 23 little things that made big reveals

When we meet new people, it tends to be the big things we remember, both good and bad, like a particularly hearty laugh or a tendency to fly off the handle. However, there are some little things that people do which are bigger tells than you’d expect.

Over on the AskReddit page, user Far_Handle8 posed this question:

What tiny detail instantly gave away someone’s whole personality?

And folk were queuing up to list the ways in which you can suss someone out from the subtlest of clues…

1.

‘Borrowing things (e.g. a book) from me and returning them damaged with no apology.’
–National_Bluebird461

2.

‘An ex room mate threw our trash on the side of the road rather than take the five min drive. When I got mad he said ‘It’s ok. I made sure no mail with our address was in it’. I told him the fact he thought THAT was why I was mad about told me all I needed to know about him.’
–Apollysis

3.

‘Constantly interrupting and one upping. That’s a whole ass personality to avoid!’
–burnedimage

4.

‘When people don’t clap for you. I went to bingo with a friend and I won £100. Not life changing. But she was furious with me for the rest of the night. Saying I’m always lucky and she isn’t, banging the table and driving erratically on the way home. Really opened my eyes to what kind of person she is.’
–BeeMovie17

5.

‘I almost universally have never liked an man who had a pinky ring. It’s usually some detail they want you to notice about them even if they don’t talk about it.’
–Saneless

6.

‘Someone taking the box of crackers out of your hand to read the nutritional facts on the side, hand it back to you, and say ‘You really shouldn’t eat those’.’
–Emergency_Cobbler287

7.

‘Whether they say ‘thank you’ for literally everything. It’s such a tiny thing, but it says a lot about their mindset.’
–Vegetable-Barber3603

8.

‘A person who is polite and respectful to a waiter, taxi driver, or cleaning lady is a person with genuine, deep empathy and self-confidence. Someone who displays arrogance or disdain is often insecure and needs to assert themselves at the expense of others.’
–JessKessYan

9.

‘When someone says something utterly racist or mean, and then tries to brush it off by saying ‘That’s just my opinion’ or ‘No offence, but…’ etc. Old school advice: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.’
–Cauliflower_Mean

10.

‘When they smell bad. Depending on the scent it could give you a glimpse into their lifestyle.’
–srod20

11.

‘When they say ‘people can’t take a joke anymore’, It’s a dog whistle telling me they want to say offensive jokes/comments with no repercussions.’
–Lazy_Pressure_3782

12.

‘When they talk over everyone like they’re the main character… instant nope.’
–Pm_me_d4_k1ttys