‘Is there something you heard/saw/read once that now lives rent-free in your head?’ – 21 annoyingly unforgettable experiences

The human brain is a strange thing, capable of everything from figuring out quantum mechanics to telling your body how to do a handspring double front flip in gymnastics. But it’s also able to do more annoying feats too, like never let you forget the most useless of things.

Over on the AskUK subreddit, OpenCantaloupe4790 posted this anecdote about the mind’s capacity to retain weird memories…

‘Is there something you heard/saw/read once that now lives rent-free in your head?’

And they kicked off with a tale of their own.

‘One time 20 years ago, ‘Dr’ Gillian McKeith, during the peak of You Are What You Eat, was on Big Brother commenting on the housemates’ diet and she said these girls were eating too much toast and all that white bread would make them tired and f*** up their digestion or something terrible.

‘Now don’t get me wrong, we all know white bread isn’t the height of nutrition but what bothers me more is I can’t make white toast without thinking of Gillian McKeith. Therapists talk about the inner critical parent, I have an inner critical Gillian McKeith.

‘Is there anything for you that you only heard or saw once but now can’t get rid of?’

And lots of people chimed in with their own examples, like these…

1.

”A second now is a minute later’. Every time I’m lazy and decide not to put a something properly away immediately, or not clean the dish I’ve just used that sentence relays in my head the second I begin to step away. My house has been pretty spotless since I first learnt this at 22 though.’
–PepsiMaxSumo

2.

‘I can’t open a plastic takeaway box of spring rolls without thinking of Ms Gillian Keith storing human poop samples in similar tupperware.’
–LittleSadRufus

3.

‘Whenever I get printing and it’s still warm, I always hear Mark Corrigan’s voice saying ‘Mmm, warm copies make everything better’.’
–InkedDoll1

4.

‘Every time I get dressed in the morning I hear him saying ‘Socks before or after trousers, but never socks before pants. Makes a man look scary… Like a chicken.”
–Sigh_Bapanaada

5.

‘I read somewhere that the majority of accidental deaths at home take place in the bathroom. I think about this every single time I am getting out the shower. Every single night I very gingerly place my feet on the mat and think about this.’
–changhyun

6.

‘Any time I have an interaction with a gas man, Rik Mayall is in my head screaming ‘GAS MAN! IT’S THE GGAAASS MMMANN!’ RIP Legend.’
–Rainbvw

7.

”The Standard You Walk Past Is The Standard You Accept.’ It’s a phrase I came across when researching a safety presentation at work. It’s originally from an Australian Army officer about harassment in the forces.

‘I work in engineering and it’s become a mantra for me for setting high standards to myself and my team.’
–ginbandit

8.

‘Nikki Grahame: WHO IS SHE??’
–WildWinterberry

9.

‘Recently I can’t say ‘That’ll do’ without adding ‘pig’. Dang Babe movie.’
–BluelunarStar

10.

‘Whenever I butter bread or toast, I think of a quote from Shameless where she says ‘The only useful thing my dad ever taught me was if you butter into the corners, the rest will take care of itself’. Although I tried to find that in the show, and couldn’t. So now I’m wondering if I made it up.

‘But every. Time. I. Make. Toast. It’s there in my head.’
–fitzct

11.

‘I swear to god there was a Neighbours episode where two older characters were talking about what they’d wear later and she says something like ‘blue and green should never be seen, unless there’s something in between’. Utterly fucking useless but its been in my head for 25 years.’
–voluotuousaardvark

12.

‘There’s a scene in Miranda where she’s trying to rebook a delivery via an automated phone system and it will not pick up what she’s saying. I cannot now say the word ‘Tuesday’ without hearing her voice in my head… ‘Ti-yooos-day’.’
–HighlandsBen