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As the saying goes, "You have to kiss a few frogs..."

Dating has certainly evolved over the years—we’ve gone from courtship being purely a financial arrangement (not that this trend has ever truly died) to knights jousting for a lady’s favor, to casual hookups, to now, when romance is primarily found through an app more than anything else.

Technology used for meeting that special someone has become so advanced that you can base your search entirely upon specific interests. Like, oddly specific interests. Think a fellow cat person would be the purrfect match? There’s an app for that. Wish to “love long and prosper” with a fellow Trekkie? There’s an app for that too.

No matter the changes, one thing remains the same—dating is awkward. It’s got all the unspoken formalities of a job interview, disguised as innocent fun. The balance between playing it too cool and too eager is hard to find even for the smoothest among us, and usually results in total embarrassment. Even if we aren’t the ones committing those embarrassing acts ourselves, we are often the reluctant witness to them.

Terrible dates might not always be fun in the moment, but they can be just as important as the good ones. They can teach us a lot about ourselves and what qualities we want in a partner. And at the very least, they can teach us to embrace social clumsiness with a sense of humor.

Jimmy Fallon recently asked his Tonight Show audience on X (formerly Twitter) to share a “funny or embarrassing first date story” for his ever popular #Hashtags segment. The best part—some of these awful first dates ended in marriage. There’s hope for us all.

Below, find 15 stories that are truly the best of the worst. How do some of your first dates compare?

1. "After a nice dinner, she invited me to her house. On the way up, inside the elevator, I decided to push the button to stop between floors and give her a kiss... She had a phobia of closed spaces and she smacked my face as a reflex, two punches after we were kissing and laughing.” – @PanqueAlgarvio

2. “His jeans were so tight he couldn’t sit down. Stood at a bar stool the whole time.” – @onlyintheozarks

3. “Waiting 4 my date when an older couple asked me for a ride. my date came up and said sure! We drove them home & they asked us to come in. Date said “sure”. I pulled him back & asked why he wanted to hang w/strangers. He said ‘sh@t! YOU DON'T KNOW THEM!?’ We bolted!” – @natashaham75

Gif of Seinfeld

Talk about a fashion faux pas.

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4. “Before the date, we had been chatting about books we liked and I talked about a great book I just read. We went on the date. I loaned her the book. She ghosted me.” – @thenextbarstool

5. “The worst first date I ever had was when my date locked his keys in the car and I had a curfew so he had to break his car window out to get me home on time. Didn’t think I’d ever see him again but we wound up married.” – @csleblan

6. “First date movie ‘Basic Instinct’ not realizing how suggestive it was. We just thought it was a mystery thriller! We left the movie discussing how each character could have actually murdered someone. We're married now.” – @Southrnbell_Amy

Gif of woman in white dress smoking a cigarette

There are worse first date movies tbh.

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7. “First date with my ex husband was a double date with his parents. The preview for ‘Speed Racer’ came on, and she leaned over me to say to her son, ‘You know what your dad's nickname in the bedroom is?’" – @theostoria

8. “A friend asked me on a double date as a blind date with his date's friend. I went to the bathroom and came back just in time to hear my date say to her friend, ‘why do I get the ugly one?’ I said good night to all three and headed home, leaving her w/the bill.” – @StevenTrustum

9. “He loved cheese. I was subjected to a 2 hour conversation/lecture about cheese, and why cottage cheese is not cheese!” – @Optimist_Eeyore

Gif of man with words, "I eat all of the cheese"

I'd like to see this two-hour cheese lecture.

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10. “He took me to an Asian fish market. We walked around looking at live & dead fish for a while. I don’t like seeing dead animals & I don’t eat seafood. Then we sat on a curb & he pulled out a ziplock bag of pineapple for us to share. I don’t like pineapple.” – @markayhali

11. “My cousin set up a first date for me with a family friend. During a break from dinner, Mr. Man follows me into the ladies’ room, comes up close and says in a low voice, ‘I shave my butt.’ Can’t remember what I said in response but the evening ended abruptly.” – @carli_zarzana

12. “I once took out my high school crush to a sports bar and ordered the spiciest wings there in an attempt to impress her. Not only was she not impressed. The next morning I woke up with heartburn.” –@Dmonster38

Gif of Millie Bobby brown on Hot Ones

Talk about a hot date.

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13. “My date showed up with his bestie and girlfriend, and they talked through dinner about people I don’t know. Walking to the car, he gave me a wedgie because he thought he hadn’t been paying enough attention to me.” – @surrealDazey


14. “I was taking my date home and was pulled over by the police for speeding. When the cop came to my car, she jumped out and told him she had to get home. She walked home and I never heard from her again. I'm not sure who's #WorstFirstDate it was mine or hers!” – @eastriverbear

15. “After an evening of dancing with a first date, leaving the dance hall, I had to take a quick pee break. Rushing out to the parking lot, I see a lady, I grab her and swoop her around, and plant a big wet kiss on the lips. She was another guy's wife. Oops!” – @seadogskamore

Gif of the Addams Family

Only Gomez could have gotten away with it.

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This article originally appeared three years ago.

3-year-old demands her mom help to find her a husband

Kids listen to everything parents say, even when their parents aren't talking to them. You don't have to be a parent to witness or experience this adorable and sometimes hilarious parroting. A toddler repeating a swear word in their tiny baby voice will almost always fill a room with laughter and a little embarrassment for the parent.

It's how kids learn about the world around them because parents are their first teachers even when they're not attempting to be. But there are some things that you don't quite expect kids to pick up on until a little later in life so it may catch you a little off guard. Tasha Mahachi, a mom of a 3-year-old little girl, Sanaa, found herself slightly confused when her daughter exclaimed that she needed a husband. No, she wasn't saying the mom needs a husband, she already has one.

Sanaa declared that she wanted her own husband after overhearing Mahachi refer to the little girl's dad as her husband while speaking to someone else. Explaining why a 3-year-old can't have a husband to an emotional small child desperate for a husband–a pink husband to be specific.

flying pink man GIFGiphy

Mahachi shared the adorable interaction on her social media page where it racked up over 246K views. In the video, Sanaa is seen stamping her foot, clearly a bit annoyed on repeating the question. Her frustration grows after her mom breaks the news that the little girl doesn't have a husband.

"I want a husband," Sanaa whines while stomping her feet before Mahachi asks what kind of husband the preschooler wants. That's when she reveals the difficult order, "pink." Yes, Sanaa wants a pink husband. It's really not too much to ask when you think about it...when you're three. But the problem really comes into play once Sanaa stops having a small tantrum long enough for Mahachi to inform her that if she wants a husband she will have to go find one outside.

Sol Solana GIF by Bill the BearGiphy

"I not going outside," she says while pleading her case, "it's dark."

Not going outside would be a bit of a barrier to finding a husband and you can see the little wheels turning in Sanaa's head as she works out how she will collect a pink husband. So, she does what any three year old would do who wants to go outside, she asks her mom to come with her. Again she's thwarted when Mahachi breaks the news that moms and dads don't go outside to help find husbands. The pair have reached an impasse. Viewers couldn't get enough of the amusing interaction and some could relate to the girl's dilemma.


@tashamahachi She heard me calling her dad my husband and suddenly she’s desperate to get herself one too😂 #toddlersbelike #toddlerconversations #sanaaandmummy ♬ original sound - Tasha

"Ma’am go on Amazon and order her a pink husband right neowww," someone jokes.

"We can all relate. To wanting a husband, to not wanting to go outside to find him, to being scared, oh baby we get it," another laughs.

"This is what a convo between me and God sound like praying for a husband meanwhile I’m scared to meet new people, I don’t go out and i always take my best friend everywhere," one person confesses.

Looking Rachel Lindsay GIF by The BacheloretteGiphy

"I’ve never related more to a toddler. Cuz sis I’m also scared & do not want to go outside & also want a husband RN [right now]," another commenter chimes in.

"It's okay kiddo. I don't want to leave the house to find one by myself either. It's scary," someone else proclaims.

Well, Sanaa, it seems like you're not alone. Plenty of people want a husband to find them without ever having to leave the house to interact with others. Maybe ordering a pink husband online doesn't sound so silly after all.

@grandadjoe1933/TikTok

Ah, biscuits and gravy. the food version of "never judge a book by it's cover."

If you haven’t stumbled across Grandad Joe (@grandadjoe1933) on TikTok yet, you’re in for a treat. The charming 91-year-old, who lives with his daughter Sasha in the UK, delights over 6 million followers with his infectious joy and enthusiasm—particularly when Sahsa cooks him special meals. Recently, by “popular request,” Joe got to introduce his taste buds to that deceptively delicious Southern staple: biscuits and gravy.

“Guess what I got for you” Sasha can be heard sing-songing in the clip as she brings a smiling Joe a plate with with a heaping helping of the exotic cuisine.

“It’s from the South, sort of down Texas way, I think. Maybe Alabama,” she explains as Joe readies his napkin.

As she places the plate down, Joe wonders if the biscuits are scones. Which is a fair assumption, since, as we know biscuits in the UK are actually cookies. Whereas scones, while still semi-sweet, appear more like American biscuits.

Of course, Sasha does admit that she did make scones, since “you can’t really get the American biscuits, I don’t think. But I think they’re pretty similar.”

But that hardly seems a problem, judging by the ecstatic look on Joe’s face when Sasha tells him that the gravy includes sausage.

All in all, the video just hits a sweet spot between witnessing an elder display child-like joy, wholesome family bonding, and appreciation of good food. What’s not to like?

Feast your eyes below:

@grandadjoe1933 Here is Grandad Joe reacting to the highly requested American meal of Biscuits and Gravy! Thank you to everyone that recommended it, he absolutely loved it . Please recommend some more recipes for him to try 🙏 #bisuitsandgravy #grandadjoe #americanfood #dadanddaughter ♬ original sound - Grandadjoe

Needless to say, Joe liked his meal, and his tasting video inspired a few bona fide Southerners to chime in.

“As a southerner (eastern nc) that has introduced this meal to many, I am so happy that grandad Joe likes it so much! ❤️,” one viewer wrote on Reddit.

“This is so funny to me, because I grew up in the south and ate this, as well as, fried chicken biscuit sandwiches for breakfast every morning growing up 😆” another added.

Others felt compelled to share their own personal love for the dish.

“Biscuits and gravy is one of the tastiest and easiest ‘impressive’ comfort foods to make for people. I love making it for people and I love seeing how much they enjoy it. Not great for you, but worth the few extra miles you have to run the next day every time,” one person shared.

“It's one of my fav breakfast foods!!! My lovely wife makes it all the time. She adds a little bit of cayenne pepper to spruce it up just a bit. I'm drooling just thinking about it.” wrote another.

And others still simply shared their love of sweet Grandad Joe. I think this commenter sums up what we’re all feeling:

“May we all live with this much glee and wonder in our everyday lives.”

And by the way, if you’re jonesing to watch more endearing videos of Brits trying American foods, click here , here and here. Bon apetit.


This article originally appeared last year.

Jimmy Fallon of the Tonight Show.

High school is a perfect breeding ground for weirdness. First of all, you have a bunch of teenagers who are starting to deal with adult problems but they don’t have the experience or the brain development to figure out how to navigate complex feelings and relationships.

Then you add sex, drugs, learner’s permits, the stress of trying to get into college and really bad facial hair to the situation and you have all the ingredients for people and situations to go completely sideways.

Then there are the teachers. High school teachers tend to be a bit more eccentric than those in the younger grades because they are hired as specialists in a given field, such as history, math, or science. Teachers of younger grades, on the other hand, tend to have a more nurturing, holistic approach to child development.

Also, hindsight makes a lot of things that seemed normal at the time begin to seem a bit strange. As we get older and have a firm grasp on the realities of being an adult, there are some things that we can’t believe we lived through as teenagers in high school.

When I was in high school we had a drama teacher that sat in the gym and chain-smoked while we rehearsed the play and we didn’t think anything of it. I’m pretty sure my home economics teacher hit the cooking sherry during lunchtime, and we got a day off from school due to the L.A. riots in 1992.

Everyone dealt with some amount of weirdness while they were in high school, so Jimmy Fallon asked his Tonight Show audience to share their stories with the hashtag #MyHighSchoolWasWeird and he read some of his favorites on his show.

We took a look at the hashtag and picked some of the responses we liked the most. Here are 19 of them.

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If you look back at how you acted, dressed, and behaved in high school and have a little bit of shame, that’s probably a good thing. If you cringe a little when you think about your former self, that shows that you’ve grown as a person.

But wouldn’t it be great if you could go back to high school knowing what you know now? How much easier would it be to approach that special person you wanted to ask to the dance but couldn’t muster up the courage? How much more would you appreciate those carefree days when all you had to worry about was a bio test or who had a crush on whom in homeroom?

Personally, if I went back to high school I’d have a lot more appreciation for my teachers knowing just how hard of a job they have. Now that I’m an adult I have a lot more sympathy for what we put them through and I can totally understand why teaching at a high school can turn someone a little weird.

Here's Jimmy Fallon reading off some of his responses to #MyHighSchoolWasWeird.


This article originally appeared three years ago.