Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic what twins always hear.....

I was clearing up my hard disk and I found a file that I thought I'd share. I'm not sure if you will find it funny though. As far as I can tell, meclone2 and I are the only pair of real twins here. We hope you won't think us self-centred for this. :p

It's basically a list of the more common things we've heard in our 20 years (thus far) of being twins. We decided one day to compile them. Trust us, if you've ever met twins in your RLs, you would have said at least 4 or 5 statements to them.

Take our reactions to these statements with a pinch of salt. They were meant to be tongue-in-cheek, not to offend anybody. And for the record, we don't really mind hearing these questions again and again when we meet new people. Put it this way, we get really excited when we hear an original statement; we can add to this list.

1. Are you twins?
We once found it exasperating that people liked asking the obvious, but friends have pointed out that some siblings look alike but aren’t twins, so …

2. Where’s your twin?
Perhaps twins without telepathic abilities (such as the both of us) should invest in GPS technology.

3. Where’s your other half?
A supposedly more creative version of Number 2, but we have visions of missing limbs and decapitated torsos when we hear this.

4. Are you the older one or the younger one?

5. I’m seeing double.
This is very common, and the speaker usually means to be witty, but this is really overdone. The next time you see a pair of twins; do them and yourselves a favour. DON’T say this.

6. It’s like there is a mirror between the 2 of you.
Read comments for Number 5.

7. Are you __________ or ___________?

8. Are you you or your sister?
We both like this one; it’s really strange.

9. Are you the sister?
A Singlish version of Number eight.

10. Can you read each other’s mind?
No. We’re still debating if it’s a fortunate thing or not.

11. Can your parents/sister tell the both of you apart? For the record, we look completely different to them.

12. Are you in the same class?
Some years yes, other years no. It’s rather obvious that some people get disappointed when we say “no”, because they can’t ask Numbers 13 & 14.

13. Do teachers get you all confused?

14. Can your classmates tell you two apart?

15. Are you two going to the same university…doing the same course? This one we started hearing in JC (equivalent to high school), but it’s been asked at an alarming frequency now. We expect to continue hearing it until we finish university.

16. You look really alike.

17. You don’t look too alike. You don’t look alike at all.
Numbers 16 and 17 are a delightful set of contradicting statements. That’s why we never quite know how to react when we hear either of them.

18. Hey, you are taller/ shorter/ fatter/ skinnier/ other-comparative-adjectives than her.
Comparison; a popular human pastime. What more can we say?

19. Who’s the smarter/more intelligent/cleverer one?
This is really sensitive. If it’s awkward to ask this of ordinary siblings, it’s worse for twins, who are compared in every aspect of their lives, not just in the academics.

20. Your sister is sitting there, why don’t you sit with her?
Because we’re not conjoined?

21. Are you the right one?
So maybe I’m the wrong one? Sigh.

22. Twins! So cute!
This one we heard a lot when we were younger. Perhaps twins cease to be cute once they've grown up.

23. Why are/aren’t you both dressing the same?
Whatever we do, we won’t win either way.

24. Do you quarrel/fight often?
Correct us if we’re wrong, but don’t non-twin siblings fight often too?

25. How do I differentiate between the two of you?
We don’t know the answer to that, because we know who we are. All the time. Perhaps other people don’t always do? Seriously, the people who can best answer this question are the people around us who CAN tell us apart. We hear new observations every year; it’s really quite interesting.

26. If I hit her, can you feel it?
Duh. Enough said.

27. What is it like being a twin?
We’re not trying to be funny here, but seriously, what is it like NOT being a twin?

28. Have you ever swapped places, trick your friends?
As if we’ve got nothing better to do. It’s all The Parent Trap’s fault, all those stereotypes. Ironically, we actually do like the movie.

29. You know, you guys can change places during exams or something.
We’ve never managed to understand this one. It’s illogical. Think about it, you have 2 people taking the same exams at the same time. How is it advantageous to change places? Also, it’s impossible to pull this off. After one year, only the really clueless (classmates and teachers) will still not be able to tell us apart.

30. Does your sister look like you too (two)?
This one is asked when we tell people we have another sister 4 years younger than the both of us. Just in case you are interested, no she looks completely different.

What do you think? Comments are very welcomed.


metwin1

Hehe, I have a set of twins in my school, and me and my friend couldn't ever tell them part, but they (probably) got tired of this recently so one of them shaved his head.

I used to know two girls who looked incredibly alike (they were also twins), but after being in the same class for 6 years everyone could tell them apart.

Yes, non-twin siblings fight, I should know.

The "I'm seeing double" bit reminded me of a joke, though:
A man walks into a bar, and orders wine. After a while, and after a few bottles, the man is entirly wasted and turns to go home. As he turns, he notices twins standing beside him.
"I'm so drunk I'm seeing double," he says.
The twins reply, "No, we really are twins, sir."
The man looks at them and says, "What, all four of you?"

Julie

I need to show these to my mom! She's a fraternal twin, but she still gets asked some of these questions!

And my mom's family has six girls. Two sets of fraternal twins and one set of identical. They will all appreciate your responses, because they have all said similar things!

- Laura

Ah, but you guys like this one. You've mentioned it yourselves, more than once. <vbg>

LOL, cute list.

Kathy

LOL, this is cute. Poor you! At least you've tempered your frustration with humour over the years.

And Julie, thanks for the joke.

LabRat

As a nanny who specializes in caring for multiples and their siblings (on my third set of twins now - they're seven weeks old already <G>) I can definitely recognize some of this frustration. Another one we hear a lot with identical twins is "how are you sure that this one is actually the one you think it is?" First of all, because we're careful. I've know parents who use all sorts of methods when their twins are too identical for even them to tell apart - permanent marker on their heel, painting their toenails, etc. And second, just because you can't tell them apart doesn't mean we can't.

One other thing that I've had to deal with a lot is that people seem to think that they can touch twins. I have no idea where this comes from, and I thought I was imagining it until I heard a lot of other nannies/parents of multiples discussing it. Just because a child is a twin, doesn't mean you can touch them. In fact, since many multiples are premature and/or suffer from illnesses that make their immune systems weaker, please DON'T touch them.

Annie

Okay, I'm guilty for saying at least one of them, and recently, too. My grandfather was a twin (sadly, his brother died some years ago), so of course, us grandkids want to hear the stories about his childhood. I think I'm actually the one to ask if they switched places, but then, I was also looking for juicy/humorous stories. And the answer was yes.

I only saw them together a few times, and saw quite a few pictures, but I could tell them apart. Then again, I think my grandfather was a bit heavier than my uncle... or was it the other way around. Put the two side by side, and you could tell which was which. But if one left the room, then the other walked in, a lot of people would think it was the same person. I think I need to go read the document my aunt emailed out a few years ago about my grandpa's childhood, now.

As far as the test thing goes, I could see it as a good thing if you were taking separate classes. Say, if one of you was really good in math, and the other in grammar, you could swap places and take the test twice. But that's just what I've seen on tv. After all, who would want to take a test that they didn't have to take???

I know if I were to have twins, I would definitely be careful about being able to tell them apart from the beginning, but I also know that not everyone is. I have a good friend who has younger brothers who are identical twins. And she's told me that her parents were constantly mixing them up when they were babies. Apparently they had to take them back to the hospital more than once to have their footprints checked because they had no idea which one was which. (Wouldn't you think that after the first time, you'd come up with some system??) And her mother admitted later on that it eventually got to the point where she was too embarrassed to ask the doctors to check so she'd just make her best guess ... and that it was entirely possible that, at some point, she had mixed them up and the boys had been being called by the "wrong" names ever since. <g>

(Oh and incidently, they're in their 30's now and are proof of "nature vs nurture" ... the one who was a heavier smoker and drinker is now a good 1/2 inch shorter than his brother. Proof that it stunts your growth. )

Kathy

I'm glad you have found this amusing. Oh, the one about me being sure I'm really who I think I am; I've heard that one before too. My uncle asked me this a long time ago (when I was 8 or 9). I can't remember what my answer was, but I remember feeling a little, well, overwhelmed that the very escence of who I was, was being questioned. That question got me horribly confused, while I was trying to make sense of what he said. Oh well, I'm not known for my brains.

Names aside, I have met people who say things like "I can see the difference between you two, but I can never remember which name goes to whom."


metwin1

ROTFLOL!!! But, after seeing them every day, I discovered they're not all that same, after all.

No kidding. I've met siblings that look very much alike, though they're not twins. There have been many hilarious incidents (right now I'm too sleepy to tell you any) but the best one is about three kids I know. It's a family of three children, a 16 year old girl (Stella), a 15 year old boy (Christos) and a 13 year old boy (Nikos). You can tell who is who, of course but they're still REALLY much alike. Seeing the boys together is really LOLly, but even Stella is like a female version of them. I remember looking around, noticing someone at a not so far distance, and thinking: 'That creature walks like Christos, dresses like Christos, has a haircut like Christos's one... but Christos hasn't come to school today! Then, it must be Nikos.'

(Now they're famous Someone I know is going to shoot me, if he evers find out)

Post more if you find, twin
See ya,
AnnaBtG.

Err, that would be me. In my defense, I do this with people who aren't twins -- sometimes who aren't even related -- too.

Waitasec. Is that actually any better?