Redditor u/TheWolfRevenge once posed an intriguing question to identical twins on Reddit: "What's the most awkward thing that has happened to you because someone thought you were your sibling?"
Identical twins and Reddit users shared moments when people have gotten them mixed up. Many stories turned out to be hilarious, while others are seriously...well...awkward.
Here are some of the top voted responses:
1. This decade-long secret:
"My parents were at a dinner party in 2000, and it came up in conversation that my dad has a twin. One of the couples at the dinner party looked at each other in absolute shock, and the husband asked, 'Was it possible that your twin was at Expo '86?' Turns out, this couple thought they had seen my dad cheating on my mom at Expo '86, but it was actually my uncle there canoodling with my aunt. They debated whether to mention it to my mom for over a decade. My dad always says he was wondering [why] that couple was a bit standoffish with him. My parents have been married for almost 40 years. We still laugh about it."
2. This sly matchmaker:
"One day I went into a Starbucks, and the barista smiles at me and says, 'Oh, didn't I see you on the trail the other day? You had the cutest dog!'
I don't have a dog...but my twin brother does. So even though I'm quite happily married, I flirted with her for a few minutes and just gave her my brother's number."
3. This oblivious brother-in-law:
"I'm an identical twin and one time, I slept over at [my twin's] house. There was only one bed, so her husband let me sleep in the bed with my twin, and he took the couch. The next morning, he heard the shower go on and thought I had gone in there (it was my twin). Then, he climbed into bed behind me and put his arm around my waist. He softly said, 'Hey,' in my ear, and I turned to look at him and said, 'Hey, baby, looking for a little variety?' as a joke. He LEAPED out of bed and said, 'If I were looking for variety, do you think I would choose you???' It was awesome."
4. This science class freak-out:
"My twin and I went to separate schools in seventh grade. Midway through the year, I transferred over to my twin's school. The day before I started, my twin fell down in science class, hit their head, and ended up going home. I started school the next day and had the same science teacher. I go to the front of the class (because I'm new) to introduce myself. The teacher's eyes got really wide. He starts freaking out and telling me that I'm Ash (my twin's name). [Turns out], my twin told NO ONE at their school that they had an identical twin. The teacher thought I was Ash with a head injury."
5. This double life:
"My dad is an identical twin. Both [my dad and uncle] have a wife and two kids, and they both frequent a restaurant with the family. Every time we go to that restaurant, the staff point and whisper. Dad tells us it's because they think he and his twin are the same guy — with two families who don’t know about each other — and just brings both of his families to the same place."
6. This eventual realization:
"I visited my twin at another college and was sleeping at his place when some random girl crawled into bed with me. She didn't believe me when I insisted that I wasn't him, so we stayed until he got home from the bar. I'll never forget watching the sinking realization on her face."
7. This "cheating" partner:
"I had a steady boyfriend for years, and he would often get messages from people (sometimes pictures or videos) about my sister making out with someone else or holding hands with someone else, and they thought it was me. Shook TF out of him at first, but we laughed about it eventually."
8. This drive-thru surprise:
"Not so much awkward for me but for the poor girl working the drive-thru. I own fast-food restaurants, and one day my brother, who is not in the business, decided to come visit a few stores with me. Once we arrived, I had the bright idea of going inside and having my brother go through the drive-thru. The girl at the window immediately gets surprised when he pulls up, and she turned really fast and looked at me then him. She was literally stuck...frozen, with this weird look on her face for a few seconds. She then turns to him and tries to mumble a sentence and then turns to me, trying to say he looks like me. But it’s coming out all wrong because her mind was too boggled, I guess. I immediately told her it was my twin brother because I thought she was having a stroke. She took a deep breath and then started laughing. I don't think I’ll ever do that again."
9. This furious teacher:
"In high school, one of my twin brother's teachers said hello to me and tried to grab my arm to speak to me about something probably class-related. I didn't know who she was, as I had never taken her class, so I walked off quickly, kind of weirded out.
Later, she berated my brother in class in front of everyone for being so rude to her. He told her it was probably his twin brother and she didn't believe him. Everyone else in the class told her that he did have a twin brother, to corroborate his claim, but she refused to believe any of them."
—[deleted user]
10. This ghoster:
"I was walking to my car one day after classes in college, when this girl comes marching up to me angry as all hell and asks why I didn't call her back after 'our wonderful night together.' Turns out, her and my twin had a one-night stand, and he ghosted her afterward."
11. These class troublemakers:
"Me and my twin, being young and dumb, decided to switch classes at school one day when we were in year two. About 15 minutes into class, we both realized that since this wasn't our class, we could act up a bit (because the other would be punished, not us), which resulted in us both getting lunchtime detention and the awkward conversation with our teachers about why we were acting up."
12. This awkward kiss:
"I dated a girl with a twin sister, and the only way to tell them apart was that my girlfriend had a freckle under her right eye and her sister had one under the left. I came home from work one morning and my girlfriend was doing the dishes, so I slid up behind her and started kissing her neck. She turned to look at me and wouldn't you believe it — the freckle was on the wrong side. My girlfriend's sister had come to visit and nobody bothered to tell me.
After the initial shock wore off, I started apologizing. They found it extremely funny — it wasn't the first time. And I'm sure after things ended between us, it happened to someone else lol. I'm still friends with both sisters and they bring it up every time we get a chance to meet up."
13. This angry customer:
"My brother and I worked together for about four years in retail. ... The most awkward thing I can recall that happened was I got yelled at by a customer (I ran register and he ran the floor) for something my brother did. The customer laid into me, and I watched my brother appear from around a corner and he asked the customer to lay off me and he'd help her. The customer profusely apologized before following him. All in all, working with my twin was a lot of fun."
14. This clueless boss:
"I had my boss get mad at me one time because I called out of my shift one night when I was really sick. He left work before the dinner rush and got some food at a different restaurant — where my twin brother works. My brother told me that my boss went up to him and said something along the lines of: 'Why did you feel the need to make up that you were sick, just to go work at a second job? I’m not sure if I want someone who will lie to me to work for me.' Needless to say, he didn’t believe my brother when he tried explaining that he is my twin. Most of my other coworkers have met my brother and backed me up when my boss was talking about it the next day."
15. This acceptance letter:
"I got an acceptance letter for a college I never applied to. My high school sent the college my transcript instead of my brother's, so I got a letter with my name and his choice of major. At the time it was a huge pain [to sort out], but it's funny now."
16. This very unfortunate mix-up:
"My parents have a friend who is an identical twin. Several years ago, he and his wife were in the process of adopting two children through a private agency. Things were going well and the adoption date was set, but about two weeks before it was supposed to be finalized, the couple got a phone call from the agency stating there was a problem. One of the people working on their case claimed they had seen the husband out with another woman and the agency would not adopt the kids into an unstable home. Turns out, the husband’s twin and sister-in-law had been in town visiting, happened to go shopping, and he'd been seen kissing his wife. The agency knew the guy had a brother, but not that he was a twin. He and his wife had to go into the agency with my parents' friends to prove they weren’t lying."
17. And this unexpected twist:
"I have one with a twist. My brother and I are two years apart and resemble each other vaguely. We moved towns and after few years, I was visiting my old town. Went to a store and the owner greeted me with some slangs that should be used only with friends. I was shocked and he realized his mistake. He apologized profusely and told me how he was a close buddy of my brother.
After a year or so, I saw him at a railway station. Jokingly, I shouted the same slangs to greet him. A WTF was written all over his face. I thought he forgot about our exchange and tried to remind him. He refused to know my brother. I apologized and moved on.
Some time later, I mentioned this my brother who said, 'He has an identical twin.'"
Identical twins, what awkward stories do YOU have from when someone thought you were your sibling? Let us know in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.