The women of my family have a problem with those three little words. I know we’re not alone, lots of people don’t like to say it. Maybe we don’t want to open ourselves up to criticism, maybe we don’t want to look foolish. Whatever the reason, the women in my family, myself included, can not bring ourselves to say “I don’t know.”

It’s a little alarming, the lengths to which we will go to avoid saying “I don’t know.” Deflection and diversion will work in a pinch, but our preferred method is just making shit up. And it all sounds completely plausible. We’re fairly smart, well-educated women, so when we make a series of educated guesses about something it sounds like we know what we’re talking about. This is important, because the only thing we hate more that admitting ignorance is being wrong, so we come up with explanations that we can defend if it comes out that the truth is slightly different from our version.
The scary thing, for me at least, is that I usually don’t even realize I’m doing it. I only figured it out a few years ago during a conversation where I spent five minutes talking about zoning laws. The full extent of my knowledge about zoning laws is that there is a difference between “commercial” and “residential.” And yet, when a friend wondered aloud “What does that sign mean” I explained it at length. And I was believed. When I realized what I had done, I knew I had to do something.
I’m learning to cope with my inability. I still can’t resist explaining things that I have only a passing acquaintance with, but I try to preface my statements with “I wonder if…” or “Maybe it’s…” When I slip up, I will confess that I just made that shit up. I’ve learned to recognize the signs when my mother is making shit up. There’s a certain tone of voice, a tilt of the head that gives it away when you know what to looks for. I don’t spend enough time with my aunts to know all their tells, but I think I can spot the BS about half the time. What makes it so hard is the reflexive quality to it. It’s not like we hear “I wonder what that means,” and scramble to find an answer. No, the words just fall out of our mouths like magic.
It helps that I live with a small child. When you are faced with the nineteenth “Why” in a row, or questions like “Who’s birthday is any day,” sometimes your only option is “I don’t know.” And she still thinks I’m the smartest person on the planet. The more I get used to saying the words in a judgement-free environment, the easier it is to say them in real-life situations. I can still only do it when I’m asked “Where should we go for dinner,” but it’s a start.
9 replies on “Those Three Little Words”
Wow. I don’t have this problem…but seeing how many people do, I should be careful who I believe henceforth! ;)
I actually have the opposite problem: I don’t believe anything from who I consider Typical BS Sources, so I’ll google even the most mundane things, just to make sure.
Oh I love to make stuff up to sound smart. It’s one of my talents. It comes from years of men not believing what I said (when I actually was right) just because I was a girl/woman.
Oooh, I do this, too. I should really knock it off, but I feel like my ability to extrapolate three paragraphs’ worth of stuff from one possibly-related fact is serving me really well thus far in grad school. I’ve always been the family “smart one”, so when I did admit I didn’t know as a kid, I remember my grandpa going “well, why not?”.
It is actually a useful skill to have. When my husband worked for a university it got me through many a cocktail party and when I was in school I remember bullshitting my way through a tricky essay question with something I read in a comic book.
I have been guilty of this all of my life and I’m glad I’m not alone. I have a problem saying I don’t know because I have always been “the smart one” and by admitting I don’t know everything in the world makes me feel like I’m not smart (not really but psychologically). I got issues ya’ll! All I know is, I have to stop now because my five year old son has picked up this same nasty habit.
oh yes. I do that a lot, but started to notice it a few years back so I’m trying to limit it. I can say I don’t know with certain people but some people just make me all know-it-all. and I like to feel like that so I keep it. I like to know everything dammit!
I’m totally with you on this and sometimes I have to fight the urge to make shit up, but I suppose the one advantage is being awesome at Balderdash.
It’s true, we’re scary good at Balderdash.
I am SO GOOD at Balderdash because of this!