‘I’d cancel my order and leave’: Woman makes mortifying slip of the tongue when ordering food and now she can never eat out again

Sometimes our brains betray us and our mouths go maverick, and there’s truly nothing we can do but try not to perish from the excruciating embarrassment. Thanks to a slip of a tongue, the most innocuous everyday interaction can be transformed into the kind of car-crash-level cringe that is destined to keep you up at night for years to come. TikTok user @chobiewobie knows this feeling all too well, after an innocent order at a restaurant went very wrong.

The TikToker happened to be eating out at a place that’s apparently the sort to have quirky, idiosyncratic names for its dishes (everyone loves those places, right?) when she wanted some macaroni cheese. So when the waiter came to take her order, instead of asking for the “mac daddy and cheese,” as it was named on the menu, she instead asked her male server “can I have the mac and cheese, daddy?”

Tragically, @chobiewobie didn’t capture the immortal moment itself on film, but the fact that she’s wiping away tears in a video taken in the immediate aftermath probably tells us all we need to know.

If it makes her feel any better, at least TikTok is in agreement: she’s forgiven for her fumble given how dumb the restaurant’s name for mac n’ cheese is. “Not ur fault bc what even is Mac daddy,” someone said in the comments, while others took the chance to air their grievances over jokey dish names — grievances that it sounds like they’ve been stewing on for a long time. “Okay but I HATE when restaurants have awkward names for their items,” fumed one furious diner. “I get it from a creative/unique standpoint but like WE HAVE TO ORDER THOSE????”

Others tried to lift @chobiewobie’s spirits by sharing their own similar moments of social suicide. “One of my bosses name was Danny,” recalled one. “He handed me something once and I accidentally said “thanks daddy” instead of danny. It was the running joke of that week.” Meanwhile, one prankster of a daughter explained: “I was eating a Cowgirl Cheeseburger Soup and my mom wanted some too. I told her it was Reverse Cowgirl Soup & she went up to the counter & ordered it. My brother and I were crying.”

“I’d cancel my order and leave,” someone else quipped. We’ve all felt like fleeing and never showing our faces in public again when we’ve embarrassed ourselves, but why is that? Embarrassment actually causes such a big impression on us because it concerns so many parts of the brain. Neural studies have shown the anterior insula region of your mind, which regulates our feelings towards others (such as trust, love, or resentment) becomes active during embarrassing experiences. The anterior insula is also connected to the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center. Lastly, the medial prefrontal cortex, responsible for habit-forming and long-term memory, goes into overdrive in these moments, too. That’s why embarrassing memories stay with us for so long.

At least in this case, @chobiewobie survived. As she explains in the comments, the waiter — aka the Mac Daddy himself — couldn’t have been nicer about her squirm-inducing slip-up. “He was too sweet,” she revealed in the comments, “we just looked at each other and laughed.” Cringe crisis averted.