Sometimes, there is a failure to communicate, either between two people or between one person and their own brain. In either case, the resulting misunderstanding is often too hilarious for words.

Every once in a while, there is a misunderstanding so complete and baffling that you can't do anything but laugh at how ridiculous it is. These are those misunderstandings. 

From cake message errors to engraving mistakes to incidents involving the police and an umbrella that looked suspiciously like a human beings, these stories will make you giggle, facepalm, and be a little less embarrassed about all the stupid crap you do. 

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Mariah Carey vs. Marie Curie

Look, both women have contributed invaluable things to our society, so I don't fault this woman's coworkers for getting it wrong. It's easy to mix the two of them up! 

Marie Curie has multiple Nobel Prizes; Mariah Carey has multiple Grammys. Marie Curie pioneered research on radioactivity; Mariah Carey was responsible for a lot of radio activity throughout the '90s (FM radio, that is). Even Mariah Carey herself is aware of the similarities.

Something tells me that even if Mariah Carey had passed remedial math, she wouldn't have necessarily become the next Marie Curie. But that is neither here nor there. The point is that both woman are just as worthy as being celebrated. 

They both deserve to be on a cake, even if Marie Curie's facial expression doesn't quite scream, "Have a fabulous birthday, boo!" the way Mariah Carey's might if she was on it.

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Purse dog

I love this so much. Yes, that purse looks like a little sleeping dachshund. But my favorite thing about this is that Hannah's mom thought the purse was a dog for so long that she actually got to the point of telling other people to look at it because it was so cute. Did she think the strap hanging off the side was its leg? And I suppose the little flap at the edge was its ear? But like, where's the dog's head, Hannah's mom?

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Handmaid umbrella

Poor Casey was so distressed because that umbrella really did look like a person dressed in the costume from The Handmaid's Tale standing at the edge of that building's roof. I'm glad she called the police! I'm also glad that the police took the call seriously, went up to the roof to investigate, and then took a photo of the police officer rescuing the umbrella from the top of the building. 

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Graduation cat

How I imagine this cake request went down: Laura's mom: "Please write 'Congratulations Laura!,' put her picture on the cake, and draw a cap on her head." Baker: "You want me to draw a cat on top of her head for her graduation cake?" Poor Laura's mom: "Yes, exactly, a cap." Baker: "A cat?" Laura's mom: "Yes, a cap." Baker: "OK, cat it is!" Laura's mom: "Great! Looking forward to seeing that cap." Baker: "Yes, can't wait to show you the cat." Laura's mom: "Well, this went perfectly."

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CUTE

This is several levels of hilarious and devastating. First of all, why would Jessica think her previous message warranted a "CUTE"? Nothing about that message is flirty or cheeky or anything! But on the other hand, why did Sam choose that as his billing PIN?! She probably usually gets a combo of numbers and letters and not PINs that actually spell out words. And then, I'm sorry, but Sam's "what, that's the pin" is heartless. Everyone's a mess in this one.

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Youth in Asia

I can't even breathe, this one made me laugh so hard. Like, what class is this for? What were they studying? How does it make sense for him to confuse the word "euthanasia" with the phrase "youth in Asia" and do an entire project on it without realizing it's completely the wrong subject? I also want to know how they found out. I hope they realized their mistake before they had to present it in front of the class.

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Supportive boyfriend

Awwww, look at this cute, clueless boyfriend. He is so sweet. It's very nice that he's going to pick up concealer for his girlfriend, but he is also so so dumb for not understanding what it means to put it on his hand so she can see the color. Men are adorable. I feel like any man who grew up with a woman who took him shopping or even just entered a CVS where there were women shopping for makeup should understand.

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Mommy the pole dancer

This is the best drawing I have ever seen that looks like something completely different than what it is actually trying to depict. That's not a pole! That's a shovel! Those aren't strip club tippers! Those are people with snowy driveways trying to get the last shovel at Home Depot! But also, so what if this mother is an exotic dancer! I hope the teacher didn't shame the mom into giving an explanation because that's not cool either!

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Laundry juice

Oh. Oh no. That is not laundry detergent, even though it looks just like it. That is a gallon of Minute Maid fruit punch. Yeah... That's going to leave a stain. Hey, at least the clothes are already in the washing machine, right? At least now all you have to do is absolutely douse them in actual detergent and run the washer oh, I don't know...three or four times to get the fruit punch stains out. No biggie.

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No engravement

You see, what I think happened here is that this person probably ordered the iPod online, and in the section where it was like, "What would like engraved on the back?" instead of just leaving it blank, they wrote, "No, thanks. I don't want my iPod engraved." And now, this is what they have. Honestly, this is a great story and I would 100 percent keep this engraved iPod and show everyone I came across.

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Surprise name

This one legit made me cackle out loud. Why would someone want to be surprised with the name that goes on their cake?! If I said, "What would you like for the name?" and someone said, "Surprise me," my first thought wouldn't be, "Well, OK, guess I'll just pick a name then! Steve it is!" I'd probably be pretty confused, so I would ask for clarification. "You sure you want me to pick any name?" That's when they'd be like, "Oh, I thought you said color. No, his name is Nick."

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Chips and cheese

Well, sure, this plate is a complete abomination. I don't think anyone is picturing this when they ask for "chips and cheese." At the very, very least, the cheese should be melted. But even then, it might not do the trick. If I was this guy, I would save my cheese fries orders for ballparks or burger joints or other restaurants where it is specifically on the menu and they know what they're doing. 

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Wrong person

What! What and a half! I don't understand. How is this stock picture of oranges a warning to anyone? And how did this person send that warning to the wrong person in their Twitter DMs? Clearly, I have many questions about this. Either the person it was meant for is highly allergic to oranges, hates oranges with a passion, or it was some kind of dumb joke that no one else would understand. Don't you hate when you're on the outside of an inside joke? That's what this feels like.

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USB picture

When they gave this USB stick to the bakery, I think they believed that the bakery would plug the USB stick into a computer and use the picture file on that USB stick. They didn't think they'd have to explain this. But instead, the bakery took a picture of the USB stick itself and put it on the cake. Good thing these people are bakers and not, like, nuclear scientists because this level of misunderstanding would not be cool in several professional areas.