Jimmy Fallon’s Audience Share Why They Think Their Family Is Weird

The #Hashtags challenge on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon has been a long-running segment that lets people share their experience according to the hashtag topic. In early March, Jimmy asked his followers to tweet him the funniest, weirdest, or most plain embarrassing things their family has done. As much as you want to love your family members unconditionally, they sometimes just don’t give you much reason. They embarrass you, they’re a little kooky, or they’re just plain mortifying to be around. If you’re someone who is looking to feel less alone about the crazy things that some members of your family do that make you cringe or want to run away, why not scroll down to find 40+ of the best #MyFamilyIsWeird tweets?

Disclaimer: photos in this article are for illustrative purposes only. Images and the individuals that posted them are not to be associated with the Twitter user or the tweet being discussed.

The long way

The dinner table is where some of the best family conversations and overall bonding happens. If you have a big family, you’ll know that probably half the duration of the meal is spent on passing different dishes and condiments around.

This family’s habit isn’t so much weird as it is funny. You can just tell that they’re a family full of jokers and pranksters. Imagine being a guest at dinner and just waiting forever to get your mashed potatoes.

Play dead

Isn’t playing dead a trick we teach our dogs? Well, we guess that doesn’t apply to Twitter user @shaydars’ family. Playing dead is their favorite pastime while waiting for their mom to finish grocery shopping. It’s like a really drawn-out staring contest with the passersby outside their car.

We wonder if anyone ever caught a glimpse of @shaydars and her siblings. Has anyone ever seen still, wide-eyed children in a car and thought, “Oh my God, call 911”? There needs to be a follow-up tweet to this!

Search history

Now this is an embarrassing family tradition. Search histories are easily accessible to anyone unless you’re browsing in Incognito mode. It’s just a shame that @pinkeyegus’ brother apparently does not know about Incognito mode. He just has to live with the annual embarrassment.

Imagine everyone in your family—from your parents to your grandparents to your little cousins—reading out your search history around the fire over hot chocolate. “Anaconda Nicki Minaj lyrics.” “Covid symptoms.” “How to peel an orange.” “How many nuggets are too many nuggets?”

I’ve been pancaked

Here’s a fun way to turn leftovers into a little game. Of course, it’s not sustainable at all, considering you’re stuffing perfectly good pancakes into coat pockets and shoes. But it’s always good to have an ongoing bit with the family.

We would rather be pancaked and find a piece in our coat pocket rather than our shoe. Imagine putting your foot in your shoe and feeling a squish under your sole. No, thank you! This is just a game specifically for @JulieKessler5’s family.

The boyfriend test

Different families have different ways to test their children’s new significant others. Dads might take new boyfriends to go fishing or hunting and grill them about their intentions. Moms might have new girlfriends help her cook in the kitchen. But not in @MissErinRenee’s family.

The ultimate boyfriend test in this family is to see whether or not he would buckle in the urn with their dad’s ashes in the front seat—kind of kooky behavior. But if you’re a new boyfriend trying to make a good impression on the family, of course, you would do it!

When you’ve had enough of Zoom classes

It’s been a year of working from home, classes from home, and socializing from home. Soon enough, it’s bound to take a toll. We just want to go outside and see our friends! Twitter user @juliedworley’s son is in such a mood.

He’s basically all of us when it comes to the pandemic. Nobody send another Zoom invite, or we’re going to lose it! If you think it’s hard enough working from home, try being a kid having to learn math at home! We don’t blame him if he’s frustrated.

The joke that only gets older

Older people and their cheesy jokes. They think it’s so funny that they say it over and over again, hoping it’ll elicit more of a laugh. But nope. It’s just plain bad. Such is the case with the joke from @Andwejigglelike’s aunt.

Sure, it might have been funny when she first said it. “Oh, I completely forgot it was your birthday!” and everyone would have laughed. But it’s been years now! It got real stale from the second year she said it.

Giraffes go ding-dong

It’s adorable teaching kids about animals and the noises they make. Watching them recall that dogs go “woof” and cows go “moo” is just super cute. But there are just some animals that you’re not quite sure of. Like, for example, the giraffe.

We love the idea that giraffes go ding dong. We wonder what these parents would have told their children about other animals. What sound does a slug make? Or a worm? Or a hedgehog? They should come up with a whole new children’s song.

Fake drama

Nothing like a little fake drama to embarrass your high-class, dignified mother. If anything, @LizSmith1950’s sister has a cracking sense of humor—the right kind needed to balance out a stuck-up mother. Everyone at the restaurant would have been staring.

This isn’t necessarily weird behavior so much as it is a sense of humor gone wrong. We would have appreciated the kind of scene this would have caused in public. Maybe this sister goes to drama school and is just practicing her improv?

Nice trip

Dad jokes, am I right? Dads always try to use puns as a means for humor. When done with taste it can actually be pretty funny. But everything also needs to be done in moderation. If a pun is overused, it’s just not… punny… anymore (do you see what we mean?)

We get it. We would also be cringing hard if our dad behaved like this. One or two times is fine. But after a while, it gets annoying. And you hope to God he doesn’t do it in public. No, dad. We almost fell on our face; we did not have a nice trip!

Not the branch

People’s quirks are often called “quirks” for a reason. They’re unique to the person and are usually very hard to explain. For Twitter user @TedBrogan2, he found that his dad’s quirk is having a favorite branch. Yes, a favorite branch.

You would think that you wouldn’t notice any one particular branches in a yard surrounded by greens and trees. But if Dad says it’s his favorite, then it’s his favorite. You better not cut that branch down, or he’ll hold a grudge.

Would you like fries with that?

This one isn’t necessarily weird so much as it is funny. Sometimes, it’s not your family that’s embarrassing. You’re just too easily offended! Twitter user @Stump_Chump wears his gaming headset, thinking no one will pay attention, but his uncle does.

Let’s face it. Gaming headsets do look like the ones the servers use at the McDonald’s drive-thru. They also look like one an air traffic controller uses. So really, is it so bad that this uncle made these jokes? There are no lies detected here!

Acorn family

As we said before, this is just another example of a person’s unique little quirks. But since it sounds like this happened during childhood, we’ll let it slide. Children do the darnedest things sometimes, including owning a family of acorns.

We have to ask, how did that one acorn die? We weren’t aware of acorns dying. Don’t they just grow into trees? Either way, it’s still pretty cute that @mills__elise’s sister drew faces on the acorns. It’s a natural, sustainable replacement for dolls and stuffed animals.

Little notes

When you’re a kid, you see your parents stick little notes on your lunchbox every day before school. Kids being kids, they would want to mimic that behavior themselves, right?. That’s what the case was with @LotusGem’s six-year-old girl.

Well, this girl must have seen some very specific behaviors from her mom and dad if this was the way the notes turned out! Maybe Daddy is nice to everyone, but Mommy isn’t really. All she wanted to do was give a reminder.

Call me back

Siblings usually have their own code in communication. Nobody else knows what they’re talking about except them. It’s particularly helpful if they’re trying to get away with something behind their parents’ back. Twitter user @vangoesboom has a code she uses with her brother.

Imagine her calling her brother on the phone. But then after a few rings, it goes to voicemail. She can just say “hey, where are you, call me back.” But nope. She just leaves a burp instead. When her brother gets the message, he immediately knows.

Birthday Man

Children’s holiday characters, like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny, are well known around the world. Almost every little kid knows about them, and if they believe in them, they look forward to the holidays. For @TheotherKellyB’s family, though, it’s someone entirely different.

Hands up, who has ever heard of the Birthday Man before? No? Nobody? Then it’s confirmed that it’s just this family’s quirky tradition. When the kids tell other kids about Birthday Man, it must confuse everyone! Who is this Birthday Man nobody else has ever heard of?

Cows on the tree

Some families have a tradition of putting their photos on Christmas baubles every year so that the tree is decorated with their faces. Others assign each family member an ornament that represents them every year. At @alyssabria’s house, trimming the tree involves carton cows.

Yes, you read that right. Carton cows cut out from the eggnog carton. Why it has to be cows, we have no idea. But it’s such a funny image to have a tree filled with cows that only increase in number every year.

Turkey roulette

It’s always great when the kids in the family reach the drinking age. You can then hang out together and open a bottle or play drinking games. It’s a great pastime and a good way to bond with your family members.

While the idea of a turkey roulette may sound a little bit absurd at first, it actually sounds like a fun drinking game. Maybe they should up the number to #5, though. Three is a little too low, and you’d get drunk pretty quickly!

Andy’s coming!

Remember a few years ago when a challenge called “Andy’s coming!” went viral? It was based on Disney Pixar’s Toy Story universe, where the toys would drop dead on the floor whenever they heard their owner Andy come into the room.

This family seems to be taking that challenge to another level by just doing it as a bit. We can’t imagine the entire family doing this every time someone walks in the door, but if you’re committed to the bit, it could happen.

Oh, grandma

Thanks to Hansel and Gretel, the creepy, overly welcoming grandmother trope is alive to this day. This tweet from @TheHolySchmitz shows just how prevalent that analogy is today. Even reading this, you would put this situation in a creepy context!

“I have your coats, children. Now you can never leave!” Is this Grandma’s trick to make all the kids stay? Coats don’t dry that easily. Even when you put them in the dryer, you’d still have to air it out for it to dry completely! Those poor kids would be stuck for days!

Sharent

Parents these days are not only on Facebook. They’re on Instagram, some are on Twitter, and worse—some are even on TikTok! It’s become a habit for some parents to tag their children in basically anything they post. It can get pretty mortifying.

We’re not sure when the term “sharent” was coined. It’s a combination of “share” and “parent,” and is used to describe a parent who overshares on social media. Twitter user @Smoore1201’s dad is definitely one of those cringe sharents.

Always drunk always

It is every parent’s dream to watch their children grow up to become so much better than they are. This encompasses everything, from intelligence, career, lifestyle, and even family life. But sometimes, parents abuse their children’s successes. Exhibit A:

Twitter user @tuanamesquita grew up to become a biologist. That’s a pretty notable success. But her parents really only use her knowledge to settle their drunken arguments. And since they seem to be often drunk, they also often seem to be wrong.

The revelation

There is nothing more entertaining than watching your child learn about something new for the first time. It’s so endearing when they figure out how to do a math equation or when they learn that soap and water make bubbles.

For Twitter user @HRrob, that moment also came when her daughter was in middle school. She realized that perfume came in bottles and not just on scented strips of paper. What a revelation! Now they don’t have to buy magazines to smell nice.

Etymology

The history and meaning behind family names can be rich and interesting. Knowing the origin behind your family name can help give you a greater sense of identity and attachment to your roots. It’s also just a good story to tell at the dinner table.

For the Rocketts, the etymology behind their names isn’t as sophisticated or historically packed as other surnames. Or at least, that’s what it is, according to @TheRoKitMan’s mom, who farted in front of his friend. We would be embarrassed with him!

How?

We wouldn’t classify this event under the #MyFamilyIsWeird hashtag. This fits better under #CarFails. We’ve read this tweet over and over so many times, but we still haven’t managed to answer the question, “how on earth did he manage to do that?”

At least the solution was to only grease the garage floor and not have to destroy the garage door completely. But we’re still wracking our brains to find an excuse for how this could have happened. It’s a weird situation, but not a weird family.

Condos

Here’s an instance where a dad is just being himself but ends up embarrassing his kids. And it all has to do with the phone. You would think that a dad would be better with the landline than a smartphone.

Unfortunately, landlines don’t come with mute buttons. If you didn’t want the person on the other line to hear you, you’d have to cover the receiver. But something tells us this dad probably didn’t do that. We wonder if that affected the owner’s decision to lease the condos to those kids.

DIY steering wheel

Age is truly just a number. Being older doesn’t guarantee that you’re wiser or less childish. It all depends on each person’s character. Twitter user @DutchFalPal1972’s brother is the perfect example of this. Not that boys will be boys, but that age doesn’t guarantee anything.

We’re trying to figure out how he managed to steer a car using a stool for the wheel. It does give the impression like he’s a bus driver driving a bus. But is doing this that entertaining that he did it every day for a month?

An existential crisis rant

The last thing you would want on your birthday is an existential crisis. Of course, it’s always going to hit you no matter what. But listening to your dad list out all the names of notable people who died on your birthday does not help.

This has become so much of a habit in the Burmeister household that @EBurmeister’s husband carried on the tradition even after the kids had moved out. Imagine picking up the phone on your birthday morning to hear your dad list out names of dead people.

Corn dinner

Some families have a shared favorite dish. It’s what they have on special occasions and holidays. Whether it’s meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, or a good old-fashioned roast chicken, it always makes an appearance. For this particular family, it’s corn.

We honestly had no idea there were even this many ways to use corn in a dish. This is such a unique tradition that we can’t imagine any other family doing this. It’s also a test of creativity to see what kind of dish you can make out of corn!

Overly familiar

Sometimes when you see a face you don’t know that looks like they recognize you, you have just to pretend to recognize them. There is a chance things will turn out awkward, but at least you don’t hurt the other person’s feelings.

This wasn’t the case with @wethemonica13’s mom, though. It’s not that the other person recognized her. It’s that she jumped the gun and thought a random man was part of the party! This guy must have been so taken aback to be hugged out of nowhere by a stranger.

The details

Christmas cards are usually sent out to your family and friends to wish them happy holidays. There is probably a generic message in each one, signed by the entire family—no need for lengthy wishes, and certainly no need for an update on every family member.

But nope. Christmas is apparently a time to update everyone on just how much taller and heavier or lighter people have gotten throughout the year with this one family. This is so embarrassing! If we were a part of that family, we wouldn’t want to be included in the Christmas card.

Goodbye bite

Families have different habits and traditions. Whether it’s a handshake, hug, or how many times you air kiss before you say goodbye, it’s ingrained in everyone’s minds. In @meganhughes93’s family, Great Grandma’s unique goodbye is to bite your earlobe.

This is truly a weird thing. Probably the weirdest thing we’ve read in this thread thus far. To walk away from a pleasant family gathering with your ear throbbing is just not the best way to go. It can easily turn whatever good time you had into a bad one!

Fake last name

Here’s another display of a sense of humor only some would appreciate. The thing with bits is, they’re only funny for a time. If it’s a recurring bit, people get tired of it. Twitter user @seamirac1979 definitely sounds like she got tired of her dad’s jokes.

The poor hostesses at all the restaurants this family visited. They had no idea they were being pranked. Try having a really busy service and having to stall in order to call out the name of the next group on the waiting list. Not great!

Cheeky

Farting in public is always a risk. It can either be silent but deadly, in which case you have a chance to blame it on someone else. Or, it can happen out loud for everyone to hear. When this happens, you really have no escape.

This Twitter user’s mom thought she would be cheeky and walk backward into a corner to pass gas. But what she didn’t notice was a lady was standing right behind her! Imagine having someone literally fart on you. Eeuww. Gross.

Dressing up the turkey

Pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey is a long-running tradition at the White House. But at this household, they do things a little differently. It’s a presidential pardon at the White House and a fancy Mardi Gras-style pearl party at @stephsloser’s house.

We appreciate her mom dressing up the turkey before it goes into the oven. Maybe the colorful pearls are a little tacky but look at the way it’s hugging that glass of sangria. Even if it’s destined to be eaten, at least it went out in style.

Cooking on the way

Some people are just too crafty for their own good. They’re always thinking up ways to make their life easier. Sometimes this helps, but sometimes it can be dangerous for them too. Take @HochevarK’s grandmother’s weird cooking habit, for example.

We’re pretty sure it’s a safety hazard to put anything as large as a pot roast in the car manifold. But apparently, she’s done this a few times, and it’s always worked. We’re surprised that the meat cooked all the way through!

Belting

When you’re a kid, you don’t really think about how screaming and yelling can damage your vocal cords. You just sort of do it. Not happy about something? Scream. Mom won’t give you candy? Scream. Can’t reach the high note? Scream.

We’re just glad that @RyanBartholomee’s family is safe and sound despite the initial scare on the road. The reflex when you hear a sudden scream would probably be to step on the brakes or slam the steering wheel. But thank God that didn’t happen!

The grand welcome

Everyone knows there are certain things you shouldn’t do or talk about in front of a priest. Consuming alcohol is one of them. Swearing and using cuss words is another one. Welcoming a priest with a kegger is definitely a no-no.

Whatever these cousins were thinking, it definitely scared this priest. It gave him the impression that the family clearly needed Jesus to forgive them. No matter what the family believes in, they definitely should not be treating a priest this way!

Sorry, Rhonda

Neighbors don’t always have to be friendly with each other. In fact, usually, they are merely on a first-name basis with each other and not much else. At best, there are some unusual behaviors you notice in your neighbor to identify their habits.

For @plusnminussign and the family, they noted their neighbor Rhonda’s behavior every time she comes home is to slam the door. Of course, this makes Rhonda seem pretty intimidating. Maybe that’s why they apologize when they drop something on the floor.

Bye bye friend

What are siblings for if not to annoy the hell out of each other? Sometimes they don’t even mean to annoy you; they just do! @imagine_sonata’s sister was innocently living her life with her imaginary friend, War. But somehow, the other sisters got sick of it.

What mean sisters to have to grow up with! Was there really no other way around this? They had to kill War off? And such a tragic death, too. Poor little sister. All she wanted to do was ride her bike around with War.

The centerpiece

Aside from the dishes and the company, centerpieces are the highlight of the dinner table. A good centerpiece should accentuate the table and the food without taking away all the attention. But here’s what happened when @Smoore1201’s dad was put in charge of the centerpiece.

At first, you don’t notice anything too wrong with it. The candles are a nice addition to the table and can even provide warm lighting. But if you look closely, you’ll see that there are photos of @Smoore1201’s dad all around the centerpiece!

Cooling off

There are lots of options for cooling off your food when it’s still hot. There is, of course, the very traditional method of blowing on it. There is also the way of letting the food sit for a while before consumption. But @vonnquiller0328’s younger brother had a different method.

Yup, he smothered his food in ketchup. It didn’t matter what the dish was, if it was hot, ketchup went all over it. That’s one way to do things. But how come nobody told him that he didn’t need to smother everything with ketchup?

Little angel

You would think that babies and toddlers are innocent and would do nothing to embarrass you. But even when you’re out in public, you’re susceptible to their little tricks. When they wail and cry, you’re exposed. Even when you’re talking to your church pastor, they can expose you…

…quite literally, it seems. Twitter user @lilrascal441 was having a regular Sunday Church service, making small talk with the pastor before leaving. They definitely did not expect to be standing in the middle of the church with their navel out!

Matching tattoos

Getting matching tattoos is a common thing. Friends get them; partners get them, mothers and daughters get them. It’s a fun way to remember each other, whether it’s on your arm, leg, back, or fingers. But @ohkaye98’s mom specifically wanted it on the bottom of their big toes.

It’s a scientific fact that on some regions of skin, tattoos fade easier. For example, tattoos on fingers don’t last as long as tattoos on forearms. We reckon tattoos on the bottom of toes won’t last very long just because of how sweaty that area gets!

The weird uncle

Every family has that one, particularly weird family member. The uncle everyone avoids at family gatherings or the great-aunt you don’t want to talk to because she’ll talk your ear off for hours. This is what @SeanaArrechaga’s uncle does.

We don’t even know what to make of this doll. It looks like it came straight out of a horror movie like it could be Chucky’s offspring. And the fact that the hair on its head is literal human hair is next-level creepy.