Today, I realized what my mom has been calling me for 20 years. She always calls me her "little fehler." With her being from Germany, I always thought it was a cute little nickname. Apparently, she's been calling me her "little mistake." FML
I agree, your life sucks (62409) - you totally deserved it (2274)
On 05/11/2009 at 5:09am - misc - by mistake (man) - United States (Nevada)
well look on the bright side at least she wasnt calling you little fuhrer haha
#153 - On 02/08/2010 at 11:04pm by Darraghscoot
I love your mother.
If she said it affectionately, it doesn't really matter what she said.
I have some crazy nicknames for friends I love, that would sound horrible if they didn't know.
You were a mistake kid.
She didn't abort you or put you up for adoption though, did she?
Nope.
Be happy, she loves you.
It IS a cute nickname.
damn... but still if she raised you and everything she still loves you
#8 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:06am by littlehowl
Well, at least she said it in a cute way. Some moms would have have just said it straight out, "You are a mistake." I know it sucks either way, but the way she did it was nicER.
i'm with 6. apparently she loves you anyway.
seems like the majority of kids these days aren't planned. most of them, their parents adore them anyway. i don't think it's anything to get upset over.
#10 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:09am by fretforyerlatte
It's okay, 99.42043284384832408% of us are mistakes, too :).
I think it's still a cute nickname lol.
Well that sucks but seriously lots of children are mistakes like me i was screamed at by my mother and father saying so.
#16 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:13am by CodeMonkey123
I love that she called you that for twenty years before you found out.
#18 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:14am by ForestFire0
Actually, I'm from a little place in Canada and a lot of people here say "feller" for "fellow", and it is quite common for a person to call a boy or a man a fellow, or here, a "feller"... Maybe it isn't a mistake after all.
#19 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:15am by donteverworry
i kinda know where ur coming from -- i used to be depressed for about 5 years before going on medication. that's when i learned what "stoic" meant because apparently it was the best word to describe my on going facial expression. then my dad started calling me "the qualude kid"
If it took you 20 years to figure out what it meant, aside from showing a lack of inquisitive nature, it shows that it was definitely in jest. If you didn't know you were being called a mistake, clearly she didn't treat you like one. Plus, it means your mother has a good sense of humor.
I was an accident baby, too! I really don't have a problem with that. I think your mum's cute and clever. :) Don't worry about it, sugar. She's your mom; I promise she loves you to bits.
Are you sure she wasn't saying "Feller" or "fella" or something? :P
#25 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:35am by Victoria2103
She doesn't mean it in a bad way... you may have been a mistake but obviously since she uses it affectionately she's really happy and thankful for you.
I think it's cute too.
#26 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:36am by effyourlife_
It sounds like she was saying it affectionately. Still, it's funny that it took you twenty long years to realise.
YOU GOT IT WRONG - she's calling yuo little fella/fellah - fella/h is a guy/male. Running on from this, you could name your Johnson your little fella/h too.........
Haha, # 7 if that is indeed correct than we have,
the Worlds first walking talking little FAILer!
Which is a win ironically..
I agree with #6. "Mean" nicknames are cute as long as the intentions behind them are good.
My family called my little sister Crash for years because she was always running around the house and smashing into things (the best was when she grew to be the same height as the dinner table and her forehead got in the way when she tried to run underneath).
I'm sorry, #31, but I DON'T agree with #6 and anyone else who says this is a cute nickname. Yea, Crash is cute. So she ran into a few things. Big deal. Something like that deserves a nickname. However, I know I was an accident baby but I'd certainly wouldn't want to be reminded of it every time she mentioned me. "Mistake" means it shouldn't have happened, so to me, she would basically be saying "You shouldn't be alive." Now don't get me wrong, I still believe this mother loves her child, but you need to know the line to draw for nicknames. Or maybe we're wrong and she did mean "little fellah", who knows?
#35 - On 05/11/2009 at 11:19am by zulucharlie
for 20 years you never bothered to look up the meaning? anyways definitely FYL but it's really not the bad.
#36 - On 05/11/2009 at 11:21am by Dutchie2010
practice safe sex... always lock the car door XD
congrats on ruining your moms life. more like FHL
LAWLZZZ
#7 - Yes, that's correct. #34 clearly has no idea what (s)he's talking about. It would be pronounced 'feeh-ler' if it were spelled 'fieler.' #34, when you say 'gehen,' do you say 'gee-in'? I bet you would.
Anyway, OP, this is sad! I'm sorry she's been calling you that. But are you positive that IS what she's saying? Ask her about it sometime. I'm curious. Hope you misheard!
A fehler could also be someone who didn't succeed (failed) at something.
I don't know if being a failure is less worse than being a misstake.. that's up to you.
You better ask your mom what she meant by it, and why she says it.
What, you wanted to think she planned and planned you for 15 years? Get over it, most kids are a mistake.
Hm... you're 1/2 a German and u dun speak German at all?
#47 - On 05/11/2009 at 11:57am by KenMcGormick
#42 - no I wouldn't pronounce gehen as gee-in. I dunno, but how the hell would it be pronounced as "failer"?? fieler sounds like it'd be pronounced as feeler. Are you German?
Hate to break it to you But most of us were Mistakes. Its not that Big of a deal....
#50 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:06pm by Tickle_Me_Emma
#38 ROFL - always looking on the bright side ;)
Indeed an extraordinary nickname, but somehow cute...in a cruel way *gg*
LOL. My relatives call me weird German/Italian names, now I wonder what they mean... ;)
#53 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:12pm by sondramcfail
maybe its like a joke in her langue .. liek maybe it means liek your unmistakeable for yourself
#55 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:34pm by showwstopper
The fact that you made it to 20 with a decent life from what you though so far seems its just an affectionate name...Little Mistake doesn't exactly mean its a bad thing.
#56 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:38pm by BoboMatrix
well at least she didnt put you up for adoption or have you aborted, shows she obviously does love you haha.
#57 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:39pm by shazzababes
#7 Fehler is correct, though it has a capital F, since it is a noun
cute nickname btw, your mother has humor;)
#7 is right..i speak German, the word fehler is pronounced "faihl-er"
I'm not even kidding.
#59 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:50pm by Dutchie2010
fehler is pronounced FAILer. u must be really dumb if u didn't notice the analogy.
[yes im german too]
it took you 20 years to find out what it means? you never thought to ask anyone before about what it means?
#61 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:52pm by confusedheart
http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=fehler&relink=on
there is a little loudspeaker symbol at the right hand side, click that to hear how it's pronounced...
As many others have said, she probably just means you were a mistake in the sense that you weren't a planned baby. If you only realised now, she clearly doesn't act like she thinks you were a mistake.
#63 - On 05/11/2009 at 12:58pm by dancing_bear
A diamond with imprefections is worth more than a pebble with none. What I learned with people who speak english for a second language is that they sort of translate good american words with bad ones of theirs... or vice versa. So it's possible that she meant you to be her little boo, since Fehler means boo-boo too.
#67 - On 05/11/2009 at 1:39pm by NorfolkDude
@#7: fehler would be pronounced like failer if everyone had a real bad english/american accent! my first language is german and fehler is not pronounced like failer... i can't really describe how you say it, you can listen to it here: http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&lang=de&searchLoc=0&cmpType=relaxed§Hdr=on&spellToler=on&chinese=both&pinyin=diacritic&search=fehler&relink=on just click on the button next to the german word fehler, then you can listen to it, but she says "der fehler" der is the...
#69 - On 05/11/2009 at 1:47pm by ael87
Sorry but I had to issue a YDI for this. How ignorant not to care about your mom's native language for 20 years. You could have found out much sooner.
In terms of pronounciation every American would pronounce "Fehler" either like feeler or failer. As she was most probably able to pronounce it correctly (the German "eh" is a phoneme not known to the English language) I wonder how you were able to spell it yet not know the meaning.
I'd dare to call it a fake. But you nicely applied your vocabs learned at your recent German lesson, well done for that. ;)
#72 - On 05/11/2009 at 2:05pm by tmausiluvsfml
That sucks! What mother does that? Even if you were a mistake at least hopefully she said it as a word of endearment and showed that she actually did care about you by raising you properly :-)
# 72 I'd say it was more the mother's fault if she didn't teach her daughter German. She's the one that knows the language and all.
This FML made me laugh.
#74 - On 05/11/2009 at 2:09pm by McCannCanTriple
Lol its pronounced almost just like "Little failure"
Li-tel fay-leh
Never caught that?
#75 - On 05/11/2009 at 2:17pm by craznazn247
Some German slang for you to use on her next time:
das Flittchen - tramp
Oma - granny
alte Schachtel - old bag
die Fregatte - a heavily made-up old woman
alte Hexe - old witch
Number 81: Fehler means mistake in German
That sucks, but I think I would have looked into it before now, haha. Sorry though.
#83 - On 05/11/2009 at 3:00pm by coffeennicotine
Call your Mom an Ami-liebchen---I'm sure she'll love that. This is the derogatory term given to women who fell in love with American soldiers after the war. It means: little American lover.
#87 - On 05/11/2009 at 3:42pm by Optimistic9
Honestly, there are cultural differences, so ask her about it. My grandmother is from Russia and what she essentially calls us are "shitlings", but it's diminutive, so not bad. Odd, but, yeah.
#90 - On 05/11/2009 at 4:03pm by SunlightVeins
I can see how in some languages or cultures that differ extremely from each other this may be not that big of a deal, like 89 described some differences in Russia for example...but I am German and "Fehler" is just that, a mistake! Nothing else. And to the person who said Fehler can also mean "boo-boo" so it´s not that bad...look up the definition of boo-boo in American Heritage Dictionary:
Inflected forms: pl. boo-·boos
Informal 1. A stupid mistake; a blunder: “the petty talking points, peripheral issues, tactical boo-boos, and small-bore scandals that regularly intrude on campaigns” (New Republic). 2. A slight physical injury, such as a scratch.
But @OP I would assume that by calling you her "little Fehler" she simply means that you may not have been a planned baby, but that she is very glad she did get pregnant with you. After all she´s calling you LITTLE Fehler, I doubt she´d be doing that if she actually saw you as a bad mistake she made.
I assume your Dad is American or from another country where they now both live. So maybe she had just left her country and moved with him and wasn´t quite ready to have a baby yet...it all depends on your family´s whole situation. :)
#93 - On 05/11/2009 at 4:37pm by Puolukka
To add onto 89, in Chinese parents call their kids "little ghosts" ... which also sounds very strange. I'm sure it's just a cultural thing :)
You deserve it for not once, in 20 years, being curious or bright enough to look up what fehler means!
LOL!!!!
sorry, but that was kinda funny
mabe its a culture thing
#101 - On 05/11/2009 at 6:02pm by jessxoxo28
haha that's okay my parents said tht I was a mistake to:(
#103 - On 05/11/2009 at 6:24pm by boxerbaby1
I agree with some of the commenters that being a mistake, as in unplanned, isn't necessarily a bad thing (My brother and sister-in-law are having a baby that was a complete surprise but are they happy about it? Absolutely. And my grandma had 13 kids-all but 1 were unplanned). And your mom does probably mean it as a cute little nickname but I know I still wouldn't want to be called a "little mistake" all my life. It may not be saying anything about how she feels about you but it's still a kind of mean.
Maybe you should talk to her about it? She probably didn't mean to call you something bad... but if she did... that would be cold :(
COLD. ON SO MANY LEVELS. SORRY FOR CAPS LOCK, BUT THIS IS JUST SERIOUSLY WRONG. JUST STAY STRONG, AND LOOK TO THE FUTURE. FIND THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
Best of luck! :)
#107 - On 05/11/2009 at 6:59pm by tibbydibby
Fehler also means "bug." She could have been calling you her little bug... Just trying to find the logic :)
It's probably one of those weird cultural differences. For instance, I know that in French "petite chou" is a term of endearment, although in English it translates into "little cabbage".
WOOOOOOW
its ok we all find out the truth in some bad or akward way lol
#111 - On 05/11/2009 at 7:24pm by AreYouMental
The long "e" actually can sometimes sound a bit like "ee"…it probably depends on the accent, though*. So neither side in this argument "doesn't know what they're talking about".
*I remember one person in particular - from Austria – in whose speech "Bären" and "Beeren" (for instance) were easily distinguishable. The latter sounded more broad, almost like "ee".
#112 - On 05/11/2009 at 7:43pm by Raine_Sage
its ok cuz lots of kids r mistakes in this world i was my mom hates me and abuses me but I still keep it positive but keep ur faith up cuz whatever screw ur mom that is plain mean u just know that u r so not a mistake
#114 - On 05/11/2009 at 8:18pm by EMOPRINCESS
I HATE IT WHEN THIS HAPPENS! ALWAYS LOOK THESE THINGS UP!!!
#116 - On 05/11/2009 at 9:52pm by the_question_mar
Your life sucks. Call your mom whatever "whore" is in German. Remember, its not a bastard kid, only a bastard parent.
The same sort of thing has happened to me. My father's first language is Spanish, but although he spoke Spanish AROUND me, he never spoke Spanish TO me and I never learned more than a word or two. When I finally started taking Spanish classes as a teenager and realizing what all those things he said actually MEANT, it was a real eye opener.
I don't think being called a little mistake is cute. It's not something I would want to always be brought up like that.
#119 - On 05/11/2009 at 10:03pm by _mcs_
my grandmother always called me "cabesa'd nob" (that's just what it sounded like anyway...) I found out that was Portuguese for cabbage head.
I AGREE WITH ALL WHO SAID IT WAS FELLER, NOT FEHLER, I THINK THE OP IS JUST IGNORANT AND THINKS THAT ANYONE FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY ALWAYS TALKS IN THERE NATIVE LANGUAGE. OP U R STUPID, SHE WAS SAYING FELLER, MY MOM USED TO SAY THAT TOO, IT FELLER NOT FEHLER, U R SO STUPID!!!
#124 - On 05/11/2009 at 11:39pm by eggnogg
You're the one that is stupid #124. And yeah, I would hate to be called a mistake even if it is a joke.
#125 - On 05/12/2009 at 12:47am by Chuckyhacks
:(, so you know how some family's take a name backward and make it a nickname or something like that. My username on here is my childhood nickname that stuck....
well this could either be good or bad. i have a friend who was a "mistake" and her and her mom joke about it. they both know she wasn't planned but it doesn't really bother them, they laugh about it. her mom even wrote something about it in her senior ad for our yearbook.
however if she says it disdainfully or treats you badly, then she's a bitch.
#132 - On 05/12/2009 at 2:25pm by audiogasmic
#124- No. You are ignorant for thinking everyone calls people dumb nicknames like "feller". It makes them sound like rednecks.
#61 and #66 are really funny:)
dont be amd at her, im sure she didnt mean it in a mean way
#136 - On 05/13/2009 at 2:23am by slow_hands
didnt mean it in a mean way??
" my little mistake" hmmmmm very generous of her.
#137 - On 05/13/2009 at 3:30am by Blithe_626
I'm a mistake (technically my bro and I together are like double mistakes because my mom had twins, haha), and it doesn't bother me one bit. What's so wrong with being unplanned? I've known I was unplanned since I was about six years old, and it's never made me feel any less loved or wanted by my parents.
Many people with Germanic accents end words that end with 'ah' with 'er'
Maybe she was calling you her "little fella"?
buuut "fehler" kind of sounds like "fellow" with an accent...
and if you were a mistake, then she wouldnt bother with you at all, so don't worry.
check ur mom in the face.
u shoulda ask her why didnt she get a abortion when she was pregnant with you
#143 - On 05/19/2009 at 10:46pm by lilmistabys
Ha my friends grandma calls him my little "shtemhelter" aka my little seedholder LOL
#144 - On 05/29/2009 at 1:28pm by Luv4pink1721
cute name for a mistake.
mein suesser kleiner fehler.. could be worse.
besides maybe ur a mistake cause of your dad?
#145 - On 06/05/2009 at 7:09am by Masta_Blasta
Really? REALLY? Just because someone doesn't know German doesn't make the person stupid. It just means that the person has never learned another language. It /is/ a personal choice.
#148 - On 09/02/2009 at 8:46pm by xf0rg0tt3nx
Does the "mistake" refer to your parents having you without really planning on having you, or does she mean something more malicious? Just because your mom got pregnant without planning on it doesn't mean she regrets having you. I asked my mom once if any of her four children were planned. She said "No. You guys are the most beautiful accidents I ever had!" It sounds weird, but I know that she meant she was happy she had us, even though she wasn't planning on actually conceiving children when each of us was conceived.
PWND by your mother!!!! At least you know your real parents... I was put up for adoption as soon as I was a year...never met my real parents so I don't know whether or not a was a mistake. :/. But still PWND
Not stupid for not knowing German, but 20 years and you never thought to go look it up? 10 years ago you could have put it into babel fish on the internet and known. not YDI for not knowing the German language, but YDI for being so lazy you didn't try and find out out what it meant for 20 years.
How exactly did you actually find out what it meant?
no ones a mistake. they might have taken their parents by surprise, but God (if you belies in Him) knew you were coming and welcomed you with open arms.
i'm.....78273798293737928467399273th
#152 - On 01/07/2010 at 6:50am by imanethesmart
OMG... I have the FML widget on my laptop and i happened to glance it and saw the word fehler... I realized, OH, Thats the cute little name my mom calls me! so i begin to read and... ya, my mom is half German too. I just yelled at my mom across the room and told her what it meant and not to call me that anymore.
#154 - On 02/12/2010 at 9:50am by XtremeTimma
Whatever, your old enough to live on your own so i wouldnt care
#156 - On 03/08/2010 at 7:16pm by slayertack
