People are sharing the ‘sly digs’ they’ve suffered and these are subtly, brutally, devastating

Here’s a rather lovely diversion from everything else that’s going on right now, a thread in which people shared the ‘sly digs’ they’ve suffered over the years.

It all began when Derry Girls creator and writer Lisa McGee said this on Twitter.

What’s the best sly dig you’ve ever received? In my early twenties a guy told me I inspired him to be a writer because he’d seen one of my plays and it was so terrible he thought he definitely could do better. Stunning work.

— Lisa McGee (@LisaMMcGee) April 24, 2020

And it prompted lots of sly digs that were subtly, brutally devastating. And very funny.

1.

Wrote this and deleted it once already but here goes. As a student actor I worried out loud that I might not be attractive enough to make it as a professional and my friend told me not to worry, there are LOADS of successful ugly actors.

— David Nicholls (@DavidNWriter) April 24, 2020

2.

Some older chap I used to work with: “it’s great you’re on telly so much given you know… laughs… no seriously, it’s great. Good for you. Listen, these days, do they have to hit a quota or do they get some extra funding if they have people like you on? Genuine question?”

— Ayesha Hazarika (@ayeshahazarika) April 24, 2020

3.

Playing Desdemona in Salisbury Playhouse and a relative told me my performance was “on the right track”.

— Sinéad Keenan (@SineadKeenan) April 24, 2020

4.

https://twitter.com/dollyalderton/status/1253737949801467906?s=20

5.

About 6 years ago I met a woman who didn’t know me from Holby (I was with other cast members at an event) I joked and said the camera adds 10 pounds. She looked me up and down and said, ‘And then some!’ and walked off.. 😂

— Niamh McGrady (@NiamhMcGrady) April 24, 2020

6.

I was told by a former colleague during a meeting that I’d make an excellent spy because I had absolutely nothing memorable about me.

— BROOME82 (@BROOME82) April 24, 2020

7.

The night I won Columnist Of The Year for my Time Out column I was standing in the ballroom at the fancy hotel and someone – I have no idea who – sidled over to me, whispered, "How does it feel to have peaked at 25?" and disappeared into the crowd… https://t.co/ARZqpMM7W7

— jon ronson (@jonronson) April 24, 2020

8.

A man in a bar, to my husband, talking over me:
Hey, how does she know so much about football?

I’ve been a professional sportswriter for 12 years.

— Maggie Hendricks (@maggiehendricks) April 24, 2020

9.

I once bumped into the rather posh and very catty mother of an ex-girlfriend, who told me how wonderful it was to see me -‘especially looking so well-fed’.

— Paul Carnahan (@pacarnahan) April 24, 2020

10.

When my first book became a bestseller, an acquaintance said to me: 'I've often thought I should write a kids' book, and when I saw you'd gone to number one I thought, "well, I really should, because if *she* can do it, *anyone* can."' https://t.co/rKdVzT7Yy5

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 24, 2020