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12-year-old girl #1: Do you even like boys?
12-year-old girl #2: Yeah, I do!
12-year-old girl #1: Sure... You like them boys who be wearin' all light colors, walkin' around like, 'How you doooin'? I'ma braid your hair!'
12-year-old girl #2: What? No. I like boys, I don't like titties.
12-year-old girl #1, after a pause: Some boys be havin' titties, though.
12-year-old girl #2: Word.
--Graham & Metropolitan, Brooklyn
Overheard by: amused in the bus stop
Pre-teen girl on bike #1: Why don't we go into that building and wait, and then go around the circle and get in trouble again?
Pre-teen girl on bike #2: Okay.
--Washington Square Park
Tween #1: Dude, guess what I found in my brother's drawer?
Tween #2: Pot?
Tween #1: No, it's so much worse. Marijuana!
--Hammerstein Ballroom
Tween daughter: I have to study this Shakespeare sonnet for school. It's really hard.
Dad: Put that away. You won't be able understand it anyway.
Tween son: Just because you can't understand it--
Dad: --Of course I can't! It was written in old English like a thousand years ago.
--Grimaldi's waiting line, DUMBO
Overheard by: big willy style
White tween: Everyone has a MySpace.
Asian tween: I don't have a MySpace.
White tween: You don't got a MySpace? Why not?
Asian tween: 'Cause it's the easiest way to meet sexual predators.
White tween, laughing: Nah, don't worry. You ain't ever gonna meet any sexual predators -- you're ugly.
--PS 173 playground, Fresh Meadows
Sixth grader: Wait, I don't understand. When you have oral sex you don't take off your clothes, so how can you get AIDS?
Student teacher: Ummm...
--University Neighborhood Middle School
Overheard by: face
Tween girl #1: He had a boner. It was so gross.
Tween girl #2: How do you know he had a boner?
Tween girl #1: I've known him since first grade. He had a boner.
Tween guy: How does knowing him since first grade have anything to do with knowing that he had a boner?
--Starbucks
Overheard by: Bryan
Middle-school boy: Yeah, you're a pathological liar.
Middle-school girl: What do you mean? When have I lied to you? I never lie. I only lie to my therapist.
--1 train
Overheard by: cate
12-year-old hood rat #1, taunting three 20-ish bike riders at red light: Yeah, you ride that bike.
12-year-old hood rat #2, laughing: Yeah, fuck you! Ride that bike!
Biker girl: Yep, we're riding our bikes [light turns and they ride off].
12-year-old hood rat #3: There they go.
--Dean St & 3rd Ave
Tween boy with box of candy: Yo, wanna buy a candy bar?
Suit: No, thanks. I'm good.
Tween boy: Well, I'm not, asshole. Buy a goddamn candy bar!
--Columbus Circle
Overheard by: Charlie
Tween girl #1, trudging through snow: What's with this weather? It's so annoying.
Tween girl #2: Yeah. Weren't we having global warming? Let's stop recycling or something.
--110th & Broadway
Jersey tween #1: Who needs six dogs?
Jersey tween #2: Seriously... Who the fuck needs six dogs?
Jersey tween #3: Me?
--NJ Transit leaving Penn Station
Tween girl #1: That's a girl's shirt!
Guy in light blue shirt with pink flower on the back that says 'Mom's Weekend '04': No, it's not. It's a man's shirt.
Tween girl #2: No, that's a girl's shirt you have on.
Guy: I'm not going to explain irony to a 12-year-old.
--Target, Queens
Overheard by: Oh, Queens
Tween #1: Wow, that's cute! He was gonna eat her booger for a hand job?
Tween #2: It was, like, a monster booger...
--Montague & Henry St, Brooklyn Heights
Drunk Irish man: So, your screenplay is about a paralyzed chicken?
Blonde tween: No, it's about a boy who makes his whole family paralyzed, including his chicken.
--6th St & 1st Ave
Overheard by: Soiled Eve
Guy: I sold everything -- the script, TV episodes, merchandising rights... They paid me two million dollars. It sucks, because after I pay off debts and taxes I'll only have one million, and that doesn't go as far as it used to.
--MoMA lobby
Overheard by: foofoo
Fat chick: ... So I was like, 'Mom, what the fuck? I don't need a diet.' Then she goes, 'But your doctor told you that you're a hundred pounds overweight -- eat healthier!' Then I just told her, 'Screw you!' I'd rather go on Maury than lose weight!
--Guggenheim Museum
Overheard by: Maury Povich's viewer
Tween girl running towards crime scene minutes after a shooting: We's gonna be on TV, nigga!
--137th & Broadway
Overheard by: Ladle
Liberace wannabe on cell: ... And I thought, 'Thank God,! She likes AbFab! At last, I can talk to her on a level playing field!'
--44th & 9th
Conductor: There's another local train directly behind this one. Plenty of seats, color TV, open bar.
--W train to Astoria
Overheard by: MissPinkKate
Dad: ... And how do you know when we're in the Village, sweetie?
Tween girl: Hipsters?
Dad: Uh, no, I was talking about that sign [points to 'Welcome to Greenwich' sign].
Tween girl: Oh.
--Bleecker & MacDougal
Two tween girls cross the street, dodging cars.
Tween #1: Oh my god, I can't believe you did that! You know I don't watch where I'm going!
Tween #2: You don't?
Tween #1: Uh, no -- every day I almost get hit by a car, and my friends always make fun of me, and my friends say, 'Oh my god, you almost got hit by that car,' and I say, 'Yeah, duh, you guys know I don't look both ways!'
--61st & Amsterdam
Nine-year-old girl: Trick or treat! If you don't have any candy, you can give my mom some liquor!
--Wine shop, Chelsea
Overheard by: Catherynne Valente
Cute chick on cell: Hello, Mom. I'm just calling to tell you I got a tattoo, and I'm telling you on your voicemail so I don't have to hear any shit from you about it. Call me after you calm down. Bye.
--Canal & Lafayette
Overheard by: Big Larry
Mom and nine-year-old daughter are walking hand-in-hand.
Daughter, shrieking: No, Mommy, please don't buy the razor! Anything but the razor, Mommy!
--74th & Broadway
Tween girl: My mother is probably going to shit on my head.
--Broadway & 67th
Overheard by: thaler
Hipster NYU dude: She's not my mother anymore.
--14th St & 3rd Ave
Overheard by: yamutha
Ditzy tween: Wait, what? Isn't your dad in prison?
Friend: Um... No...
Ditzy tween: Isn't that what you told me? Or maybe it was your uncle?
Friend: Nobody I know is in prison.
--Bus
Overheard by: if i had a nickle...
Tween #1: You wanna abort this conversation?
Tween #2: What? Why?
Tween #1: Because we're arguing whether 'haha' or 'l-o-l' is funnier than 'l-m-a-o.'
--42nd & Broadway
Tween girl: It so smells like London out today.
Hippie chick: What does London smell like?
Tween girl: Really damp.
--10th St & Greenwich
Overheard by: Intimidated by children
Wangsta teen: Move, nigga, or I'll cut you with my knife!
Tween girl #1: Oh my God! He said the 'n' word!
Tween girl #2: Knife?
--Queens bound F train
Queer: Fuck you! I'm a smart gay!
--23rd & 6th
Overheard by: Keesha Brown
Accidental ironist: Yeah, obviously he has no sense of smartness.
--68th & Lex
Overheard by: Casti
Hipster guy: I erased two years of my life with drugs. Two solid years! But I'm too smart to erase more than that.
--Chinatown bus
Girl on cell: They said that I'm smart, and that I can articulate well. But I'm not... you know... Oh, whatever.
--Queensboro Community College
Overheard by: LizDayglow
Tween boy to dad: I'm looking for a girl who's younger and smarter.
--71st & West End
Overheard by: Susan Volchok
Tween girl: Mom you're not a tease if you give it up, you're a slut. Jesse's a slut, I'm a tease.
--Rockefeller Center
Overheard by: S-dawg
Young professional woman, trying in vain to flag a cab uptown: I should have worn something sluttier today.
--25th & Park
Overheard by: Mike S
Business woman: All I need are some pasties, Daisy Dukes, and some four-inch heels. Then I'll get a promotion.
--43rd & Lex
Overheard by: I thought that she worked in an office
Girl: The place is Salsa-ey, so dress a little slutty.
--St. Mark's & 3rd
Overheard by: Ronnie Q
Tween girl in hot-pants and tight shirt: I can't buy that. My mom doesn't let me wear baggy clothes.
--Target, Atlantic Center, Brooklyn
Chick: I want hooker boots... but not in the heels. I want flats.
--Hunter College
Conservative guy: The second smartest person in this country is Ann Coulter. And let me tell you, she looks good in a pair of tight pants and Manolos at 2:30 in the morning.
--Metro-North
Overheard by: Stupid Liberal Hottie
Chick on cell: Well, then I don't feel so bad about going in a little vinyl skirt if you're just going to be wearing underwear.
--Harlem
Overheard by: McFreaky
Tween #1: You called me gay? I'll sue you!
Tween #2: You're gay for even saying that.
--Elizabeth & Mott
Overheard by: stephin' out
Kinderslut #1: You wanna know the secret to having big boobs?
Kinderslut #2: Fuck, yes, you know how flat-chested I am!
Kinderslut #1: Mom and I are very well endowed, so I asked her if it was genetic or something else.
Kinderslut #2: And?
Kinderslut #1: Peanut butter.
Kinderslut #2: You're shittin' me! Are you sure?
Kinderslut #1: Yes! I've been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all my life. So has my mom, and you see.
Kinderslut #2: Could be the jelly.
--Penn Station
Overheard by: angie
Tween girl: Is this sleepwear for fat people or regular people?
Mother: Honey, fat people are regular people.
Tween girl: Whatever.
--Macy's
Overheard by: A regular person
Brooklyn guy: All I'm sayin' is it goes without sayin'.
--Brooklyn bound D train
Overheard by: Robert Barry Francos
Hoochie on cell: I don't want that. I'm looking for sauce. Sauce sauce sauce sauce sauce! S-A-U-S-C-E. Sauce!
--Waldbaum's, Whitestone, Queens
Overheard by: Liz the Overheardista
Teen girl: Do you think Christmas will ever be on Friday the 13th?
--Times Square
Woman in elevator: She said 13...Where's 13? What the... fuck? There's no 13. Should I press 12? Or 14? What?...She said 13. Well I'll just press both.
--22nd & Broadway
Overheard by: staring at the button for 13
Elderly woman, regarding painting: Would you look at the detail he put into this. It almost looks two dimensional.
--The Met
Overheard by: s.gothman
Tween boy: Did the dinosaurs come before or after Bible times?
--Museum of Natural History
Overheard by: Omg! He did not just ask that!
Tweeny future emo boy: The fucking problem with Hamlet is that the real tragedy is Laertes, not the goddamn Prince of Denmark.
Tweeny future fag hag girl: It's the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. That's what it's called.
TFE boy: Hamlet kills the guy's father, sister, and then him. Who has the real tragedy?
TFFH girl: Mel Gibson?
--Outside Barnes & Noble, Lincoln Center
Overheard by: Marc
Tween girl on cell: I can't believe there are still Ku Klux Klan members around. Isn't that, like, so fifties?
--FAO Schwarz
Overheard by: Like, so someone who overheard this
Teenager: Do you know where the Gay Pride Parade is?... I'm not gay!
--Astor Place
Guy: And so, this one gay guy in your office was wearing these pants, and his fly was open and this straight guy could see his penis, or some shit like that, right?
--9th St, Park Slope
Queer on cell: You really think she's into gay guys?
--NYU
Guy, pointing to gay hipster: That's like "I like it in the bum" written in hair.
--Peculier Pub, Bleecker St
Overheard by: Mad
Mom, to young son: It's not a matter of being gay or not, darling. I just won't let you participate in your school play.
--Broadway
Girl: Well, I couldn't really sing the last part. We were both on our backs with our legs wide open. The only redeeming fact is that he was gay!
--Corbin Plaza, Brighton Beach
Overheard by: Anti-Traffic Girl
Flamboyant tween boy: I hate health class! You know what I'm going to do in health class today? I'm going to tell the teacher I'm gay! And that I like to suck dick!
--5th Ave, Park Slope
Tween boy: Mom! Let's go already!
Mom: If you're so bored, go play in traffic.
--Victoria's Secret, Lincoln Center
Tween boy #1: Where is he? He owes me fucking ten dollars.
Tween boy #2: This is really gay.
Random girl: I'm offended, you retards!
--W 34th St
Tween boy #1: Do you want to rent Madagascar?
Tween boy #2: No, I've seen it.
Tween boy #1: So?
Tween boy #2: I don't like watching movies I've seen already.
Tween boy #1: How about Ice Age?
Tween boy #2: Seen it.
Tween boy #1, to video clerk: Do you have Bridge Over the River Kwai?
--video store, Carroll Gardens
Tween to her mom: Oh look, it's those shoes you can eat! Wait, can you eat them? Oh, no, these aren't the edible ones.
--Payless, Upper West Side
Overheard by: embarrassed to have been in payless
Tween girl: Why isn't she smiling?
Mom: Honey, the French gave her to us. Smiling is an American thing.
Dad: Listen to your mother, she knows a lot.
--Circle Line
Mom: Shit, I ain't paying for peak hours.
Tween girl: I can hide in the bathroom.
Mom: Or you can flash him.
--LIRR
Overheard by: bekarloohoo
Tween boy: So he said, "Sex is a very beautiful thing, you shouldn't be ashamed about it."
Tween girl: Sex is a beautiful thing. Your parents had sex...or you were adopted.
--53rd & 6th
Overheard by: Nina
Tween boy #1: Fine, fine. I'll buy you a BLT. How 'bout that?
Tween boy #2: A BLT? I'm Jewish, you idiot.
Tween boy #1: Oh, whatever. I see you eat a BLT every day, liar.
--64th & Park
Overheard by: Andrea C.
Tween girl #1: Oh my god! They, like, totally have TVs in the bathrooms here!
Tween girl #2: Oh my god! You can so watch TV while you are peeing or whatever.
Tween girl #3: Except it's only, like, sports and stuff.
Tween girl #1: Yeah, I don't really like sports. Except cheerleading. Is that sports?
--ESPN Zone, 42nd & Broadway
Mom: What?...What?
Tween boy: That woman--
Mom: Nah, boy. You need to learn how to crack on people. Gotta be quick on that shit. ou too late.
Tween boy: But--
Mom: Don't even try. It ain't gonna be funny. You too late.
--3 train
Old lady: They are going to strike? They should put up signs fuckers! I see you looking at me you skinny bitch, fuck you.
Conductor: The doors are closing.
Old lady: Can't put up signs but the fucker is telling me the doors are closing.
--F train
Hobo: Don't worry about the strike, we'll all fly to work! Flap our wings and fly!
--14th & 7th
Guy: I was there at the strike in 1980; I remember it well. It went on for two weeks. Of course, they could never have it that long now. The population of the city has doubled since 1980.
--Bowling Green station
Overheard by: greek goddess
Conductor: Shit, I'll get nasty right now. I'll pull the brakes, see how they like that.
--1 train
Overheard by: Priscilla Castillo
Tween boy: So how's the strike going?
Bus driver: If there was a strike I wouldn't be here, you moron.
--M15 bus
Overheard by: Sara's Hot
Tween boy #1: You don't know what AIDS is.
Tween boy #2: Yeah I do. AIDS are what you get when a boy sticks his pee-pee in a girl's coochee and he gets a disease.
--C train
Tween girl #1: Oh my god, is it wrong that I want him inside me?
Tween girl #2: Uh, yeah, especially since you're like 13 and a virgin.
Tween girl #1: Oh my god, shut up! I don't want all these New Yorkers to know I'm a virgin!
--50th & 6th
Tween girl #1: Gina, you know you look a lot taller when you run.
Tween girl #2: That's because she's up in the air more, dummy.
--Battery Park
Suit: Thanksgiving is on a Friday, right?
--34th & 7th
Overheard by: Andrew Richter
Tween boy: They all kind of look like hipsters.
--Columbia University
Overheard by: ben wg
Tween girl #1: I don't understand why anyone would be pro-life.
Tween girl #2: Yeah, I'm gonna get my tubes tied once I'm old enough.
--16th & 2nd
Overheard by: alex duncan
Tween girl #1: So like apparently my brother is engaged.
Tween girl #2: Really? Since when?
Tween girl #1: I dunno, found out at breakfast this morning.
Tween girl #2: Didn't he like just finish high school?
Tween girl #1: Yeah, but she's like still 17 and she's got a two year old so she's way worse off than him.
Tween girl #2: Well is it his kid?
Tween girl #1: Who knows? He's not tellin'.
Tween girl #2: Probably is...what a man-ho slut wedder.
--F train
Overheard by: Supertramp
Tween girl: Are there two Union Squares?
--Union Square West
Overheard by: jessica castro
Tween boy #1: There's an excellent movie that's rated R but should be rated PG-13. It's producted by Stephen Cow and it's called Kung Fu Hustle.
Tween boy #2: I've only seen one R-rated movie.
Tween boy #1: I've seen so many I've lost count.
--Uncle Liao's, Park Slope
Girl: Well, I don't know...She doesn't look very much like a butterfly.
Guy: What, would you rather have her wear a t-shirt with a giant butterfly on it?
--Lincoln Center
Tween girl: So my sister got this stuff, called absin...abstin... abstinence. It's this green stuff, and it's illegal in America, and her friend drank it and thought he saw a clown.
--Bx7 bus
Tween boy: I'm gonna fight you, Steve...I'm gonna trash yo' face, son...you gonna have to go to Jonathan Zizmor, son.
--6 train
Tween girl #1: She's been in this bitchy mood all week and when I asked her why she said she just got back from the Holocaust Memorial.
Tween girl #2: Holo--oh, that Jewish thing with all the candles? Why does that have a memorial?
--Dumbo
Overheard by: Egregious Pixie
Tween girl #1: His hair is sometimes awful, but it's sometimes so perfect.
Tween girl #2: I think that's what gay hair is like.
--Prospect Park
Overheard by: emily clinch
Tween girl: My dad flies into New York airport tonight; where is that?
Tween boy: It's in Jersey.
Tween girl: Idiot! It's New York airport.
Tween boy: It's Newark airport, and it's in Jersey.
Tween girl: New York airport and it's in New Jersey? That's gay.
Tween boy: You're gay.
Tween girl: Shut up! We're at the museum!
--outside MoMA
Tween girl #1: Wow, like this is really high up.
Tween girl #2: Like wow.
--Toys R Us, Times Square
Overheard by: Dawn Furey
Guy: So, I went on this audition, and they asked me, "Can you juggle and ride a unicycle?". I mean, I can juggle, and I can ride a unicycle, but I can't do both at once, I'm not a skills clown. Basically, my skill is falling. I can fall really well.
--A train
Overheard by: Berit J.
Girl: Mommy, what's the opposite of hair?
--86th & Broadway
Overheard by: Stuart Weisberg
Mom: Don't you know this is the liberry, not the cry-berry?
--The Fordham Library Center
Tween girl: ...and the one Winnie the Pooh had a nice body...
--Bryant Park
Overheard by: Jason B. Schmidt
Guy: ...if my wife and I spit at the kids, nothing happens...but if a llama does they burst into tears.
--53rd & 6th
Overheard by: J-Mo
British guy: Can't be more worse than having a baby every six months.
--116th & Lexington
Boy: Mommy, how many hours are in a mile?
--44th & 8th
Overheard by: BBW
Girl #1: When I'm older and I'm pregnant, I hope I'm standing when my water breaks cause I don't want the baby to come down and, like, drown.
Girl #2: My Mom went down in a gutter with me.
--B44 bus
Two tween girls push into a very crowded train, causing a woman to almost lose her footing.
Woman: You can't just push if there's nowhere to go!
The doors start to close.
Tween girl: Obviously I could.
--6 train
Overheard by: Francesca
Boy #1: It's so gross! My aunts pinch my cheeks and call me cute and make, like, cow noises!
Boy #2: Take it from me: wait 'til you get older. I promise, no one will ever call you cute again.
--Prospect Park
Overheard by: Andrea
Tween chick #1: So when we went to Canada, we had deer.
Tween chick #2: Really? Doesn't it have a special name too?
Tween chick #1: Yeah. Verizon, like the phones.
--M14 bus
Overheard by: Melissa
Preacher: What does God think of your sex life? Are you a winner or are you a chicken dinner?
--42nd Street station
Overheard by: Brian Lang
Teen boy: I must be the Antichrist! Every time I pass by a church it blows up. It's happened twice already!
--30th & 7th
Guy: Why? Because I'm lazy, and I'm Jewish!
--MacDougal Street
Overheard by: Nishad Shevde
Tween swimmer girl #1: I'm nervous. I think I look funny when I'm naked.
Tween swimmer girl #2: No offense, but everyone looks funny when they're naked!
--Manhattan Plaza Health Club locker room, W. 43rd St.
Overheard by: Andrea
Schoolgirl #1: The sun rises in the west and sets in the east, right?
Schoolgirl #2: No, no, no! It rises in the east! Girl, you need to learn your temperatures!
--N train
Two tween girls walk into Starbucks. For some reason one emits a high pitched squeal.
Tween #2: Shut up! This is a place where humans go!
--Starbucks, Astor Place
Overheard by: Scott Nybakken
Preteen Boy #1: Get her, fuck her, leave her.
Preteen Boy #2: Is that what you do?
Preteen Boy #1: Hell yeah. Teabagging.
Preteen Boy #2: Teabagging?
Preteen Boy #1: Yeah. Get in and get out. That's teabagging.
Preteen Boy #2: Ha, ha! Teabagging!
Preteen Boy #1: Hey, how do you spell Utah?
Preteen Boy #2: U... U...
Preteen Boy #1: Tell me how to spell Utah, motherfucker!
--Smith/9th St. Station
Overheard by: Mary Phillips-Sandy