Identical twins are born when a single egg (zygote) is fertilized. It then divides in two, creating identical twins who share the same genes. But the likelihood of having a twin is quite low; twin births are just 3.2 percent of births in the United States.

But if you’re born under a monozygotic lucky star, and share your life and its ups and downs in equal parts with your twin brother or sister, the chances are you also have a bunch of hilarious and savage stories to tell.

I mean, you should have pulled or at least tried to pull a switcheroo at least once in your life. Well, these identical twins kind of did. So today we look at the stories shared by twins in these two Reddit threads (this and this) about how they got mixed up, swapped places, fooled everyone, and either got away with it or not.

If you also have a story like that, please share it in the comment section below!

#1

On April fools day one year my twin sister and I switched places in class. Since I never broke the rules I was terrified. But we pulled it off just fine and none of our teachers noticed. Then during lunch my name came over the loud speaker and I was called to the principals office. She told me she found out that we switched spots and that I was going to be suspended. Of course I freaked out and started bawling. Only then did my twin come out from the other room and say "April Fools!" Her and the principal set me up!

Image credits: bulbasaaaaur

#2

I think the funniest "twin switch" that happened to me recently was when I visited my sister's house. (We're sisters, probably identical, with slight visual differences and nearly identical voices and mannerisms.)

She's got 4 cats, 3 of which are kittens from the same litter. They're all varying levels of people-shy because they're used to only being around her, but most of them like me too.

She has one cat, Moby, who is the shyest. But I was hanging out at her house all day on the couch, and he managed to come out of hiding and socialize a bit.

When she's alone, she usually watches movies on the couch with a blanket, but that day while we're watching a movie, I sat on her couch with a throw blanket over my legs and she sat on the loveseat.

We're watching this movie, and Moby jumps up on the couch and snuggles in on my blanketed legs, and dozes off. Awww. He stays there for about an hour. Anyway, the movie ends and we start chatting, and Moby the cat's chilled out on my legs.

I said something funny, and my sister laughs. Moby hears her laugh and looks in her direction, sees her sitting on the loveseat, and does a CLASSIC double take. You can just see his cat thought balloon say, "WAIT!!! IF SHE'S OVER THERE...WHOSE LEGS AM I SITTING ON?!?!!"

He jumped up super fast and stared directly into my face with this horrified, confused cat expression. "WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!" Then he ran off and hid under the dryer, all traumatized by his accidental snuggling with the wrong twin. He still runs off when he hears me.

Image credits: idiosyncrassy

#3

My great grandfather had an identical twin brother. They lived in NYC and made a pact with each other for when one of them passed away. Now my family is mostly Irish so our funerals have always been quite the party. When the first twin passed away they had an open casket at the wake for him. Now, here was the catch. Before anyone got there, the other twin and some of their closest friends switched out the bodies and took the dead brother next door to the conveniently close Irish pub and drank with him propped up as the other brother filled in for most of the wake. I never heard the whole story or how they switched back but I'm sure with a couple breaths and small movements here and there, some people were pretty freaked out.

Image credits: dennyl05

#4

I met my husband because I was mistaken for my identical twin. I had been pining away for this guy. Both my mother and my sister had met him and kept joking about how they had found "the one" for me. My sister, being a super cool heartbreaker of a lesbian befriended him at our favorite coffee shop. They had collaborated at crosswords a few times and one day, he walked in while I was reading by myself. He came over and started chatting with me. Most jaw-droppingly handsome man I had ever met, and he was talking to me like we were the best of friends. I realized he thought I was my twin and played along. About half an hour later, he realized he'd been had. Still, it worked!

Image credits: libertineid

#5

Not me but my friend has a twin and one time at a bar we frequented that had two levels a girl pointed out that she had seen a dude who looked just like my buddy down in the basement bar. My buddy immediately starts speaking English with a German accent and asks her to take her to him (his brother). He wipes out his phone and texts his brother on the way to quickly explain. Poor girl spent the rest of the night telling everyone in the bar that she had helped long lost twins find each other

Image credits: deleted

#6

I'm not a twin myself, but have witnessed a phenomenal switcharoo by my 6th grade geography teacher.

This guy (we'll call him Mr. F.) was one of my favorite teachers that year--nice, funny, and made geography fun. However, some days he just seemed off his game. He would kind of keep quiet and give us busy work to complete, while he would sit at his desk and read. No big deal, everyone has good days and bad days.

On one of these off days, Mr. F. wrote our assignment for the day on the board. Problem was, it was written in almost illegible cursive. One of the more observant students asked why he wrote it like that when he usually writes in neat, all capital letters. He made some excuse, but he just really didn't seem like himself. Finally, someone remembered Mr. F. telling us he had an identical twin brother, and the class went nuts. We kept hounding him the entire class asking if he was really our teacher, and all he would say is "I AM Mr. F.!" He tried so hard not to blow his cover, but when he couldn't answer questions about things we discussed in class the previous week, we knew the truth.

When the "real" Mr. F. came back the next day, he tried to play coy about it all. I learned a few years later that his twin brother actually was a certified substitute teacher for the county (thus confirming our suspicions). To this day, I still don't know how many times the imposter was teaching my class.

Image credits: FakeQuotes

#7

My freshman Spanish teacher had a disease which made it impossible for him to walk. Consequently, he used an electronic cart to get around. Little did the class know that he had a twin brother. Sr. Imposter stood up out of his cart nonchalantly to hand out the grades of the previous quiz, only to sit back down as if nothing happened. The class was dumbfounded.

Image credits: roundstop

#8

When we were in high school we had teachers who also happened to be identical twins. One taught math and the other one art (very different, I know). During our Junior year, my brother was failing trig, and I told him I would help him out. We switched classes for the day, and I took his exam. Literally NO ONE knew what we were doing, or so we thought. At the beginning of next week I was in my math class, and the teacher handed back my brother's exam to me, and said nice work. I continued the ruse and told him it was my brother's, and not my exam. He called b******t. After class I asked him what was going on, and all he said was "I'm a twin too".

So I guess it wasn't exactly one of the best switches.

Image credits: HaroldHood

#9

We're identical, but I've only really taken advantage of the pranks as of recently.

My senior year of uni my twin visited me (she had graduated a year earlier from a school on the other side of the country) and I hadn't mentioned her to very many people. I knew I was going to be late for class (b/c of a job interview) so I had my twin go in my place. Half of the class knew I had a twin, the other (including the prof) did not know. When I finally got to class, I sat in the back. It took a few minutes for the prof to turn around...he stared at my twin, looked at me, then back at the board, rinse and repeat. The prof didn't say anything, he was so confused that he just went back to the lecture. I felt a whole lot of satisfaction for that one.

Now? My twin and I have both moved. I'm in a different city, and my twin found a job in my old college town. Best continuous prank ever. Everyone thinks its me.

Image credits: I_Am_Thing2

#10

Identical twin here. My sister and I did some normal switches during school. In 4th grade we got found out because I was waaaaay worse at math than her and then she would go to ap biology for me sometimes just for the kicks and giggles.

The best switch we did was in her ap composition class during our senior year of high school.

So, my sis had to write a 20 minute speech. Since she's an All Star she wanted to make a speech that really sang to her. We brainstormed and the thing that always bugged her the most during our schooling was how we lived in plurality. Meaning, most people would call us twin 1 and twin 2 or by our last name. By senior year of high school, we were really irritated at some people who didn't make the effort in getting to know our names. (many had known us for 8+ years!).

Well, my sis got crackin'. By the end of the week she had written this awe-inspiring speech. (Gosh, it made me tear up hearing her pour her heart out.) My sis was the first to toss the idea around for me to speak the first half. We realized it would have much more gusto if we proved to her class that even they are at fault for treating us as one entity and not as individuals.

Eventually the day came and I skipped my 3rd class, went to lunch with my sis's friend (who knew about our plan), switched clothes with my sis, and entered her classroom as inconspicuous as possible. The teacher even sat down next to me and gave me some pointers on how to use the equipment and how to have good posture while speaking. We talked for at least 10 minutes without her noticing I was the wrong person. Other people in the class had no idea. One even gave back my sis's calculator and we talked about some homework assignment for calculus. I used the "I'm pretty nervous about my speech, I can help you out after class" card and he went on his merry way.

When it was my turn, I gave the cue to my sis that we were starting (she was right outside the door). I believe I either sneezed 2 times or I clapped twice. Either way, I went up to the podium and I introduced myself as my sis and I began the speech called Living in Plurality. I spoke for about 8-10 minutes with no one questioning anything. After about 8 minutes, I paused, I put down my cue cards, and looked at the class. I sighed and told them I have been lying this whole time and that I was not the one who had done the things I had just said. I told them I was sharing the experiences of a whole different person. (They looked so confused.) That's when my sis walks in and I admit to the class that I am actually not my sis.

That's when everyone crapped their pants of awe and embarrassment.

My sis finished the speech and everyone in the class was really affected by it. We received lots of attention at school because our prank spread like wild fire. The best part was that people actually started calling us by our real names (or at least trying their best. I understand that it can be tough).

Image credits: agirlwholikesbiology

#11

The only big switch we ever did was in the yearbook. We took senior portraits as the other twin and had our combined quote be “people always ask us if we switch places to mess with people...” “...well the answer’s yes, I’m actually u/MacNCheeseEnthusiast”

Image credits: MacNCheeseEnthusiast

#12

I once proposed to my twins wife like 6 months into their relationship

Image credits: anon

#13

My twin brother and I are easy to tell apart when side by side but when out on our own we occasionally get mistaken for one another. One time when I was working as a camp counselor he dropped me off at work before a big staff meeting and I gave him my staff shirt while I hid out in another building.

In a sea of people wearing the same outfit he blended in easily and no one seemed to notice. 5-10 minutes after the meeting started I confidently walked in and said “Hey guys, sorry I’m late I couldn’t find my shir...YOU!” I pointed at my twin and chased him out of the room. We traded shirts back and I returned to the room with all of my coworkers laughing and applauding.

The boss especially got a kick out of it because a few minutes after someone arrived at the meeting late and he got the chance to say: “This is why you want to show up on time to meetings. You sir just missed one of the funniest moments of the summer.”

Image credits: TheGingernational

#14

My identical twin brother and I were riding a bus back from summer camp. I was sitting mid bus and he was in the front. This one girl, after a week of seeing us at camp, finally connects the dots and yells out to the bus "Holy C**p! You guys look soooo similar! Are you related?!?!" my brother and I quickly make eye contact and we know: the game is on. For the next 20 minutes we acted like we had never met before, back stories about each of our lives, being adopted, growing up, friends, school, how we got into going to camp, stuff like that. We had this girl 100% convinced that she had reunited long lost brothers. One person on the bus couldn't handle their friend looking like an idiot and we got busted.

The greatest thing, every other person on that bus knew that we were identical twins and were wondering how the hell we were pulling this off.

Image credits: RhinosLikeCookies

#15

My older sisters are identical twins. One's married and had her first baby.

By far the best switcheroo has been the one twin babysitting the other's daughter. She looked so confused when she saw them in the same room and it took her a good week or two to finally be able to tell the difference!

Image credits: Legoshoes

#16

as a twin, people ask you three questions.
1) Oh my god.... are you TWINS???
2) Can you read each others minds / are you telepathic etc.
3) Wow... Have you guys ever switched classes?

My brother and I get a lot of this cause we are identical. We have devised a system to deal with the second question.

When attempting to read each others minds, we have a list of words in specific order that we always use.
1. Grapefruit
2. Water fountain
3. Dinosaur
4. Mexico
...etc

we usually get to about mexico till someone smart finally realizes that we could have possibly planned it all in advance. then all the sudden they want to come up with the words and then we're f****d.

Image credits: zhamdee

#17

Me and my twin brother used to get lazy at times when we had multiple exams on the same day. If we had 2 tests for the same classes, we would each study only for one, then take the test twice, once for ourselves, and once for each other.

Image credits: arkayic

#18

My twin brother was studying in college when I was working as a welder. On one of my days off, I decided to go have lunch with him and our friends at the college cafeteria. We have pretty much the same friends so when he had to go back to class I stayed to chat with them. After about half an hour I decided to go see if I can find the class he is in. Because he was studying in computer science, I checked in the computer labs first and thats where I found him. I spotted him through the class door's window, sitting in the back of the class. The teacher looked like she was talking to the students while they were writing down some notes. So I open the door and walk in the class. As I walk by the teacher, I say i'm sorry that I am so late and that I'll be more careful next time. The teacher stops talking and gives me a puzzled look. I continue walking towards my brother as the whole class looks at me with the same puzzled look. As I get to my brothers desk, I say to him: '' Damn it, I thought it was my turn to be here this week!''. My brother was laughing his a*s off as the rest of the class still had the same puzzled look.

Image credits: swim82

#19

I'm fraternal, so even though this isn't a switch we have had our fun.

My twin sister and I used to get asked (ALL THE TIME) if we could read one another's minds. By the time we got to high school and people were still asking we decided to mess with them a bit.

We both know the alphabet in sign language. We'd make sure we were sitting in a position that allowed us to see one another's hands but the inquiring party could not. Lets say the person that asked us told me to think to my sister the word "balloon". We would shut our eyes tightly and put our fingers to our temples as if transmitting the word through telepathy.

While they were watching our faces we would sneakily open our eyes just enough to see what the other person was signing. I would start signing out b-a-l-l-o-o-n and my sister would say things like "I feel like your word begins with a B. Maybe it's battery? No- it's more like a ball." Finally the whole word came across and she would say with confidence that "Oh, I believe your word is balloon. Is that correct?".

Then the person would be amazed and we were somewhat proud of reinforcing their stupidity. This happened more often than I would like to admit...

Image credits: anon

#20

Hey what's up everybody, my twin and I have pulled a lot of switches and pranks before, but this particular one stands out in my mind all too well.

Sophomore year of college, my brother was taking a Psychology 101 class as a prerequisite. On one particular Tuesday, he approached me with a dilemma that he needed my help with. Thursday around noon he had an exam in Psych, but that same morning his girlfriends family was flying out to California to go to Disneyland and they picked him up a plane ticket. Of course I told him "Ok bro, I'll go to Disneyland for you." But we all know that wouldn't be the case no matter how much I tried.

He left me with all of the material I'd need and I started studying away in the hopes of acing this exam for him (or not heinously screwing up his grade). Here was the catch with the exam room, this professor was notorious for making it impossible to cheat. We'll call him Mr. J for this one. Mr. J had 7 TA's who would walk around during the exam and check the two forms of ID he required you to have and would constantly walk up and down the isles to check for any form of cheating. My brother, having known this, left me with some of his IDs and wished me all the best.

Exam time comes and I'm killing it. Just in case they'd notice any minute differences in looks or handwriting, I wore a backwards hat and wrapped up my hand as though it was injured. You can never be too sure. Now my twin and I love to play pranks on each other, it's just what we do. So I can't help but notice a cute blonde TA that is walking the isles. The first time she passes me, I look up and give her a smile, almost like a cocky grin. The second lap through I look up again and whisper "hi" with an almost innocent smile. This continues throughout the exam until the last run-through I whisper to her that I think she's cute. As luck would have it, she blushed and said I was too. When I went to turn in my exam, someone from on high was smiling down on me because she approached and gave me her number. Of course, she wasn't giving me her number, she was giving my brother her number. Knowing this, I told her I'd call her that weekend. Next week of class, she approached my brother and asked him why he never called. It was a fine prank :D

I wound up getting him a B and no one was the wiser. However, our story continues on two years later. I needed one more elective to graduate, and I figured I'd take the Psych class that held the funny memory. The semester was going fine until one day I get an email from Mr. J, a very angry email, asking me to meet with him before class starts. As it turns out, the world could not be any smaller. Mr. J's mother (we'll say Mrs. M) lived in an apartment complex designed for the elderly. In this same complex resided my Grandma who raised my brother and I. The two of them happened to become best friends. Mrs. M invited over her son, Mr. J, to have lunch with my grandma and herself. It was there that the topic of twins was brought up and my grandma told a wonderful tale of how her twin grandsons pulled this heist off in a psychology class, all the while not knowing how it was his psych class. Oh he had some questions for me.

I went down to meet with him, expecting certain expulsion for myself and/or my brother. Luck was on our side though, because he just wanted to know exactly how we pulled it off. Every little detail he made note of. He spoke to the class (and it's to my knowledge that he tells the same story every semester now) and informed them that the only evident way to cheat in his class was to have an identical twin brother, but now they know to look for that. Also hats are no longer allowed when taking the exam. I was not punished for it because he said I helped him out and all I did was get my brother a B, so it made him laugh.

Image credits: Twin__A

#21

Before I left for college, my sister, best friend, and I decided we wanted one more camping trip.

My sister was driving a car that had no insurance, plates from a different vehicle, and she did not have a license or permit. I had gotten mine so recently that I still had the paper version. (In Colorado they mail the plastic one with the picture instead if printing it right away.)

She was also speeding. She got pulled over. We switched wallets, signed each other's names on the paperwork, and the car got impounded.

The next day, she registered and insured the car and got it out of impound with money I loaned her.

Then we went to the DMV to get her license. Here's where s**t gets good.

My sister needed glasses at the time, but did not have them. In Colorado, you have to pass an eye test to get your driver's permit. I had 20/20 vision.

I went through the line and did the eye test for her. I did not realize that at the end of the line, they TAKE YOUR F*****G FINGERPRINTS. WITH A COMPUTER THAT MATCHES YOUR FINGERPRINTS WITH THE ONES ON FILE.

Here's how that went down:
DMV lady: "Um... put your finger in there one more time. It didn't work. I'm supposed to call my manager, but let's just try it again."

Me: *f*ckf*ckf*ckf*ck* I do it again.

"OK, that time it worked."

*WHAT?!*

My sister and I go across the street to a Jamba Juice or something. We switch clothes. She goes back, does the driving test, takes another picture for the license, GIVES HER FINGERPRINT, and we go on our way.

I think she still has the permit with my picture on it. B***h owes me big.

Image credits: eskansm9442