Woman uses genius phrase to shut down catcallers on the street and the internet is taking notes

No woman appreciates catcallers. These ill-mannered people make it more difficult for women to walk around the streets as they feel unsafe. But one TikTok creator is taking up some online advice and putting it to use in her real life to brush off rude catcallers. Brydie Monaghan, who goes by @brydieannm on TikTok, uploaded a video on the platform to share her experience of encountering a catcaller and how she effectively thwarted his attempts to bother her.

Monaghan started her video by referring to another Tiktok creator who originally came up with this idea to ward off the catcallers. She mentioned Kyle Prue (@kyleprue) on the social platform who often makes fun videos to give people ideas about how to boost their confidence in public and deal with suspicious strangers. "Oh my God, does anyone watch the TikTok creator who does this series on things you can say to piss off men?" Monaghan begins her video, naming Prue soon after. She revealed how she recently used one of the phrases shared by Prue to interact with a stranger.

"I was just walking and this guy just walked past me with his dog," Monaghan recounted while controlling her laugh. "He literally looked me up and down and went 'hello' and tried to start talking to me. I went 'I'm sorry, I don't have any change.'" At first, the man looked at Monaghan with confusion and then he appeared angry but she kept walking towards her destination nonchalantly. The short phrase worked in Monaghan's favor and the stranger seemingly did not bother her any further. Fellow Tiktok users were taking notes and making sure to follow some of Prue's advice if they faced unexpected situations on the streets like Monaghan.

@1324raffa wrote, "I had a guy at the gas station throw me the 'how you doing' and I kept repeating 'no thanks I’m not buying anything today.'" @jegimyem4 shared, "These comments made me go straight to Kyle’s page and follow him. I can’t wait to start using these!! Hilarious." @sanjabeel commented, "I’ve been saying I’m vegetarian no matter what and they’re like what and just keep repeating myself till they realize I won’t say anything else." @captain_fantastic mentioned, "I used one once. A man was talking about cryptocurrency and I said oh yeah that's just like Kohl's cash." @annabelle.bug added, "I love these but at the same time I would be 100% too scared of a violent response to use them."

Just like Monaghan, another woman took to the TikTok community to extend the same advice on how to deal with harassment on the streets. Daphne Berry (@berridaph on TikTok), recalled an encounter over a video with a man who subjected her to catcalling outside a construction site. Instead of enduring the harassment in silence, she decided to respond using the same phrase: "Sorry, I don't have any change." As a result, all the other men on the construction site started laughing and pointing at him. It made the catcaller feel embarrassed. By responding to the man with a dose of humor and wit, she managed to disarm the unruly catcaller and unite those around her in laughter rather than indignation.

You can follow Brydie Monaghan (@brydieannm) on TikTok for more videos on lifestyle.