Even though we were warned we shouldn't, we have all put our foot in it and asked a woman when she is due or what she's having, only for it to emerge that she's not actually pregnant.
So how do you deal with the unusual situation of spotting what appears to be a 'baby' in one of your friends' selfies without causing offence?
Well, this gang didn't pull any punches and just got right down to it when people started commenting 'congratulations' on her Instagram post.
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Rebecca Mcgonigle was left baffled when she started receiving messages wishing her and her supposed bundle of joy the best shortly after she'd uploaded a selfie to the social media platform last Monday.
The 25-year-old, from Glasgow, was sat in her bedroom and decided to take advantage of the 'good lighting' which was pouring in through the window.
Donning a green knit sweater and a white flowy skirt, the PHD student smiled sweetly in the cute snap.
But for people who saw it, the post was more of a birth announcement rather than a thirst trap - as they thought Jessica was clutching a newborn in her arms.
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Rebecca was inundated with messages from her pals, while her acquaintances began flooding the comment section with congratulations from those who thought she'd embarked on the journey of motherhood.
The hilarious red alert from her friend read: "I love you so much right, but in your Instagram post I thought your knee was a baby's head and your skirt looks like a blanket. I did a double take and it really made me laugh."
While getting her head round that, comments such as 'motherhood looks so good on you' and 'I thought you were with child' were left under Rebecca's selfie.
But it turns out that it was simply her choice of pose which made people think she had become a parent.
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The way her knee and arm is positioned creates quite the optical illusion, which kind of makes it look like she is cradling a baby that's covered in some kind of white blanket.
Although most people would be deleting their entire Instagram account and any other trace of their existence online, the student found the whole thing hilarious and decided to leave her post up.
She was simply glad that her family hadn't copped it first - but she revealed her boyfriend Neil Pitman's reaction was simply: "What the f**k?"
Instead, Rebecca changed the caption from 'wee sunny egg' so that she could clarify she was not a new mum and wrote: "I AM NOT WITH CHILD, THAT'S A KNEE."
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Discussing the mix-up, she said: "The lighting was good so I thought I'd take a photo to post on social media and I just didn't realise.
"A couple of minutes after I posted it my friend texted me and I thought 'oh no' and then a bunch of people started messaging me. My knee looks like a baby's head and my skirt looks like a blanket.
"I thought 'what the f**k?' and wasn't sure whether to delete it but I thought I'd keep it up because it's funny.
"People were seriously asking if I'd had a baby and that was strange to reply to. I'm glad my family didn't see it first and panic.
'I wasn't embarrassed by it because it was funny and boyfriend just thought what the f**k is going on?"
Olivia Burke