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50 Seemingly Innocent Posts That Might Suddenly Make You Say, “Hold Up, I Did Not See That Coming” (New Pics)
Life is unpredictable, and things are not always what they seem. Sometimes, you’re reading a seemingly innocent post on social media, and suddenly you encounter a shocking twist that has you saying, “Hold up… What?” If you live for those surprising moments, we’ve got the perfect list for you, pandas.
Below, we’ve gathered some of our favorite posts from the “Hol’Up, wait a min” subreddit that might make you do a double take. Prepare to be saying, “I did not see that coming”, and be sure to upvote all of your favorite posts. Otherwise, Bored Panda might spontaneously combust... Hold up!
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You Had Me In The First Half
Something's Wrong Here
When I was in university, I had an acting teacher who drilled into us the importance of “Dukes of Hazzard Turns”. I know all of you pandas out there might not get the reference (don’t worry, I didn’t either at first), so I’ll explain what he meant by that. In the 80s sitcom The Dukes of Hazzard, there were many reckless driving scenes where the characters would take abrupt, sharp turns, so anyone watching could have never anticipated where the driver was heading. What my acting teacher wanted to see from us with “Dukes of Hazzard Turns” was sharp contrasts in our characters.
It’s exciting to watch people quickly change their tactics in pursuing their objectives; audiences eat it right up. So I can’t help but think of that acting professor when viewing the photos from the “Hol’up” subreddit. All of these posts definitely have “Dukes of Hazzard Turns” within them. Some of them are surprisingly wholesome, while others get dark very fast. But as readers, we love these sudden plot twists, and we can’t get enough of them.
Florida
Real Questions
True Story
It’s no secret that audiences love plot twists. We see them in films like Get Out, Gone Girl, Parasite, Scream and countless other classics. But what is it about these sudden turns that we can’t get enough of? According to Vera Tobin, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University, movies “exploit our natural tendency to anticipate what’s coming next.” So it can be extremely exciting when our expectations are proven wrong by a shocking plot twist and extremely disappointing when we somehow stumble upon a spoiler.
Tobin explains that we all want to have some idea of what we’re getting ourselves into when we read a book or watch a film, so we’re interested in knowing the genre. But the “curse of knowledge” comes into play when we’re worried about something being spoiled. “You only have one opportunity to learn something for the first time,” Tobin writes. “Once you’ve learned it, that knowledge affects what you notice, what you anticipate – and even the limits of your imagination.”
What Predates On Tigers?!
I googled it, elephants and bears can sometimes be a threat to tigers
Hol' Up
Koalas And Humans Has Almost Similar Fingerprints
Drug busts at unsanctioned raves. When a koala gets Chlamydia, they can't just go to the family vet because the wife will see the copay on the credit card bill and ask what's wrong.
Tobin goes on to explain that plot twists can also do a great job of pulling everything together in a story. “A major part of the pleasure of plot twists, too, comes not from the shock of surprise, but from looking back at the early bits of the narrative in light of the twist,” she notes. “The most satisfying surprises get their power from giving us a fresh, better way of making sense of the material that came before. This is another opportunity for stories to turn the curse of knowledge to their advantage. Once we know the answer to a puzzle, its clues can seem more transparent than they really were. When we revisit early parts of the story in light of that knowledge, well-constructed clues take on new, satisfying significance.”
Bruh
The Coffee Is Free
I like my men like I like my coffee—sliding off the roof of my car as I drive away🙂
Easy Ways To Kill A Husband?
But the joy of being surprised doesn’t only come from plot twists in films and books. As this list makes very clear, we can have “Hol’up” moments in our daily lives at any moment, and our brains still love them, even when they’re not scripted. “It’s a strong neuro alert that tells us that something is important about this moment and we have to pay attention,” Tania Luna, the co-author of Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected, told The Takeaway, explaining the “surprise sequence”. “Our cognitive resources are basically hijacked and pulled into the moment. That’s one of the things that’s really uncomfortable for some people, but also exciting for some people because your attention is completely in the moment.”
This Guy Is In Daniel
'murica
Modern Problems Require Mordern Solution
And if you’re a person who considers a surprise party to be your worst nightmare, Luna says that it’s possible to become more open to the idea over time. “I think about surprise in two perspectives: Embracing it and engineering it,” she told The Takeaway. “You have to train your brain to be more comfortable accepting surprise, and by that I also mean surprise readiness—being comfortable with uncertainty, ambiguity and change. Especially these days, that’s an incredibly important skill.”
Taliban
Uh
Even though she’s an expert on surprise now, Luna admits that she wasn’t always a fan. “I hated being surprised—I loved surprising others, but I hated being surprised myself,” she told The Takeaway. “[I hated] the feeling of loss of control and the feeling of vulnerability. As a kid, I had experienced a lot of change and my coping mechanism was to say, ‘I’m in charge. I control everything. Nobody controls me and I can control the world around me.’ I was protecting myself from negative surprises. But what I’ve learned is that I was also keeping out joy, wonder, and emotional intensity.”
Uno Reverse Card
Wait
I-
I remember asking a question about this to the priest when I was in catechism. It didn't go well. I was put into an empty room to "pray and ask for forgiveness". I came out of that room an atheist. I was 11.
The element of surprise is a very important ingredient in comedy, and many of the people who were part of these conversations shared on Reddit had excellent comedic timing. From coming up with perfect comebacks to wording things in just the right way, these surprising posts went from mundane to hilarious in the blink of an eye. As comedian Dean Lewis explains in his article ‘The Anatomy of a Joke’, “A comedic surprise is a twist without serious repercussions.”
Well. I Guess This Was Rigged From The Start
Poor Guy
Hol’ Up
We all love a great “didn’t see that coming” moment, whether it happens in real life, is accidentally caught on camera or is found in a screenshot from social media. Surprise is the spice of life, right? (Or something like that.) So if you’re interested in adding a little bit more excitement to your daily life, be sure to mix up your routine or do something (harmless) to surprise someone else. Whether you believe we’re all plugged into the Matrix or not, your brain might appreciate being caught off guard every now and then. Plus, if you manage to get a picture of it, you can always share it on the “Hol’up” subreddit.
Wait..what
Holup
I Mean... He's Not Wrong Tho?
Hold up—How are you feeling about this list, pandas? Are you having whiplash from all of the shocking twists and turns that these posts take? We hope you’re having some fun being surprised and caught off guard. Remember to keep upvoting the posts that went in a completely different direction than what you expected, and let us know in the comments if you’ve had any “Hol’up” moments recently. Then, if you can handle being shocked by even more of these types of posts, you can find Bored Panda’s previous article featuring the “Hol’up” subreddit right here!
Sick Beat
Everyone probably already knows this, but the reason drummers were included in battalions was for morale, coordination on the battlefield, and signaling to soldiers when to reload and fire, which you might think sounds ridiculous, but back then armies worked in line formations, and muskets were slow-firing weapons, so to maximize firing, one line would open fire while the back line reloads, then the front line would kneel to reload giving the back line chance to fire, and repeat.
*sed Noises
I Love Duolingo
Mans Been Legit This Whole Time?!
Hol Up
Indeed
I Don’t Like Where This Is Going
The Moment She Knew She
It Will Be Like That Though
F*ck Cartoons
Class was cancelled so I went home and put on a homemade VHS of The Princess Bride, stopping regularly to check the news. Then, trying to switch over to the movie, I accidentally hit Record. So now my copy of The Princess Bride has news footage of 9/11 randomly interspersed. The worst easter egg.
I was in 6th grade. Ask the classrooms had a TV in the corner up on the wall. The TV turned on (office could do it, ask the tvs turned on) and without any warning or notice we watched the plane hit and the chaos. Some of my classmates thought it was a movie, but those of us that realized we were watching a lot of people die- yep. A ton of kids having meltdowns and terrified.
I was in fifth grade. We were having picture day in the library and the TV was on really low so we got in trouble as the teachers were whispering and telling us to be absolutely silent. My mom pulled me out of school pretty soon afterwards
Load More Replies...I was 21 and I thought it was a movie not the news! We always left the TV on for the dog at night. So when we woke up that morning, we just thought it was a movie on the movie channel we were watching the night before.
daycare isnt school. its basically just someone who babysits a bunch of kids at once. daycare and preschool r 2 different things.
Load More Replies...what is a "tea on myself"? Not being stupid, just really don't understand...
I think "tea" is like gossip or drama of some sort. 🤷🏻♀
Load More Replies...Oh I was in School in NY, as soon we heard, the teacher put on a radio and we listened all day through all out classes what was happening. Some people snuck into the janitors break room bc they had a TV (and they were watching the news, and nothing else all day). The School had to calm the panic down, while they went through their records to see which parents worked in the twin towers and try to contact them to let the kids know they were ok. Kids were crying in the hallways bc their parents worked there, etc. All these years later, and I remember that day in school very very well.
I was sleeping through intro to psychology freshman year at college. I was away from home and my mom called many times until I picked up. We live maybe an hour from the city but I was about 4 hours north at school; dad was out of the country so she really freaked out.
My old HS overlooks the NYC skyline. A lot of my classmates saw their parents die in real time. I saw the 2nd tower collapse driving home. You don't get over that.
I was in a private boarding school no cable so they pulled us out of class to explain what was happening. Spent 10 hours in a bomb shelter
i also did not like cartoons as a kid except for the old a*s looney tunes sh1t my dad showed me but also damn that's traumatizing
First thing I did was call my friend who lived and worked in Manhattan. Left him a message and worried for the rest of the day until he called me around 5:30 pm. Thanked God he was okay, and went home to have a soul deep stress infused cry.
I struggle to believe that they made a bunch of kids watch the news at daycare, at 9:00 a.m. there are some things that are off limits for your made-up "pay attention to me" fun, and this is one of them. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Probably short for "spill the tea" as tattle ať yourself About the worst thing you did
Load More Replies...This is a crazy odd relation but I grew up watching cartoons every morning. I still did it even though I was 21. That day I turned on the tv which was on the cartoon channel and said I don’t feel like watching cartoons. And I changed the channel to the news and I hate the news!!! Sometimes our minds do powerful things.
Worked in a daycare that had lots of lawyers and stuff who worked in the high rides in our mid sized city. I had been running late to work so I never saw the news but boy did I get bits and pieces as the buildings were shut down and parents rushed in to pick up their kids
You saw our country being attacked vs. a stupid cartoon. Something you'll really remember.
I was in 4th grade. The teachers didn't tell us anything, but my classmates kept getting pulled out of school early. I was so jealous because I wanted to leave early, too. I forget what my parents told me when I got home, but it had to have been an understated version of it because I didn't realize what had happened until later, when the Afghanistan war started and schools started holding moments of silence every 9/11.
That's the way it was with JFK's death. People were in shock. Everyone could tell you where they were that day. I was in 7th grade gym class and we, like a lot of other people were watching the visit to Dallas. After the shooting everything got really quite for a few minutes.
One Person Who Is 7x More Likely To Kill You Than Everyone Else
I Dont Need Sleep I Need Answers!
Oops
Strange Trilogy
Feels Bad Man
Oops
I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up!
Oh 😳
Don’t Expose Him Like That
There was a scene in Degrassi (next class I think) where the innocent new girl is introduced to the trans kid. He says he is trans and se thinks it means transient aka homeless. She ends up dating him though.
Neil Was Very Opinionated
Tyson Is So Sexy
Downvote me if you will, but Mike Tyson is a woman beating rapist and I find nothing funny about him. However, the comeback on this post is epic!
Domesticated
Sorry Bruh
In case anyone's wondering, Donnerstag = Thursday; Mittwoch = Wednesday; Sonntag = Sunday; Dienstag = Tuesday. Correct answer is C.
Note: this post originally had 83 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
bruh, can we stop talking about humans??? i get it, we suck! i dont need to be reminded every day
bruh, can we stop talking about humans??? i get it, we suck! i dont need to be reminded every day