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I'm fine. What are you talking about, you do not look fat in those jeans. I'll give you a call.

We lie all the time. And we get away with it quite often, too. But some folks push their made-up narrative so far, it's hard to imagine anyone actually believing them.

So they end up on the subreddit r/thatHappened. Its members share evidence of "people telling outrageous tall tales that would make Walter Mitty proud" and they have compiled quite the archive since the creation of this online community in 2012.

Here are some of its best gems.

#1

From Cursed Comments

From Cursed Comments

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Otter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hope you don't mind him losing his fertility to a totally preventable case of the mumps, and having no biological grandchildren?

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#2

Jesus Christ. What An Idiot

Jesus Christ. What An Idiot

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KJ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lol, this one should be number one for the massive cringe value.

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Sometimes people lie just to inflate their image—some think this motivation is the reason behind President Donald Trump's demonstrably false statement that his Inauguration crowd was bigger than President Barack Obama's first one. But people also lie to cover up bad behavior, as American swimmer Ryan Lochte did during the 2016 Summer Olympics by claiming to have been robbed at gunpoint at a gas station when, in fact, he and his teammates, drunk after a party, had been confronted by armed security guards after damaging property.

We can find similar examples even in fields that are dedicated to the search for eternal truth. And one doesn't have to look far, either. Take the physicist Jan Hendrik Schön, for example, whose purported breakthroughs in molecular semiconductor research proved to be fraudulent.

#3

Imagine Getting Called Out Like That, By Harry Styles Himself

Imagine Getting Called Out Like That, By Harry Styles Himself

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He swore to God. Imagine 'god' profile also replying: Stop using me for your lies, Mike.

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#4

Not Really Sure What Is There To Brag About Anyways

Not Really Sure What Is There To Brag About Anyways

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#5

Running A 5k In 10 Minutes

Running A 5k In 10 Minutes

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Lying is something many of us are very good at. We do it while interacting with strangers, co-workers, friends, and loved ones. Turns out, our capacity for dishonesty is as fundamental to us as our need to trust others, which ironically makes us terrible at detecting lies. Being deceitful is woven into us, so much so that it would be truthful to say that to lie is human.

The ubiquity of lying was first documented systematically two decades ago by Bella DePaulo, a social psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. DePaulo and her colleagues asked 147 adults to jot down for a week every instance they tried to mislead someone. The researchers discovered that the subjects lied on average one or two times a day. Most of these untruths were innocuous, intended to hide one's inadequacies or to protect the feelings of others. Some lies were excuses (one subject blamed the failure to take out the garbage on not knowing where it needed to go). Yet other lies, such as a claim of being a diplomat's son, were aimed at presenting a false image. While these were minor transgressions, a later study by DePaulo and other colleagues involving a similar sample indicated that most people have, at some point, told one or more "serious lies", like hiding an affair from a spouse, or making false claims on a college application.

#6

How Does She Expect Anyone To Believe Her? My Mother Sent Me This From Our Neighborhood Facebook Group

How Does She Expect Anyone To Believe Her? My Mother Sent Me This From Our Neighborhood Facebook Group

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Samantha Lomb
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What I read here is "I fantasized about committing assault on strangers to to promote my snake oil"

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#8

And Then The Coronavirus Clapped

And Then The Coronavirus Clapped

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Something
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It may be "incredibly easy" according to this tweeter, but I'm pretty impressed by anyone who can accidentally swallow an entire mask by accident.

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Researchers suggest that lying as a behavior arose pretty soon after the emergence of language. The ability to manipulate others without using physical force likely conferred an advantage in the competition for resources and mates, akin to the evolution of deceptive strategies in the animal kingdom, such as camouflage.

"Lying is so easy compared to other ways of gaining power," Sissela Bok, an ethicist at Harvard University who's one of the most prominent thinkers on the subject, told Nat Geo. "It's much easier to lie in order to get somebody's money or wealth than to hit them over the head or rob a bank.

"Experts are learning that we're prone to believe some lies even when they're easily contradicted by clear evidence. These insights suggest that our proclivity for deceiving others, and our vulnerability to being deceived, are especially consequential in the age of social media.

So in the case of r/ThatHappened, it's nice to see that we can still retain our ability to distinguish truth from fiction.

#10

Lady Who Lives In Massive Fantasy Land Goes To Disneyland

Lady Who Lives In Massive Fantasy Land Goes To Disneyland

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#11

Woman Finds Microchip In Her Son’s Mask!?

Woman Finds Microchip In Her Son’s Mask!?

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#12

Of All The Things That Didn't Happen, This Didn't Happen The Most

Of All The Things That Didn't Happen, This Didn't Happen The Most

mojey6068 Report

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KJ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Decided to turn lesbian, it's not like deciding to wear jeans instead of shorts today lol.

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#13

Mhmm, Yeah Sure It Was

Mhmm, Yeah Sure It Was

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Cecily Holland
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one really annoys me! These self entitled, self absorbed mental midgets really think they have it that bad. It’s disrespectful and disgusting

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#14

This 2-Year-Old Must Have A Degree Already

This 2-Year-Old Must Have A Degree Already

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Otter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My sympathies to that child, s/he's going to grow up having their needs ignored, because mum needs them to make her feel better about her life.

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#15

Everyone’s Worst Nightmare

Everyone’s Worst Nightmare

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#16

Oh Yeah. For Sure

Oh Yeah. For Sure

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Falcon dimi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

but on the other hand she is probably still paying the hospital bills for the delivery of het son.

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#17

Brags To All Their Friends For Saving Their Life With Essential Oils

Brags To All Their Friends For Saving Their Life With Essential Oils

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#18

Discord Users Are A Different Breed

Discord Users Are A Different Breed

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Lauren Caswell
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because we all know when the universe began, the big bang and all that, monkeys were already well established 🤦‍♀️ not even apes, he said monkeys. Zero effort

kaoconno avatar
kathoco
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The most unbelievable part is that a teacher thought it would be a good idea to tell his students his religious beliefs in class.... I'm a teacher and most of us know that that's a recipe for disaster.

kobusloots avatar
boredpanda_48 avatar
ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Remember how they used to say "adaptation" in class to avoid the word "evolution". It's really sad.

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Michael Bartko
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe NBC created The Monkees to draw on the popularity of The Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night

jgarza avatar
J Garza
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do so many need people to cheer and clap for them? Even in their own fantasies.

blbrightonoswin_1 avatar
Brian Bennett
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You better stay in school because you need a damned good education - you don't even know what atheist means!

nathanjones_2 avatar
Nathan Jones
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the other bullshit aside...... is it normal for everyone who wears Nike shoes to know the names of the founders off the top of their head?

mikepower avatar
Mike Power
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, most people don't know the full names of the founders of companies that use child labor.

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Donkey boi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The best thing about science is that you will often hear 'we don't know...'. Scientists are excited by all the things we still have to learn. In religion, you will never hear 'we don't know...' you will only hear '...because god/the gods...' and 'because I have faith!'

dntownsend4 avatar
Davis the Un-Greatest
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually, this sounds like something that would happen at my school, but instead of cheering we’d be silently giggling at the teacher who went along with it :)

s-mkeating avatar
M
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm an atheist, I understand how some people believe in god creating souls, or creating the beginning of the universe and whatnot, but I don't know how people can look into all that science about something and say, "Nope, god creates _____."

jen_hunt_9250 avatar
Alethia Nyx
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

His jaw probably dropped out of disbelief at the stupidity.

fracarr avatar
François Carré
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In his book The God Delusion, famous scientist Richard Dawkins answers to that kind of speech with this remark : the logic of the whole universe's story is exponential complexification. Which means everything started from something quite simple - some singularity which remains to be explained but as far as we know was kind of basic. God is supposed to be infinitely complex. If you say He created said singularity, well you don't explain anything actually, you're just transposing the question to what was before. How was God's infinite complexity created so that He could create the simplicity of the beginning ? There's no answer to this, except this one : faith is fine, but don't mess it up with science.

camipotter avatar
oof
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

some teacher if he thought we evolved FROM monkeys

violet-yimlat avatar
Viola Yarrow
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Humans didn’t even evolve from monkeys, humans and monkeys have a common ancestor but not directly from monkeys

degueb avatar
De Gueb
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who made "God"? God has nothing to do with religion. Suppose there was a creator, let's forget for now the "what created the creator" problem. If there was this magic entity that created everything why did he make up religion? Not one religion, hundreds? All different, different beliefs different holy days, different sins. Some people don't work on Fridays, others on Saturday. Some celebrate parthenogenesis, others don't it pork. All to please the same entity.

walterssaginaw avatar
Valley Girl
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pretty sure monkeys are also born from monkeys...That shouldn't have been a stumper.

bcgrote avatar
Brandy Grote
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They still weren't "created", they evolved just like every other thing here. Except that student....

paulwerner_1 avatar
Paul Werner
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's obvious most of the commenters never had an imaginary teacher

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Thomas E S Thomas
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Monkeys (chimps, a cousin to humans) evolved ultimately from a shrew, which had evolved from a lizard, which evolved from an arthropod dinosaur that had a duck-like bill. That dinosaur evolved from another creature that resembled a big fish. Humans are a result of 2.6 billion years of things evolving, reaching for the stars. We... we are not the end result.

perstephone29 avatar
Persephone
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He said in his brain, "aw hell no, I ain't getting into this with your idiot parents, and school board; it's too late for you!!!" * I imagine this happened in Texas.

lauralee_3 avatar
laura lee
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Your teacher has thought of this situation before. They may even had a write a paper on it in college. You are not witty. You are sad.

kirkinsd7 avatar
Kirk Mckeever
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one had EVER thought of that before this young Hero.....it's...it's...Amazing...

dodsonmichelle avatar
Celtic Pirate Queen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is right up there with people who think Cavemen & Dinosaurs lived at the same time. Yup - OOG went out to kill us a Brontosaurus and he ain't been back yet!

lyndsayn17 avatar
Winx
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone knows the founders of Nike off the top of their heads, obviously

thtleung avatar
Timothy Leung
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The teacher's jaw dropped because he just realized he has a first-class a-hole in his class...

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My O My
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

His jaw dropped because he couldn't believe the idiotism

tristanjones avatar
Tristan J
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I went to a Catholic school, and remember having a similar discussion with the religious education teacher (except I was the libertarian). As a 16 year old, I had plenty of comebacks for the argument being made by the theist, as well as many other arguments such as the watchmaker analogy. If this teacher's jaw dropped as described, the first thing I would be doing would be to question their credentials as an educator.

dreyer1992 avatar
Ben Dreyer
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Winner of annual cringe competition 3 times in a row.

scanningforviruses avatar
Vanta Black
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure what being a libertarian has to do with this... Also, if a creationist was asked "Who created ... ?", they would answer "God", not stand there with their mouth agape in shock. Also also, if an argument that bad convinced the religious to become atheist, religion would no longer exist.

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MorgothBauglir
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The most unbelievable part...is where he actually says he's a libertarian. Bravo! No one I talk to knows what a libertarian is.

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Sasha
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

God that train of logic. If youre gonna try to make yourself look awesome try not to say something so stupid that even a grade schooler could blow up your argument

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sofacushionfort
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What’s even more unbelievable is how Kevin Sorbo resurrected his acting career with this.

mikepower avatar
Mike Power
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But what's more believable is nobody knows who tf "Kevin Sorbo" is, so his acting career definitely wasn't resurrected.

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George Pepe
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Teachers aren’t even legally allowed to talk about their personal views on things like that.

sabrina_y2000 avatar
Sabrina
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

By saying that, did he just admit that God first create monkeys and not Adam and Eve? Just the thought.

clanmorello avatar
Lynn Morello
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Your TEA HER would have found intelligent conversation elsewhere, such as, with your TEACHER.

willemsen avatar
Meami
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is just another version of this story that's been floating around the internet for years. It's such tripe.

brenthollett avatar
Brent Hollett
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Teacher: Well who do you think did it? Child: God. Teacher: Cool. Prove it, or get suspended.

marilyn-holt-3 avatar
Marilyn Holt
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow! Just wow! How come no one ever in the history of the world thought of using that argument??

c3arbar393 avatar
Jess Thompson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He did NOT say “with monkeys that evolved millions of years ago” 😂 😂 😂 nice try tho.

joycemckay avatar
Joyce McKay
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well let's see, humans didn't come from monkeys, the great apes and humans have a common ancestor and that premise that there has to be a god because everything has to have a creator is the biggest load of horseshit as well as the most childish understanding of evolution!

adrianhobbs0 avatar
Adrian
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Teacher realised he'd have to work all the way to the first slime mould. He then remembered rule #1 in teacher training "Never argue with stupid people. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

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Sterling Cooksey
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, so, what if religon and science can co-exist, using cristianity as an example. 7 days for an all powerful, pure being that has not start or end could be Millions of years for us

ashley_lynne_brown avatar
Ashley Lynne
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This kid totally proved god exists ... what a genius. Mensa material 🙃

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XSpooky_Mint
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People spend wayyyyyy to much time wondering how we all got here

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Billy Beecham
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great, so we are all here because of monkey spunk from zippy. Fantastic. I can die knowing I have found the true meaning to life. I guess dark matter is the s**t that zippy flung round eh?

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Enby.Minecraft.Bee.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg. This person puts all other discord-ers to shame. And not in a good way

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Marco Conti
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is this "God is not dead" 6 or 7? Are they still making those awful movies?

jmchoto avatar
Jo Choto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How to school someone in evolution without understanding evolution?

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ZAPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

oh dear. (a) he doesn't even understand what evolution is. (b) he hasn't heard of begging the question. You don't get to say "WHO" created monkeys. What you need to say is "how did monkeys appear?". (c). Not monkeys, hominins. Sigh.

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#19

And All Vampires Clapped

And All Vampires Clapped

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#21

While These Children Weren’t Oxygen Starved, The Poster Was At Birth

While These Children Weren’t Oxygen Starved, The Poster Was At Birth

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KJ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Weird how some folks wear one for a full shift and are fine, they must be ghosts or something I guess.

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#22

Found This On A “People Who Think Liking Harry Potter Is A Personality Trait” Fb Page

Found This On A “People Who Think Liking Harry Potter Is A Personality Trait” Fb Page

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#23

And Then Ben Franklin’s Image Clapped

And Then Ben Franklin’s Image Clapped

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#24

Well, That Saved Me A Goog!

Well, That Saved Me A Goog!

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Otter
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can believe that someone in a bar actually said that, after a beer or twelve.

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#25

I Won't Remember Posting This

I Won't Remember Posting This

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#27

Hate When People Underestimate The Condoms I Use In A Night Smh

Hate When People Underestimate The Condoms I Use In A Night Smh

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#28

This Has To Be A Joke, Right?

This Has To Be A Joke, Right?

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#29

Anti Vaxxers Are A Gold Mine

Anti Vaxxers Are A Gold Mine

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Samantha Lomb
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm positive this is the same person who would be convinced dihydrogen monoxide is super toxic too.

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#30

Then The Toys Clapped

Then The Toys Clapped

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Serial pacifist
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then he cited Marx and refuted his argument with Hegel's counterargument!

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Note: this post originally had 96 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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