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We all know very well that things in this world tend to backfire. Call it a law of nature, a frequent twist of fate, or destiny. “Look who’s laughing now” is a phenomenon that has happened to virtually every one of us, and no matter what you do, it repeats again and again, and again.

The Reddit community “There Was An Attempt” is dedicated to precisely the comic absurdity of all the attempts in life that went against the plan, or turned in the wrong direction. Created in August 2015, the subreddit now has 1.9m members that are not immune to the funny attempts that “were there.”

“People enjoy the slapstick comedy of it. At the end of the day, everyone is laughing,” the subreddit’s moderator told Bored Panda in the interview that you can read in full below. And now we leave the stage to the ensued hilarity.

#1

To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad

To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad

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Mewton’s Third Paw
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I heard the guy is actually still in the hospital burn unit recovering.

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Wolfstar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah. A little birdy told me that the hospital ran out of burn cream and aloe since it was so bad.

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DKS 001
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

someone actually said that? wow .... I bet they have a "Make America Great Again" hat with tear stains in it.

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Mademoiselle Nat
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This person is so mean. These athletes have worked so hard to get here. Nice reply Arnold!

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Erin Kavik
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Olympics were also meant to be for amateurs, not profesional athletes. Arni is amazing.

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I'm a makeup addict
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

what did those athletes ever do to that hater??? It's so mean how prejudiced people can be....

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Karen Klinck
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They made him feel uncomfortable, so he lashed out. Typical of a certain mindset...

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FunFactBot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fun fact! Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll be back” line from The Terminator is one of the most well known lines after “I am your father” (beep boop, I am pretending to be a bot! For more info read my bio!)

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Freya the Wanderer
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great response from the Governator! Just for that he should be forgiven for one groping incident. One.

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IlovemydogShilo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This man ROCKS🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

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Diana Dodd
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Special Olympics are just that .... special.. Many years ago, I had the privilege of working with a group in Houston. I met (and hugged) so many kids and young adults and it’s something I will never forget.

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HappyPig1723
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I actually attended my school's special olympics with my best friend, (he has cerebral palsy, I was so happy when he asked me to come w/ him) and even though it was a tiny 5th grade olympics, we really had a blast, and he did better than me in soccer, which I totally expected.

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Don Flynn
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is just as good, if not better, today than when it was first posted. This reply is the gold standard for putting a jackass in his place

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A.A
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

if only i could give a billion likes to that comment by arnold

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Cheryl Fontaine
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've forgotten him already... he'll never make a single mark in life but hate.....excellent response Mr. Schwarzenegger...

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Rebecca Henderson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Way to go Arnold. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read what that complete looser wrote. I’m handicapped with a bachelors in CIS (ComputerInformation Systems). So there looser. Yes I can no longer worked but i worked for over 20 years of my life.

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Luuta
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Considering English isn't Arnie's first language, this is about as eloquent as you can get.

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Cold Contagious
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I could not have composed more fitting words for this occasion. Arnold's response to this troll was the internet equivalent of a knuckle cracker with a ruler by a nun and then sent to the corner on a stool with a dunce cap on,in public school, with a photo to mark the occasion in the yearbook that year.

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Nick P
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ahhh. Now that's a real Hero... Hasta la vista A hole...

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Ryan Deschanel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like some prententious self-help rhetoric those con men use to make people feel insecure and be more easily to manipulate : "if you disagree you are a loser", "everything is your fault", "positivity only", etc...

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katboxjanitor
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The truly phenomenal response to someone who has no compassion is lacking interpersonal skills and some awesome friends!

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Martha
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow! Makes me like him now. Intelligent, articulate "teaching moment." I am impressed!

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Johanne Trudeau
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, said... there are so may trolls now because of the situation. They are so brave behind their screens but would never say any of those things face to face with the person... Not only trolls but cowards...

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Steve Cruz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've had numerous opinions about Schwarzenegger in the past. This is the first time he elicited RESPECT and PRIDE from me. Well said.

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elfin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Olympics is for the best athletes who have families that can afford special training, travel, sports equipment, etc., to compete against each other. The winner on a given day is largely skill, but partly luck. And judges can be biased. The Special Olympics as a lot fairer and more honest.

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Marlene St. Amand
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a lot of good brains compared to the person who made that comment. Go Arnold :)

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Sam T Godfrey
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Little by little, over many decades, this guy keeps making a better impression on me! But still, some of those movies...

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Nikki Angulo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Around pitiful I started reading this with Arnold’s voice in my head, which made it even awesome.

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Iapetos
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He's awesome. I'm somehow proud to be an Austrian, too (even if that logic sounds stupid)

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Pogy Nevis
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, i think the guy who wrote the first comment is a retard himself.

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Cyndi Hafele
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

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Seabeast
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was never a fan of Arnie the actor - his movies just weren't my thing - but I've become a huge fan of Arnie the human being.

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Kim Bush
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Excellent way to keep those trolls in the basement where they belong, keep up the good work Arnold!

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Susan Pohorily
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

you go arnold god created us all we are all his children and he loves everyone of us unconditionally and equally

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Claire Armstrong
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just when I thought I couldn't love him anymore than I already do lol! To have been a fly on the wall when he read Big Arnie's reply lol!

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Mishte Tine
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

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Blue
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why do they always block out the trolls names. They need to be outed. Yet I see so many threads like this where every face and name is blocked. Do you think they troll would give us the same courtesy.

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Scyth
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So that an angry mob would track him down and ruin his life? There is a term for that, which is doxxing, and it belongs to the middle ages.

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Hugo McColl
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a legend. Incredible that he's come from where he has, and achieved so much! So cool...and a vegan! How is that a thing.

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JJ Buddhabrot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all know it was arnold's social media person that wrote the reply.

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#2

To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs

To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs

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Bored Panda spoke to redditor u/F4T4-M0RG4N4, the moderator of the r/ThereWasAnAttempt subreddit, who said that the community has evolved a lot since it was created 5 years ago.

“When I first joined the team, it was mostly a screenshot sub. A few months back, there was some drama about how there were only three mods who ran the subreddit (which at the time had around a million members).” As a result, they invited more people to join the moderator team and removed the screenshot posts.

#5

To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated

To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated

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#6

To Sound Literate

To Sound Literate

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For those who’re wondering what, precisely, “there was an attempt” refers to, u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 explained that it’s basically about “someone attempting something but ultimately failing.”

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Conceptually, it’s similar to “if someone tried jumping off a trampoline into a pool but when they tried to jump, the trampoline tore. In that case, you could say, 'Well... there was an attempt, at least' and that’s where our subreddit comes into play.”

The posts are mainly about “some people having a dumb idea, trying out that idea, and failing.” This misery is what makes it so funny. 

#7

To Prevent The Homeless From Sleeping Here

To Prevent The Homeless From Sleeping Here

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#8

To Start Cat Racing

To Start Cat Racing

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Jihana
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is just adorable 🤣 Also: why would you think a cat would get out of a box?

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#9

To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian

To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian

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Today, the moderator team only allows video submissions and cross-posts, “which are posts that were in one subreddit but were reposted to another (kind of like retweeting.” This format works better for r/ThereWasAnAttempt, since screenshots can more easily become reposts, for one.

Especially when there’s one similar subreddit that’s specifically for social media clapbacks and comebacks, but its content mainly features screenshots.When it comes to their 1.9 million member count, the moderator said that “I don’t think we have the exact same post frequency as, say, a meme subreddit.”

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Partly, it’s because it isn’t easy to repost something from r/ThereWasAnAttempt. “I could probably look at the new section for r/memes and see quite a few frequent reposts.”

#14

To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays

To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays

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#15

I Mean... You Tried..?

I Mean... You Tried..?

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Steve Barnett
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

'Having Voldemort trying to kill him at every opportunity finally took its toll on Harry Potter'

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#17

To Arrest A “Drug Dealer

To Arrest A “Drug Dealer

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#18

To Make Fun Of A Bird

To Make Fun Of A Bird

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DforDory
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At least he realised it. If you can't laugh at yourself, you're doomed.😁

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#19

To Shame Men

To Shame Men

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#22

To Convince People To Be Pro-Life

To Convince People To Be Pro-Life

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you got a tiny Voldemort in your womb, abortion might not be the worst idea.

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#23

To Defend God

To Defend God

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#25

To Be Racist

To Be Racist

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Queen fhk
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Am proudly a Muslim just like a Christian proudly a Christian and also like an atheist who is proudly an atheist!!!!!!! It's our believe when people think about freedom of speech, they forget about hurting other people's religion, but when we stand for our rights we are themed as paranoid. Just leave us alone, stop looking for trouble which you wouldn't get and exercise Human Rights fairly not partially degrading other people's religion. I quote everyone is different yet you try to make everyone the same religion, race, tribe all " Differences matters, yet that makes us who we are, denying our differences is denying the truth " I am A PROUD MUSLIM, it's me not you allow me to practice my religion in peace and stop popnosing on my affairs, everyone deserves right to religion just as u think!

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#26

To Suggest A New Idea

To Suggest A New Idea

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Flawless! And you should be able to make a audio contact with other people in real time so you can tell them, instead of typing a message for them.

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#28

To Eat A Mozzarella Stick

To Eat A Mozzarella Stick

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#32

To Replace I'm Sorry With Thank You

To Replace I'm Sorry With Thank You

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Charlotte
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But actually this is a technique I used in customer service. For example when you put a customer on hold to go get more info, you ask them if they’re happy to wait. When you get back you thank them for waiting. If you say “sorry for the wait” it suggests you did something wrong, when really you were just doing your job. It leaves a different impression on the customer and genuinely impacts satisfaction.

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#33

To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were

To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were

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#35

To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep

To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep

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#37

To Get A Cardi B Tattoo

To Get A Cardi B Tattoo

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Some Cool Guy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never realized that there is a level of messed up that someone would want to get an Anne Frank tattoo on your damn FACE

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#39

To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence

To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence

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Roger Haywood
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Considering that there are no plus sized mannequins, I think its good improv. (I'm on the larger size myself, and I'm nowhere near offended)

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#40

To Stand Up For The Joker

To Stand Up For The Joker

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Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to the Internet, where you can be offended by literally everything,

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#42

To Fuck The Police

To Fuck The Police

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#47

To Criticize A Garbage Man

To Criticize A Garbage Man

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Sanne H.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don’t know how it’s in other countries, but here in NL apparently it’s one of the best paid low-education jobs available. A friend of mine did it as a student job while in university and apart from the smell he was quite happy with it.

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#48

To Be A Professional Company

To Be A Professional Company

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Pamela24
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All that's gonna do is make more people drive drunk. If Uber is so concerned about people throwing up in their cars or being violent (which is understandable) they should charge a deposit and/or allow the drivers to have pepper spray or something to defend themselves if necessary (not guns!).

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#49

To Create 3 Mexican Countries

To Create 3 Mexican Countries

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#50

To Hide

To Hide

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Note: this post originally had 150 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.