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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.

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

There should be a three week waiting period for first face tattoos. Artist, "Okay, so that's Anne Frank, cheek and neck, in black and white, you can come back in three weeks and book your appointment. "

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

I used to watch Miami Ink. Those guys wouldn't tattoo a face or neck unless the customer was already covered in tattoos. In good conscience I couldn't tattoo someone that I know is inebriated.

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

I know this is completely not the point, but... A good tattoo artist NEVER TATTOOS SOMEONE WHO IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS or alcohol. For a variety of reasons. Mine (and lots of other good ones) doesn't do walk-ins either. You make an appointment, go home and think about it for a few weeks, and when you come back you'd better be 100% sober 😄

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

it says too much if you are an adult and are more familiar with Cardi B than to Anne Frank...

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

Anne Frank was a tragic figure and should her story should be remembered forever but getting her tattoo on your face?

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

What is next? An Alexei Romanov on the left cheek? A Louis XVII on the forehead? Maybe a third famous-child-killed-by-dictatorial-regime I don't know about?

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

i mean it doesn't look too bad so uh, A+ for effort??

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

At least it's a good tattoo, I guess? Except, of course, if that person WANTED Cardi B. In that case - bad tattoo.

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

I have no idea who Cardi B is, but I do know who Anne Frank was... still, would never have either tattoo on my face... in a few years it's going to be halfway down his neck.

don503765 avatar
Donald Holder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This isn't the f****d up Xanax but the f****d up lack of laws and control on tattoo parlors! This tattooist if professional should have his/her license revoked.

ashleysovig avatar
Ashley Wright
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Can you imagine waking up each day and having to live with the likeness of Anne Frank on the side of your face? He should have plastic surgery to remove ASAP

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

Either way, that tattoo screams: "I MAKE BAD LIFE DECISIONS."

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

I think professional tattooists doing face tattoos like this (it does look like good quality work) need to have a 'cooling down' period before agreeing to ink such a life-altering piece... Usually a consultation is involved before you get a tattoo in a reputable shop. Here in the UK (as elsewhere in the western hemisphere I'm guessing) a face tattoo will make you ineligible for most jobs...

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

It should be law to have to take some kind of sobriety test before getting a tattoo.. might save the skin of a lot of people, quite literally. Or just never allow walk ins.. gives the person chance to sober up (hopefully) and think about what they really want...

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BusLady
Community Member
3 years ago

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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 mean. It’s not like there was a lot you could do to make his original plain face look worse. Also it does kinda look like Cardi. Cardi Frank.

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

You can only take a selfie by holding your laptop in front of a mirror...prove me wrong. (The post is satire, read my bio before downvoting or getting angry.)

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

You could actually turn this in to RBG if you wanted to. Not to dis Ms Frank *hero*... just a thought.

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James F. Wilson Jr.
Community Member
3 years ago

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He plans to equal it out with a Hitler Tat on the other side.

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Gavin Bothwell
Community Member
3 years ago

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

Your uncle got a swastika and lied to you, and probably others, about the spider part. Tattoos don't just peel off, and there's no way the spider legs magically bent to form a swastika. -sincerly someone with tattoos that lived with a tattoo artist for years.

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Marcellus the Third
Community Member
3 years ago

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It seems more like Anne Frank's child with Dobby, from this angle.

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Monika Soffronow
Community Member
3 years ago

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Whatever happened to 'showing some respect'? Anne Frank was a real person and there are millions of people alive today who have relatives or friends who lost their loved ones to the Nazis during WW2. I was once put up for a few days in Berlin at the home of the elderly aunt of a friend of mine. This lady was the only relative of my friend who survived the concentration camps.

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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.