Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
People Share Times When “There Was An Attempt” And Here Are 50 Of The Most Amusing Ones
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.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad
#2
To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs
#3
To Clean Up After Himself
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.
#4
To Get Drinks
#5
To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated
#6
To Sound Literate
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.”
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
#8
To Start Cat Racing
#9
To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 3 years ago (edited)
I love him! He is the narrator on the Goldberg's.
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.”
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.”
#10
...to Photograph Birds
#11
To Be Responsible And Uber Home
#12
To Scare Your Boyfriend
#13
At Going Outside
#14
To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays
#15
I Mean... You Tried..?
Steve Barnett 3 years ago
'Having Voldemort trying to kill him at every opportunity finally took its toll on Harry Potter'
#16
To Be An Animal Activist
#17
To Arrest A “Drug Dealer
#18
To Make Fun Of A Bird
#19
To Shame Men
#20
To Sound Intellectual
#21
To Take A Cute Picture
#22
To Convince People To Be Pro-Life
#23
To Defend God
Hello it Smee 3 years ago (edited)
Or when he flooded the earth, you know the whole Ark thing.
#24
.... To Find Buried Treasure
#25
To Be Racist
Queen fhk 3 years ago
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!
#26
To Suggest A New Idea
#27
To Glorify The President
#28
To Eat A Mozzarella Stick
#29
To Motivate
#30
To Betray Coca Cola
#31
There Was An Attempt To Run For Mayor
#32
To Replace I'm Sorry With Thank You
Charlotte 3 years ago
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.
#33
To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were
#34
To Be Neighborly
#35
To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep
#36
To Virtue Signal...
#37
To Get A Cardi B Tattoo
Some Cool Guy 3 years ago
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
#38
To Be Deep
#39
To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence
Roger Haywood 3 years ago
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)
#40
To Stand Up For The Joker
#41
To Get A Heartwarming Tattoo
#42
To Fuck The Police
#43
To Keep A Streak Going
#44
To Befriend A Porcupine
#45
To Pass Security
#46
To Sound Tougher
#47
To Criticize A Garbage Man
#48
To Be A Professional Company
Pamela24 3 years ago
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!).
#49
To Create 3 Mexican Countries
Add New Image
What do you think ?
L B 3 years ago (edited)
Made my day. More of this please 😊 me and my mom once explored pepper spray. We bought one and guess what-had to to try it.And we did in a single room sprayed smelled... like adult, educated woman and cried for hours... I wonder why 🤔
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
That's like the don't look reflex: when someone says "don't look" we all look to know what we aren't supposed to be looking at :D
Load More Replies...
Astrid Nineor 3 years ago
I once tried to stop a drop of molten sugar from falling on the floor, by using my my hand.
Mary Peace 3 years ago
That's an instinctive reaction, when you see something falling to the floor.
Load More Replies...
L B 3 years ago (edited)
Made my day. More of this please 😊 me and my mom once explored pepper spray. We bought one and guess what-had to to try it.And we did in a single room sprayed smelled... like adult, educated woman and cried for hours... I wonder why 🤔
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
That's like the don't look reflex: when someone says "don't look" we all look to know what we aren't supposed to be looking at :D
Load More Replies... Astrid Nineor 3 years ago
I once tried to stop a drop of molten sugar from falling on the floor, by using my my hand.
Mary Peace 3 years ago
That's an instinctive reaction, when you see something falling to the floor.
Load More Replies... You May Like There’s No Such A Thing As A Dumb Question, But These 50 People Proved Everyone Wrong 30 Times People Listed Hilariously Wild Ads And Expected To Actually Sell Something 154 People Who Had One Job And Still Failed
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Gabija Palšytė
Viktorija Gabulaitė
Related on Bored Panda
