24 Funny Times Something Completely Backfired on Someone

One of the more humbling human experiences is watching something backfire on you in real time. Whether it’s a prank that took a bad turn or a shortcut you really thought was worth it, there are plenty of opportunities to be wrong. When these situations occur, it’s best to just acknowledge it, so you don’t repeat it in the future. For instance, one Redditor needed to burn newspaper for some reason, and decided to do it in an old toilet “so that the grass wouldn’t catch on fire.” 

You already know where this is going: The old toilet exploded from the heat, burning newspaper went everywhere, and yup, the grass still caught on fire

Other Redditors have recalled the times their plans were foiled right in front of their eyes, and each one felt like a throat punch. Literally, in one situation. 

24

ZombieDavid 11y ago . Edited 11y ago Friend and little sister decided to draw on me with makeup one night. Lo and behold that was the night we found out I was allergic to many types of makeup. Was out of school for a few days due to the rash/welted penises they drew all over my face.

23

thepassionatefruit 5y ago Tried to tell my bestfriend (at the time) that I had heard too many rumours and eye-witness accounts of her boyfriend cheating on her. She then turned around and told me that I just wanted her boyfriend all to myself and that I was jealous and they continued dating while he continued cheating. 87 Share ...

22

reddituser9871 5y ago For April fools I was planning to do an innocent prank by putting a air horn under my teachers chair so when he sat down it would trigger it and startle him but he got too startled and jumped out of his seat, landed on his back and got knocked unconscious 1.2K Share ...

21

Bloodysun93 11y ago Had a friend hide in the backseat of another friend's car. Popped out while he was driving, caused an accident. Both were injured.. Not seriously but enough that they're no longer friends. 2.2K Share ...

20

latchkey_adult в 5y ago Trying to shake hands with my bully, thinking this would diffuse the situation. Got punched in the throat. 1.3K Share ...

19

[deleted] 5y ago Hired for a position i was overqualified for. Over performed. Asked for a promotion. Fired. 1.5K Share ...

18

BagelDesk 5y ago In my first apartment I had a bag vacuum (as opposed to a canister vacuum), and the bag was full. I had no replacement bags, so I used painter's tape to attach a walmart bag. I thought I was frugal genius, and patted myself on the back as I switched it on. Didn't work at all. Almost immediately the bag blew right off, and a bunch of dirt blew all over the place... all the dirt that was stuck in the vacuum since the previous bag was full. 590 Share ...

17

Mybluehighlighter 5y ago Had friends at a lunch table who always made fun of this girl who sat by herself. I invited her to our table one day because I felt bad for her. Yup, you can see where this is going. She immediately and 100% replaced me, and they all realized it was even more awesome to make fun of me. Jokes on them, I got to eat lunch with my civics teacher after that. 1.1K Share ...

16

1010101 5y ago Decided to burn some newspaper outside in a toilet I had just replaced, because I didn't want risking the grass catching on fire. Well, heat caused toilet to explode, sending burning newspaper everywhere. Grass caught on fire. Share 3.3K ...

15

BobtheLatinGuy 11y ago One April Fool's Eve I took all my dad's underwear out of his drawer and put it in the freezer. The next morning I found him wrapped in a towel and all the underwear on his bed, defrosting. Не thought it was a good joke; so good, in fact, that he started doing it to anything I left out long enough. This wasn't always a bad thing, though, as I woke up to cool shoes on warm days more than once. 2.1K Share ...

14

Nasmi82 5y ago This actually happened to my teacher, she entered an axe throwing competition and while winding up before throwing, it was behind her head. When she threw it she hit the back of her head with the handle. She knocked herself out and the blade of the axe almost sliced her head. Share 105 ...

13

Devator22 e 11y ago I told a your mom joke once to my ex. Her mom was dead. I knew her mom was dead. I just forgot. Now I don't tell your mom jokes anymore Share 1.9K ...

12

Dangerfolf . 6y ago Giving what I thought was a homeless guy twenty bucks, only for my mom to see the exact same guy at a different Walmart a good 20 miles from where I met him. Turns out he's been scamming people for years. 147 Share ...

11

Peace-out56 . 3y ago I used to sleep naked. Now I own a cat. Those two overlapped for only a week. 3.9K Share ...

10

I_are_facepalm e 11y ago I jumped out and scared my sister's friend when they were having a sleepover. She had an asthma attack.... Share 1.6K ...

9

Hrekires 3y ago There was one morning in high school when my dad decided to wake me up for school by ripping the covers off me in bed. That was the last time that happened. 7.2K Share ...

8

Revolutionary_Dingo . 6y ago I got home from work earlier than usual so I decided to cook dinner. Girlfriend got mad because she had other plans for that ground beef and now she has to go back to the store.

7

[deleted] 6y ago Was waiting in line to see Three Men and a Baby. I was 13. Two really good looking girls came up and asked me and a friend if they could cut in line in front of us. We obliged. They got the last two tickets. Derp. 48 Share ...

6

E CONC MonochromeLimbo 6y ago I decided to edit someone's profile page in a Wiki because it was filled with grammar errors and i wanted to help out. Some time later, the edit got reverted and said page got locked. 470 Share ...

5

CelestialRune 6y ago Tried to help a drunk girl up off the floor and she bit me really hard instead. She broke the skin on my arm and I was on antibiotics after that, had a scar for a while but it has since gone away. Human bites hurt. 531 Share ...

4

Davidmoose 11y ago A couple of kids from my high school went with a couple bags of salt to a rival high school and drew a 100 yard long penis on their football field as a senior prank with the salt. Salt kills grass and makes it unable to grow again for years, so the field would have to be removed and re-sodded. The pranksters were caught by a janitor who watched the whole thing, and they were expelled. 832 Share ...

3

Nesseth 11y ago My dad got my mom a fake lottery ticket for christmas one year. She scratched it off right away and it had said she won $ 50,000. We were a very young family at the time and were struggling with bills and such. She started hysterically crying and going on about how all of our problems are over. Telling her it was a joke was heartbreaking. It definitely ruined the vibe for the rest of the day. 376 Share ...

2

ponponponzu 6y ago This middle aged lady asked me for directions while I waited for the bus and as I pulled out Google Maps, the bus we both needed to get on drove by, stopped for a sec and then sped off without us. It was a weekend so the next bus wasn't for an hour and a half... I ended up walking twenty minutes to the subway in the cold. 630 Share ...

1

Irrationate 5y ago When I was 9 my older brother went to punch me. I thought he was going for my face so I ducked. Не was aiming for my stomach but damn did he connect with my nose breaking that right away. 99 Share ...