Some photos are funny because of what they show. Others are funny because of the question they leave behind: who did this, and why? This collection gathers twenty of the second kind. A pickle worn like a finger, a sneaker served as breakfast, a cottage stuck on the side of a tower block, a dog wearing a cardboard star. Each one is a small mystery, and most of them were never explained by the people who made them.
Images like these travel the internet for years, usually stripped of names, dates and places, so the honest answer to many of the questions is “nobody knows”. Where a picture can be traced, for example to a well-known public artwork, the caption says so. Where it cannot, the caption sticks to what you can actually see and adds a little context, from why crows pester eagles to why hi-vis clothing is orange. The list runs in its original countdown order from 20 to 1, grouped by theme, and ends with a few simple ways to check whether a viral photo is real before you share it.
Food that should never look like this
20. The pickle finger
Someone has hollowed out a gherkin and slid it over a fingertip so that the real fingernail peeks out of the end, next to a finger wearing a pickle “nail”. It is a simple trick with a very unsettling result. Whether it was art, boredom or a dare, it is hard to look at a jar of pickles the same way afterwards.
15. Waffles, anyone?
A plate of “breakfast” turns out to be a pair of canvas sneakers, soles up, with butter and syrup on top and an “Off the Wall” mug beside them. The joke works because the brand’s grippy sole really does look like a waffle; Vans has used “Off the Wall”, skateboarder slang for pool tricks, as its motto since 1976. Clever food styling, but please do not try the syrup part with your own shoes.
12. The street-drain toaster
Slices of toast have been slotted neatly into the bars of a storm drain, as if the pavement had become a giant toaster. It looks like a staged street prank, made for the camera rather than for anyone’s breakfast. Bread in drains does attract pigeons and rats, so this is one joke best left as a photo.
7. Beans in a Croc
A foam clog has been filled with baked beans and placed on a tray, with sauce spilling over the side. It plays on the internet’s love-hate relationship with Crocs and on the general rule that food and footwear should never meet. Nobody has explained what happened to the beans afterwards, which is probably for the best.
4. A whole loaf of trouble
A young man sits on a tiled floor surrounded by drifts of sliced white bread, with more loaves stacked on the shelves above. It could be the aftermath of a prank, a student stunt or a social media challenge; there is no reliable record of which. Either way, it is a reminder that a lot of perfectly good food ends up wasted for a laugh.
Animals in unlikely places
19. Hitching a ride
A crow appears to be riding on the back of a flying bald eagle. Photos like this have been captured more than once, and they usually show “mobbing”: smaller birds such as crows harass large raptors to drive them away from nests and territory, sometimes landing on them in flight. So the crow is less a passenger than a very bold heckler.
16. Here I am!
A black pug-type dog trots towards the camera with what looks like a hamburger clamped in its mouth, clearly delighted with the prize. The real question is where it found it. Worth knowing for dog owners: burgers often contain onion and garlic, which are toxic to dogs, so the snack is safer as a photo than a habit.
14. The aquarium doghouse
This indoor doghouse has a pitched wooden roof, a “Wipe Your Paws” doormat, and walls made of working fish tanks, so the dog lies down in a tunnel surrounded by tropical fish. It is a custom build, the kind made by specialist aquarium designers. Whether the fish or the dog enjoys the arrangement more is still open for debate.
13. Hey there, stranger
A dog’s long snout pokes through a knot hole in a weathered wooden fence, as if the neighbour has come to say hello. Dogs explore the world mainly by smell, and a hole in a fence is an irresistible window. The deadpan expression is what makes it.
8. Dog or log?
A small tan dog lies on a gravel clearing right beside a cut log of almost exactly the same colour and size. At first glance it is genuinely hard to tell which is which. It is a lovely example of accidental camouflage, the same effect that helps many wild animals blend into their surroundings.
3. Dog simulator
From the walker’s point of view, a small white dog on a lead heads down a garden path, while the hands holding the lead also grip a games controller. The photo turns a daily walk into a video game. If such a remote existed, the buttons would surely be bark, fetch and the less glamorous one every owner knows about.
1. A rare dog flower
The top spot goes to a small dog sitting patiently with its face poking through a cardboard star, complete with a hand-drawn grumpy face. Owners who make simple cardboard costumes for their pets became a small internet trend, and this one shows why. The expression of resigned dignity is perfect.
Odd design, real and imagined
17. A pool for diving footballers
A shiny pool ladder stands at the edge of a lawn, leading down into nothing but grass. It may be what is left of a pool that was filled in and turfed over, or simply a joke installation. The original caption suggested it was made for Cristiano Ronaldo, a gentle dig at footballers accused of diving for penalties.
5. The house on the roof
This one has a real answer. The small blue cottage tipping off the top of a modern building is Fallen Star, a 2012 artwork by South Korean artist Do Ho Suh on Jacobs Hall, the engineering building at the University of California San Diego. Part of the university’s Stuart Collection, it weighs nearly 70,000 pounds, has a sloping interior with a 5-degree tilt, and can be visited by appointment.
18. The zigzag nail
A thumbnail has been trimmed into a perfect saw-tooth edge, as if cut with pinking shears. It looks oddly satisfying in a photo and terrible in real life, because jagged edges snag on fabric and can split. Nail-care advice generally favours cutting straight across and smoothing the tips.
People in strange situations
11. The best camouflage ever?
A road worker in an orange high-visibility outfit walks through a road works site packed with orange-and-white traffic drums. The irony is that hi-vis colours are meant to make workers stand out, and here he almost disappears into the equipment. It is a good reminder for drivers to slow down in work zones.
10. Erm, congratulations?
A group of uniformed officers in campaign hats stands chest-deep in water with a long bridge behind them, while a couple of people in casual clothes join the line-up. The scene looks very much like one of the winter “polar bear plunge” charity swims held in the United States, where police and volunteers wade in fully dressed to raise money. If so, the soggy uniforms were for a good cause.
9. Hangover?
A man lounges in a camouflage armchair that is floating in open water, cigarette in mouth and eyes closed. It is not clear how the chair got there or whether he knew where he was. Alcohol and open water are a dangerous combination, so this one is funnier as a picture than as a plan.
6. A solution for hairy legs?
Someone presses a sticky lint roller onto a very hairy leg, and the roller is already coated with hair. Lint rollers use the same basic idea as waxing strips, adhesive gripping fibres, but with far less grip. Whether it actually removed any hair, or just collected loose ones, remains unknown.
2. A nun having some fun
A nun in a full black habit takes a corner on a go-kart track at an indoor circuit, leaning into the turn. It is a sweet image that breaks the stereotype of a solemn religious life. Plenty of religious communities enjoy outings like any other group of friends.
How to check a viral photo before you share it
Many pictures in lists like this circulate for years without a source. A few quick habits help separate genuine oddities from staged or edited ones:
- Run a reverse image search. Tools from search engines can show where a picture first appeared and whether it has a known photographer or story.
- Look for the context. Signs, uniforms, landmarks and car number plates can reveal where and when a photo was taken.
- Check the lighting and edges. Mismatched shadows or blurry outlines around an object can be signs of editing.
- Be kind about strangers. The people in viral photos are usually private individuals. Laughing at a situation is fine; mocking a person who never agreed to be famous is not.
Why we love unanswered questions
Psychologists describe curiosity as a response to an information gap: we notice something that does not fit and want to close the gap. Photos like these create a small gap and then leave it open, which is exactly why they are so shareable. A few, like Fallen Star, have tidy answers. The rest will probably stay mysteries, and that is part of the fun.
Sources: Wikipedia: Fallen Star (Do Ho Suh, UC San Diego); Wikipedia: Vans. Other photos are viral images of unknown authorship collected from social media; if you know the original photographer, let us know so we can credit them.
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