It can be quite a challenge to tell what’s true and what’s lies whether you’re talking to someone in real-life or surfing the internet. It’s easy to brag but harder to verify. Or to put it differently, it takes far more effort to refute lies than to spread them. And though many stories actually do sound way too outlandish to be real, fact can often be stranger than fiction.

There’s one subreddit that took this idea and ran with it. The small online community shares screenshots that end up confirming the ridiculous stories that people have told their family and friends. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you wonder whether all the wild things your pals boasted about were more than mere bragging… We’ve also collected some of the most fake-sounding but genuinely real headlines from the extremely popular r/nottheonion subreddit for your enjoyment. Check out the best posts and upvote your faves!

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The subreddit, which was founded in October 2018, has fewer than 6k members. However, the idea behind the niche online group is fascinating. Instead of just collecting all the times that people bragged online only to be called out for their lies, they flipped the script and decided to do the opposite. Namely, showing that bizarre stories can have a solid kernel of truth. The moderator team running the sub asks their community members to keep the posts relevant and also include proof that a particular claim was real.

Meanwhile the r/nottheonion sub, created all the way back in 2008, currently boasts a whopping 22.5 million followers who share true stories that sound like they could easily be satirical pieces from ‘The Onion.’

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It can feel extremely unpleasant if your friends don’t believe what you’re telling them. This lack of trust in you can even make you second guess how deep the roots of your friendship actually go. There are a few reasons why someone might not believe your super amazing story about how you met a local celebrity or accidentally hugged the mayor. 

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First of all, your story might be extremely bizarre in and of itself. Life is rarely as exciting and dramatic as a movie script, so if something utterly awesome happens to you, it might not resonate with other people’s experiences. The devil is in the details, so a lot depends on how you tell the story. 

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Secondly, there might genuinely be an issue with trust in your social circle. If you have a reputation for exaggerating stories, boasting about your achievements, and humble-bragging, even your best buddies might take what you say with a few grains of salt. If you’re known for lying, then don’t expect others to rush to believe you. In this case, it’s worth considering how you communicate with others in the future, and whether your pride and the image you’re trying to create are more important to you than the truth and a reputation for honesty.

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Third of all, your friends might not believe you because they themselves have trust issues that have nothing to do with you. They might be surrounded by people who exaggerate everything and brag non-stop about doing this and meeting someone of importance. And though you might be telling the truth, your pals’ prior experience makes them extremely skeptical. Imagine their faces when they get the proof that you were being honest the entire time!

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It can be exhausting to deal with serial braggarts because they tend to talk only about themselves and their (alleged) accomplishments. However, you can shut them down in a few overt and subtle ways. Andrea F. Polard, Psy.D., explains on Psychology Today that you could switch the subject when the other person starts bragging excessively. Or you could mention that it’s hard to impress you and ask to talk about something else.

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A subtle way to correct a braggart’s ways is to brag about yourself and then correct yourself. You could boast a bit and then chastise yourself for doing so. Alternatively, Polard suggests explaining how you’d prefer it if another person, who isn’t participating in the conversation, wouldn’t brag so much. If all else fails, simply… let it go, walk away, and enjoy your day. 

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Meanwhile, Richard B. Joelson, DSW, LCSW, points out on Psychology Today that there is a vast difference between bragging and being able to express oneself freely. The former is something that many folks object to while the latter is an example of a healthy sense of pride in oneself.

In short, boasting is all about excessive pride and glorifying oneself. “We tend to think of people who boast as arrogant, self-preoccupied, or, perhaps, insecure, which may be why they need to boast in the first place,” Joelson notes.

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“Pride, on the other hand, is generally defined as a feeling of self-respect and personal worth or a feeling of satisfaction with one’s own (or another’s) achievements. Most would agree that pride is a vital part of an individual’s sense of self and an important component of healthy, positive self-esteem,” the expert said.

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It’s important to strike a balance between confidence and being proud of our accomplishments without overindulging in our awesomeness. At the same time, we shouldn’t feel like we have to apologize for our successes either: it’s important to celebrate these accomplishments with our nearest and dearest. 

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