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Or maybe for a person who does that.

I am talking about cases like someone tripping while carrying a plate and then, by sheer luck, the plate ending up on a table, with contents intact. The person would be freaking out while the plate is in flight, but once they realize it landed perfectly they would act as if that was what they intended to do.

You can occasionally see gifs of that kind of thing; I don't know how to google it up, but the one I remember had a guy starting to fall off the stairs but then he manages to regain balance and sits down with a smug expression, acting as if he just did a super tricky backflip to sit down on the stairs.

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You could use the expression "I meant to do that"

tvtropes

A spill or tumble can be quite embarrassing if there are witnesses. How to reduce the humiliation? Turn it into a stunt. Claim it was intentional, a show for their benefit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hNIX7V21pU

Or you could say the following phrase jokingly:

That was my plan all along...

single word:

purport

dictionary.com

  1. to convey to the mind as the meaning or thing intended; express or imply.

or feign as in He was feigning intention

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Feigner

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  • Actually, shortly after submitting, I recalled the tvtropes link and was considering going back to the question to edit it in. This is exactly the kind of stuff I am getting at, but I am wondering if there's a word for the activity itself or the person engaging in it.
    – htmlcoderexe
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 6:31
  • @htmlcoderexe ~ the problem with single words is that they don't always get the intended meaning across. Have you tried a thesaurus: thesaurus.com/browse/intentional
    – user180089
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 6:33
  • @htmlcoderexe ~ how's "purport"?
    – user180089
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 6:40
  • It seems more general purpose, but getting closer. I am thinking of leaving this open for a bit still, and if nothing else comes along I'll accept this one as you come fairly close. Do you happen to also have an idea of what would you call a person engaging in such acts? Like, if someone pulls "stunts" like in the Pee Wee video all the time, what would you call that person?
    – htmlcoderexe
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 8:39
  • @htmlcoderexe ~ I suppose a faker, or actor
    – user180089
    Commented Jul 22, 2016 at 14:54

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