Literal-Minded: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A literal minded person just [[Blunt Metaphors Trauma|doesn't get figurative speech]], instead interpreting instructions, idioms, [[Understatement]], [[Does Not Understand Sarcasm|sarcasm]], and so forth completely literally.

* [[Bothering by the Book]] and [[Exact Words]], where somebody deliberately uses a literal interpretation in order to gain an advantage or make a point, perhaps using [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]. Often used in [[Loophole Abuse]].

* [[Literal Genie]], who does this maliciously.

 

Characters who have this as a primary characteristic will occasionally be [[The Comically Serious]]. Compare [[Literal Metaphor]] and [[Double Meaning]]. Compare and contrast [[Literalist Snarking]]. See also [[Made From Real Girl Scouts]]

 

{{examples}}

* Nia from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''.

* Sumomo/Plum from ''[[Chobits]]'' can only take questions literally, according to Shinbo, due to her lack of processing power as a "laptop" Persocom.

* One ''[[Astro Boy (manga)|Astro Boy]]'' story has Astro succumb to this when Ochanomizu says he'll find the authorities who sent Astro to be scrapped and "grease their palms". He then uses a rapid-fire sequence of these to make a computer [[Logic Bomb|implode]].

* One ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' episode had the main characters planning for an event and running behind schedule. Chiyo comments that she wishes they could turn back the clock. Cue [[Cloudcuckoolander|Osaka]] standing on a chair trying to wind the clock backwards.

 

 

* Various Characters in ''[[Chick Tracts]]'' are literal minded, but we're supposed to agree with them on every single issue in [[The Bible]]. But then again, [[Jack Chick]] is a [[The Fundamentalist|Fundamentalist]] IRL.

* Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash) is pretty literal minded, though it could be justified in his case: not only is he from the future, but he grew up in virtual reality.

{{quote|'''Superman:''' The Pope was very understanding - especially when you wondered if he was Catholic.

'''Bart:''' A lot of people I know keep asking! }}

{{quote|'''Hörni:''' Say something!

'''Kalli:''' Something!

'''Kalli:''' Something! }}

* One ''[[Archie Comics]]'' story was about a new foreign transfer student attending Riverdale High. The concept was that every time a character used a figure of speech, she would confuse it for what it would mean in a literal sense.

 

 

{{quote|'''Timon''': Gee, he looks blue.

'''Pumbaa''': I'd say brownish-gold. }}

* The main character in ''There Lived Kozyavin'' who takes the order "go this way" literally and ends up walking quite a distance.

* In ''[[Disney Fairies|Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure]]'', when Terrance is telling Silvermist about how Tink lost her temper at him, at first she thinks Tink literally exploded.

Interrogator: You play games with me mister, and you're through!

Chekov: I am? May I go now? }}

* Hall Pass: "She's having trouble breathing."

* In ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', Eddie visits the Ink and Paint Club and orders a Scotch on the rocks, and one of the penguin waiters returns to him with a glass of Scotch...filled with rocks.

** On the other hand, her "tea cake" ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a cake made with brewed tea mixed into the batter]]) turned out to be quite a success at her boss lady's luncheon.

* Some of [[Isaac Asimov]]'s stories have a robot interpreting insufficiently-precise orders in inconvenient ways as a major part of the plot. For example, in ''Little Lost Robot'', an exasperated researcher tells a potentially-dangerous experimental robot, "Go lose yourself!" The robot immediately hides among a consignment of identical-looking, but harmless, robots that are due to be shipped elsewhere, then starts to go insane from the stress of maintaining the deception.

* Dwarfs from the ''[[Discworld]]'', and by extension Dwarf-by-adoption Carrot Ironfoundersson. In one case this proves fatal. Fortunately, the victim deserved it.

** Though Carrot hadn't yet developed the [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] that defines him in later books, it's ''possible'' he purposely misinterpreted Vimes's order for the good of the city.

*** It's equally possible [[Alternative Character Interpretation|Vimes purposely gave him orders]] that Carrot would likely misunderstand.

** Similarly, never tell Cohen the Barbarian that you would "rather die than betray my emperor". He will be all too happy to oblige. Ankh-Morpork citizens are known for a certain amount of this, if not so much as the dwarfish race in general is.

** And Golems tend to follow all instructions literally. In some cases, it's because they don't think the way living people do. In other cases, it might be because they're rebelling against their owners.

** Death and the Auditors are frequently prone to this trope, having only a limited grasp of human quirks and psychology.

* Bubba in ''[[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries]]''.

* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[The Golden Oecumene|The Golden Transcedence]]'', a character coming to with amnesia is told he consented to forgot what, exactly, he had consented to. He asks how he can know this is true, and the computer answers that in fact, he doesn't know it.

** One frequently cited example occured on the June 1, 2011, episode, where a contestant playing the Race Game – where the objective is to match four price tags with their correct prizes in a 45-second time frame, and correct any mistakes if time allows – was told by Carey to "throw" the tags in front of the prizes she thought they matched. Carey meant, "place them quickly on the podiums, because you have just a short amount of time to play this game," but the contestant literally interpreted the instructions and threw the price tags on the floor in front of the prizes. When confusion reigned, it was ultimately decided that the contestant should be given the benefit of the doubt and was given all four prizes.

* ''[[Small Wonder]]'': Vicki the robot/child. Much of the show's humor comes from her literal interpretation of simple instructions.

** Also, the computer from Next Generation. It was a small running gag for Geordi in particular to have difficulty with the computer, given the casual way he would address it. Then there was that time Geordi accidentally created a super-powered artifical intelligence by asking the computer to create an opponent worthy of Data's skills...

* Mork of ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' did this a lot, especially in the first season.

'''The Doctor:''' It just ''looks'' like he's dead. He's got, like, blue paint on him or something, but he's going to be fine.

'''GOB:''' What is wrong with you!? }}

{{quote|'''The Doctor:''' We lost him. }}

** When {{spoiler|Buster loses his left hand}}, the doctor said he would be all right.

'''Angela:''' A "cake and eat it too" situation.

'''Zack:''' Is it a cake or a pickle?

'''Zack:''' ''That'' I understand. Cakes and pickles meant nothing to me. }}

* Bernard in ''[[Yes Minister]]'' could be a tad slow to realize something was not intended literally, although not quite as serious as most examples.

'''Bernard:''' Why don't you go to a restaurant - oh... I see what you mean. }}

* Sheldon of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]''. Sometimes so is Leonard.

* The [[Blank Slate|dolls]] in ''[[Dollhouse]]'' are often like this. For example, Alpha's Handler suggests he watch his step when he gets caught coming onto Echo. Alpha does exactly that: he walks away by staring at his feet.

* [[Terminator (franchise)|The Terminator]] is naturally ripe for this joke. In ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' a terminator is searching the schools for John Connor by posing as an FBI agent carrying out a drugs investigation. The school administrator asks him "Look me in the eye and tell me you've never smoked a little marijuana." The terminator does just that (it is, after all, true!)

* K-9 did this once in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode, "The Pirate Planet";

{{quote|'''Doctor''': There we are, K-9, we got the first segment to the Key to Time, piece of cake.

'''K-9''': Piece of cake. Radial segment of baked confection, relevance to the Key to Time nil.

'''Doctor''': Like I said, piece of cake. }}

'''Parker:''' I don't know how to play the fiddle. }}

* At the end of an episode of ''[[Grace Under Fire]]'', the titular character laments to Nadine on how her ex-husband is behind on his rent payments. She explains that they agreed on the exact amount to be paid "under the table"...then suddenly says "Oh no. [[Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?|He couldn't be THAT stupid.]]" She then reaches under the table they are sitting at and finds an envelope full of money.

== Music ==

* [[Amanda Palmer]] in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJhDV0MMPAs "Vegemite (The Black Death)"]:

* [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]'s 'Albuquerque':

* [[The Lonely Island]]'s ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAYL5H46QnQ Threw it on the Ground]'' has this gem:

* [[Knorkator]]'s ''Wie weit ist es bis zum Horizont'' (how far is it to the horizon): Turns out the solution to this problem is the Pythagorean theorem, which results in an average distance of 4650m for a person whose eye level is 1,70m above the ground.

* [[They Might Be Giants (band)|They Might Be Giants]], "Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal":

 

 

== New Media ==

* [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/FATALReviewRebuttal This] "rebuttal" of the ''FATAL'' review, painfully so.

 

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

 

== Puppet Shows ==

* ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'': Estellise.

* ''[[Arc Rise Fantasia]]'': Ryfia.

* ''[[Die Anstalt]]'': When told that he is an eagle by a motivational tape, Kroko really attempts to fly. The help guide even lampshades this: "The patient's infra-logical-predicative thinking hinders him to decipher metaphors."

 

 

== Web Comics ==

** And then attempts to catch the running gag became... [[Running Gag|take a wild guess.]]

{{quote|

'''Mega Man:''' Are you dense?!?

* In [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0348.html this] strip of ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Belkar purposely chooses be literal-minded, because it provides him with entertainment.

* The Sphynx from ''[[Subnormality]]'' also seems to [http://www.viruscomix.com/page535.html suffer from this]. But let's be fair, who wouldn't go looking for the Fire Department when they want to heat their house?

{{quote|'''Gil''': Well, when I was a kid, we heard some of the older guys talking, but we were kind of... um... unclear on the concept, and, well...

'''DuPree''': That is so just like you... soooo pathetic. }}

* Butch from ''[[Chopping Block]]'' evidently [http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20010711.html got] this rare condition... [http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20010814.html from childhood].

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Rugrats]]'', since they're babies and haven't yet learned how to use metaphors and similes.

* The William Clone in Season 4 of ''[[Code Lyoko]]''.

{{quote|'''Electronique:''' I twist the power of Team Go to bring Go City to its knees.

'''Hego:''' But... um, cities don't have knees. }}

{{quote|'''Drakken:''' Warmonga! Show her the door !

'''Warmonga:''' If you guide your vision to the left of our after-reactor corner, you can see our primary entrance.

'''Drakken:''' No, Warmonga, I meant: Make her exit through the door.

'''Drakken:''' Yes, well... I didn't mean literally through the actual door, but... }}

* Brian's human girlfriend Jillian from ''[[Family Guy]]'' is like this.

** At a [[Renaissance Fair]], a woman hits on Peter by asking if he wants to "take a gander under [my] frock"; confused, he gets a goose and shoves it under her dress.

Mordecai: But that taxi's yellow.

Pops: Yellow? My taxi is no coward; I guarantee you that! }}

{{quote|'''Skipper:''' We need you to take a look at this squirrel artefact.

'''Fred:''' (looks at the artifact, then goes away) Okay then. Later, guys.

'''Kowalski''' Well, we were hoping, you can tell us something about it.

'''Fred''' Oh, tell you something about it? You said just look at it. }}

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Crippled Summer", Nathan and Mimsy try to sabotage Jimmy's team in an athletic competition, but because Mimsy is Literal Minded, their plans backfire. For instance: {{spoiler|they make a fake map for a scavenger hunt that leads to a hostile Indian reservation, and Nathan tells Mimsy to "switch the map, switch the map". So he switches the maps twice, leaving them with their own fake map}}.

* [[The Ditz|DeeDee]] in the ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' episode "[[Fun with Acronyms|G.I.R.L.]] Squad" takes the "lick" part of "lick crime" too literally.

'''Penfold:''' (''rapid-fire, gesturing'') ''Tobeornotbethatisthequestionwhether'tisnoblertosuffertheslingsandarrowsof

outrageousfortune...'' }}

 

== Real Life ==

** Schizophrenics have been noted in making errors with the meanings of metaphors and irony - typically that they do tend to take things literally.

** But deadpan humour and [[Understatement]] are quite natural to most of them. Though, it is usually not considered to be humour to them, but rather a statement of fact.

* Young children, particularly preschoolers, are extremely literal minded. They lack both the life experience and the reasoning skills to understand figurative speech. It's one of the reasons why you have to be careful how you word things in order not to confuse or terrify your child. Example: When Aunt Maude passes away, you shouldn't tell your 4-year-old she's just "sleeping." You end up with a child who is terrified to go to bed, for fear it could happen to them. Also part of the reason why Disney is able to [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|get so many innuendos in their movies]] without compromising the minds of young children. Parents get the figurative speech, the kids don't.

* [[wikipedia:Work-to-rule|Work To Rule]]. In totalitarian societies like the old Soviet Union, literal interpretation of laws may be one of very few ways people can express discontent with them, since following poorly chosen laws and thus becoming an inefficient worker will make the case that the laws have to be changed; this can also be seen on a smaller scale with workers in private firms.

* This can happen to confused foreigners with limited understanding of a language, thus lacking knowledge of proverbs, slang and such. For example, one may respond to "tell me about it" by literally explaining the subject at hand.

* For fun, go ask [[Troy Baker]] for a [[Shout-Out]] next time you see him at a convention.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]