Blunt Yes
To whoever is asking the question, a more appropriate answer would probably be either a no, or maybe a maybe, or in some cases no answer at all. Instead, however, it's answered with a Blunt Yes, or whatever else would be equivalent to "yes" in its own context.
Obi-Wan: Patience, Luke... |
Maybe this reflects on differences between the asker and the answerer in terms of views toward the subject they are discussing. Maybe it implies that the answerer has a very blunt personality, such as that of a Deadpan Snarker, for instance. It can mean both, even, and by its very nature often does.
Compare with Insult Backfire, since it is often caused by similar things. Often associated with Brutal Honesty. See also Flat What and Little No. Compare Mathematician's Answer.
Truth in Television, of course, especially in online discussions, given the sheer diversity of opinions, and in turn, higher rate at which what one would consider an inappropriate response, another considers quite fitting.
Anime and Manga
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji reacts to Misato's questions like this after being returned to NERV Headquarters in Episode four.
- In Bakuman。, when Miura argues with Mashiro and Takagi over whether they should go into gag manga; Miura believes that if they have no serious stories in mind, they should just do as their editor says.
Mashiro: We can change up our style and genre, but I still don't think humor is the best way to utilize Takagi's skills. |
Fan Works
- In Turnabout Storm, Phoenix Wright, already sick of getting trash-talked by the prosecution, pulls out a nice one.
Film
- V for Vendetta: Eve observes on TV that her boss, a high-ranking party member, was murdered:
Eve: I found my [ID Security] card was missing last night. V, have you something to do with it? |
- The page quotation, from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is above all else an example of this reflecting on differences in attitudes; Luke is loyal to his friends even at the expense of duty, and Yoda is inclined to condemn this.
- The Joker does this in The Dark Knight this when a mobster confronts him about his prior theft from Gotham's organized crime community. (Context viewable here.) This would reflect both on the differences in attitude (the mob is... relatively less chaotic than Joker) and bluntness. (Joker's Deadpan Snarker personality comes into play in that scene as a whole.)
Gambol: You think you can steal from us and just walk away? |
- In the Street Fighter movie:
Bison: You dare to interfere? |
- In the Lilo and Stitch movie:
Jumba: After all you put me through, you expect me to help you, just like that?! Just like that?! |
- Later in the same scene is when the audience learns that "Ih" translates to simply "Yes".
- In The Lord of the Rings:
Faramir: You wish now that our places had been exchanged. That I had died and Boromir had lived. |
- In The Mummy (1999):
Dr. Bey: We are part of an ancient secret society. For over three thousand years we have guarded the City of the Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world. |
- Used in this trailer for a movie called The Guardian, during a conversation at a dinner table about a girl.
Jake Fischer: You gotta make a move! |
- In Serenity, as Mal and Jayne have yet another argument:
Mal: You wanna run this ship?! |
- In The Incredibles, when Dash, Violet, and Elastigirl are in the ocean after Syndrome shot down their plane, and Elastigirl suggests swimming toward the trail the missiles left.
Dash: You wanna go toward the people that tried to kill us? |
- In the 2000 remake of Bedazzled, the Devil brings Elliot into Alison's bedroom with both of them are invisible, intangible, and Alison can't hear them. The Devil tells Elliot that Alison is in the bathroom. Naked.
Elliot: You must think that I'm really perverted, don't you? That's what you think. You think I'm some sad, desperate, twisted, pathetic loser. |
- In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup does this to Astrid.
Astrid: Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's nest! The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious? |
- In The Lion King:
Banzai: What are we supposed to do, kill Mufasa? |
- Happens in Tropic Thunder:
Rick Peck: Let me get this straight. You want me to let my client of 15 years, one of my best friends, die in the jungle alone, for some money and a G5? |
- From Citizen Kane:
Leland: Bernstein, am I a stuffed shirt? Am I a horse-faced hypocrite? Am I a New England school marm? |
- This gem from the Ocean's Eleven remake:
Saul: I have a question: Say we get into the cage, and through the security doors there and down the elevator we can't move, and past the guards with the guns, and into the vault we can't open... |
- Inverted in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels:
Jamieson: Do you ever have a single thought that originates from above the waist? |
Charlie: (seeing a bottle marked "Poisoned Dragon's Liver") Poisoned Dragon's Liver? |
- A nice example in A Hard Day's Night, made nicer since one gets the impression it's something George would actually say.
Interviewer: Has success changed your life? |
Live-Action TV
- Cheers. In "Diane Meets Mom" Diane is shocked after Frasier's mom (played by Nancy Marchand) threatens to murder her if she doesn't break it off with Frasier. She goes to Sam for advice.
Diane: Sam, I have to ask you a question. Promise me you won't make a joke out of it. |
- On Community, when Britta asks Jeff if her name was recently made into a verb with negative connotations:
Jeff:...Yes. |
- May not be a straight example, as she asks if her name is being used to mean "make a tiny mistake". Jeff's hesitation seems to imply that tiny would not be his choice of words.
- Real Time with Bill Maher involved Bill mimicking sarcastic anti-government questions before answering them with a Blunt Yes.
Bill: I mean, how stupid is it when people say "oh that's what we need, the federal government telling Detroit how to make cars, or Wells Fargo how to run a bank, you want them to look like the post office?" |
- From Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Cordelia and Buffy are competing for the title of homecoming queen:
Buffy: You're *paying* people for votes? |
- From Fringe Agent Jessup asks about Dr. Bishop.
Jessup: Is he insane? |
- The Ninth Doctor does this twice to the Editor of the news station Satellite Five in the Doctor Who "The Long Game".
Rose: So all the people on Earth are like slaves? |
- From Arrested Development, Michael is suspicious that his father's former cellmate T-Bone, a convicted flamer,[1] is given a job at the company right after a storage unit full of incriminating evidence is burned down.
Michael: Did you burn down the storage unit? |
Video Games
- In a City of Heroes vigilante-to-villain tip mission, you try to convince Flambeaux that her boyfriend's not who she thinks he is...
Flambeaux: What do you think I am, stupid? |
- Massive spoiler: She is.
- In Tales of the Abyss, when the replicas on Feres Island say they care nothing for the lives of the originals, Tear makes a comment regarding their personalities to Luke, who is also a replica, but is questioning his own worth.
Tear: Call it a will to live that borders on arrogance. You had it once. |
Web Original
- Used twice in a row in this YouTube video, which may qualify as a real-life example, but the uncertainty as to whether it is real or staged puts it in web original for now.[context?]
Mother: All of a sudden, you can just quit believing in god? |
- The Nostalgia Chick complained about getting Kay back in the game in Men in Black II, then asks "Am I saying that Agent Kay should not have been in the sequel? (Beat) ...YES!!"
Western Animation
- In Phineas and Ferb, Phineas often uses this in response to people asking if he is too young for something.
Random Adult: Aren't you a little young to be [insert dangerous activity here]? |
- In Family Guy:
Peter: Hang on a second, did you just say I was fat? |
- Also, in Dial Meg For Murder:
Lois: Oh my god! Are you using my shirts as toilet paper? |
- The Simpsons:
- Nelson uses this twice in a row during "22 Short Films About Springfield," when confronted by someone he pointed and laughed at.
Very Tall Man: Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile? |
- In an early episode Homer is suing Mr. Burns for hitting Bart with his car, and Burns invites him for a private chat:
Homer: Mr. Burns, are you trying to get me drunk? |
Real Life
- Oh, Joe Biden. You are a classy, classy man.
- ↑ An Unusual Euphemism for arsonist