Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|''"...well, we'll just have to cut his head off and bury him somewhere, 'cause it goes without saying that we can't turn him loose. He'd report us at once to some kind of outback Nazi law enforcement agency and they'll run us down like dogs.

 

A character is conducting a perfectly normal [[Inner Monologue]], usually thinking about how horrible their friend's cooking is or how attractive they find the person across the room from them.

Then [[Fee Fi Faux Pas|it hits them]] as they hear their own voice, they stop, look around, make a blank expressions and say...

 

 

TV writer Jane Espenson has castigated this trope as a "clam"; that is, a piece of stock dialogue grown unfunny through overuse. However, she admits a theoretical variant where a character sits silently for a few minutes and then says '''Did I Just Say That Out Loud?''' would still be funny (See the ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' example in ''Live Action TV'').

Also, closely related to [[Open Mouth, Insert Foot]]

 

{{examples}}

* In the third episode of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Luna (a talking cat) is walking down the street while talking to herself and, when she bumps into Motoki, she becomes afraid that he may have heard her talking.

* In the manga version of ''[[Excel Saga (manga)|Excel Saga]]'', Elgala has the quirk of speaking her innermost thoughts out loud, including ''"I musn't speak my innermost thoughts out loud!"'' When she does this, she's usually in front of someone she is insulting mentally.

* In the [[Masochist's Meal|Chinese Noodles]] arc in the ''[[Ranma ½]]'' manga, Cologne tried to get rid of a stock of horrendous noodles by setting a "noodle of strength" as the final prize in a food eating contest. Mousse revealed his plans to eat it himself... only for the Ranma, Ryoga and Kuno to all kick the tar out of him because they could hear him shouting in the kitchen.

* ''[[.hack|.hack//4koma]]'' [[Inverted Trope|Inverts]] this with the [[Alternate Character Interpretation|new-and-improved]] [[Designated Hero|Ki]][[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|te]]. Upon entering the [[Inevitable Tournament|requisite tournament]], Kite [[Licking the Blade|gleefully expresses his excitement]] [[Blood Knight|at performing a public PK]]. When his party members [[Double Take]], he ([[Stepford Smiler|cheerfully]]) replies, '''''"Oh, you heard me."'''''

 

 

* Mary Janes does this in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' when Peter tells her his secret and she exclaims that she'd just been expecting him to kiss her (leading Peter to ask why she came to talk to him if that was what she was expecting and subsequently to their first [[Almost Kiss]]).

* Mindf*** from ''[[Empowered]]'' speaks entirely through telepathy and can't really help it when background thoughts leak through.

* ''[[The Maxx]]'' has a similar problem with the little yellow boxes to Deadpool.

 

{{quote|'''Phoenix:''' That explains it then... Wait! Did I just say that or think tha-...? ''Who are you!?''}}

* In the [[Katawa Shoujo]] fanfic [[Reconciliation]], Hanako, seeing [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] Akira for the first time in eight years, exclaims with surprise that she's wearing girls' clothing (Akira quit her job at her father's company to manage a nightclub), then has this reaction in her narration, combined with a [[Luminescent Blush]].

 

 

'''Eric Sevareid''' (on CBS News broadcast): He says everything is A-OK. }}

* From ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'': "VERONICA CORNINGSTONE AND I HAD SEX, AND WE ARE IN LOVE!"

 

== Literature ==

* In Steven Erikson's ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'', the would-be-nefarious High Priest Iskaral Pust fancies himself a master of deception—and it might work, if he weren't constantly speaking his every thought aloud, including thoughts along the lines of "Ah, he's falling for it!"

** It is implied that Pust [[Obfuscating Stupidity|does this intentionally]], as it leads others to believe he is terrible at deception. Cotillion mentions that it is likely all a hoax.

** Of course, we know Vetinari was messing with Moist for his own amusement. Which he does with about everybody. A lot. They come to his office to make a simple complaint, and walk away with the feeling that they just narrowly escaped with their life.

{{quote|"Do not let me ''detain'' you."}}

** There's also a later episode, wherein Mike is planning on proposing to Phoebe, but Phoebe accidentally talks him out of it (long story). Whilst discussing this, Chandler says, "If I were a guy."

** Chandler has a number of these moments throughout the series. Another example comes during the episode where Rachel is babysitting Ross's monkey Marcel: Ross and Rachel are discussing letting her take care of Marcel when Chandler blurts out:

*Everyone else stares at Chandler*

Chandler: Did I say that out loud? }}

{{quote|'''Chuck Bartowski''': Alright. I'll pretend to take it, then run like hell to my sister, and make her take it. Why did I just say that out loud?}}

* ''[[The Vicar of Dibley]]'' [[Exaggerated Trope|Exaggerates]] this. Thinking that she's finally put an end to [[Everyone Can See It|Hugo and Alice's]] [[Will They or Won't They?]], Gerry exits, leaving the two to kiss.

* In ''[[The IT Crowd]]'', Jen, annoyed by the attention a show-off colleague is getting in an executive meeting, mutters "Oh for God's sake" just as the room goes silent, then adds "Sorry, did that sound like words?"

* Done in ''[[The West Wing]]'' when the President is on one of his enthusiastic rambles with an exasperated Josh as his captive audience:

'''Arcueid''': Eh? D-did I just say that part out loud? }}

* ''[[Grandia II]]''

'''Milennia:''' "Ooops! Did I say that out loud?" }}

* In [[Sonic Storybook Series|Sonic and the Secret Rings]], Sonic doesn't seem fazed by his belief that win or lose against Erazor he'll die. Until, of course, he mistakenly mentions his impending death - Ooops.

== Webcomics ==

* In [http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=6 this] ''[[Questionable Content]]'' strip, Marten manages to do this ''twice''.

* A variation shows up in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0106.html this] ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' strip, in which [[Evil Overlord|Xykon]] uses an obvious [[Reverse Psychology]] ploy by making a speech to the heroes "revealing" his weakness, ending in "wink, wink". Yes, he actually says "wink, wink".

** To be fair, it's difficult to wink when you have no eyelids.

** Also, he's making [[RPG Mechanics Verse|a Bluff check]]. If you succeed, people ''will'' believe you.

** And in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0395.html this one]. Obligatory [[Lampshade Hanging]] and [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]. It ''is'' [[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]], after all.

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' in [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070528 this strip]:

{{quote|

'''Carson''': What [[Legacy of Service|our family has been]] saying to [[Mad Scientist|Spark]]s for ''generations!'' It's not like we ''lasted'' long if we ''didn't!'' }}

** And [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081013 this]:

'''Gil:''' Okay, nobody heard that. }}

* ''[[Basic Instructions]]'' [http://basicinstructions.net/?p=375 shows how to deal with that.]

* Played with in [http://www.ozfoxes.net/cgi/pl-fp1.cgi?1085 this] issue of ''[[Faux Pas]]'', in which the answer turns out to be "no".

* Katie Tiedrich of ''[[Awkward Zombie]]'' has this problem with [http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-072108.php facial expressions when drawing].

* Subverted in [http://rosalarian.com/lesbianpirates/?p=225 this episode] of ''[[I Was Kidnapped by Lesbian Pirates from Outer Space]]'' (proving that Jane Espenson's theory is at least partially correct).

** It's possible that he just [[Cloudcuckoolander|has no idea what the problem with constantly narrating out loud is.]]

* Played with in [http://www.hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2006-05-31 this] ''[[Concerned]]'' comic.

* In ''[[Ménage à 3]]'', when gary tries to explain to Zii that he's not gay (while suffering from an allergy attack):

'''Zii:''' "Or, at least, I'd like to?"

'''Gary:''' Wazzat oud loud? }}

 

== Web Originals ==

 

== Web Animation ==

 

 

* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Le Petite Tourette", Cartman pretends to have Tourette's Syndrome so that he can be as vulgar and offensive as he wants all the time without getting in trouble. This ends up backfiring spectacularly on him when he gets so used to saying whatever pops into his head that he starts blurting out embarrassing personal secrets and is unable to stop himself, [[Irony|thus forcing him to experience the public humiliation and shame suffered by people who actually have Tourette's]].

* In the ''[[Watership Down]]'' TV series, Hazel tells Primrose he loves her after he saves her. Then he quickly asks [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the exact quote]].

* In the ''[[King of the Hill]]'' episode "Spin the Choice", Peggy is trying to explain her Thanksgiving Boggle tournament to an uninterested Luanne.

{{quote|'''Luanne:''' Aunt Peggy, everybody hates your Boggle tournament.

'''Luanne:''' I didn't say that. I thought it. }}

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', "Bubble Boys" has Buford's reaction to an opportunity to blow soap bubbles:

'''Phineas:''' [[Once an Episode|Yes, yes you did.]] }}

 

== Real Life ==

* Back in the 1980's, the Chicago Cubs briefly had attractive young women serving as "ball girls", whose job was to chase down foul balls and bring new ones to the umpire. Their uniform normally consisted of a tight jersey and short shorts. On one particularly chilly April day, the ladies wore long slacks instead of shorts. Sportscaster Harry Caray commented, "There's Marla Collins down there without her shorts on." There was brief silence, followed by two minutes of incoherent laughter from the entire broadcast team.

* The cricket commentator Alan Gibson once announced during a match with Bob Cunis at bat: "This is Cunis at the Vauxhall End. Cunis, a funny sort of name: neither [[Country Matters|one thing]] nor the other."

* [[Talking in Your Sleep]] with others around can result in this and copious embarrassment, made worse by the uncertainty about precisely what was vocalised.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]

[[Category:Stock Phrases]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]