Digging Yourself Deeper: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Ah! You can read... I mean, you are reading. Sorry. It's nice to see people reading. Not a lot of people read these days. People prefer to... hear. But all this 'hearing' is just reading for lazy people. Kids today should be prepared to pick up a book, and not just go around the whole time with all these modern... ears. Sometimes I just wanna rip people's ears off and say 'Read a book, for God's sake!'... Well, actually I'd probably say 'Read a book' first and then rip their ears off, otherwise they wouldn't hear me, hehehe... Actually, I probably wouldn't rip their ears off at all, I'm not a violent person. I like ears! Especially women ears, they're my favorite. I don't mean I collect them or anything! I don't have a big bucket of women ears hidden away somewhere. No, No, No, I'm not after your ears really. Not that there's anything wrong with your ears! You know if I ''was'' some kind of mad ear person, your ears would be the pride of my... ear bucket."''|'''Jeff''', ''[[Coupling]] -- [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}hstPHM3R1dY "The Girl with Two Breasts"]''}}

 

 

May eventually lead to [[Shutting Up Now]].

 

== Anime & Manga ==

{{quote| '''Kaorin''': ''(Sigh) [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Sakaki]] is [[Fan Girl|so cool]]...''<br />

'''Osaka''': ''[[The Cuckoolander Was Right|Kaorin, are you gay?]]''<br />

'''Osaka''': Huh? }}

* Happens in an [[Baker's Dozen|extra episode]] of ''[[Durarara]]'', when some poor sod attempts to talk down [[Hair-Trigger Temper|Shizuo]] with flattery and compares him to a really popular [[Bishonen]] actor, Yuuhei Hanejima. Unfortunately for him, said actor is actually Shizuo's little brother, whom Shizuo is ''[[Big Brother Instinct|very]]'' protective of, and he instinctively interprets the namedrop as an attempt to invade Yuuhei's privacy through him. Of course, since the poor sod doesn't know this, he just thinks Shizuo's suddenly angry because he ''hates'' Yuuhei -- so he [[Like a Weasel|rescinds his previous statement and calls Yuuhei an asshole.]] The only thing surprising about [[Unstoppable Rage|what happens next]] is that the poor sod actually ''survived''.

* In ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'', Keima has an accidental pervert moment with Haqua with a [[Tsundere|predictable]] result despite him not even really caring. A bit later, he reassures her by saying he has no memory of her naked body anyway. This might help normally, only Haqua is already bothered by the way he never shows attraction to anyone or anything outside of his games. Cue getting hit again.

* In ''[[FLCL]]'', Mamimi confronts Naota and accuses him of having a crush on Haruko, to which Naota replies, "How can you like someone who's insane?" The problem is that Mamimi is a pyromaniac arsonist, and Naota knows this.

 

'''Patty''': Like one of the guys? Your character suddenly hears a rustling in the underbrush. Roll for initiative.<br />

'''Tank''': Careful, Chad. You're digging that hole deeper and deeper. }}

{{quote| '''Beetle:''' My armor should be able to track the watchamatrix's energy sig, but the tracking's all kaflooey. Probability-alteration factor, maybe?...I'm sorry! I'm not making excuses. I swear! I know you hate excuses! I'm trying, I promise! I just-<br />

'''Batman:''' Jaime... Relax.<br />

* Rocky (from the Swedish furry comic, not the boxer) once gets into this when meeting his current girlfriend's father (I think it was...). He wants to compliment him on his house, but makes a [[Freudian Slip]] and substitutes "dick" for "house", and then it gets worse. The girlfriend's father shuts him up with the wonderful comeback: "Kid, if you've put your foot in your mouth, at least have the sense to stand still!"

* Used as a visual metaphor in the furry comic ''[[ISO]]'', when Cody has to swiftly make up lies about his supposed girlfriend to keep his parents from finding out about Doug, as well as the fact he's on the outs with Todd [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and has a roommate he can't stand]].

{{quote| '''Seven:''' That hole you're digging is getting deeper.}}

 

{{quote| "Hi, Jack, it's me. Jas. Jasmine. I'm sorry I missed you on IM yesterday but I got arrested for murder. I mean, I didn't do it, but I accidentally told the police I did, so it was confusing. Now we're going for dinner at The House That Kills, but that is only a nickname because a lot of people have died there, but it's completely safe. Anyway, I hope you're having a very nice morning and not melting in anyone's mouth or hands - Sorry, I meant molting. On anyone. Ha ha. Because molting is bad. Unless you're a wee creature of the forest, but - um, never mind, I've got to go, bye."}}

* A scene in Robert Asprin's ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth-ing Persons]]'' has Guido doing this to himself with his employer Skeeve; he only belatedly informs Skeeve that they're being followed, and then tries to defend himself by saying that the follower is [[Incredibly Obvious Tail|so obvious]] that any idiot could tell they were there. Fellow employee Massha cheerfully invokes this trope.

* ''[[Ravirn]]'': Ravirn has a tendency towards this, which Melchior lampshades in ''WebMage'':

{{quote| '''Melchior''': Judging from past experience and what little I've heard, I'm thinking you're following the pattern where you start out in a lot of trouble, and then through a series of brilliantly chosen words, make it infinitely worse.}}

** Steve gets a lot of these, usually digging a lot faster than Jeff. During his run-in with his celebrity crush Mariella Frostrup, she apologises for spilling her drink on his pants. He replies "Don't worry about it, I was about to go to the toilet anyway. Not that I was intending to wet my trousers, obviously. Although I am pleased to meet you." At this point he has a hilarious "What the hell I am I saying?" look on his face.

** [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|Oliver]] carries on the tradition well on several occasions, such as his conversation with Jane about the large number of toilet rolls he's buying.

** There was another one where he ended up talking about sewage.

** And Chandler brought up another occassion, when Ross talked about the Irish Potato Famine.

** Chandler also did this once, while attempting to suck up to Monica's parents.

** When she first tried talking to Jake, her boyfriend for twenty minutes in season 4, the only thing she could think of was to compliment him on what a perfectly square head he has.

** There was that one very early episode with Elliot and Carla feuding over Elliot tattling on Carla for not doing something. When Elliot apologizes and then doubles back to elaborate on her reasoning, the scene shifts to a visual gag of her standing in a grave literally "digging herself deeper"; as Carla and the other nurses look on in like the Mafia.

* Digging Yourself Deeper is pretty much the basis of every episode of ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'' where Larry David makes an innocuous statement which is taken badly, or misheard, and the ensuing consequences lead to hilarious further exchanges and climax.

* Any sitcom involving [[The Office|Ricky]] [[Extras|Gervais]].

{{quote| Y'know, Buffy, Spring Fling just isn't any dance. It's a time for students to choose, um... a mate and then we can... observe their... mating rituals and tag them before they migrate ''just kill me''. }}

** The kicker is that he's not even talking to Buffy, just practicing with Willow.

'''Willow''': That's Old Yeller!<br />

'''Buffy''': Xander, I ''beg'' you not to help me. }}

** Though not always:

{{quote| '''The Doctor''': What are you doing that for?<br />

** Jayne's good at this, but Simon is the undisputed ''master''. Especially if Kaylee's in the room.

*** Heck, the fact that Simon does this is pretty much the reason he and Kaylee don't get together {{spoiler|until the movie}}. They'll be flirting and getting close and just as it looks like they'll kiss, he says something that she thinks is offensive and she storms off.

{{quote| '''Niles''':Yes, and even if by some small chance that were to happen, Daphne, I could always use you.<br />

...I, I would know of a position you could take.<br />

...This is on me.] }}

** Speaking of Frasier, this is the formula for a lot of episodes; a conflict arises, and each attempt at a resolution digs the characters deeper. Some (if most) episodes even end without any resolution at all and show the characters wallowing in self pity in their inability to come to a resolution.

{{quote| "Aw, I bet if you hadn't stopped him he would have gone on like that forever!"}}

** This exchange from 5.15 'Remnants', as Richard Woolsey sees that a women he's been flirting with found his balcony hang-out spot:

...I mean, ''you're'' my Stefania now... baby. }}

** Probably the most blatant example is the entire premise of "Faux Pas", where Ray makes a joke about his son's new best friend's dad, tells it to the man himself, and keeps trying to apologize, only making it worse. His family coming in doesn't help, either.

{{quote| '''Roy:''' I'm sorry, it's just that you look ''exactly'' like my mother. Not - not that my mother's ugly or anything, she's a very sexy woman. Not that I want to have ''sex'' with her, because I know how you psychiatrists think, and my mother would never stand for anything like that. I can see her now... "what you are you ''doing'', Roy? ''What are you doing?!''"}}

** When Norm finds his dream job as a beer taste tester and is only an interview with the president away from getting it, Rebecca advises him not to do something stupid like mention his pants. Of course, the first thing he does is say "Nice pants!", not so bad in itself, but he retracts himself immediately, then retracts the retraction and digs his way down to a song and dance number about him not being such a grumpy puss. Camera cut back to the bar and Norm mourning his lost opportunity.

* Half the fun in ''[[The Thick of It]]'' and by extension, ''[[In the Loop]]''.

{{quote| '''Tony''': Do you sleep with a gun under your pillow every night?<br />

'''Kate''': That depends.<br />

'''Kate''': Sorta... sometimes... yes.<br />

'''Gibbs''': Good girl! }}

{{quote| '''Tony''': That's not a short list! ''([[Death Glare]] from Gibbs)'' ...of people that - that you've angered just because you have rock-solid principles, and so it's easy for people to misunderstand that, and misconstrue, because, you know, people don't --<br />

'''Director''': Why don't you quit while you're behind, DiNozzo?<br />

* Josh of ''[[Drake and Josh]]'', on a date with a model:

{{quote| I got you a diet soda, 'cause I figured you're probably watching your figure. ...Not that you need to watch your figure, you have a great body! ...Not that I was looking at your body!}}

* In the ''[[Hawtho R Ne]]'' episode "Final Curtain", the titular nurse keeps doing this with a doctor (or nurse, it wasn't really specified). She tries to get him to talk Arabic to a patient's husband, but (1) the husband is speaking Dari (as we find out from the Army vet nurse Sullivan) and is thus Afghani, & (2) the guy in the turban is ''Sikh'', not any kind of Muslim (and from Chicago).

{{quote| '''Guy''': You're a racist! (''stalks off'')<br />

** Basil digs himself even deeper that night, while bidding the psychiatrist and his wife good night

{{quote| Basil: Well then, I'll leave you to it. I mean, to go to bed! To *sleep*! To sleep, perchance to dream.}}

{{quote| '''Ryan:''' "Hi. How are you? We don't know what you're watching, so we're not gonna tell you when we're gonna return you to it."<br />

'''Colin:''' "Oh, w-- [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}tMwHxLuqwpQ We're watching animal porn]!" [[[Beat]]] *double [[Face Palm]]*<br />

(''Drew frantically buzzes'')<br />

'''Ryan:''' *laughing out loud* }}

{{quote| '''Karofsky:''' Who told you that?<br />

'''Santana:''' No one had to tell me. First of all, I saw you checking out Sam's ass the other day. You really need to be more careful with your leering.<br />

* ''Bioware'' must love these, because Merrill does this all the time in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', and she knows it.

{{quote| '''Merrill''': "... and I'm rambling again, aren't I?"}}

* James Tobin has this happen to him in the game [[In the 1st Degree]]. He changes his story of what happened between him and Zack more than once. He admits to shooting himself in the leg because he was afraid no one would believe him when he said that Zack was shot in self-defense. If you play the game right, you get to watch as the prosecutor Granger pins Tobin on the leg-shooting thing. Granger asks if Tobin's first thought was to protect himself as his own business partner was lying there at his feet bleeding to death. Tobin responds by saying no, and that he tried to give Zack CPR. Granger says "You tried giving CPR to a man who was bleeding from the throat?" Tobin then gives a "Yes! I mean...No!" Yep, Tobin is ''so'' experiencing this trope.

 

 

== Webcomics ==

{{quote| '''Alex''': You tell us everything, and I mean '''everything'''. Well, not everything, actually. Just the stuff about you and your friends and things. None of that birds and bees stuff. We already know all that, and besides, it's kind of icky.}}

{{quote| '''Mort:''' Y'know, It's probably because you're so attractive. I noticed that about you when we first met.<br />

'''Antimony:''' Oh?<br />

'''Mort:''' Oh! I uh... I don't mean you're attractive... I mean, like a [[Weirdness Magnet|magnet]]... or a [[I See Dead People|medium]]... Haha... Yeah. Ah! B... But I don't mean you aren't... I mean you look really... I... Uh... Oh geez... *turns into a tombstone with a picture of a foot going into a mouth* }}

* Piro of ''[[Megatokyo]]'' tends to do this a lot. [http://megatokyo.com/strip/221 Some times are worse than others.]

* [http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0318.html This] ''[[Darths and Droids]]'', in which Jim gets mixed up between talking in character and out of character, as well as whether Padme is telling Anakin she loves him, or whether he's telling Annie that he loves her.

{{quote| '''Tagon''': I'm not stopping until this hole goes straight through.}}

* [[Lackadaisy Cats|Mitzi]], realizing that [[Crazy Awesome|Rocky's]] been saying that she might've offed her husband tried to reassure Wick that's not the case, but ends up making a lot of joking remarks about offing Rocky.

{{quote| '''Mitzi''': Uh... you stopped rowing.}}

* Used as a visual metaphor in ''[[Flying Suit Reiko]]'', when one character awkwardly confesses his FA/Feederism fetish to his girlfriend. His thought balloons have him digging a hole deeper and deeper. When she finally tells him it's okay and she likes it too, his visual metaphor is raised out of the pit by an oil geyser.

** The Abraham example is interesting because there are no tongue slips - everything he says is completely intentional - he just doesn't realize that he's hitting another one of Raven's [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]] with every passing sentence.

{{quote| '''Jhalm:''' Honored Digger... Almost, I could believe I had misjudged you. Except that this very morning, I received a report from one of the Veiled, that you were seen to be consorting with a hyena creature, not half a mile from this spot. The '''very same creature''' that attacked me a few days ago.<br />

'''Digger:''' ''(stunned expression)''<br />

{{quote| '''Scratch:''' There should be no reason for you to feel uncomfortable with this interaction. Try to think of me as one of your kindly human uncle figures.<br />

'''Scratch:''' In fact, if I were in your presence now, I would offer you candy to prove it. }}

* [[Misfile]]: Rumisiel manages to pull this big time when [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1870 talking to Dr. Upton about his daughter.] The comic provides a nice visual metaphor for what he's doing, pictured on top of this page.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

{{quote| '''Aang''': Us...kissing... (looks dreamy)<br />

'''Katara''': Heh, us, kissing! What was I thinking? Can you imagine that?<br />

'''Aang''': [[Lampshade Hanging|What is wrong with me...?]] }}

** Followed by Zuko in the third season revealing that he sent Combustion Man after them when, at the time, all they knew about him was that he was a psycho who wouldn't stop chasing them. This revelation didn't exactly earn Zuko any points with the good guys.

{{quote| '''Bolin''': I'm sorry, no, no! I didn't mean to assume! It's that, I was just figuring... with your Water Tribe getup... that you are... a Water Tribe... gal.}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|"You have had quite an influence on me, which is amazing because I have dated ''thousands'' of women and- *Tiana looks annoyed* uh, no, like, two, three- er, just other woman! And anyway, listen, you could not be more different, you know, you are- you are practically, aheh, one of the guys! *Tiana looks affronted* ''Nonono'', you are not a guy! Let me begin again. Uh-" *stumbles and falls to the floor along with the food* [[Lampshade Hanging|"I... am not myself tonight."]]}}}}

** And to think, the poor shmuck's trying to {{spoiler|''propose''.}}

*** Mama Odie did tell him to [[Incredibly Lame Pun|dig a little deeper...]]

** In the end, she did admit that she thought the fumbling around was cute.

{{quote| '''Bruce:''' "Working late again?"<br />

'''Bruce:''' (cheerfully) "Crimson." }}

* In the ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "Welcome Back, Carter", when Peter catches his father-in-law with a woman:

{{quote| '''Peter:''' Oh, my God, Mr. Pewterschimdt, you're having an affair? Ew! Eww!<br />

* Used in ''[[The Looney Tunes Show]]'' when Crusher is staring down Daffy:

{{quote| '''Daffy:''' You'll have to pardon my friend. The heat's getting to him. He's not used to this. He's not a hardened criminal like you. I mean, I shouldn't assume that you're a hardened criminal. But in my defense, you do have a Neanderthal-shaped head, which I normally equate with stupidity--uh, not that you're stupid. I just mean that you ''look'' stupid. I don't mean that as an insult. I mean, some people think stupid to mean cool, like "That's a stupid car," "You've got a stupid apartment"...I wish I could stop talking. I'm just very nervous right now. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. You know what the word "ramble" means? You're probably too ''stupid'' to know! [[What an Idiot!|And here, I mean stupid-stupid, not stupid-cool!]]}}

{{quote| '''Ratchet:''' No, wait, please listen to me. You can't do this to me. This job is my life. It means everything to me. You don't know what I've done to get here. The lies I've told! The lives I've ruined! Wait... this isn't helping me!}}

* In [[The Simpsons]] episode "Girls Just Want To Have Sums", while Principal Skinner is publicly speaking to a former student of his, he states that she wasn't that good at math because "hey, you ''are'' a girl". This gets him in hot water and he tries to explain himself, but his comments only make him sound like more of a misgynist until finally pleading ''"Just tell me what to say!".''