I Broke a Nail: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Drakken:''' But, Shego, we escaped with the E.M.A. unscathed.

'''Shego:''' ''([[Emotion Bomb|crying]])'' [[Out-of-Character Moment|Yes. But I broke a nail!]]

 

[[Stock Phrases]] of the [[City Mouse]], [[Fallen Princess]], [[Rich Bitch]], [[Alpha Bitch]] or, more stereotypically, the [[The Smurfette Principle|token woman]]. Sometimes used by the [[Action Girl]] after a particularly grueling fight in which this is the only injury she is concerned about. In any case, the character is [[Always Female]] unless it's a deliberate play on the trope. The phrase is, of course, used to show off how petty she is, especially if it's used in the face of more pressing concerns. It may also be a [[Berserk Button]] for her.

 

This is mostly a [[Discredited Trope]] nowadays. [[Most Writers Are Male]], and as such, it took a long time for women to get across that broken nails actually ''hurt,'' and ''that'' is usually why they're crying. When nails break, they tend to take a bit of skin with them... a bit of skin that has a cluster of nerves within. And of course then there's bleeding and the risk of infection. So while it's not life-threatening, it's still a legit nuisance. Nowadays, it's used more as a joke than anything. Often an [[Action Girl]] will punch a Mook pretty hard, and as he hits the ground, she'll jokingly whine, "Damn, I broke a nail, now you have to pay."

{{examples}}

* ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'': Count D, a ''male'', breaks a nail once. He proceeds to bandage his ''whole'' hand.

* ''[[Ludwig Revolution]]'' doubly subverts this: The title character, Prince Ludwig (obviously male), who is always pictured to pay a lot of attention to his looks and is directly said to be incredibly vain, breaks his nail while shooting at a monster {{spoiler|(his love interest)}} in order to save his male servant. ''The servant'' starts screaming: "Prince, you broke your finger nail! It's bleeding!" To which the Prince replies: "Who cares about one or two nails..."

* Said word for word by Ayako in the manga of ''[[Ghost Hunt]]''.

 

* In the course of ''[[Secret Wars]]'', when all of Marvel's greatest heroes were transported out of the galaxy for an [[Bloodless Carnage|apocalyptic war of good and evil]] when the winsome Wasp discovered a broken nail [[Coming in Hot|after a space-ship dogfight]]. "... and there isn't an Emory board for a million light years!"

* When a small team of different Supergirl incarnations break Superman out of the Source Wall, one of them mutters this, then quickly adds she was kidding.

 

* In the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' fanfic ''[[Those Lacking Spines]]'', Marly-dono says this phrase word-for-word after slamming a fist onto his computer. Yes, he's a guy.

* ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]''. <s>Serena</s> Victoria broke a nail ''through her glove'' after transforming to Sailor Moon.

* ''[[Legend of Zelda the Abridged Series]]'' Shiek refuses to help Link in any of the temples because that would risk them breaking a nail.

 

* Used by Georgette in Disney's ''[[Oliver and Company]]''. Which is slightly weird, considering that she's a ''dog''.

** Not that weird. Dogs feel quite a bit of pain when their nail. Think about it. If, when a person breaks a nail, a small bit of skin goes and it hurts a little, when a dog breaks a nail, as they're quite deeply rooted in their paws, they must be in agony. Try looking at a dog's paw when one of it's nails are chipped. It won't even like that.

{{quote|Kara: I've been chased, shot at, kidnapped, beaten up, had my mind controlled '''[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and]]''' I broke a nail.}}

** [[Fridge Logic|She's a Kryptonian under a yellow sun.]] Her fingernails should be practically indestructible, so some impresive forces were at work there, and that's very possibly the only actual injury she took in that whole ordeal.

{{quote|'''Flower Belle:''' [[Inverted Trope|I almost broke one of my fingernails.]]}}

* [[Damsel Scrappy|Willie Scott]] uses this line ''twice'' in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]''. The first time she only "cracked" a nail, rather than actually breaking it, but that was still apparently a good enough excuse for her to practically throw Indy's gun out the side of the car.

* ''[[Batman Returns]]'': ([[Batman]] vs Catwoman) When Batman pushes Catwoman off him, she ends up in a pile of broken plant pots. Batman removes the sharp metal nail from his suit and tosses it at her. Catwoman picks it up and examines her hand back to front and lets out an irritated "Damn..."

 

* In ''[[Geronimo Stilton]], Secret Agent'', Stilton is trying to distract his [[Sitcom Nemesis|archrival]] Sally Ratmousen, but the only thing that works is when he tells her she has a broken [[Hold Your Hippogriffs|pawnail]].

* Played with in ''[[The Belgariad|The Mallorean]]'', by [[David Eddings]], when C'nedra and Zakath are riding through Mal Zeth. They encounter a soldier who had been busted down from Corporal to Private for being drunk on duty. Zakath asks C'nedra what he should do (the Alorns have been giving him lessons in how to not be a tyrant), and her reply is "Hang him. Drat, I broke a nail." Her apparent cold-bloodedness shocks Zakath, and then she explains that condemning the man then pardoning him will do more to convince him not to drink anymore than any amount of punishment.

* "From The Diary Of A New York Lady" by [[Dorothy Parker]]:

{{quote|The most terrible thing happened ''just this minute''. Broke one of my finger nails ''right off short''. Absolutely ''the'' most horrible thing I ever had happen to me in my life.}}

{{quote|"[[Sarcasm Mode|Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it.]]"}}

 

* Played with in ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]''. In the [[Breakfast Club]] episode, Kate refuses to help clean the school cafeteria. Lizzie's animated alter ego sarcastically suggests that she's afraid of breaking a nail. Then the real Kate gives that as an actual reason, forming an [[Ironic Echo Cut]].

* In ''[[The Facts of Life]]'', Blair punches another girl for insulting Jo. She later says "I broke a nail for you!" as if that were more of a sacrifice than getting in trouble for decking someone in school (which, for Blair, it is).

{{quote|'''Myrtle Urkel:''' Oh, shoot. I broke a nail.}}

 

* ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'': This turns out to be the reason Sgt. Louise Lugg mauled a guy so badly while playing American football. The trope is played straight (it's not a very recent strip) and she's shown "emotionally" crying over it; the comic in general repeatedly plays with her combination of masculine aggressiveness and feminine sensitivity.

 

* In the old PC game ''Battle Chess'', the Queen says this during her tutorial after defeating another piece.

* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'' EVA's medical history shows a long list of cuts, blows, gunshot wounds, and one broken nail.

* [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Renee]] from ''[[Mana Khemia]]'' refuses to help Tony fight Flay at the beginning of the game because she just had her nails done, and she doesn't want to ruin them.

* Spoiled Rich girl Skie in ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' says this as one of her "command received" lines. It gets [[Most Annoying Sound|very tedious very quickly]].

 

* On ''[[Family Guy]]'', shortly after getting in touch with his feminine side from going to a woman's camp, Peter mentions "oh fudge, I broke a nail".

* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', Odd makes fun of Sissi in his amateur movie ''Natural Grandeur'' by showing her as a giant and dubbing her as saying "Oh no, I broke a nail!" in a distorted voice.

* The modern "you broke my nail--shit just got ''real''" version happens in an episode of ''[[Alvin and The Chipmunks]]''. A gang of bullies dominating the local roller rink has challenged the Seville rodents to a roller-derby race for rink use rights. Chippette Brittany scoffs at the immaturity the boys are all showing... until guess what one of the bullies accidentally does.

 

* A woman named Lee Redmond grew her fingernails out for thirty years to a length of two-and-a-half feet each, breaking the record for longest fingernails. In 2009, she was in a terrible car crash. She sustained severe injuries and broke off all of her nails. Upon finding out, she was devastated. [[World Half Full|She later discovered it was easier to manipulate objects without her giant talons]].