One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Difference between revisions

* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'': Touma confronts his dad about getting involved with magic and casting the appearance-swapping Angel Fall spell... and his dad thinks he's just talking about collecting occult souvenirs.

* The last episode of ''[[Kyou no Go no Ni]]'' ends with two of the characters talking about a childhood promise they made. The boy is talking about {{spoiler|a [[Childhood Marriage Promise]]}}, and the girl is talking about {{spoiler|her (broken) promise not to tell about the time the boy wet his bed}}.

* Happened at least twice in ''[[Love Hina]]'', at least in the OVA, with a newly-arrived girl claiming to be 'the promised girl', but actually talking about an entirely different (but nonetheless important) promise than the one that's been a central theme for the entire series.

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Negi asks Asuna to accompany him on a trip to search for traces of his father, as his magic partner. Asuna misinterprets it as a love confession, as do Yue and Nodoka, who overhear it. [[Genre Savvy|Haruna doesn't]], but she does enjoy the ensuing hilarity.

* A staple of ''[[Mitsudomoe]]''. Such as Shinya's fangirls mistaking a younger photo of the triplets' dad for their crush. Futaba being a [[Daddy's Girl]] leads to some awkward tension between them.

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''. In episode 27, Nanami thinks she has laid an egg. The rest of the episode is full of this trope whenever she tries to talk to someone about it.

* Expertly done in an episode of ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]'', where the main character has a running conversation with himself which has little do with what several characters who come in one at a time have to say to him... but somehow manages to sound okay to them. Is easily the series' [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].

* Several times in ''[[School Rumble]]''. A notable one is when Eri idly asks Tenma if she's seen a male body before. Tenma says yes, referring to a wrestling match she had recently gone to with Karasuma. The resulting conversation has Eri thinking Tenma is talking about sex while Tenma describes the various moves she saw at the match.

== Comic Books ==

* Neil Gaiman loved to do this in his Sandman comic series, with at least three separate occurrences.

== Fan Fiction ==

** Earlier, {{spoiler|Kyon and Mori}} had a conversation about protection. {{spoiler|Kyon}} thought they were talking about bulletproof armour when actually...

*** Which started when {{spoiler|Mori}} misunderstood a comment about people ''literally'' [[Innocent Innuendo|sleeping together]].

* A couple or few [[Lois and Clark]] fanfics have Lois thinking that her partner is gay, while Clark thinks that Lois has discovered he's superman. Cue hilarity, with such questions as "When did you realize you were...different?"

== Film ==

* ''[[Moulin Rouge]]'': When Christian and Satine are talking in the Elephant, he's trying to read his poetry to her, but she thinks he's talking about sex.

* In the second ''~Charlie's Angels~'' movie, the Alex's boyfriend starts complaining about Charlie, causing the distraught father to think that Charlie is some kind of pimp.

** [[Jiggle Show|Well, of course he is]].

* Happens twice in ''[[My Cousin Vinny]]'' - first case is a [[Mistaken Confession]], second is a pure instance of this trope. Vinny is introducing himself to his cousin's friend and preparing to represent him in court, but he thinks Vinny is a prisoner preparing to rape him.

* A lot of ''[[Fight Club]]'' is like this (though it's impossible to tell without knowing the big plot twist near the end).

* ''~There's Something About Mary~'': Ted thinks he's being questioned about picking up a hitchhiker when a detective asks about his "friend in the car"; it's actually [[Mistaken Confession|the dead body said hitchhiker left in his trunk]]:

'''Ted:''' Hitchhikers? I don't know - fifty... a hundred maybe - who keeps track? Hey, I know this is the Bible Belt, but where I come from this is not that big a deal. }}

* Played straight in [[Fiddler On the Roof]] when Lazar Wolf wants to ask Tevye for permission to marry his daughter, but since Lasar is a butcher, Tevye assumes he wants to buy Tevye's milk cow. See the entry under Theater.

* Applied liberally in Roberto Begnini's ''Johnny Stecchino'', where many, many people converse with Dante on the actions of his [[Identical Stranger]], the titular mob informant which he is unwittingly playing [[Body Double]] for, while Dante himself is talking about something much more innocent, like the banana he stole.

* Les Grossman's [[Cluster F-Bomb|infamous]] exchange with Flaming Dragon in ''[[Tropic Thunder]]''. They're a group of warlords trying to ransom a hostage, and he thinks they're a rival talent agency trying to sign his biggest star. Possibly subverted in that I doubt Grossman's approach would have been any different had he known they were warlords.

== Literature ==

* A short-lived one in ''[[Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince]]'' occurs when Ron accidentally eats a candy laced with love potion by Romilda Vane (originally meant for Harry, but Harry was wise enough not to eat it.) Ron then starts going on about how amazing "she" is, and Harry assumes he's talking about his current girlfriend, Lavender, until Ron lets slip that "she doesn't even know who I am".

** Another one occurs in ''[[Goblet of Fire]]''. Snape accuses Harry of stealing Polyjuice ingredients from his office, but words it in such a way that Harry thinks he's talking about the time Hermione stole those ingredients two years ago for the Polyjuice Potion in ''[[Chamber of Secrets]]''. In fact, Snape is talking about a much more recent (and plot relevant) theft, but Harry (and therefore the reader) doesn't learn this until the end of the book.

== Live Action Television ==

** A memorable example occurred when Harry realized Tommy had grown taller than him. So they went to an enlargement clinic, not realizing, of course, that it was a penis enlargement clinic. [[Hilarity Ensues]].

{{quote| '''Tommy''': So he used to be bigger than me, but then my aunt realized that I'm the bigger one now. He can't stand it. He makes me measure him like five times a day.}}

* In ''[[Friends]]'', Chandler ends up thinking that Monica intends to get breast enlargement surgery, while Monica thinks Chandler is freaking out about her becoming pregnant. As a result, Chandler barges in and asks that Monica not change at all - she responds that not only her breasts will swell (as a result of pregnancy) but also her hands and feet as well. They talk for a bit, getting more and more confused, until eventually Rachel mentions the baby and they realize what the other was talking about.

* On one episode of ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'', Maya gets Elliot a game system for his birthday, while [[Recurring Character]] Persky got him sex toys as a gag. Unbeknownst to either of them, Dennis has switched the two gifts. Thus, Elliot interprets Maya's invitation to play a few games as her wanting to engage in S&M (saying that she's going to beat him and make him cry certainly doesn't clear things up any), while Persky thinks Elliot wants to do the same.

* One episode of [[Sister Sister]] had a genes/jeans confusion. They're Korean.

* Dear God, ''all the time'' on ''[[Coupling]]''. Notable examples include: Sally thinking Patrick's girlfriend is stepping out on him with Jeff, while Patrick's girlfriend (who's bisexual and in favor of an open relationship) thinks Sally is hitting on her; Patrick flirting with Jane's therapist, with each one believing the other is gay; and the telephone mess involving a phony bar full of Australians and "Giselle, the French bitch" that leads to Susan and Steve's break-up.

** One favorite is when the guys are having a conversation with Sally's date. He's a butcher, but Sally told everyone he's a surgeon, so they are all shocked when he explains that she's one of his regulars and even more shocked when he states, "Well, you know how it goes. Just a few good cuts and you have the woman of your dreams."

* An episode of [[Leverage]], ''Three Nights of the Hunter'', has a very brief example. The mark for the episode, a journalist, has been steered towards a politician to ask about an alleged government project called "Destiny". The Destiny that he thinks she means is his favourite stripper.

* [[My Wife and Kids]]: Michael listens to his daughter and her boyfriend talk about mini-golf. He thinks they're talking about sex, much to his horror.

** In another episode, Brian and Michael are very upset about the night before; Brian because Babylon was closed down and Michael because he found out that Melanie and Lindsey had broken up months ago without telling anyone. [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity Ensues:]]

{{quote| '''Brian:''' "How could you eat after what happened last night?"<br />

{{quote| '''Dr Fischer''': But you've gotta know, I never made the first move.<br />

'''JD''': That's a lie! You bought me a latte! }}

{{quote| '''Jenna''': Liz, you seem really stressed out. You want to talk about what's going on?<br />

'''Liz''': I just hope it's not a mistake.<br />

* Thanks to Sir Humphrey's [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]] and overall [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] demeanour, a lot of the conversations he has with Jim Hacker in ''[[Yes Minister]]'' fall here, but one particularly notable example concerns the time he attempted to inform the Minister that he was leaving the department because he'd received a promotion, only to manage to convince Hacker through his pompous inability to clearly express himself that he was dying.

* In ''[[Bottom]]'', Eddie gives Richie his birthday present; a slip of paper with the words "Madame Swish, 3.30" written on it. It's a horse that Eddie's received a good tip on and is planning to put money on. Richie thinks it's referring to... [[The Oldest Profession|something else]]. The conversation gets... confused.

* Done for rare dramatic effect on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Buffy and Xander go to talk to Spike, who seems distracted and occasionally says things that don't make sense. Since he's been a bit nuts since getting his soul back, we don't think anything of it. Then we see that Willow is also there, having unconsciously cast a spell that prevents her and the other Scoobies from sensing each other at all.

* A dark, [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|*dark*]] variant in the last episode of ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]'', and a {{spoiler|literal}} example of [[Poor Communication Kills]]. [[The Hero|Blake]] assumes he's explaining the situation. His second in command, [[Sanity Slippage|Avon]], assumes he's {{spoiler|confessing to a betrayal}}. It doesn't help that his behaviour towards Avon's fellow crewman Tarrant has been equally open to misinterpretation. The conversation goes something like this:

'''Carl:''' ''(pause)'' Barbecue? We're talking about barbecue here?<br />

'''Harriette:''' Yeah. What did you think we were talking about? }}

* On ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' Cory and Eric have one of these where Cory thinks Topanga told Eric that she is pregnant and Eric thinks that Cory is talking about Topanga's diet, which is what she actually told Eric about.

* In the [[Angel]] episode ''Fredless'', Fred runs to Lorne, [[The Empath]], for help after panicking and running away from her parents, who have been looking for her for years. Lorne says something about "those monsters" being after her, and both she and the audience are led to think he means her parents... {{spoiler|Nope, turns out she was being followed by ''literal'' monsters, in the form of demons from what appeared to be just a bit of b-plot - her parents have nothing but good intentions}}. Interestingly, given how Lorne's powers seem to work, it seems likely that ''he'' wasn't entirely sure what the specific threat was, just that something dangerous was after her.

** Happens in a more comedic way in ''Carpe Noctem'', in which a man pulls [[Grand Theft Me]] on Angel himself - Cordelia tells him to talk to Fred about her crush on him, and because of her [[Gender Blender Name|gender blender nickname]], he assumes Angel is gay, and later mistakes Wesley for the "Fred" she spoke of. He also initially gets the wrong idea when Cordelia says they're going to "the hotel" together.

* In an episode of [[Castle]], Beckett asks the [[Body of the Week|victim]]'s therapist what problems he came to her for. She said he had battled depression, which led to an eating disorder: "His diet was horrible. Scraps from the garbage... dead birds, even his own feces." After a beat, Castle realizes she was actually talking about the victim's ''dog''.

* An early episode of ''[[Cheers]]'' has this conversation between Diane (talking about meditation) and Rick (talking about sex):

* ''[[Fiddler On the Roof]]'': Tevye and Lazar Wolf meet up in a bar in one scene. Lazar Wolf wants to talk about potentially marrying Tevye's daughter Tzeitel. However, Tevye doesn't know that, believing that Lazar Wolf wants to buy one of his cows. Cue an awkward conversation between the two with [[Double Entendre|Double Entendres]] and innuendos abound.

* In an relatively old Norwegian theater piece, ''Rett i Lomma'' ("Right in the Pocket", referring to money easily obtained through fraud), the [[Villain Protagonist]] (Erik) has spent the last two years making up fake personalities to cash in on their various "illnesses" and subsequent state support money. Then a tax inspector shows up and wants some signatures on a few papers in order to confirm the next payment to "Mr. Thomasen". Erik promptly says he is Thomasen and signs the paper. But the inspector also needs Erik's signature. He asks his friend Normann to do this, but the attempt is thwarted as Normann is forced to take on another role as the inspector mentions other people and Erik begins lying about them too. This leads to him and Normann having to play various fake roles in order to cover up the fraud as more and more oblivious people arrive at the scene and begin asking questions. [[Hilarity Ensues]] as they take on more and more ridiculous personality traits and come up with more and more complex excuses. Most conversations are then misunderstood as the roles become too complex to keep track of. Several scenes have not double, but ''multi-layered'' conversations.

Was...was that really how it happened? It occurred to Junpei that perhaps that was how it worked... Perhaps he'd been mistaken all these years. Had he misunderstood life so gravely? The thought terrified him. June seemed to be entirely oblivious to Junpei's mounting confusion and terror. }}

* ''[[Da Capo]]'' ([[Visual Novel]]): As Junichi and Nemu set off for school, they start talking about who should get married first, and Junichi decides that they should get married at the same time. Nemu immediately assumes he means to ''[[Brother-Sister Incest|each other]]'', and the practical-thinking Junichi doesn't understand why Nemu's getting so flustered. And just a moment later as Nemu threatens to deliver a [[Megaton Punch]], Sakura suddenly admonishes them that they can't do "that", because they're brother and sister. Both siblings [[Brother-Sister Incest|take it the wrong way]] and start realizing their feelings for each other, until Sakura finishes her sentence--that siblings shouldn't ''hit'' each other. Oops.

* Larry's final conversation with Annette Boning in ''[[Leisure Suit Larry]] 7: Love for Sail!'' features Larry trying desperately to prevent Annette from thinking he's gay, while Annette is trying desperately to stop Larry from blackmailing her about her husband's assassination.

* There are a few party banter conversations like this in [[Dragon Age]]. Most of them [http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Oghren/Dialogue#Oghren_and_Wynne involve Oghren], who does it [[Mind Screw|on purpose]].

{{quote| '''Clayton:''' I can't believe someone as unconfident as you won't at least '''consider''' giving someone as unchallenging as ''me'' a shot.<br />

'''Sherry:''' Another in a series of life's paradoxes. [http://outthere.keenspot.com/d/20090923.html\] }}

* [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/1/9/ This] ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' strip ... maybe. According to the [[News Post]] the strip itself became a real life example: the real Tycho thought it was about miscommunication, while the real Gabe thought it was exactly what it sounded like.

* ''[[Family Guy]]'': Brian eats the hair in Meg's pie. But don't worry- Stewie had some too.

** With Cool Hwip!

{{quote| '''Homer''': Sorry, Mr. Burns, but I don't go in for these [[Unusual Euphemism|backdoor shenanigans]]! Sure, I'm flattered, and [[No Yay|maybe even a little curious]], but the answer is still no!}}