Safe Word: Difference between revisions

|'''T-shirt slogan'''}}

 

 

 

Of course, any word can be used as a safe word. And the concept is not limited to sexual situations either. Commonly used by undercover operatives of all kinds while wearing a wire or being in a bugged room.

 

When [[Played for Drama]], (sub)cultural flavor or similar, the safe word is likely to be either "red" or some other simple word that isn't easily used by mistake. When [[Played for Laughs]], it is instead likely to be:

# Something hilariously unsexy, such as the name of an [[Acceptable Targets|Ugly Politician Local to Area Where Writer Lives]].

# Something which can be confused easily with something else, leading to [[Hilarity Ensues|hilarious consequences]] when the safe word is invoked by mistake.

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' has a version of this that is both extreme and [[Idiot Ball|stupid]]. The [[The Federation|the Earth Alliance]]'s enhanced soldiers each possess a "block word" that's ''supposed'' to render them docile. What it ''actually'' does, however, is [[The Berserker|drive them completely nuts]]. To make matters worse, the two block words we hear are common words that one is very likely to hear on a daily basis: "die" for Stella and "mother" for Auel. In fact, the one time we see Auel subjected to his block word he blurts out Stella's during his mad ranting, making the situation that much worse.

* Played with in ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahan's Lady]]'' by Spider Robinson. In the Bower at Lady Sally's (a pretty much anything goes orgy room), there's only one safeword: "No".

 

* ''[[The Office]]'': Michael becomes Jan's partner for a period in the third season, but is unnerved by her many fetishes and fondness for roleplay. But he's too much of a wimp to leave her, even when she "forgets" their safe word. Luckily {{spoiler|he manages to by the end of the episode.}}

* Tracy on ''[[30 Rock]]'': "Boundaries are made to be tested. That's why my wife and I stopped using a safe word."

* Discussed on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. After Angel saves Xander from Faith raping and killing him he brings up what she was doing. His dubious reply to them just having fun was Xander forgetting the safe word.

 

* ''[[Saints Row the Third]]'' has a brothel named Safe Word, a club for those with BDSM tastes. Kinzie mentions hers is ''teacup'' and she is quickly spirited away before she can reveal more [[squick]]y bits of information.

 

* Most full-contact [[LARP]] groups have some sort of safe word that is usually relayed until everybody within earshot will immediately drop any weapons and listen for the coordinator. This is used in the case of injury, immediate danger, or urgent group wide announcements.

* On shooting ranges, "Cease Fire!" is the universal safeword, meaning that ''everybody'' unloads, disarms, and puts the guns down.

* Martial Arts that involve grappling and/or partner drill will have usually something along these lines, with "tapping out" being the most common.

* The [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] uses "Hold!" as a global safeword, basically indicating that everyone should freeze.