Tongue on the Flagpole: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:achristmasstorytongueontheflagpole.png|link=A Christmas Story|rightframe]]
 
{{quote|''"She got stuck! Should've ducked! Worst of luck! Stuck, stuck to a pole!"''|'''Courtney, Gwen, & Heather''', ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]'', [[Ear Worm|"Stuck to a Pole"]]}}
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''We '''Triple Dog Dare''' ya to read this trope.''
 
A character, usually (but not always) a kid, is dared to place his tongue on a flagpole (or other metal object) in sub-zero temperatures. The tongue becomes stuck to the flagpole and [[Hilarity Ensues]].
 
[[Truth in Television]]. The saliva on your tongue ''will'' freeze on contact with a cold surface if it's cold enough, and it's possible to lose your tongue to severe frostbite. [[Schmuck Bait|Better not try it.]] Of course, if you breathe on it enough or get some hot water, that isn't a problem.
 
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
 
== Advertising ==
* Happens in a UK advert for Pot Noodle. A boy's tongue is stuck to a pole. A teacher needs warm water and a sponge to free him. But when she goes to boil the kettle she finds a Pot Noodle and uses the hot water on that instead, leaving the boy stuck.
* Played with in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz0f6sjliR4 this commercial] for Jeep.
* All three of the Budweiser Frogs once [https://web.archive.org/web/20120701140045/http://fliiby.com/file/542026/s343z6m7g3.html got their tongues stuck] to a very cold can of Bud in the middle of a blizzard in the swamp.
 
 
== Comic Strips ==
* Even well past age 20, [[Nemi]] still does this.
* ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]''
** Odie once gets his tongue stuck on a frozen fire hydrant. The strip then shows six panels' worth of outstretched Odie tongue, leading to Garfield saying, "We need a blow dryer and a really, really long extension cord."
** Jon once got his tongue stuck on the ''mailbox'', but it wasn't seen.
 
 
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* [[Good Is Dumb|Sora]] gets dared to do this in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|Kingdom Hearts]]'' fanfic ''[[Other Halves and Other Tales]]''.
* In the [[Doujinshi|fanworks]] of ''[[Touhou|Gensokyo]]'', [[Baka|Cirno]] the [[An Ice Person|Ice Fairy]] is prone to have certain characters stuck to her by their tongues, including [[Big Eater|Yuyuko]].
 
== Music[[Film]] ==
 
== Films -- Animation ==
* As a colt, the eponymous ''[[Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron]]'' gets his tongue stuck to a large icicle. He then snaps it off and carries it away with him until he melts his tongue free in his mouth.
* In ''[[Brother Bear]]'', Koda relates a story to Kenai wherein some bear licked an iceberg and got his tongue stuck to it. It then floated away, so to save him "They had to, like, rip his tongue off, so now, he hath t'talk like dis alla time..."
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** In the first movie, Sid gets his tongue stuck on the floor of an ice cave.
* At the end of ''[[Flushed Away]]'', the evil Toad and his French cousin Le Frog actually get their tongues frozen onto a large pipe containing liquid nitrogen after Roddy smashes it apart to freeze the tidal wave Toad sent to drown the rats of Sewer-London. It's implied that the two amphibians were both arrested after they were unfrozen.
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[A Christmas Story]]'', the [[Trope Codifier]].
* ''[[Dumb and Dumber]]''. Happens on a ski lift, and Harry doesn't need any goading or triple-dog dares; he just says [[What an Idiot!|"Oh look, frost!" and sticks his tongue on it]].
* ''[[The Great Race]]''
* Happens in ''[[Jack Frost (1997 film)|Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman]]''
* Happens in ''[[Epic Movie]]'', with tongue-tearing results.
* A variation occurs in ''[[A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas]]''. Hint: it's not Harold's tongue that gets stuck.
{{quote| '''Kumar:''' [[Shout-Out|This is just like that scene in]] ''[[A Christmas Story]]''.<br />
'''Harold:''' [[Deadpan Snarker|Oh, is it really?]] }}
 
== [[Literature]] ==
 
== Literature ==
* One [[Paul Jennings]] story features a boy kissing an ice sculpture of a girl. The inevitable happens, inevitably, so he goes into a pool of water to melt it off.
* ''The Watsons Go to Birmingham'' had a scene like this too.
* The narrator in ''Popular Music From Vittula'' climbs to a mountain in the Himalayas, and kneels over to kiss a metal plate on the ground. He has to pee in a cup to free himself.
* In ''[[Little House on the Prairie|Farmer Boy]]'', Almanzo is egged on to lick a pump handle, but knows better than to rise to the bait.
* While not using the tongue, it is mentioned in ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]''. Albert reminisces about a toy horse he wanted as a kid. "I must have spent hours staring at it with my nose pressed against the glass, until someone heard my cries and unfroze me."
* One of the stories in ''The Book of Heroic Failures'' tells of a man who knelt down to breathe on the lock of his car door in an effort to defrost it and ending up spending a freezing night outside with his lips stuck to the car door.
* ''[[Warrior Cats]]''
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** In ''Sunrise'', Hollyleaf gets ''her'' tongue stuck to a frozen pond. After much hilariousness, Brambleclaw gets her free by breathing on the ice to melt it.
 
== Films -- [[Live-Action TV]] ==
 
* Tested and confirmed on ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]''. Evidently, enough people thought it to be a myth to justify it. This also showed how much damage it could cause. They stuck a pig's tongue to it, and when they pulled it off by force...
== Live-Action TV ==
* The [[Paul Jennings]] story mentioned above was one of many adapted as an episode of ''[[Round the Twist]]''. The ice statue Bronson kissed was of a girl who had red hair -- whohair—who turned out to be his cousin.
* Tested and confirmed on ''[[Myth Busters]]''. Evidently, enough people thought it to be a myth to justify it. This also showed how much damage it could cause. They stuck a pig's tongue to it, and when they pulled it off by force...
* The [[Paul Jennings]] story mentioned above was one of many adapted as an episode of ''[[Round the Twist]]''. The ice statue Bronson kissed was of a girl who had red hair -- who turned out to be his cousin.
* An episode of ''[[Kenan and Kel]]'' where they get stuck in a refrigerator in a restaurant and one of them gets his tongue stuck on a fish (can't remember who though).
* Happens to one of the President's bodyguards (on a skilift) in an episode of ''[[The Nanny]]''.
* Jeremy Clarkson on ''[[Top Gear]]''. In a variant, it was a metal hex nut he was holding with his mouth -- butmouth—but since he was standing on the polar ice north of Canada at the time, it had the same effect.
* An episode of ''[[Rescue 911]]'' had this happen on one of their segments where a kid got his tongue stuck in a freezer and the rescue squad had to come and free him.
* Referenced in ''[[Scrubs]]''. Turk is keeping his boxers in the freezer and JD's brother warns him to make sure he is completely dry 'down there' before putting them on or he could end up with "a tongue on the flagpole situation".
 
== [[Music]] ==
 
== Music ==
* There's a verse about this in ''There Are Many Dangers'' by [[Crash Test Dummies]].
 
== Web[[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Even well past age 20, [[Nemi]] still does this.
* ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]''
** Odie once gets his tongue stuck on a frozen fire hydrant. The strip then shows six panels' worth of outstretched Odie tongue, leading to Garfield saying, "We need a blow dryer and a really, really long extension cord."
** Jon once got his tongue stuck on the ''mailbox'', but it wasn't seen.
 
== [[Puppet Shows]] ==
* One of the frogs in ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]''.
 
== [[Radio]] ==
 
== Radio ==
* On ''[[A Prairie Home Companion]]'' Garrison Keillor jokingly suggested that pump handles (and frozen objects in general) have the ability to hypnotize children to make them stick their tongues on them.
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
 
== Video Games ==
* The (very surreal) [[Interactive Fiction]] game ''So Far'' ''dares you to lick a frozen pole.'' {{spoiler|It's a bad idea, because you will get stuck and eventually freeze.}} While your tongue is stuck, all descriptions come back muddled, as if the narrator ith thalking with ith thung thuck to a thlagthole.
* In the [[Canada, Eh?|Canada]] level of ''[[Tony Hawks Pro Skater|Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3]]'', there is an objective to help a guy called Chuck (specifically, "[[Rhymes on a Dime|Get Chuck Unstuck]]") who has got his tongue stuck on a pole and is being taunted and having snowballs thrown at him by two bullies. This being a skateboarding game, what's the solution? Plow into him at full speed.
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* Not performable, but mentioned in ''[[Dragon Age]]''. [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|"Have you ever licked a lamppost in winter?"]]
* One loading screen video loop in ''[[Monday Night Combat]]'' features the Ice Men Pit Girl trying to pull free an Ice Men Tank... whose tongue is stuck to a ShaveIce turret.
 
 
== Web Animation ==
* [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/522828 This] ''[[Newgrounds]]'' Flash short. For [[Bilingual Bonus]], the sign on the pole says "Wishing pole: one lick = one wish".
 
== [[Web OriginalComics]] ==
 
== Web Comics ==
* [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01688.htm This strip] of ''[[Freefall]]'', with ''a friggin' adult [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]'' instead of a kid.
* A variation occurs in [http://www.squidi.net/comic/amd/view.php?series=amd&ep=1&id=242 this] ''[[A Modest Destiny]]'' strip, in which Maxim sticks his tongue to a metal shelf in a freezer.
* Probably classified as something else, but [http://www.gaiaonline.com/newsroom/index.php?type=weekly&id=51&page=1&start=1#reading this picture] from ''[[Gaia Online]]'' is pure [[Fan Service]] and it knows it. But hey, hot guys!
* ''[http://lostandfoundcomic.com/d/20090206.html Lost and Found.]''
* Dare one mention the ''very'' [[NSFW]] ''[[Oglaf]]'' [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20130321060822/http://oglaf.com/snowqueen/1/ strip] where a traveler visits the Ice Queen?
* The ''[[Narbonic]]'' parody of ''[[A Christmas Story]]'' briefly shows a young Dave Davenport yelling "I'm thtuck!"
* Apparently, a pile of shoggoth(s?) grew some tongues for the specific purpose of sticking them onto a glacier when teleported to the Antarctic by the Elder Things in [http://www.goominet.com/unspeakable-vault/vault/339/ this] ''[[The Unspeakable Vault of Doom]]'' comic.
* And in [http://gucomics.com/comic/?cdate=20060201 this panel] of ''GU Comics'', we find a party whose tank has managed to stick his tongue to a ''Frost Giant''!
 
== [[Web Original]] ==
 
== Web Original ==
* In one ''[[Gaia Online]]'' mini comic, several of the male characters do this.
 
== Films --[[Western Animation]] ==
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'': ''The Fast and the Furry'' movie. Gorthon, an evil-looking racer voiced by Tom Kenny, is tricked by Biff and Buzz (the race announcers) into sticking his tongue to the South Pole (because he thinks his tongue won't stay there).
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'': In "Out to Launch", Dr, Doofenshmirtz gets his tongue stuck on the giant ice cube tray he was using to hold Perry the Platypus prisoner.
* Interesting, if sick, take on the subject in ''[[Superjail]]'': The Warden gets his tongue stuck on Alice's frozen body, while trying to lick her breasts...
* In the first episode of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Aang gets his tongue frozen to his glider. Since he appears in the next scene not attached to the glider, he presumably detached himself.
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''
** One of the winter hazards faced by Lewis and Clarke (a.k.a. Lenny and Carl) in the episode "Magical History Tour".
** And Homer gets his tongue stuck to the ice sculpture at Otto's wedding.
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* Happens to Sir Roderick in ''Gawayn''. Having won a fake Crystal of Gawayn in a game show, Roderick tries to get it to work by licking it. At this point, he discovers it is actually made of ice.
* ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]'': In the Yukon episode, Bridgette gets her tongue stuck to a flagpole thanks to [[Manipulative Bastard|Alejandro]]. Then Chris forces her to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmHB2UwgVAg sing] about it.
* [[The Ditz|Penny]] from ''[[The Mighty B!]]'' once tried to do this on purpose. [[Springtime for Hitler|She failed]].
* Happens multiple times on ''[[Erky Perky]]''.
* In the ''[[Class of 3000]]'' episode "Eddie's Money", Madison gets her tongue stuck on an ice sculpture at Eddie's birthday party. Twice.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes Examined By the Mythbusters]]
[[Category:These Tropes Were Frozen Today]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:TongueTropes onExamined by the FlagpoleMythbusters]]