History Film / OfficeSpace

** The printer. [[Film/{{Spaceballs}} PC Load Letter? Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!]][[note]]For what it's worth, "PC" means "Paper Cartridge", which is an old term for the tray that you put paper in, and "Load Letter" means "Load letter-sized (8.5 x 11 inches) paper" into that tray[[/note]]

** The printer. [[Film/{{Spaceballs}} PC Load Letter? Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!]]

* ProperlyParanoid: Tom Smykowski suspects he's going to get fired. He's right.

* HumiliationConga: Peter's hypnosis results in a massive and [[KickTheSonOfABitch entirely deserved]] one for Lumbergh. Lumbergh has his authority undermined and disrespected by Peter, get grilled by the Bobs for his terrible management and has his car destroyed by a tow truck after parking in a handicapped space. If you count one deleted scene as canon he [[spoiler:dies in the fire set by Milton, whom he had gone out of his way to abuse and bully.]]

* DescriptionCut: The morning after Peter, Michael, and Samir celebrate having put their plan into action, Johanna remarks on the mess and wonders what the celebration was about, Peter replying that he's not at liberty to talk about it. Cut to Peter telling her everything.

* FlippingTheBird: Johanna's reaction to her boss [[TemptingFate insisting that she "express herself"]].

--> '''Samir:''' No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Na-ghee-na-na-jar. Nagheenanajar.\\

---->'''Lawrence:''' I believe you could get your ass kicked for saying something like that, man.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Or they'll [[spoiler: set the building on fire after being forced to move to the basement and find out they've been fired and are no longer receiving paychecks due to a payroll glitch being corrected...]]

--> "'''Milton:''' Excuse me. Excuse me, Senor. May I speak to you please? I asked for a mai tai, a margarita, and a pina colada. I asked for no salt, no salt in the margarita. But it had salt in it. If you do that again, I won't be leaving a tip. I won't be putting one down. Sir? I could check into a competing resort..."

--> '''Bob:''' Here's a peculiar... uh, Milton Waddams.\\

* {{Irony}}

** The Bobs. While not as bad as Lumbergh, they are remarkably callous. They are also the ones who advise Lumbergh [[spoiler: not to tell Milton about being fired]].

* MeanBoss: Bill Lumbergh, a passive-aggressive SmugSnake who always speaks in measured tones, comes up with silly ways of motivating employees (ie. "Hawaiian Shirt Day"), and uses a lot of stereotypical corporate euphemisms and buzzwords, which for a manager is often TruthInTelevision.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: both the scene in which [[https://youtu.be/GyB6ffmXsZo they install the virus]] while Down For Whatever by Ice Cube plays, and especially [[https://youtu.be/N9wsjroVlu8 the scene in which they destroy the printer]] with Still from the Geto Boys playing.

** It's possible that the plan was to [[spoiler: shave off fractions of cents from fractions of cents, in other words 0.1 cents from 0.4 cents, making it 0.3 cents. It still runs into the same problem though: modern accounting would find the discrepancy, if not immediately, definitely within a couple of days. Ledger accounting (which is ''the'' standard) requires that your accounts balance in both input and output, so the accounting would be off immediately, and the discrepancy found with a couple of hours of work at best.]]
** Eh, not necessarily - even though most accounting systems can handle 4 decimal places, many are set to only 2 because fractions of a cent are immaterial. The part that doesn’t work is actually moving the money. Banks don’t let just anyone from a company open an account, and making any sort of transfers is similarly restricted to specific employees and usually requires 2 people, one to initiate the transfer and one to approve.
*** It's implied that Peter, Michael and Samir, between them, are writing the software that '''controls''' both those bank transfers and the approval mechanism. Also, they mention that the various Y2K issues should conceal these shenanigans--discrepancies will be dismissed as a Y2K glitch. This is also why they panic when [[spoiler:the program siphons off far more than expected--a small amount could be written off as a Y2K glitch, while the larger amount '''would''' be immediately noticed.]]

* TemptingFate: Michael's interview with the Bobs is actually going very well, even including a chummy discussion where he politely pretends to be a fan of the [[NamedLikeMyName musician he shares a name with]]... until he subtly lets it slip that he actually ''doesn't'' want to be associated with said singer. Unfortunately for him, the twin consultants are not only huge Michael Bolton fans but conclude that he's a ProfessionalButtKisser for leading them into thinking he was also a fan. They get him laid off as a result (despite the fact that he's technically one of Initech's best and most valuable programmers).

* TemptingFate: Michael's interview with the Bobs is actually going very well... until he subtly lets it slip that he doesn't want to be associated with the [[NamedLikeMyName singer of the same name]]. Unfortunately for him, the twin consultants are huge Michael Bolton fans and get him laid off as a result of this faux pas (despite the fact that he's technically one of Initech's best and most valuable programmers).

* AmbiguousDisorder: Milton. He's constantly mumbling, doesn't express his emotions that well, and is hyperfixated on his work and his stapler.

* TemptingFate: Michael's interview with the Bobs is actually going very well... until he subtly lets it slip that he doesn't want to be associated with the [[NamesTheSame singer of the same name]]. Unfortunately for him, the twin consultants are huge Michael Bolton fans and get him laid off as a result of this faux pas (despite the fact that he's technically one of Initech's best and most valuable programmers).

** CoolCar: Lumbergh's Porsche. Given the timeframe, it's likely this was meant to represent Lumbergh as a dick, given how the brand was favored by 80s yuppies; when he parks in a handicapped spot, [[LaserGuidedKarma the tow truck rips the back bumper off]]. It's also in contrast to everyone else, who either drive economy cars (Peter's Toyota, Michael's Eagle, etc.) or, in Milton's case, take public transit.

** Dom Portwood. He's less of an smarmy asshole than Lumbergh even though he participates in the same bloated office management that Peter despises.

** When Peter, Michael, and Samir go out for coffee, Peter complains about work and mimes firing a machine gun. Later Michael, surprised by Peter casually arriving at work, half-jokingly says he thought Peter was going to "come in and start shooting everyone!"

* IncompetenceInc: Initech is badly run, with redundant bosses and paperwork, efficiency "experts" who promote lazy employees and sack diligent ones, supervisors who take time out of their day to torment employees, and no security worth any notice. It's not even all that clear what Initech actually ''does'', aside from dealing with the oncoming [=Y2K=].

* MillenniumBug: Initech's main project is fixing the "Year 2000 Problem." The benign depiction -- just a date code error that needs correcting -- is possibly the most realistic in fiction. Though certain applications could have dangerous consequences if incorrect data was entered, it mostly involved a lot of boring software upgrades, and wasn't nearly as apocalyptic as media hype made it sound. Peter uses it as a justification for the scheme: the company will be so busy with the problem that they wouldn't notice the money that goes missing.

* TheRedStapler: The TropeNamer.

** More than implied with Anna. When Peter shares his suspicions that she's cheating on him with his friends, they all say "Yea, I know what you mean", implying that either they themselves have slept with her, or know someone who did.

** Milton himself. [[spoiler:Burning down the building, murdering Lumbergh in a deleted scene, and at the end threatening to poison the entire resort by putting strychnine in the guacamole because they got his drink order wrong.]] This is all PlayedForLaughs.

** When Tom Smykowski is asked by the Bobs what exactly he does at Initech, he becomes increasingly agitated as he tries to convince them he has good people skills. Also ventures into JerkassHasAPoint territory - a guy whose whole job is (basically) communicating between two groups of people, but goes to pieces the way he does when things get tough, is probably not the right person for that job.

* ASideOrderOfRomance: The protagonist meets cute waitress Joanna at a nearby restaurant but is too awkward and self-conscious to ask her out. Later on, after re-examining his life, he goes there again with a newfound confidence and asks her out to lunch, and the two become a couple soon afterwards.