History Main / CannotSpitItOut

--> '''Vegeta''': "Every fiber of my being wants to puke at once when I say this, but I need your he...I need your [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aossw4UUjVA heaa...]]"
--> '''Gohan''': You need our help?
--> '''Vegeta''': [[SureLetsGoWithThat That. Yes]].

-->'''May Parker:''' What did you think would happen if I found out, Peter? Did you think I would just keel over and die?
** This is subverted in the ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan series, where Peter reveals that he's Spider-Man to Mary Jane in issue #13. Mind you, that's really early in the series [[DecompressedComic by Bendis standards]]. Then again, it takes him nearly a hundred to tell this to Aunt May.

* A non-romantic variant. In the very first issue of ''X-Men Unlimited'', it was revealed that ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} was so courteous to ComicBook/ProfessorX that he literally cannot call him "Charles". He'll call him "Professor" or "Xavier" or "Professor Xavier", but he'll never call him "Charles".

** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E16GraveyardShiftKrustyLove Krusty Love]]", Mr. Krabs becomes enamoured with Mrs. Puff when he saw her in his restaurant. [=Spongebob=] encourages him to ask her out, but he is unable to form any real words and needs [=Spongebob=] to "translate" for him.

** In the episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E19FoolsInAprilNeptunesSpatula Fools in April]]", after Squidward has played a prank on [=SpongeBob=], he realizes how much he's humiliated him and goes to his house to apologize... but because of his despise toward him, every time he tries to say "I'm sorry", he just can't pull it off without doing weird cartoon-takes.

* This is basically the entire plot of ''Film/WhileYouWereSleeping''.

There is a piece of vital information that would clear up a character's problems, whether it is a misunderstanding of romance or combat. If the character would just spit it out already, it would save entire episodes, if not entire ''seasons'' worth of trouble and tears.

* ''Fanfic/InYourWildestDreams'': Discussed in regards to Pyrrha towards Jaune. Thanks to recent events, Jaune suspects that Pyrrha has a crush on him, but given his track record, decides to just hint that he's open to going to the upcoming dance if anyone wants to ask him out whenever Pyrrha is in earshot. He does this for an entire week and she completely ignores him, so he ultimately ends up going with Yang, and the two become a couple shortly after. Jaune later gets confirmation that Pyrrha ''does'' have a crush on him and isn't taking the new relationship well, but Jaune can't bring himself to sympathize, and Ren directly calls her out on it when their entire team gets into a verbal spat several weeks later.

* ''Fanfic/InYourWildestDreams'': Discussed in regards to Pyrrha towards Jaune. Thanks to recent events, Jaune suspects that Pyrrha has a crush on him, but given his track record, decides to just hint that he's open to going to the upcoming dance if anyone wants to ask him out whenever Pyrrha is in earshot. He does this for an entire week and she completely ignores him, so he ultimately ends up going with Yang, and the two become a couple shortly after. Jaune later confirms that Pyrrha ''does'' have a crush on him and isn't taking the new relationship well, but Jaune can't bring himself to sympathize.
-->''He'd given her so many opportunities to say something and she just hadn't. Wouldn't. He was all too familiar with the fear of rejection and not having the confidence to say something, but you couldn't have it both ways. You couldn't stay silent and then expect other people to conform to your wishes after the fact.''

* ''Fanfic/InYourWildestDreams'': Discussed in regards to Pyrrha towards Jaune. Thanks to recent events, Jaune suspects that Pyrrha has a crush on him, but given his track record, decides to just hint that he's open to going to the upcoming dance if anyone wants to ask him out whenever Pyrrha is in earshot. He does this for an entire week and she doesn't react once, so he ultimately ends up going with Yang, and the two become a couple shortly after. By this point, Jaune has received confirmation (both from Ren and his own DreamWalking) that Pyrrha ''does'' have a crush on him and isn't taking the new relationship well. Ren doesn't have an answer for why she failed to ask him, admitting that he and Nora equally spent the week trying and failing to encourage her to respond to Jaune's incredibly obvious signals, but states their teammate only has herself to blame considering Jaune at least made an effort before moving on.

There is a piece of vital information that would clear up a character's problems, whether it is a misunderstanding of romance or combat. If the character would just spit it out already, it would save entire episodes', if not entire ''seasons''' worth of trouble and tears.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Mittens has trouble admitting her feelings for Bolt to Rhino in “The Ship.”

"I Can't Begin to Tell You" by Music/BingCrosby.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Soul Music'', [[PunnyName Quoth the Raven]] has trouble revealing that Susan's grandfather is Death, going "Dah Dah Dah Dea" (as part of a dramatic build-up). At which point Susan assumes that he's bothering her to inform her that a grandfather that she's never knowingly met is DEAF.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 3'', Cyber-elf X seems to be hiding a very important piece of information from his best friend Zero (even though X doesn't have a problem revealing it to someone else; what were you thinking, X?!). ''It was the BigBad'' that revealed the secret behind Zero that X was trying to hide: [[spoiler:Zero is using a clone body and AxCrazy [[TheDragon Omega Zero]] is the original body]]. Naturally for Zero, he still doesn't care about it when he finds out.

* Knuckles and Rouge in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' seem to have a mutual affection for each other, as heavily hinted at in their last interaction in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', but their respective duties as guardian of the Master Emerald and government agent keep them from pursuing things further.

* Non-romantic version in ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', when Magnus asks Kitten for the reason behind the latter's resignation. Kitten tries to explain it to him but realizes that Magnus doesn't remember a thing from [[spoiler:his mad rampage which caused Kitten to make the DealWithTheDevil to stop him]], and decides to hide the fact, mangling the account immensely.

* Sam too, from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. [[SoapBoxSadie She's outspoken on so many things]]... except her obvious crush on Danny. She's had a lot of close calls with other romantic rivalries as a result. They (predictably) [[RelationshipUpgrade got together in the end]].

* Helga in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' in regards to her crush on the title character. She does finally admit it in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie'', but the two later agreed that it was just "the heat of the moment".

* In ''Literature/BlackMaria'', the protagonist Mig spends a good part of the book trying to convince her mother that [[spoiler:the evil Aunt Maria has turned Mig's brother into a wolf]]. The mother refuses to believe this and continues to insist that he's just around the corner, mostly because [[spoiler:Maria also enchanted the mother to basically hang around and be a housekeeper]].

* In ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' Nikodemus keeps delaying informing Vita of his feelings for her even after a coworker has informed her of his very obvious crush. Her annoyance with his hesitation eventually leads her to turn her attention to Quixoto.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Aang. Oh, Aang. Someday you'll be able to tell Katara how you feel. [[spoiler: Naturally, that time was the end of the GrandFinale]].
%%** His predecessor, Avatar Roku, apparently had the same problem as seen in a flashback.

* This is the cornerstone of Ulrich and Yumi's {{UST}} in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', it's a cute RunningGag between Numbuh 4 and Numbuh 3.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' episode "Breaking the Ice", [[spoiler: Wildernessa]] has trouble trying to tell [[spoiler: Craig]] how she feels about him, so she tells him through a birdlike mating dance, which just confuses him.

* Helga in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' in regards to her crush on the title character. She does finally admit it in ''Hey Arnold! The Movie'', but the two later agreed that it was just "the heat of the moment".
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', Cindy and Jimmy do this with each other all the time, with a handful of SuspiciouslySpecificDenial thrown in for good measure. Especially Cindy in "The N-Men". She tries to calm Jimmy down by admitting her feelings for him, but goes "I l-l...I l-l-ll..." and then faints. Jimmy is understandably curious.
--> '''Jimmy:''' "L? L? Like? Loathe? Love? WHAT!?"

** "Green Isn't Your Color": Fluttershy makes it big as a fashion model, and Rarity is jealous, but trying not to show it and being supportive so Fluttershy can have her chance to shine. Meanwhile, ShrinkingViolet Fluttershy is [[CelebrityIsOverrated quickly growing tired of the unwanted attention that comes with fame]], but trying not to show it because she thinks Rarity would be disappointed if she gave up. Both of them confide to Twilight Sparkle... but unfortunately for everyone involved, they make Twilight swear to secrecy. [[KeepingSecretsSucks Twilight promptly drives herself crazy trying to keep their respective secrets]] even though [[PoorCommunicationKills it would save everyone a lot of trouble]] [[BrokenAesop if she]] ''[[BrokenAesop didn't]]'' [[BrokenAesop keep said secrets]].
** Another example: from 'A Bird In The Hoof', Princess Celestia meets Twilight's friends for the first time in person. She's been told about them and what they do. When Fluttershy is introduced to Philomeena, Celestia merely asks Fluttershy "Isn't she lovely?" Cue the bird losing a few feathers off of her already near-featherless body and making a horrible hacking cough as though she's dying [[spoiler:(She is. [[DeathIsCheap She gets better]].)]]. Long story short, the entire episode could have been skipped if Celestia had simply thought to mention to Fluttershy that [[spoiler:Philomeena is a phoenix]].

** Following Amity Blight's CharacterDevelopment and eventually developing feelings for Luz, she doesn't have the heart to tell her how she feels, especially in "Wing It Like Witches" whenever they cross paths. This probably has something to do with the fact that the idea of Luz rejecting her is unambiguously stated to be her greatest fear. [[spoiler:Ultimately, she does manage to blurt it out in "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door", though she defers to Luz and allows her to be the one to initiate the RelationshipUpgrade]].
** In "Reaching Out", Luz gets phone reminder about an important event that day she is unable to attend, but she is too scared to reveal the truth to anyone, especially Amity. When Amity demands the truth some time later, Luz finally reveals the event she missed: [[spoiler:it was the anniversary of the day her father passed away, and every year she and her mother visit the cemetery to do a special ritual of picking flowers and placing them on his grave. Naturally, Amity understands her feelings and they pick flowers at the Grom tree to make up for it]].
* Try as she might, Isabella from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' can't work up the courage to tell Phineas how she really feels about him. [[spoiler: He can't tell her either]].

** Amy Rose's ''Boom'' counterpart, like [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog the main universe version]], is in love with Sonic. But Boom!Amy tries to keep this to herself rather than obviously fawn over him. In "Translate This", Amy is actually visibly horrified when the Universal Translator nearly blurts out her crush for her, so she smashes it with her hammer.
** In "Fortress of Squallitude", after the team comes to rescue Amy from Eggman's lair:

** In the episode "Fools in April", after Squidward has played a prank on [=SpongeBob=], he realizes how much he's humiliated him and goes to his house to apologize... but because of his despise toward him, every time he tries to say "I'm sorry", he just can't pull it off without doing weird cartoon-takes.
** In "Krusty Love" Mr. Krabs becomes enamoured with Mrs. Puff when he saw her in his restaurant. [=Spongebob=] encourages him to ask her out, but he is unable to form any real words and needs [=Spongebob=] to "translate" for him.
** [=SpongeBob=] is hit with this hard in "Treats!" when Gary becomes addicted to a snail treat and wants to eat them nonstop, and [=SpongeBob=] can't bring himself to say no to his "widdle Gare-Bear". It's only through Patrick's advice does [=SpongeBob=] learn to be firm and tells Gary no, which in turn finally makes Gary stop.
* Initially played for laughs, then played for drama in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' episode "Jedi Night". Hera, who is a bit delirious due to being given a TruthSerum while being interrogated by the Empire, spends the entire episode trying to tell Kanan something while he breaks her out of jail, only to BaitAndSwitch to something silly ("I have to tell you something... [[ImportantHairCut I hate your hair]]."). At the end of the episode, she finally manages to tell him that she loves him... [[spoiler:and then [[HeroicSacrifice he dies]] right afterwards]], leading to her anguishing over why didn't she tell him sooner. The GrandFinale later heavily suggests, however, that she was trying to tell him something ''else'' -- [[spoiler:she's pregnant]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' Flora is unable to tell Helia about her feelings for him. And when she finally does it turns out he felt the same way all the time...

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':

** When May ''does'' find out and talks to Peter, it's [[Heartwarming/ComicBooks one of the most touching scenes in comics]], including the part where she specifically points out that she's a big girl and she won't just keel over, and that she ''will'' be worried, but he has her blessing. Unfortunately {{Retcon}}'d by ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''.

* A non-romantic variant. In the very first issue of ''X-Men Unlimited'', it was revealed that ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} was so courteous to ComicBook/ProfessorX he literally cannot call him "Charles". He'll call him "Professor" or "Xavier" or "Professor Xavier", but he'll never call him "Charles".

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Sakura eats, cooks, and does the next-closest thing to living in [[SenpaiKohai Shirou]]'s house for 2 years and is completely smitten with him, but due to her completely non-existent self-esteem, she absolutely cannot let him know how she feels.

** In "Reaching Out", Luz gets a text message from her mother about an important event that day she is unable to attend, but she is too scared to reveal the truth to anyone, especially Amity. When Amity demands the truth some time later, Luz finally reveals the event she missed: [[spoiler:it was the anniversary of the day her father passed away, and every year she and her mother visit the cemetery to do a special ritual of picking flowers and placing them on his grave. Naturally, Amity understands her feelings and they pick flowers at the Grom tree to make up for it]].

'''Desmond:''' [[CatchPhrase You don't know my mom, man]]. She's all about college degrees. She works three jobs. If I blow my knee out in college, all I got is credits. If I blow my knee out in the NBA, I got a four-year guaranteed contract. Millions.\\

* In ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'', Cindy and Jimmy do this with each other all the time, with a handful of SuspiciouslySpecificDenial thrown in for good measure. Especially Cindy in "The N-Men". She tries to calm Jimmy down by admitting her feelings for him, but goes "I l-l...I l-l-ll..." and then faints. Jimmy is understandably curious.