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* A lot of [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]]'s ''Literature/VitaNuova'' is addressed to a pretty woman he doesn't really care about so people don't find out he's really in love with [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman Beatrice]]. Problem is, he writes so much cover poetry that Florence's gossipers make Dante out to be [[{{Lust}} lusting]] after his cover woman. Not wanting to cause a scandal, Beatrice refuses even to say hello to her secret admirer.

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* A lot of [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]]'s ''Literature/VitaNuova'' ''Literature/LaVitaNuova'' is addressed to a pretty woman he doesn't really care about so people don't find out he's really in love with [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman Beatrice]]. Problem is, he writes so much cover poetry that Florence's gossipers make Dante out to be [[{{Lust}} lusting]] after his cover woman. Not wanting to cause a scandal, Beatrice refuses even to say hello to her secret admirer.
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* ''Manga/GhostSweeperMikami'': One episode has [[LovableSexManiac Yokoshima]] and [[CuteGhostGirl Okinu]] trying to help a nerdy student prepare for his college entrance exam. When one of Yokoshima's classmates calls him home and Okinu answers, he assumes that Yokoshima has a girlfriend and immediately begins calling the rest of his friends to tell them about it. The gossip spreads into adding Yokoshima got a girl pregnant and has a child, and even that Yokoshima is dating ''a man'' of all things, resulting in everyone chasing Yokoshima through the street to confront him about it.
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** Another ([[Funny/TheSimpsonsSeasons1To8 particularly hilarious]]) example is in "The PTA Disbands", where Bart tries to prolong the teachers' strike by spreading the rumor that Skinner has been saying that the teachers will crack any day now. By the time it reaches Ms. Krabappel, it is entirely unchanged... except it incongruously includes the words "purple monkey dishwasher" at the end. Mrs. K vows that they'll show Skinner, "[[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne especially for that purple monkey dishwasher remark!]]" The words "Purple Monkey Dishwasher" have even become somewhat of a [[MemeticMutation meme]].

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** Another ([[Funny/TheSimpsonsSeasons1To8 particularly hilarious]]) (particularly hilarious) example is in "The PTA Disbands", where Bart tries to prolong the teachers' strike by spreading the rumor that Skinner has been saying that the teachers will crack any day now. By the time it reaches Ms. Krabappel, it is entirely unchanged... except it incongruously includes the words "purple monkey dishwasher" at the end. Mrs. K vows that they'll show Skinner, "[[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne especially for that purple monkey dishwasher remark!]]" The words "Purple Monkey Dishwasher" have even become somewhat of a [[MemeticMutation meme]].
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* Prince Dowon in ''Series/RookieHistorianGooHaeRyung'' is a ShelteredAristocrat who lives in a secluded part of the palace and never attends any public occasions. This strange living arrangement caused rumors to rise that he is diseased or even mad. [[spoiler:He is actually the son of the previously deposed king. It is feared that he will become a figurehead of revolt if his existence is revealed..]

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* Prince Dowon in ''Series/RookieHistorianGooHaeRyung'' is a ShelteredAristocrat who lives in a secluded part of the palace and never attends any public occasions. This strange living arrangement caused rumors to rise that he is diseased or even mad. [[spoiler:He is actually the son of the previously deposed king. It is feared that he will become a figurehead of revolt if his existence is revealed..]revealed.]]
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* Prince Dowon in ''Series/RookieHistorianGooHaeRyung'' is a ShelteredAristocrat who lives in a secluded part of the palace and never attends any public occasions. This strange living arrangement caused rumors to rise that he is diseased or even mad. [[spoiler:He is actually the son of the previously deposed king. It is feared that he will become a figurehead of revolt if his existence is revealed..]
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* One ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' strip combines this with IfIDoNotReturn. A soldier is fatally wounded and asks a squadmate to "tell my wife I love her"... then the squadmate gets mortally wounded as well and has to pass the message on to the next guy... this is implied to happen a few more times, and by the time the message finally gets to the first soldier's wife, her response is a puzzled, "What do you mean, 'Jim rubs birds'?"

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* ''FanFic/ThyGoodNeighbor'' exploits and inverts this. [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Lord Fairchild, a mysterious nobleman hailing from the lands of Yharnam]], beyond the Sunset Sea, with his equally mysterious silver-haired wife, granted Lord Rickard Stark an obscene amount of plate glass of a quality hitherto unknown in Westeros, in exchange for seven years of rent of the Wolfswood, bringing with him knowledge and power unknown to the Seven Kingdoms. [[AltarDiplomacy In exchange for confirming Robert Baratheon's betrothal with Lyanna Stark]], Steffon Baratheon promises to report to Aerys that Rickard is an easily-duped clown who has been cheated into accepting sandy, near-useless glass peddled by a Myrish exile and has mistaken a completely normal, fair-haired lady for a daughter of Valyria, and that all stories to the contrary are idiotic smallfolk talk.

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* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'': This is bound to happen in a world where most information is relayed by word of mouth, even as the Dragon Mail revolutionizes communication, drastically cutting down the time needed for messages to travel.
** By the time the story of the Green Death has reached the Rus' there are at least two versions of the story. One where the giant dragon was killed by the Berkians, and a second where it came to Berk and destroyed it.
** By the time Viggo arrives to Normandy the story goes that Hiccup killed not one, but two giant dragons, and that his prosthetic leg is magical, having been crafted from mystical woods and metals.
** The story of what happened in France is so distorted by the time it reaches Viggo in Al Jazīra that he hears several versions that all conflict with each other. Some say Berk declared war on Francia, some the other way around, some that they invaded Normandy, others that they arrived to ''help'' the Duke of Normandy.
* ''FanFic/ThyGoodNeighbor'' exploits and inverts this. [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Lord Fairchild, a mysterious nobleman hailing from the lands of Yharnam]], beyond the Sunset Sea, with his equally mysterious silver-haired wife, granted Lord Rickard Stark an obscene amount of plate glass of a quality hitherto unknown in Westeros, in exchange for seven years of rent of the Wolfswood, bringing with him knowledge and power unknown to the Seven Kingdoms. [[AltarDiplomacy In exchange for confirming Robert Baratheon's betrothal with Lyanna Stark]], Steffon Baratheon promises to report to Aerys that Rickard is an easily-duped clown who has been cheated into accepting sandy, near-useless glass peddled by a Myrish exile and has mistaken a completely normal, fair-haired lady for a daughter of Valyria, and that all stories to the contrary are idiotic smallfolk talk.
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** Also occurs in the novel "The Viennese Waltz", where a serving girl overheard Sarah's testimony about the Bank of Amsterdam being a fractional reserve bank ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional-reserve_banking which has only a percentage of its deposits being backed by hard assets such as silver]]), which evolved into "Her computer proved that the Bank of Vienna (supposedly a full reserve bank) does not have enough silver to back up Vienna's money". The fact that, coincidentally, several people had been stealing silver for long enough to make that true just enhanced Sarah's reputation for banking knowledge.
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** The deaths of [[spoiler:Stringer and Omar]] also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death, Marlo Stanfield and his are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about [[spoiler:Omar]] being shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes, apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that he was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even assassinated by the police, who then made it look like he was killed by his fellow criminals.

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** The deaths of [[spoiler:Stringer and Omar]] also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death, Marlo Stanfield and his crew are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about [[spoiler:Omar]] being shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes, apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that he was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even assassinated by the police, who then made it look like he was killed by his fellow criminals.
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** The deaths of [[spoiler:Stringer and Omar]] also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death the crew of his [[TheUnfettered vicious and amoral rival]] Marlo Stanfield are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about [[spoiler:Omar's]] death (that he was shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes), apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that he was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even assassinated by the police, who then made it look like he was killed by his fellow criminals.

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** The deaths of [[spoiler:Stringer and Omar]] also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death the crew of his [[TheUnfettered vicious and amoral rival]] death, Marlo Stanfield and his are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about [[spoiler:Omar's]] death (that he was [[spoiler:Omar]] being shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes), cigarettes, apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that he was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even assassinated by the police, who then made it look like he was killed by his fellow criminals.
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* ''Literature/ThePlantThatAteDirtySocks'': In book 5, Michael tells a few of his friends about his family going on a weekend trip, which will include a one-night stay at a natural history museum with some other kids and a field trip to a dig site the day afterward. One of their nosier classmates overhears and spreads it, and Norman tells several of his classmates too. This trope takes its course, and Michael hears several equally wild versions by the end of the day (even the principal isn't immune to believing one of them, coming up to Michael and congratulating him on going to Mongolia to find dinosaur eggs and being somewhat disappointed when Michael corrects him); the next morning, when said principal hears the rumor has evolved to involve a live tyrannosaurus on a destructive rampage in Cleveland, he puts a stop to the gossip by announcing the true story over the PA.
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* In Episode 6 of ''Series/{{Andor}}'', a half dozen lightly armed rebels infiltrate a small Imperial garrison to steal the money in the garrison's vault, and when the heist is discovered at they last minute, they get into a shootout with a small group of the garrison's troops before fleeing. All told the Imperials probably lost no more than 6-10 troops, one visiting officer, and the garrison's commandant, who keeled over from a heart attack just before the fight started. Later in the series there are some throw away lines where characters describe it as the rebels "blowing up" or "slaughtering" the garrison. It's possible that some of the exaggerations come from either Imperial propaganda or people desperate to ignore the increasingly open despotism of TheEmperor, and to try to mentally justify the extreme and wide ranging crackdown enacted in response to it, which would tie in to some of the show's themes and the theories of [[ManifestoMakingMalcontent Nemik]].

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* In Episode 6 of ''Series/{{Andor}}'', a half dozen lightly armed rebels infiltrate a small Imperial garrison to at a time when most of the soldiers are away from the base so they can steal the money in the garrison's vault, and when the heist vault. When TheHeist is discovered at they the last minute, they get into a shootout with a small group of the garrison's handful of troops that were in the garrison before fleeing. All told the Imperials probably lost no more than 6-10 troops, 10 men at most, including those who died in the shootout, one visiting officer, a group of three pilots who flew into nearly suicidal conditions trying to intercept the rebel getaway (and were killed by said conditions without the rebels firing a shot at them), and the garrison's commandant, who keeled over from a heart attack just before the fight firefight started. Later in the series there are some throw away lines where characters describe it as the rebels "blowing up" or "slaughtering" the garrison. It's [[note]]It's possible that some of the exaggerations come from either Imperial propaganda exaggerating the scope of the attack, or people who are desperate to ignore the increasingly open despotism of TheEmperor, and to try to mentally justify the extreme and wide ranging crackdown enacted in response to it, which the raid. If so this would tie in to some of the show's themes and about conditions in a despotic regime, as well as the theories of [[ManifestoMakingMalcontent Nemik]].[[/note]]
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* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': In [[https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2019/07/24/what-you-say/ one strip]], the information that the police are searching for Marion is relayed between increasingly distrustful sources (in the same room) until he ends up being told that he's been framed for murder.
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That page now redirects to Played For Laughs.


* [[http://www.brokenpicturetelephone.com Broken Picture Telephone]] (now defunct) and Website/{{Drawception}} are two websites which allow visitors to participate in a version of this trope; Person A provides a statement, Person B has ten minutes to draw a depiction of said statement using the tools provided by the site, Person C describes the resulting picture, Person D draws their ten-minute interpretation of ''this'' statement, and so forth. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity often Ensues.]]

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* [[http://www.brokenpicturetelephone.com Broken Picture Telephone]] (now defunct) and Website/{{Drawception}} are two websites which allow visitors to participate in a version of this trope; Person A provides a statement, Person B has ten minutes to draw a depiction of said statement using the tools provided by the site, Person C describes the resulting picture, Person D draws their ten-minute interpretation of ''this'' statement, and so forth. [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity often Ensues.]]ensues.
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* ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'':
** After Eizen sees an illusion of a woman used against him and after exchanging letters with said woman, the rest of the PlayerParty, starting with the women acting as GossipyHens, gossip about some kind of romantic drama he's involved in, when it turns out it's his sister.
** Velvet being TheDreaded as 'The [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Daemon Lord]] of Calamity', there are persistant rumors amongst towns people that mix reality with fairy tails, or combine traits of different members of the PlayerParty.

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[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* In Creator/HansChristianAndersen's fairy tale "It's Perfectly True!", some literal GossipyHens pass around what becomes the story of five hens plucking all their feathers off and dying for the love of a rooster, though it started with nothing more than one hen losing just one feather while preening herself. Through MemeticMutation this story has given rise to a common proverb in Danish: "A small feather can turn into five hens."
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* In Creator/HansChristianAndersen's fairy tale "It's Perfectly True!", some literal GossipyHens pass around what becomes the story of five hens plucking all their feathers off and dying for the love of a rooster, though it started with nothing more than one hen losing just one feather while preening herself. Through MemeticMutation this story has given rise to a common proverb in Danish: "A small feather can turn into five hens."
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** String and Omar's deaths also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After Stringer's death the crew of his [[TheUnfettered vicious and amoral rival]] Marlo Stanfield are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about Omar's death (that he was shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes), apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that Omar was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even killed by the police who then made it look like Omar was killed by his fellow criminals.

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** String and Omar's The deaths of [[spoiler:Stringer and Omar]] also become street legend through gossip, albeit in very different ways. After Stringer's [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death the crew of his [[TheUnfettered vicious and amoral rival]] Marlo Stanfield are only too happy to falsely take credit and claim he was a coward who desperately tried to bribe them into sparing him. (In reality he was DefiantToTheEnd towards his actual killers). Meanwhile the Baltimore underworld refuses to believe the mundane truth about Omar's [[spoiler:Omar's]] death (that he was shot in the back by a kid while buying cigarettes), apparently viewing it as too anticlimactic for a man who had been a [[LivingLegend street legend]] for decades and gone head to head with some of the most powerful and ruthless drug empires in Baltimore's history. Within days of his death the rumor mill is declaring that Omar he was killed in an epic LastStand against a whole group of heavily armed killers, or even killed assassinated by the police police, who then made it look like Omar he was killed by his fellow criminals.
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* ''Film/{{Bottoms}}'': The night of the fair, Hazel mistakenly thinks PJ and Josie were in juvie over the summer, and Josie gently taps Jeff's knee with her car. By the next morning's history class, everyone now thinks PJ and Josie killed people in juvie and that they beat up Jeff. Even ''Isabel'', who was there for the latter incident, thinks that.

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* ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'': The trouble in the film starts when a cowboy [[DisproportionateRetribution cuts up a young prostitute's face for giggling at his dick]]. Though the girl's beauty is ruined, she is otherwise fine. When the Schofield Kid tells Munny about the attack, he adds that the girl's eyes were cut out as well, which isn't true. When Munny tells Ned about the attack, he adds that the cowboy also severed a finger and slashed her breasts as well, neither of which are true. [[spoiler:Later when the Schofield Kid fatally shoots Mike in the outhouse, he explains that Mike was going for the gun on his belt... the gun belt which in reality was hanging up on the door and well out of Mike's reach (he ''was'' reaching out, but he was [[AintTooProudToBeg pleading with the Kid to not shoot him]]).]] It's implied that this Chinese whispers where stories keep being exaggerated is the basis for many western legends.

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* ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'': The trouble in the film starts when a cowboy [[DisproportionateRetribution cuts up a young prostitute's face for giggling at his dick]]. Though the girl's beauty is ruined, she is otherwise fine. When the Schofield Kid tells Munny about the attack, he adds that the girl's eyes were cut out as well, which isn't true. When Munny tells Ned about the attack, he adds that the cowboy also severed a finger and slashed her breasts as well, neither of which are true. [[spoiler:Later when the Schofield Kid fatally shoots Mike in the outhouse, he explains that Mike was going for the gun on his belt... the gun belt which in reality was hanging up on the door and well out of Mike's reach (he ''was'' reaching out, but he was [[AintTooProudToBeg pleading with the Kid to not shoot him]]).]] It's implied The film strongly implies on multiple occasions that this Chinese whispers where form of gossip and stories keep being that are exaggerated, retold, and exaggerated is again are the basis for many western legends.legends, with the truth behind these incidents (if there is any) inevitably forgotten or obscured by the half truths and legends they spawn.


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* In Episode 6 of ''Series/{{Andor}}'', a half dozen lightly armed rebels infiltrate a small Imperial garrison to steal the money in the garrison's vault, and when the heist is discovered at they last minute, they get into a shootout with a small group of the garrison's troops before fleeing. All told the Imperials probably lost no more than 6-10 troops, one visiting officer, and the garrison's commandant, who keeled over from a heart attack just before the fight started. Later in the series there are some throw away lines where characters describe it as the rebels "blowing up" or "slaughtering" the garrison. It's possible that some of the exaggerations come from either Imperial propaganda or people desperate to ignore the increasingly open despotism of TheEmperor, and to try to mentally justify the extreme and wide ranging crackdown enacted in response to it, which would tie in to some of the show's themes and the theories of [[ManifestoMakingMalcontent Nemik]].
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* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Late in the game, Colette finds herself pulling a not-particularly-convincing impersonation of the angel Spiritua, which mostly involves just hovering there and declaring that she'll totally kill those who oppose her but wait actually she won't because Zelos spares them. Shortly thereafter, you find that the rumors have swiftly exaggerated this into claims of a ten-foot-tall angel descending directly from heaven to devour the unworthy.
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* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', where Cloud insists that Sephiroth is "more powerful in reality than any story you've heard about him".
* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV Heavensward'', where Artoirel admits to ''assuming'' this trope about [[PlayerCharacter the Warrior of Light]]. Considering that by the time of the first expansion, you've fought no less than six PhysicalGods, legions of Imperials (plus several legati), a weapon designed to ''consume'' the aforementioned Physical Gods, and an army of dragons (headed by a Dravanian champion the size of a tavern), not to mention plundered your way through every dark hole in Eorzea, escaped an assassination attempt by damn near ''every armed force in Ul'dah'', [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and sabotaged a heretic impersonating one of the highest authorities in Ishgard]]... you can't exactly blame Artoirel for assuming exaggeration.
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* One ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' book has Rodrick try to get even with Greg by spreading the word of [[spoiler:an incident where Greg accidentally locked himself in the ladies' restroom at their grandfather's retirement home]]. This [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires]], since the story ends up getting mutated into [[spoiler:Greg sneaking into the girls' changing room at Crosslands High School, [[SpringtimeForHitlet turning Greg into a minor celebrity]].]] Greg is especially surprised by [[EpicFail how twisted the story got]] considering it had to have passed through three layers of people and got turned into something else entirely within a short amount of time.[[note]]Roderick told the story to his friends who had siblings at Greg's school and proceeded to tell them, then it got passed onto their friends.[[/note]]

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* One ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' book has Rodrick try to get even with Greg by spreading the word of [[spoiler:an incident where Greg accidentally locked himself in the ladies' restroom at their grandfather's retirement home]]. This [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires]], since the story ends up getting mutated into [[spoiler:Greg sneaking into the girls' changing room at Crosslands High School, [[SpringtimeForHitlet [[SpringtimeForHitler turning Greg into a minor celebrity]].]] Greg is especially surprised by [[EpicFail how twisted the story got]] considering it had to have passed through three layers of people and got turned into something else entirely within a short amount of time.[[note]]Roderick told the story to his friends who had siblings at Greg's school and proceeded to tell them, then it got passed onto their friends.[[/note]]
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* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends: U.S. Acres'' has Sheldon telling Booker about a scary story he heard from Orson, and this eventually turns into a rumor about a monster loose on the farm, which leads to Orson changing to his "Power Pig" alter-ego and attacking a scarecrow. At the end of the episode, Orson says he's going for a walk in the country, which leads the others to believe he's going to ''a'' country, like Spain, and then they think he's moving to Spain forever. The episode's song is even about [[AnAesop not starting rumors]], because this trope runs the risk of happening.

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* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends: U.''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': The ''U.S. Acres'' short "The Return of Power Pig" has Sheldon telling Booker about a scary story he heard from Orson, and this eventually turns into a rumor about a monster loose on the farm, which leads to Orson changing to his "Power Pig" alter-ego and attacking a scarecrow. At the end of the episode, Orson says he's going for a walk in the country, which leads the others to believe he's going to ''a'' country, like Spain, and then they think he's moving to Spain forever. The episode's song is even about [[AnAesop not starting rumors]], because this trope runs the risk of happening.
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As I understand it, jokes *may* not be subject to NRLEP

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[[folder:Jokes]]
* A Russian-Jewish joke: "Did you hear that Rabinovich just won a car in a lottery?" "Why, yes. But that wasn't Rabinovich but Tzipperovich, that wasn't a lottery but a card game, that wasn't a car but a dacha, and that wasn't a win, that was a loss".
* RussianHumour is fond of these, often putting them in the form of Radio Yerevan jokes, usually with implications of [[CulturePolice censorship]] as well:
-->'''Caller:''' Is it true that in Moscow, Mercedes cars are being given to citizens?\\
'''Radio Yerevan:''' Yes, but it is not Moscow but Leningrad, not [[CoolCar Mercedes]] but [[TheAllegedCar Ladas]], and not given to but stolen from.\\\
'''Caller:''' Is it true that comrade cosmonaut UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's car was stolen in Moscow during the celebrations?\\
'''Radio Yerevan:''' In principle yes, but it was not in Moscow but Kiev, and it was not his car but his bike, and it was not comrade cosmonaut Gagarin but comrade high school teacher Gagarin, and his first name was not Yuri but Leonid...
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* ''Series/ThomasAndFriends'' In "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS9E11ThomasAndTheNewEngine Thomas and the New Engine]]", Thomas sees a new engine named Neville at the Scrap Yards with [[EvilDuo 'Arry and Bert]]. He doesn't realize that the diesels are bullying Neville at first, so he believes him to be friends with them. When he tells James that he saw Neville with 'Arry and Bert, James tells Edward that Neville is friends with 'Arry and Bert. Edward then tells Percy that Neville doesn't like steam engines, Percy tells Emily that 'Arry and Bert told Neville to biff into steam engines, and Emily tells Neville that she knows about his plan to biff into all of the steam engines. Thomas overhears, and asks Emily where she heard that. Emily tells Thomas that he was one who started the gossip in the first place. Thomas soon explains to her that he told James that he'd only seen Neville ''with'' 'Arry and Bert, and Toby clears things up by explaining that Henry saw 'Arry and Bert bullying Neville.

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In one "Production Notes" column in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'', Creator/StevenMoffat says that even the stories he made up are now totally unrecognisable to him, claiming that the last time he heard the one about Creator/MattSmith's costume (that they were trying various costume options that didn't quite work, but Matt liked the bowtie look, despite everyone's doubts, and was right) it was something like "The Doctor was going to be a PIRATE! With ONE LEG!! And we actually SAWED MATT'S LEG OFF and NAILED A PARROT ON HIM!!! But he was REALLY UNHAPPY and he CRIED, and it was really LATE, and it was a DISASTER, and Matt was going to have to play the part NAKED, and then a MAGIC BOW TIE LANDED FROM SPACE!!!!!"

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* In one "Production Notes" column in ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'', Creator/StevenMoffat says that even the stories he made up are now totally unrecognisable to him, claiming that the last time he heard the one about Creator/MattSmith's costume (that they were trying various costume options that didn't quite work, but Matt liked the bowtie look, despite everyone's doubts, and was right) it was something like "The Doctor was going to be a PIRATE! With ONE LEG!! And we actually SAWED MATT'S LEG OFF and NAILED A PARROT ON HIM!!! But he was REALLY UNHAPPY and he CRIED, and it was really LATE, and it was a DISASTER, and Matt was going to have to play the part NAKED, and then a MAGIC BOW TIE LANDED FROM SPACE!!!!!"


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* In ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'', several stories have tags showing how one of the Phantom's feats grows in retelling and becomes part of the legend of The Ghost Who Walks. For instance, in one story, the villains attack the Phantom in a tank, which results in the jungle tribes spreading a story about the Phantom single-handedly defeating a fire-breathing dragon.

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* A recurring feature of ''Literature/WizardOfTheCrow''. At several points in the novel, rather than directly describe an event, the narrator offers a round-up of the contradictory and increasingly-unlikely rumors that spread about it in following days. The parts narrated by Arigaigai are no better, even though he was genuinely an eyewitness to many key moments, because Arigaigai is a one-man gossip evolution machine whose accounts get more imaginative additions every time he retells them to a new audience, especially if the audience is shouting him drinks. It all contributes to the ambiguity about just how many of the miraculous things that happen in the novel really happened.

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* A recurring feature of ''Literature/WizardOfTheCrow''. At several points in the novel, rather than directly describe an event, the narrator offers a round-up of the contradictory and increasingly-unlikely rumors that spread about it in following days. The parts narrated by Arigaigai are no better, even though he was genuinely an eyewitness to many key moments, because Arigaigai is a one-man gossip evolution machine whose accounts get more imaginative additions every time he retells them to a new audience, especially if the audience is shouting him drinks. For instance, an incident when he chased two beggars, occasionally losing track of one or both, grows in retelling until it's the story of how he pursued a spirit being that sometimes appeared in one and sometimes in two separate bodies, and wrestled with it all night for the safety of the nation. It all contributes to the ambiguity about just how many of the miraculous things that happen in the novel really happened.
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* A recurring feature of ''Literature/WizardOfTheCrow''. At several points in the novel, rather than directly describe an event, the narrator offers a round-up of the contradictory and increasingly-unlikely rumors that spread about it in following days. The parts narrated by Arigaigai are no better, even though he was genuinely an eyewitness to many key moments, because Arigaigai is a one-man gossip evolution machine whose accounts get more imaginative additions every time he retells them to a new audience, especially if the audience is shouting him drinks. It all contributes to the ambiguity about just how many of the miraculous things that happen in the novel really happened.
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* In ''Series/TheSopranos'' episode "[[Recap/TheSopranosS5E5IrregularAroundTheMargins Irregular Around the Margins]]", Tony Soprano and Adriana, his cousin Christopher's fiance, are caught in a car accident late at night. The circumstances make it seem like they were having an affair, which is further complicated because both were seriously considering it. Nothing physical actually happened between the two, but when word of mouth spreads it starts out with Tony getting away from the accident unharmed while Adriana suffered a blow to the head and ends with Adriana still giving Tony head when the paramedics found them.

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* In ''Series/TheSopranos'' episode "[[Recap/TheSopranosS5E5IrregularAroundTheMargins Irregular Around the Margins]]", Tony Soprano and Adriana, his cousin Christopher's fiance, are caught in a car accident late at night. The circumstances make it seem like they were having an affair, which is further complicated because both were seriously considering it. Nothing physical actually happened between the two, but when When word of mouth about the incident spreads it starts out with Tony getting away from the accident unharmed while Adriana suffered a blow to the head and ends with Adriana still giving Tony head when the paramedics found them.
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* In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Orange Islands]] arc of ''Roleplay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'', a FunnyBackgroundEvent about [[NatureIsNotNice Silent's Masquerain hunting a Sewaddle]] builds up into a story about an evil Pokémon that goes around eating Bug-type mons. Upon reaching the other side of the archipelago, the story is ''somehow'' about either a Grass-type fire-spitting monster, or a giant wooden monster, that ate an entire island of Pokémon and forced countless others to migrate. [[spoiler:For added benefit, there are ''actual'' fire-spitting Grass Pokémon and wooden monsters completely unrelated to either news.]]

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* In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} [[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries Orange Islands]] arc of ''Roleplay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'', a FunnyBackgroundEvent about [[NatureIsNotNice Silent's Masquerain hunting a Sewaddle]] builds up into a story about an evil Pokémon that goes around eating Bug-type mons. Upon reaching the other side of the archipelago, the story is ''somehow'' about either a Grass-type fire-spitting monster, or a giant wooden monster, that ate an entire island of Pokémon and forced countless others to migrate. [[spoiler:For added benefit, there are ''actual'' fire-spitting Grass Pokémon and wooden monsters completely unrelated to either news.]]

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