History Main / LopsidedDichotomy

* Apart from the ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' page image, another ''Calvin and Hobbes'' example would be Calvin saying "either mom's cooking dinner or someone got sick in the furnace duct."

* In GuildWars2, while looking for an infiltrator who is apparently stealing people's uniforms and able to paralyze with a touch, Rhytlock comments

!! Examples:

[[AC:Comedy]]

[[AC:ComicStrip]]

* In "The ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} Principle", Scott Adams describes the two possible results of a career in engineering:
-->'''Risk:''' Public humiliation and the death of thousands of innocent people. '''Reward''': A certificate of appreciation in a handsome plastic frame.

-->'''Mother:''' NOO!
-->'''Noo:''' Has my mother just found my father's corpse inside of the microwave, or she is calling me for supper.

[[AC:{{Film}} - Animated]]

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}} "Did that just say "Grand Central Station", or "my aunt's constipation?""]]

[[AC:{{Film}} - Live-Action]]
* Groucho Marx in ''ADayAtTheRaces'':
--->"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped."

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* In the Mad Magazine parody for ''Series/CharliesAngels'', the angels are given "costumes" to wear, namely skimpy bikinis. One of them quips:
-->"Do we put these on our bodies, or do we paste them on an envelope?"

[[AC:{{Live-Action TV}}]]

--> '''Dax:''' "During The Reckoning, the Bajorans will either suffer horribly or eat fruit."
--> '''Sisko:''' "Eat fruit?"
--> '''Dax:''' "Given the tone of the rest of the inscription, I would bet on the horrible suffering."

-->'''Doctor''': Engin, I can feel my hair curling, and that means either it's going to rain or else [[EurekaMoment I'm on to something]].

[[AC:Other]]
* Pakistani women's rights activist Shahnaz Bukharihas on bride burning:
-->''Either Pakistan is home to possessed stoves which burn only young housewives, and are particularly fond of genitalia, or (...) there is a grim pattern that these women are victims of deliberate murder.''

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebComics]]
* Subverted in an ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' strip, when Roy (as a spirit in the AfterlifeAntechamber) attempts one after his father hands him copies of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', ''Literature/IRobot'', ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' and ''Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Your Dead Body Being Used To Make A Bone Golem (But Were Afraid To Ask)'' to "help [him] come to terms with the [[GoodNewsBadNews bad news]]".
-->'''Roy''': Either you're trying to tell me that my body was used to make a golem, or... actually, I can't think of any other possible interpretation.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

-->'''Major Monogram:''' Good morning, Agent P. The entire Tri-State Area is becoming riddled with holes. Also, numerous light beams have been shot from Doofenshmirtz's building. Either he's having some sort of a rave, or he's the one behind all those holes.

-->'''Major Monogram:''' Morning, Agent P. We've recently found surveillance footage of Doofenshmirtz buying fresh produce. We've concluded that there are two possibilities: either he's up to something sinister that is food-related, or he's cooking dinner because he's got a beautiful woman coming over and he wants to imp... Never mind, it's obviously the first thing.

-->'''Major Monogram:''' Good morning, Agent P. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is on the move. We tracked him to these coordinates when we suddenly lost his signal. We have two scenarios to explain his disappearance. First, that magical elves have caused Dr. Doofenshmirtz to vanish to the land of angry corn people. The second, is that he may be on his secret, hideout-shaped island with the initial "D" carved into it that satellites found in the exact, spot, where he... vanished... uh, you know what? Uh, forget the magical elves thing. Way off base with that.

-->'''Bart:''' Hey look! Is that Dad?
-->'''Lisa:''' Either that or Batman's really let himself go.

* From ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when Homer stands in front of a lighthouse, [[BatSignal causing his silhouette to be projected onto the clouds]]... [[labelnote:*]](although this is entirely accidental on Homer's part.)[[/labelnote]]

->''"Either that kid has a lightbulb up his butt, or [[IdeaBulb his colon has a great idea]]."''

Sometimes also overlaps with FalseDichotomy, when the ludicrous explanation isn't really the only alternative to the implied one. TalksLikeASimile is related.

* Ernest Rutherford once said, "All science is either physics or stamp collecting."

* From the TomBaker-era ''DoctorWho'' arc "The Deadly Assassin":

[[quoteright:150:[[CalvinAndHobbes http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tracer1_8963.png]]]]
->"''Either that kid has a lightbulb up his butt, or [[IdeaBulb his colon has a great idea]].''"

* GeorgeCarlin suggested something like this as a way to "wake people up": When someone asks you what time it is, you look at your watch and say, "Either it's 8:15 or Mickey has a hard-on!"

* Apart from the ''CalvinAndHobbes'' page image, another ''CalvinAndHobbes'' example would be Calvin saying "either mom's cooking dinner or someone got sick in the furnace duct."

* ''{{Cracked}}'' does this in [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20614_6-insane-video-game-fan-theories-that-make-total-sense_p2.html#ixzz2fI7gOpZM one of their articles on video game fan theories,]] referring to a line in ''TheLegendOfZelda: MajorasMask'' about Clock Town losing tourism.
-->"It's either the looming death planet, or the snow cone stand ran out of cherry again."

* ''GarfieldAndFriends'' episode, "Wonderful World":
-->'''Garfield''': Either Jon's home or somebody put a VCR in the garbage disposal.
* ''PhineasAndFerb'':

-->"Either you're babbling, or you just said in Cherokee that my scrotum is many colored."

* [[{{Madagascar}} "Did that just say "Grand Central Station", or "my aunt's constipation?""]]

* ''{{Cracked}}'' does this in [[http://www.cracked.com/article_20614_6-insane-video-game-fan-theories-that-make-total-sense_p2.html#ixzz2fI7gOpZM their article on game fan theories,]] referring to a line in ''TheLegendOfZelda: MajorasMask'' about Clock Town losing tourism.

[[AC:Media]]

Sometimes, as a means of humour, or simply to [[http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/fallacies/appeal_ridicule.htm argue for one possibility through ridicule of all possible alternatives]], someone will frame a description or explanation as "either it was X highly unlikely set of circumstances, or it was Y straightforward apparent conclusion." (The X and Y can be reversed instead.)

* ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' used this in the college episode in response to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESc0z1Tbwfk a college rally organizer who told a counter-protestor to move away from the crowd.]]

-->"Either you're babbling, or you just said in Cherokee that my scrotum is many colored."]]

* From WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}:

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}} "Either you're babbling, or you just said in Cherokee that my scrotum is many colored."]]

* At the end of ''QuestForGlory IV'', the hero is surrounded by the thankful people of the land after (like the past three games) completing yet another heroic quest. Cue [[CloudCuckooLander Erasmus]] and [[TalkingAnimal Fenrus]] taking that moment to scry on the hero, with Fenrus commenting that "It's either an award ceremony or a [[TorchesAndPitchforks lynch mob]]."