History Main / MistakenForProstitute

* Inverted in ''Film/OnceUponACrime'', where a jaded housewife thinks a guy is paying her for sex, and to spite her gambling-addicted husband, she says she would sleep with the guy for free. It turns out he was just giving her the share of the roulette winnings for calling the right number.

* Also subtly done in ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'', when [[GuestFighter Akatsuki]] meets [[AbsoluteCleavage Hilda]]:

* In ''Literature/StandOnZanzibar'', Bronwen is almost denied entry to Yatakang because of her [[DangerouslyShortSkirt microsari]] and the fact that her passport says she's a widow. In Yatakangi, the word "widow" is a common euphemism for "prostitute".

-->"Okay... Going by [[MissFanservice your appearance only]], I thought you were [[StreetWalker one of these professionals who ply their trade at night]]..."

* ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'': With Peter Parker's constant appearances and disappearances, odd explanations when asked where he's been, and [[HeroicBuild worthwhile physique]], Peter's classmate Betty thinks he's a male escort. It doesn't help that at one point Peter is caught [[NotWhatItLooksLike changing his clothes in front of a beautiful woman]].

* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': One of the Norscans tries to buy ''Melisandre'', despite not speaking the language. The Wolf thinks it's hilarious, but it turns out he's wearing a torc that cancels magic, meaning he saw through Melisandre's {{glamor}} and thus saw only his henchman trying pay a hideous old crone for sex.

* ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom'': In the side-story "The Toy", the titular {{Living Toy|s}} advertises himself as a "plaything for sale", drawing the ire of the local prostitution guild which doesn't like competition. After some explanations, [[spoiler:he's hired into the guild's daycare to entertain the kids of guild personnel]].

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' review of ''VideoGame/DOOM2016'', Yahtzee uses this as a joke:
-->'''Yahtzee''': For me this is like when an attractive young woman comes up to me in a bar and says "You know I am so attracted to aging socially awkward hairy men who play too many video games. Why not buy me a drink and perhaps a house." Perhaps I have gotten too defensive and cynical from a lifetime of disappointment. But after playing through DOOM I have come to realize that people who come onto me might not necessarily be Gold Digging Harlots. Some of them are just trying to get back at their dad.
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/TheNanny'': In "Where's The Pearls?", [[EasyAmnesia Fran gets amnesia]] [[IdentityAmnesia and mistakenly thinks she's Maxwell's wife]], until he tries to set things straight.
-->'''Maxwell:''' Look, I'm not your husband.
-->'''Fran:''' Oh, my God! We're not married?!

* In the ''{{LightNovel/Slayers}} Special'' OVA, Lina and Naga the Serpent are hired by a woman who wants to make her son Jeffrey into a man... which the two interpret as the woman trying to hire Naga to sleep with him. Lina has to explain to the woman that even though Naga's outfit is {{Stripperiffic}}, the two of them don't do that sort of thing. Turns out she just wants to hire them as bodyguards.

* ''The Logan Legacy'': While trying to wind down at a goth club following the death of Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}, Comicbook/{{X 23}} is approached and propositioned by a man at the club. It's subverted a bit in that [[Comicbook/{{NYX}} at one time in her life]], Laura ''was'' a prostitute, however she has long since retired. She explains the situation and otherwise lets him down gently (as well as saving the John's life when the club is attacked by a pack of nihilistic idiots with too much time on their hands).

* In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', a naked ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} wanders confused into an alley, having just woken up from her rocket, and is spotted by three workers. One of them mistakes her for a prostitute and decides to play Lothario only to have his hand crushed and be slammed through a wall. The second tries to help his friend. The third wisely proclaims he's not with the other two and offers her his coat.

* Inverted ([[PlayingWithATrope sort of]]) in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon. Haruhime, the prostitute, is the one who mistakes [[TheHero Bell]] for a customer when he accidentally enters her room (he was actually there against his will and trying to escape), and she quickly

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' HalloweenEpisode "Escape from Goochland", Donna confiscates Roberta's hooker costume. Cleveland convinced Donna to wear it. Later, she got arrested for being mistaken for a real one. As she was thrown into the police van she tries to tell them she's just wearing a costume, even the real hookers believe she the real thing and mock her denial.

* In A "NotWhatItLooksLike" ad, a father is driving his daughter and her friends when they stop at a convenience store. As she gets out, he says to wait while he gives her some money for the store. Cue two cops pulling up as they see a man giving money to a teen who is leaning over to the passenger door of his car.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' HalloweenEpisode "Escape from Goochland", Donna confiscates Roberta's hooker costume. Cleveland convinced Donna to wear it. Later, she got arrested for being mistaken for a real one. As she was thrown into the police van she tries to tell them she's just wearing a costume, and the real hookers mock her.

* In A "Not-what-it-looks-like" ad, a father is driving his daughter and her friends when they stop at a convenience store. As she gets out, he says to wait while he gives her some money for the store. Cue two cops pulling up as they see a man giving money to a teen who is leaning over to the passenger door of his car.

* In [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-01-22 this]] and the [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-01-23 next]] [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-01-24 few]] strips of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', the fancy evening dress Dr. Bunnigus puts on for the evening is mentioned by Captain Tagon and Lt Shodan to look like she's dressing as a prostitute.

* ''Literature/CodexAlera'': Happens briefly in ''Captain's Fury''. Isana (who, as a powerful watercrafter, looks younger than she is) is mistaken for a prostitute by two policemen while she is hanging around outside a building in the upper-middle-class Craft Lane. Apparently it is not uncommon for wealthy students at the Academy to pay a prostitute to meet them closer to the school, then to not show up for various reasons. Unlike most examples of this trope the two policemen are relatively polite about the matter given the social norms, especially since Isana quickly realizes their mistake and manages to convince them that it would be unwise of them to make an issue of the situation (though not explicitly stated, the implication is that they believe she is a Lady incognito for some reason). They quickly leave her in peace, much to Isana's relief since she was in fact acting as a look-out while Kitai robbed the place.

-->'''Marge:''' ''(Covering her chest)'' Well if he thinks he's getting a corner piece, forget it.

-->--''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome''

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13623840/1/A-Knight-and-the-Scouts A Knight and the Scouts]]'': When Sailor Venus confronts the villain Vauquelin, an evil sorcerer pulled from the Middle Ages, he thinks she is a harlot because of her short-skirted outfit and won't stop insulting her about this.

* In ''ComicBook/DemonKnights'' a young girl sees [[HotAmazon Exoristos]] and says she "dresses like a tart" and Exoristos not only thanks her but asks [[IsItSomethingYouEat if it's some sort of pastry]].

* This cropped up with an amusing case of intentional ValuesDissonance in ''Series/AdamAdamantLives'' when after Adam (from the turn of the 20th century) passed out from a mixture of exhaustion and disorientation in the apartment of Georgina (from the, then current, 1960s). He couldn't apologies enough about how inappropriate it was for him to have spent the night on her sofa. Her trying to explain it wasn't a big deal, and that he wasn't the first man to spend the night on her sofa, lead him to assume she'd been driven to prostitution and to an immediate offer to find her some menial work.