History Main / NotWhatItLooksLike

* A ''Comicstrip/{{Zits}}'' strip sees Jeremy ([[ParentalSexualitySquick horrified]]) watches as his parents slowly disappear behind the couch, legs and arms flailing willy-nilly, until one of them is heard to say "Gotcha!":

[[caption-width-right:349:The best reason to never let your cat in the kitchen.]]

!!Examples:

This can also apply to non-romantic situations, such as one person thinking another person has committed (or is planning to commit) some heinous act, or misinterpreting a harmless situation into something scandalous. Mistaken murderers involving accidents with sharp utensils and bottles of tomato sauce are surprisingly common.

[[caption-width-right:349:Wrong tools+Wrong position= Misunderstanding of epic proportions]]

** The third one has a man accidentally dropping his chocolate near his dog as the dog gets excited. When he picks up the chocolate to eat it, a girl and her grandmother [[IAteWhat mistake him for eating dog poop]].

[[caption-width-right:349:Wrong tools+Wrong position= Misunderstandment of epic proportions]]

* Mirage tells Bob his family survived Syndrome's missiles in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', and Bob is so grateful for the news that he gives Mirage a great big hug — and right at that moment, Helen, who [[MistakenForCheating fears Bob was having an affair]], walks in to rescue him.
* When Fiona pulls the arrow out of Shrek's butt in the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' film, she ends up on top of him, just in time for Donkey to walk in and take things the wrong way. Cue Shrek jumping up and saying, "Nothing Happened!" Shrek trying to explain what happened distracts him long enough for Fiona to pull out the arrow.

* A most sombre cowboy enters a bar, orders several shots and starts gulping them down. The concerned barman inquires if something is wrong. The cowboy replies: "there are times, Bill, when words are useless. This morning I went to the barn to milk the cow, but that lousy creature kept kicking and toppling the bucket over. I got some rope and strapped her legs to the poles, but then it swinged its tail and toppled the bucket again, and I was out of rope, so I pulled the belt out of my pants and strapped its tail up. My pants fell down, and right then my wife came into the barn... there are times when words are useless."

* A series of Downy commercials advertising their WrinkleGuard product play the trope straight, then invert it.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKOSibCsARA first commercial]] has a teenage couple whose clothes were wrinkled by the seatbelts in the boy's car. The girl's mother, seeing their clothes, assumes they've been up to no good and angrily pull sher daughter in the home and slams the door in the boy's face, as he weakly apologizes. On the next date, having used the aforementioned product, their clothes are straight and the girl's mother is relieved. As the boy leaves, however, we see a hickey on his neck.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgHToDMeoeU second commercial]] has the same boy walking downstairs as his grandparents are in the closet putting away some stuf that's fallen. He overhears them and then sees their wrinkled clothes and assuming the worst, runs away in fear. Later, he sees his grandparents coming out of the closet, but noticing their clothes are unwrinkled, assumes it was innocent. After he leaves, however, his grandfather winks at his grandmother, who giggles, implying it something more happened.

->''"It's not what you think! I know it looks like we're cleaning dishes, [[SarcasmMode but actually we're having sex]]."''

[[quoteright:350:[[SuperBowlSpecial https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nwilltrope_1.png]]]]

Supertrope to MistakenForCheating which is this trope applied to perceived infidelity. Can provide the grounds for a SecondActBreakup or ThirdActMisunderstanding. See InnocentInnuendo for a more sexual-related variant of this trope, and AbuseMistake for a more violent variant. If the whole thing could be cleared up by one simple statement that nobody ever thinks to say, it's probably an IdiotPlot. Compare ThatCameOutWrong and GrossoutFakeout. If the guy looks at the girl dead in the eye and says "This is ''exactly what it looks like", see NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse.

Supertrope to MistakenForCheating which is this trope applied to perceived infidelity. Can provide the grounds for a SecondActBreakup or ThirdActMisunderstanding. See InnocentInnuendo for a more sexual-related variant of this trope, and AbuseMistake for a more violent variant. If the whole thing could be cleared up by one simple statement that nobody ever thinks to say, it's probably an IdiotPlot. Compare ThatCameOutWrong and GrossoutFakeout.

->''"It's not what you think! I know it looks like we're cleaning dishes, but actually we're having sex."''

Can provide the grounds for a SecondActBreakup or ThirdActMisunderstanding. See InnocentInnuendo for a more sexual-related variant of this trope, and AbuseMistake for a more violent variant. If the whole thing could be cleared up by one simple statement that nobody ever thinks to say, it's probably an IdiotPlot. Compare ThatCameOutWrong and GrossoutFakeout.

A couple teetering between WillTheyOrWontThey has gradually started to slide toward "they will". But wait! The girl sees the guy's old crush/ex-girlfriend/other person who's previously expressed a romantic interest in him (or vice versa) go into his apartment/a hotel room/etc., and stay for a suspicious length of time.

[[quoteright:338:[[SuperBowlSpecial https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ameriquest_reclame.jpg]]]]

Can provide the grounds for a SecondActBreakup or ThirdActMisunderstanding. See InnocentInnuendo for a more sexual-related variant of this trope, and AbuseMistake for a more violent variant. If the whole thing could be cleared up by one simple statement that nobody ever thinks to say, it's probably an IdiotPlot. Compare ThatCameOutWrong.

* In the ''WebAnimation/CartoonHooligans'' episode "The Rumors About Spider-Man and Deadpool", when Captain America and Iron Man happen upon Franchise/SpiderMan and SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}} after Deadpool accidentally removes Spidey's leggings, Spidey frantically says "[[RapidFireNo No, no, no!]] It's not what it looks like!".

'''Anna:''' [[{{Adorkable}} This is awkward. Not]] ''you're'' awkward, but just because ''we're''... ''I'm'' awkward-- you're gorgeous. [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud Wait, what?]]

* NotWhatItLooksLike/WebComics

* In ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'', Anna's first meeting with Hans ends up with him ending up on a top of her in a rowboat: