History Main / RhetoricalRequestBlunder

* The [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]] cartoon "The Hardships Of Miles Standish" has an elderly gentleman telling the story of Miles' courtship of Priscilla in pilgrim days to his grandson. He tops it with "If that ain't the truth, I hope I get struck by lightning!" He does, and as he's singed, clinging to a beam from the roof, [[NoFourthWall he turns to us]] and says "Well, anyway, that's the way ''I'' heard it!" (which in turn is a ShoutOut to the then popular radio sitcom ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly where, OncePerEpisode, a character called the "Old Timer" would show up, with his CatchPhrase being "That's ''not'' the way I heard it!")

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', this is the downfall of the ancient Thanagarians of whom Hawkgirl and Hawkman are supposed to be the reincarnations: Upon discovering his wife's infidelity with John Stewart's counterpart, Katar Hol hyperbolizes that he wishes they were dead. When the vizier takes this as a literal order and carries it out, Katar commits suicide in despair.

* On ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', a wish-granting ghost often invokes this trope.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', an interdimensional being who appears only once every thousand years is about to grant Lord Hater one wish. Just as Hater is about to wish to be ruler of the whole universe, Wander comes along and starts taking photos, yammering to Hater and generally being a nuisance. Hater finally has enough and blurts out "I wish you would leave me alone for five seconds!" And of course, the interdimensional being takes that as his one wish.
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', Bobert has to do whatever Gumball says after losing a bet. Unfortunately, every comment Gumball makes about anyone who slights him gets interpreted by Bobert as an order to attack.
* The [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]] cartoon "The Hardships Of Miles Standish" has an elderly gentleman telling the story of Miles' courtship of Priscilla in pilgrim days to his grandson. He tops it with "If that ain't the truth, I hope I get struck by lightning!" He does, and as he's singed, clinging to a beam from the roof, [[NoFourthWall he turns to us]] and says "Well, anyway, that's the way ''I'' heard it!" (which in turn is a ShoutOut to the then popular radio sitcom ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly where, OncePerEpisode, a character called the "Old Timer" would show up, with his CatchPhrase being "That's ''not'' the way I heard it!")

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Homerpalooza", Homer becomes a carnival freak who withstands cannonballs. But he gets urged by [[RuleOfFunny a veterinarian]] to stop otherwise it will kill him.
-->'''Homer:''' Die? Well, dying doesn't scare me, because dying would be a stone groove! Got any messages for Music/JimiHendrix?
-->'''Veternarian:''' Yes: "Pick up your puppy."
-->(''pan down to an ancient dog called Rover Hendrix'')
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "Sacred Couch", Bob and Louise want to get rid of a smelly old sofa Linda loves, while the other two Belcher children support their mother. Bob casually tells Louise that he's sure something will happen to the couch because accidents happen. Louise, of course, takes this as an invitation to sabotage the couch.

* During the "Velocity 9" arc of ''TheFlash'', Vandal Savage explains the addictive effect of the Velocity 9 drug, saying that he just has to suggest one of the addicts kill another and he would do so. Then, an addict kills another and Savage coldly explains that he was being rhetorical.

** King David is on the run from his son, who has usurped the throne, and remarks apparently to himself that he misses drinking water from his hometown well. In this case the desire is genuine but he doesn't expect it to actually happen. But one of his best warriors overheard, gathered a few other mighty men together, and broke through enemy lines to bring back Bethlehem well water, and the King was appalled that anyone would actually risk his life for that.

** God would occasionally invoke this when He wanted to teach His people a lesson. Such as the time the Israelites were too frightened to conquer Canaan, even with God on their side, and declared that they wished they'd died in the desert rather than face this battle. So God lead them in circles in the desert until every man who had said that had actually died in the desert. In another case, the general Gideon declared that if God brought him victory in battle, he would sacrifice the first thing he saw at his home when he returned as thanks. The first thing he saw was his own daughter (it is disputed whether he literally sacrificed her or if she was sent to work as a temple maiden and therefore made unmarriable, as God was generally very much against HumanSacrifice). Even today many Christians will caution against swearing an oath to God unless you really, ''really'' mean what you say.

* There's even a version of this in Literature/TheBible. King David is on the run from his son, who has usurped the throne, and remarks apparently to himself that he misses drinking water from his hometown well. In this case the desire is genuine but he doesn't expect it to actually happen. But one of his best warriors overheard, gathered a few other mighty men together, and broke through enemy lines to bring back Bethlehem well water, and the King was appalled that anyone would actually risk his life for that.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', vengeance demons thrive around this sort of thing.

'''Shepard:''' [exasperated] Conrad, I'm building an ancient, Prothean, dark energy device to stop the Reapers. Can you help with ''that''?\\

'''Shepard:''' [[{{Beat}} [long pause]]] ... [[SarcasmFailure Really?]]

* In one ''{{Touhou}}'' {{yonkoma}} by Finnish doujin artist setz, [[LittlePeople Shinmyoumaru Sukuna]] muses to [[InterfaceScrew Seija Kijin]] as they're lying down in the grass, looking at clouds, that it would be interesting to see an upside down tree. Cue {{beat}} panel followed by this line:

* Invoked in ''SailorNothing''. The AlphaBitch Ami has been a thorn in the side for the heroes for all of the story, with pretty much all of them having some sort of grudge against her. [[spoiler:Thus, in order to show the heroes just what it means to ''hate'' somebody, [[TheDragon Argon]] decides to [[FateWorseThanDeath give them what they want]], or ''thought'' they want until they actually saw what it entailed.]]

* The TropeCodifier is, of course, a certain notorious incident in the history of English Church-State relations in the twelfth century. [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] was frustrated with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his former friend, and said something like (according to popular tradition) "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" or (according to a contemporary biographer) "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" A couple of Mooks decided to take care of it themselves, by killing Becket. Henry II took it badly, as did many in England. The reason for Henry's frustration, namely Becket defying the wishes of the king who had nominated him [[note]]Henry II had been laying the foundations of the English legal system (which would, in its turn, become the foundation for the legal system of half the world). The Church objected to being expected, distinctly against the custom of the time, to obey national laws, in one of the pivotal clashes between church and state[[/note]], had alienated many who already regarded Henry as an outsider (neither an Englishman or even a Norman, but an ''Angevin'') who was subverting local custom and concentrating too much power in the central government. Becket's personal popularity and the fact that he was discovered to be wearing a hairshirt under his clothing (a rather serious act of asceticism, as hairshirts are about as comfortable as a shirt made of sandpaper) only added to the outrage that the national leader of the Church had been savagely and shamelessly hacked to death in front of a church altar; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.

* ''WebOriginal/HonestTrailers'' did this in their ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' trailer, poking fun at the {{Challenge Gamer}}s the series tends to attract.

* In ''Theatre/RichardII'', Bolingbroke (aka HenryIV) says, "Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?" and Exton interprets this as an order to kill the already defeated King Richard. Henry develops a serious GuiltComplex about this and tries to [[TheAtoner atone]] [[ValuesDissonance by launching a crusade]].

* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' short "Expiration Date", Soldier flies into a rage that his team can't teleport bread anymore after being shown bread with tumors. Engineer replies that he "can teleport as much bread as [he] like[s]" to calm him down. [[spoiler: Soldier spends the ''entire'' [[TooDumbToLive three days of living teleporting so much bread that it creates a gargantuan bread monster.]]]]

* In ''Film/TheShining'', Jack is feeling the effects of his alcohol withdrawal as the months wear on, and after stumbling into the (emptied out) hotel bar, puts his face in his hands. He bitterly mumbles out, "I'd sell my Goddamn soul for just a glass of beer..." and looks up to see his old bartender Lloyd standing behind the counter. Lloyd immediately begins supplying Jack with alcohol, after which point he becomes deranged and violent toward his family.

* In ''[[RealmOfTheElderlings Mad Ship]]'', after being constantly mistreated by Kyle, his rather terrible father, for a book and a half, Wintrow cries out in anguish to the pirate Kennit that he wished someone would make his father just disappear. He's smart enough to make it clear that he specifically does ''not'' want his father dead, just gone. Still, he didn't actually ''want'' Kennit to drag Kyle out of bed in the middle of the night a few days later and grant his wish, imprisoning Kyle in a secret dungeon few people even know exists, nor is he pleased to discover his father missing.
* Faking one of these and then killing the underling "responsible" is suggested as a way of eliminating political enemies in ''ThePrince''. It's one of the few strategies in the book with a "seriously, don't really do this" disclaimer.

-->'''[[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Sukuna]]''': SEIJAAAA!!\\

* ''[[AnitaBlake Blue Moon]]'': Anita angrily says she wants a woman's "head in basket." She is shocked and horrified when [[LiteralMinded it is delivered]]. In this case, the woman was going to be executed regardless; Anita just... got the head.

* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' [[spoiler: It is eventually revealed that the assassination attempt on Bran is this. King Robert mentioned how it would be better if Bran were simply put out of his misery after his injury. Prince Joffrey, having heard this, steals one of his father's knives and commissions a killer to do the deed.]]
** Similarly, after a pair of guards fall asleep while guarding an important figure, Cersei Lannister sarcastically says they should be allowed to sleep. They're killed shortly later after this is interpreted as a kill order.

* In one Literature/TheSaint story, Simon tells HeroicComedicSociopath "Hoppy" Uniatz to "get rid of" a couple of defeated villains, meaning just "take them away from here and drop them somewhere". Hoppy interprets "get rid of" euphemistically, shoots them, and dumps their corpses in the English Channel. When Simon finds out about this, he [[CrossesTheLineTwice isn't particularly bothered]].

-->(''pan down to dog called Rover Hendrix'')

* The TropeCodifier is, of course, a certain notorious incident in the history of English Church-State relations in the twelfth century. [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] was frustrated with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his former friend, and said something like (according to popular tradition) "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" or (according to a contemporary biographer) "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" A couple of Mooks decided to take care of it themselves, by killing Becket. Henry II took it badly, as did many in England. The reason for Henry's frustration, namely Becket defying the wishes of the king who had nominated him [[note]]Henry II had been laying the foundations of the English legal system (which would, in its turn, become the foundation for the legal system of half the world). The Church objected to being expected, distinctly against the custom of the time, to obey national laws, in one of the pivotal clashes between church and state[[/note]], had alienated many who already regarded Henry as an outsider (neither an Englishman or even a Norman, but an ''Angevin'') who was subverting local custom and concentrating too much power in the central government. Becket's personal popularity and the fact that he was discovered to be wearing a hairshirt under his clothing (a rather serious act of asceticism, as hairshirts are about as comfortable as a shirt made of sandpaper) only added to the outrage that a high clergyman had been openly murdered in a church; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.

* [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] was frustrated with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his former friend, and said something like (according to popular tradition) "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" or (according to a contemporary biographer) "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" A couple of Mooks decided to take care of it themselves, by killing Becket. Henry II took it badly, as did many in England. The reason for Henry's frustration, namely Becket defying the wishes of the king who had nominated him [[note]]Henry II had been laying the foundations of the English legal system (which would, in its turn, become the foundation for the legal system of half the world). The Church objected to being expected, distinctly against the custom of the time, to obey national laws, in one of the pivotal clashes between church and state[[/note]], had alienated many who already regarded Henry as an outsider (neither an Englishman or even a Norman, but an ''Angevin'') who was subverting local custom and concentrating too much power in the central government. Becket's personal popularity and the fact that he was discovered to be wearing a hairshirt under his clothing (a rather serious act of asceticism, as hairshirts are about as comfortable as a shirt made of sandpaper) only added to the outrage that a high clergyman had been openly murdered in a church; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.

* The [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]] cartoon "The Hardships Of Miles Standish" has an elderly gentleman telling the story of Miles' courtship of Priscilla in pilgrim days to his grandson. He tops it with "If that ain't the truth, I hope I get struck by lightning!" He does, and as he's singed, clinging to a beam from the roof, [[NoFourthWall he turns to us]] and says "Well, anyway, that's the way ''I'' heard it!"
** ". . . that's the way ''I'' heard it" is, in fact, a ShoutOut to the then popular radio sitcom ''Radio/FibberMcGeeAndMolly. OncePerEpisode, a character called the "Old Timer" would show up. His CatchPhrase? "That's ''not'' the way I heard it!"