History Main / WorseWithContext

There are many ways this trope can occur, but these are two common examples:

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' gives us TheNotSoHarmlessPunishment variety in the pilot episode "Space Pilot 3000":
-->'''Fry:''' What if I refuse?\\

-->'''Carlton:''' Will, you had us stop to talk to every pretty girl.\\

* In ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' season 1 "Dad's Back", when Carey gets mad at Kurt for making their home a mess and letting Zack and Cody watch a horror movie:
-->'''Kurt:''' I know, you're mad.\\
'''Carey:''' No, no, I was mad when you sold our car to buy a new guitar. [[BroughtHomeTheWrongKid I was mad when you came home from the playground with the wrong twins.]]\\
'''Kurt:''' It was an honest mistake.\\
'''Carrie:''' They were girls.
* ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'': The 'not-so-harmless' punishment version occurs in one sketch when Lance tells one of the kids to remove his shoes as he is grounded. The kid takes off his shoes but says that being barefoot won't stop him leaving the house. Lance says that he misunderstood, and that now he has removed his rubber soled shoes he is 'grounded' and then hands him a live electric cable, leading to HarmlessElectrocution.

'''Grytpype-Thynne:''' Inthis case it did. <{{beat}}> He was on the bottom of the lake.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'':
** In [[https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/sunday-september-5-1982/ one]] comic, Michael tells his half-asleep mother that Elizabeth just went outside with her new umbrella and wearing her new boots, which just gets a series of grunts. Then he adds she's ''only'' wearing the boots. Elly runs outside to chase down her daughter while a grinning Michael muses that he likes telling the best part last.
** Another strip shows Elizabeth retaliating after Michael puts soap on her toothbrush. When she tells him she used his toothbrush, it doesn't faze Michael in the slightest. Then Elizabeth tells him she didn't use it for her teeth, but for ''[[BigFriendlyDog Farley's.]]''
* In one ''ComicStrip/BeauPeep'' strip, Beau asks Sergeant Bidet why he and Dennis have been thrown into the brig, having been too drunk the previous night to remember anything. The Sergeant tells Beau that he threw a glass through a window, which Beau doesn't think is too bad...until he learns that the colonel was holding the glass at the time.

[[folder:Puppet Show]]
* In ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'' episode "Switched at Birth", after it looked like [[SwitchedAtBirth Baby's egg]] had been [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin mixed up with a child]] belonging to the Molehills, the Sinclairs and the Molehills swap the kids. Within a single day, Mrs. Molehill can't stand [[EnfantTerrible Baby's behavior]] and brings him back, saying one of the things he had done was spitting up on her carpet. Earl[[note]]not really wanting to swap the babies back[[/note]] tries to tell her that a lot of toddlers do that. Mrs. Molehill then screams that Baby had eaten the family cat first.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' has a very dark version of this. A minor plot throughout the game is the pursuit of the Ansem Report, written by a man who was studying TheHeartless. Across the game, Sora and his friends gradually collect the odd-numbered Reports, which offer insights into an individual who is curious and concerned about these dark beings. [[spoiler:The last boss before the whole game increase in difficulty is ''[[WhamLine Ansem himself]]'' (possessing Sora's friend Riku). On the return trip to that world, you obtain the even-numbered Reports. These reveal that he '''made''' the Heartless via deliberate experimentation with darkness itself, was willing to expose living beings to them, realized that they were after hearts of both people and worlds, started manufacturing Heartless ''en masse'', and voluntarily turned himself into a Heartless in order to help the Heartless find what they're looking for.]] For better or for worse, the second game reveals [[spoiler:that 'Ansem' was a stolen name, and the guy responsible was unrelated to the wise ruler that the name belonged to.]]

* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', when Kevyn (who had earlier prepared a contingency plan to assassinate King Lota; a secret plan, he thought) suggests modifying a particular set of Credomar's systems, Lota angrily responds that:
-->'''Lota:''' Those systems house Lota's consciousness. They are not to be tampered with. More to the point, in consideration of your previous assassination plan, should any of you so much as approach those systems Lota would be required to fire you.\\
'''Kevyn:''' Okay, I get it.\\
'''Lota:''' Out an airlock.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Vexxarr}}'', [[CardCarryingVillain the plant AIs']] sentence for Vexxarr's theft of services is forcing him to degauss their ship's engines. Vexxarr comments that hard labor seems a bit lenient for them, and is told that when he is finished they will ''activate'' the engine.

* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' after [[http://irregularwebcomic.net/855.html Steve is bitten by a snake]]:
-->'''Terry:''' That's a red mamba! The 301st most venomous snake in the world!\\
'''Jane Goodall:''' 301st? That can't be too bad then.\\
'''Terry:''' The top 300 all [[UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife live in Australia]].
* In ''Webcomic/GreasySpaceMonkeys'', Lieutenant Ash recognizes the monsters that Nathan is describing to the Captain. He says that long ago, his species designed a creature to be a fast, stealthy LivingWeapon that could wipe out squads of soldiers effortlessly...and that Nathan has encountered the creatures that ''ate'' them.
* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': [[StarfishAliens Sam Starfall]] made a list of [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything that tried to eat him]] before he got a complete environment suit. Winston reads it and discovers one item on the list is ''papilio rutulus'' - the western tiger swallowtail butterfly. Sam clarifies that technically, it was the ''caterpillars'' that found him tasty.
* ''{{Webcomic/Nodwick}}'': [[BewareTheNiceOnes When pushed, Piffany]] threatens to give a man [[http://comic.nodwick.com/?comic=2009-01-26 religious literature every day for the rest of his life.]] In suppository format.
* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': Inverted in [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3531 this strip]]:
-->'''Momo:''' I think Faye is doing her a lot of good.\\
'''May:''' They gonna fuuuuuck\\
'''Momo:''' You have been saying that about every group of two or more people we have seen today.\\
'''May:''' Are you tellin' me that bus full of soccer players ''isn't'' gonna bang the limousine full of models?\\
'''Momo:''' That was a ''traffic accident!''\\
'''May:''' ''They were pouring champagne on each other!''

* Inverted with the "Ordinary Muslim Man" and "Successful Black Guy" ImageMacro; the first caption is about something stereotypically bad about the Muslim or the black guy, and the second caption turns the first one better in context.

* This trope stuctures most stories on [[http://www.fmylife.com/ FMyLife]].

* From Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous, Janel accuses Jessica of being far too into cannibalism as a topic and that eventually she's going to start offering recipes, to which Jessica responds that she has a cannibal cookbook close at hand. Not because she carries it on her person, no, she was just recording near the kitchen today.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': The line "With corpses, I prefer to go through the eye sockets" is already bad enough. The fact that the bot giving the line (Chromedome) is referring to mnemosurgery, a method of viewing[=/=]altering a Cybertronian's memories responsible for everything from [[ManchurianAgent shadowplay]] to straight-up ''mutilation'', cranks it from slightly to exceedingly disturbing.

* In ''Fanfic/ThisBites'', when Cross called the crew together for a meeting, Usopp tells him that Soundbite made his voice come out of Merry's toilet. Cross admits that it sounds funny and doesn't see what the problem was. Usopp then reveals that he was using it at the time.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/38732601/chapters/99572769#workskin Give Not Into Sorrow]]'' elaborates on why [[VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus Charm]] quit the Galaxy Team. The game implies that she resented having to [[LazyBum work for a living]]. Charm here elaborates that she was a refugee the Galaxy Team exploited for child labor; the Galaxy Team's policy of 'no freeloaders' extended to children, and she was expected to risk her life every day in the Survey Corps because they didn't owe her food or shelter.
* ''Fanfic/LuckyNumberThirteen'' has an example PlayedForDrama rather than comedy. Sharon gives a hypothetical context to Ana when they're talking about the submissive contract. When Sharon brings up that potential Doms and Masters complaining about a person's hard limits is a red flag, Ana questions why (Christian having done the same thing with her). Sharon says the following: ''"Because if he starts arguing with you and demanding something you don't want over, say, dinner, you can keep saying no. You can get up and walk away [...] You can't do that when you're gagged and bound to a table."'' As it turns out [[spoiler:this is pretty much exactly what happened to Sharon when she was with Christian]].

[[folder:Film--Animated]]

[[folder:Film--Live-Action]]

* ''Film/TenCloverfieldLane'': There's a scene where [[Creator/JohnGoodman John Goodman's]] character Howard shaves and puts on some nice clothes before preparing dinner for a nice young woman, even offering some ice cream. Seems innocent enough out of context. ''In'' context it's one of the most horrifying scenes in the entire film because of the sheer implications; [[spoiler: Howard is an unhinged murderer and possible rapist who just murdered the only other man in the bunker the characters are in, seems unhealthily obsessed with the woman in question and keeps [[ParentalIncest comparing her to his possibly dead daughter]]. The implication of the whole scene is that he's on the verge of raping and/or killing her.]]

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Harry ends up in detention with the sadistic Professor Umbridge. When Ron later asks him what his punishment was, he replies he just had to write lines. Ron understandably notes that that wasn't too bad, expecting something worse. What Harry chose to leave out not to worry him or Hermione is that he had to write said lines with a magic quill that uses ''his blood'' as ink and carves what he writes onto the back of his hand. He ends up in detention so much that year that the lines he writes eventually permanently scar the back of his hand, on top of bleeding profusely after each detention (which is how Ron finds out the truth, he's suitably horrified).
* In ''Literature/TheElenium'', at one point Vanion says that someone besides Kalten should forge a document, because Kalten's spelling is so bad that he once got every letter of a six-letter word wrong. Darellon points out that some words are hard to spell, and Vanion responds that the word in question was ''Kalten's own name.''

* ''Series/TrueJacksonVP'', when Oscar and Amanda are discussing why Amanda keeps losing assistants.
-->'''Oscar:''' You made your last assistant [[YouGetMeCoffee pick up your dry cleaning.]]\\
'''Amanda:''' So?\\
'''Oscar:''' It was in Canada.

* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck''. Models come on the boat in one episode, so Zack suggests to Marcus they throw a party. Marcus's response:
-->'''Marcus:''' If we throw a party and Mr. Moseby finds out, he'll make us clean the propeller--while it's on.
* ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'': The subplot for "Don't Have a Cow" sees Cory and William's trick-or-treat expedition ruined when William's working remote costume sets off every remote-controlled device in town.
-->'''Cory:''' All we got was a stupid pack of breath mints.\\
'''William:''' And three pennies.\\
'''Cory:''' They threw those at you.
* ''Series/RedDwarf''
** Rimmer in the episode "Marooned," when he learns Lister lost his virginity at age twelve:
--->'''Rimmer:''' The only thing I lost when I was twelve were my shoes with the compass in the heel and the animal tracks on the soles. Porky Roebuck threw them in the septic tank behind the sports ground. I cried for weeks. ''({{Beat}})'' I was wearing them.
** When Lister learns the prison satellite will analyze his mind for any crimes he's committed in the episode "Justice," he's worried about going "scrumping" as a kid. Kryten assures him that the satellite will hardly care about stealing apples, and Lister clarifies that he and his mates scrumped ''cars''. He also worries about the time he [[StealingFromTheHotel took stuff from a hotel]]. Again, Kryten tries to reassure him, but Lister explains it wasn't towels, it was all the furniture.
* In the ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' episode "Private Plane," the full extent keeps getting worse as Melchett tries to justify it.
-->'''Melchett:''' Now George, you remember when I came down to visit you when you were a nipper, for your sixth birthday? You used to have a lovely little rabbit, beautiful little thing, do you remember?\\
'''George:''' Flossie!\\
'''Melchett:''' That's right, Flossie! Do you remember what happened to Flossie?\\
'''George:''' You shot him.\\
'''Melchett:''' That's right! It was the kindest thing to do after he'd been run over by that car. \\
'''George:''' ''Your'' car, sir.\\
'''Melchett:''' Yes, but that too was an act of mercy when you remember that dog had been set on him.\\
'''George:''' ''Your'' dog, sir.\\
'''Melchett:''' Yes, yes, my dog. But what I'm trying to say, George, is that the state young Flossie was in after we'd scraped him off my front tyre is very much the state that young Blackadder will be in now. If not very nearly dead, then very ''actually'' dead.\\
'''George:''' But surely, Sir, you must allow me to at least try and save him.\\
'''Melchett:''' No, George. It would take a superman to get him out of there, not the kind of weed who blubs just because somebody gives him a slice of rabbit pie instead of birthday cake.
** And in the first season, it's up to Edmund, newly named Archbishop of Canterbury, to convince a dying noble to leave his lands to the Crown instead of the Church. Unfortunately, the guy is convinced that he's going to Hell, as he has committed the sin of adultery...over a thousand times...[[ParentalIncest with his mother.]] Edmund convinces him via HellOfAHeaven in the end.
* One ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' episode ("Charity Drive") has Gob request George Michael and Maeby break into a municipal office and sneak a file into their file cabinet. This conversation occurs after Maeby sticks her gum on the side of the file cabinet:
-->'''George Michael:''' What are you doing?\\
'''Maeby:''' Leaving my calling card.\\
'''George Michael:''' But they're going to know we were here.\\
'''Maeby:''' Uh, they already know that. Our fingerprints are all over the office.\\
'''George Michael:''' You said they wouldn't check for fingerprints!\\
'''Maeby:''' I said, "Don't wear your mittens." They look ridiculous on the security camera.\\
'''George Michael:''' THERE'S A SECURITY CAMERA?
* In the episode "The Samurai" of ''Series/{{Highlander}}'', Hideo Koto warns Duncan about what happens to foreigners like him in Japan.
-->'''Hideo:''' No matter, you are barbarian. If they see you, you will be crucified.\\
'''Duncan''' [[NighInvulnerability Yeah...]]\\
'''Hideo:''' [[DecapitationRequired And then BEHEADED!]]
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'':
** Carlton complains one time about a long drive:
-->'''Carlton:''' Will, you had us stop to talk to every pretty girl.\\
'''Will:''' So?\\
'''Carlton:''' We were on the freeway!
** In "Blood Is Thicker Than Mud", this trope is used again when Carlton's Hell Week is more extreme than the others':
--->'''Will:''' Carlton, you seem to be getting it worse than the rest of us.\\
'''Carlton:''' Come on, Will, everyone had to re-tar the parking lot.\\
'''Will:''' Yeah, but the rest of us got to wear shoes.
** In "PS I Love You", Uncle Phil tries to defend Judge Robertson's erratic behavior to avoid running against him:
--->'''Vivian:''' I asked him to pass the salt. He told me "Go long".\\
'''Phil:''' I'm sure he was just joking.\\
'''Vivian:''' He broke a window.
* ''Series/{{Cheers}}'':
** In one episode, Woody refuses to bowl because he once injured a bowling alley maintenance man, leaving him unable to work there anymore:
--->'''Woody:''' The last I heard, he was a clown at children's parties.\\
'''Sam:''' Well, that's not so bad, is it?\\
'''Woody:''' He wasn't invited to them.
** When Sam and Henri are talking about their sexual exploits, Sam possibly inverts this:
--->'''Henri:''' So, what's the strangest place you've ever made love?\\
'''Sam:''' That would be the back of a car.\\
'''Henri:''' That doesn't sound so strange.\\
'''Sam:''' No, it was on the assembly line.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' uses this when Frank tries to make people think he's a veteran.
-->'''Frank:''' Look, I didn't go to Vietnam just to have pansies like you take my freedom away from me.\\
'''Dee:''' You went to Vietnam in 1993 to open up a sweatshop.\\
'''Frank:''' And a lot of good men died in that sweatshop!
* In one episode of ''Hooperman'', the title detective finds out that a criminal he put behind bars is getting out.
-->'''Hooperman:''' He gave me the finger.\\
'''Betty:''' So? A lot of criminals do that.\\
'''Hooperman:''' Yeah, but he cut his off and [[FingerInTheMail mailed it to me.]]
* ''Series/ICarly'': When Freddie is talking about his newfound freedom after his micromanaging overprotective mother is too busy taking care of Lewbert after being injured twice.
-->'''Freddie:''' Last night, slept with my socks on.\\
'''Sam:''' So?\\
'''Freddie:''' ''Just'' my socks.
* ''Series/NickyRickyDickyAndDawn'' has this at the beginning of "Quad-ventures In Babysitting" while they're complaining about their babysitter that stayed the night:
-->'''Anne:''' How was your night with Tanya?\\
'''Ricky:''' We were up half the night.\\
'''Dawn:''' She sang us lullabies.\\
'''Anne:''' Well, that sounds sweet.\\
'''Dawn:''' About all the things they put in sausages.
* During the first season finale of ''Series/BetterCallSaul'', Jimmy explains that his previously shown arrest in Chicago was giving a guy he disliked a "Chicago sun roof": climbing on top of his car and crapping through the open sunroof. [[spoiler:Then he noticed that the man's ''children'' were inside the car, which caused the man to try to get Jimmy labeled a sex offender.]]
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Frasier and Niles need to fake their opinion on a play they haven't seen, and Frasier reminds Niles that it didn't go so well for him last time, when Niles had claimed another play had third act problems. Niles asks him why he considers that to be such a blunder, and Frasier replies that the play had no third act at all.
* ''Series/HomeImprovement'':
** Jill has Tim take a test of how good a husband he is from [[PanderingToTheBase her magazine]] and he scores in the eighties range...out of three hundred. Tim retaliates with his own test, giving her a score in the nineties.
---> '''Jill:''' Outta what?\\
'''Tim:''' Seventy million!
** Tim and Al get arrested for scalping hockey tickets and Tim asks another guy at the police station [[WhatAreYouInFor what he was arrested for]]. The guy says he gave somebody a tattoo.
--->'''Al:''' That doesn't sound so bad.
--->'''Guy:''' Well, he didn't ''want'' one.
* This exchange between Laura and Steve about Myra in ''Series/FamilyMatters''
-->'''Steve:''' Last week, she signed up for my chemistry class!\\
'''Laura:''' Well, what's wrong with that?\\
'''Steve:''' She doesn't go to our school!
* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'':
** We get this line when [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Profesor Jirafales]] chastised Don Ramón for threatening El Chavo.
--->'''Chilindrina:''' This is the first time that my dad has threatened to hit El Chavo.\\
'''Prof Jirafales:''' Really?\\
'''Chilindrina:''' Yes, he always hit him without warning.
** At the end of another episode, Chilindrina finds El Chavo crying and he confesses that he had thrown, dirtied and stomped on Quico's clothes, Chilindrina tries to calm him down saying he had it coming as he and his mother had done the same to her father's clothes, but Chavo adds that Quico was ''still wearing them'' (cut to a beaten and unmoving Quico laying on the floor).
* ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'':
** In "[[Recap/TheDickVanDykeShowS1E3SallyAndTheLabTechnician Sally and the Lab Technician]]", Laura tries to matchmake Sally with her cousin Thomas, a lab tech, despite their differing personalities. While discussing how Sally spent the entire evening launching zingers at her prospective boyfriend, Rob tells Buddy that near the end of dinner, she told him he was witty and should do a lecture tour. Buddy can't see what the problem with that is, until Rob reveals that [[ShrinkingViolet Thomas]] stayed quiet the whole evening.
** In one episode, Rob tells Laura that during a high school dance, a girl slapped him for telling her that her slip was showing.
--->'''Laura:''' Well, is that all?\\
'''Rob:''' Well, I said it [[IsThisThingStillOn over a loudspeaker.]]
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', on the subject of Parker's past:
-->'''Eliot:''' [[DrivesLikeCrazy Parker, where'd you learn to drive?!]]\\
'''Parker:''' Before I stole cars, I was a getaway driver.\\
'''Hardison:''' Before?! You stole cars when you were ''twelve!''
* In one episode of ''Series/NightCourt'' Bull discusses a defendant who's accused of performing surgery without a license. Turns out it was also without anesthetic, or permission.
* In one episode of ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies'', when Elly May is bathing her dogs in the 'cement pond', she explains to Jed that she has no choice as Granny had gotten mad the last time Elly used her tub to bathe them.
-->'''Jed:''' I don't blame her. You shoulda waited until she climbed out.

* In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' story "Gyro's First Invention", Donald and Scrooge explain the events of "Christmas for Shacktown" to Gyro and how it will take 272 years, 11 months, three weeks, and four days to get all of Scrooge's money out of the hole it's trapped in (all umpteen fantasticatillion, three multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred and twenty-three dollars and sixteen cents of it), culminating with this exchange:

* ''Blog/TextsFromSuperheroes'' once had Spiderman volunteer for street patrol on Black Friday:
-->'''Franchise/{{Spiderman}}:''' Great. Aunt May plans on shopping and I need to keep an eye on her.\\

'''Spiderman:''' Thanks. I really want to see what she's getting me for Christmas.\\

'''Spiderman:''' If she gets me [=DVDs=] I'm making her return them. I keep telling her, Blu-Rays or nothing!\\