Line #19 Main/PartiallyConcealedLabelGag


1	[[quoteright:233:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spay.png]]]]
2
3	A comedy device where a character misjudges the meaning of a sign or banner because part of it is concealed. This leads to them making a wrong decision which they soon have to regret with hilarious results.
4
5	Compare SignsOfDisrepair, where certain letters of the sign are missing to spell out something different. See CueCardPause for when a sentence is misleading because it's incomplete. See StoppedReadingTooSoon for a more dramatic self-inflicted variation of this trope.
6	----
7
8	!!Examples:
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10	[[foldercontrol]]
11
12	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
13	* In the ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Maa Mooli", Samosa and his gang are directed to a junkyard to cure Dhokla's bad luck. The outside of the junkyard has a sign on the front that looks like it says "Anger", confusing Samosa, but after the gang goes into the junkyard, some gunk on the sign falls off and reveals the sign actually says "Danger".
14	[[/folder]]
15
16	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
17	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Yzma tries to poison Kuzco so she can become ruler. Unfortunately, when Kronk pours the potion into Kuzco's drink, he [[{{Animorphism}} transforms into a llama]] instead of dying. Yzma then looks at the bottle Kronk used and notices that the label is peeling, unfolding it to reveal that instead of a skull, it is actually a llama silhouette.
18	-->'''Yzma:''' This isn't poison, this is extract of ''llama!''\
19	'''Kronk:''' [[DumbassHasAPoint You know, in my defense, your poisons all look alike. You might wanna think about relabeling some of them.]]
20	[[/folder]]
21
22	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
23	* Creator/BusterKeaton liked this gag:
24	** ''Film/TheNavigator'' has a scene where he has to enter pier 2. He comes across pier 12 where a post covers the "1" on the sign to make it look like pier 2. So he enters the wrong pier and boat and unwillingly ends up on the open sea.
25	** ''Film/SevenChances'' features this twice:
26	*** In one scene, Buster sees a human-size poster of an attractive actress in front of a theatre and decides to bribe the bouncer to get into her changing room. Then a stagehand comes and removed a crate in front of the poster and reveals that the actress was actually an actor dressed as a lady. Cue Buster coming out of the changing room all bruised up. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/j2U5Uhk4oIM?t=1790 here]].
27	*** In another scene, Buster tries to escape a horde of angry women by rushing into a Turkish Bath. What he didn't know was that he actually crashed the Lady's day at the bath. Turns out the sign at the entrance was covered up by a pedestrian. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/j2U5Uhk4oIM?t=2626 here]].
28	* In ''Film/CabinBoy'', a cow is blocking an arrow on a sign; as a result, instead of going to Golden Mist Seaport and boarding the luxury liner the ''Queen Catherine'', Nathaniel Mayweather instead goes to Backtown and boards the fishing boat ''The Filthy Whore'', triggering the main plot of the film.
29	* ''Film/TheSmurfs'': Clumsy Smurf sees a sign that appears to read "Go This Way" while running from Gargamel. As he runs in the sign's direction, he bumps a bush covering it, revealing that it says "Do Not Go This Way." The sign actually leads to the dangerous Blue Portal, which takes him to the real world.
30	* In ''Film/NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation'', Clark takes the family on a side trip from their game show prize vacation to visit their relatives in Germany. They're looking for house six ("6") and it appears they found it and introduce themselves to the couple living there. Just after they step inside, a leaf falls away from the number sign, revealing that it actually says sixteen ("16"). Clark and his family stay with the couple for a night and leave without ever noticing the couple was not their relatives.
31	* ''Film/Paddington2014'' has Paddington mistake a car for a taxi, but really the door was open, so it reads, "Taxidermist".
32	* In ''Film/AmericanPie'', Finch, who refuses to use the toilets at school, has an [[LaxativePrank acute attack of diarrhea]] and doesn't have time to get home. Stifler "helpfully" points him to the restroom while covering up the first part of the "Women" sign. Embarrassment ensues.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Literature]]
36	* ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants''
37	** In George and Harold's comic about the lunch ladies, a teacher accidentally creates zombies by burying the dead lunch ladies on a hill with a sign saying "bury dead stuff here". After he leaves, lightning strikes a tree covering the sign, revealing it saying: "Warning: this hill is haunted. Whatever you do, DON'T bury dead stuff here."
38	** George and Harold make this a RunningGag in their ''Hairy Potty'' spin-off comic; the titular werewolf-toilet both enjoys sabotaging signs in this manner and often does so accidentally in his battles with Captain Underpants. For instance, on a billboard reading, "My homemade buttermilk bread smells great! It's awfully good!", he'll crash through the entire right half of the sign so it says "My butt smells awful". One particularly sadistic instance had him laser off a portion of a sign reading "Please drive very slowly over tracks; children at play" to make it "Please drive slowly over chidren".
39	* In ''Literature/TheDumbBunnies'', the Bunnies unintentionally steal someone's car at a car wash, since the car was covering up the "WASH" in "FREE CAR WASH".
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
43	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment:'' Tobias is looking for work as an actor, so he goes to a newsstand and grabs what he thinks is an issue of ''Actor Pull'' magazine. But part of the cover was obscured by the magazine right next to it--he actually grabbed the latest issue of ''Tractor Pull'', a magazine for farmers.
44	* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow''
45	** Hill is standing next to a sign that says "HOMES TO LET." Several attractive women enter the building. They leave, and one of them slaps him in the face. An adjustment is made to the sign: "HOMMES TOILET."
46	** In a similar gag, Benny is putting up a sign saying "JOHN SMITH, THE RAPIST." Jackie comes out gesturing wildly at the sign. Benny moves the lower sign to make it read "JOHN SMITH, THERAPIST."
47	* ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'': In "Snow Show, Part One", the Duncan family [[SkiResortEpisode visit a ski resort]]. P.J. decides to go snowboarding, and comes across a sign that is halfway obscured by snow and appears to say "TRAIL". When P.J. goes snowboarding, he accidentally knocks the snow off the sign, revealing it to say "NOT A TRAIL", and resulting in him taking a tumble.
48	* In one episode of ''Series/TheNanny'', Fran goes to her high school class reunion. At the reunion, a sign on the wall reads "Class of 198-", only for the remaining number to be obscured by Fran standing in front of it, [[AgeInsecurity likely to prevent]] the audience from learning [[VagueAge how old she is]]. The full sign remains [[TheUnreveal unrevealed]].
49	* ''Series/ThroughTheDragonsEye'': Scott and Boris come across a sign while ascending the mountains of Widge that appears to say "Road Safe." Turns out the Widgets covered the prefix and it actually says "Road ''Un''safe." They end up caught in a rockslide moments later.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Video Games]]
53	* ''VideoGame/{{Superliminal}}'': While traversing through a dark, horror-themed area, the player sees a sign through a doorway that reads "DIE". [[spoiler:Going through the doorway reveals the "sign" to actually be stacked cases which read "DIET SODA"]].
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Webcomics]]
57	* ''Webcomic/PebbleAndWren'': When Pebble is looking for a job, he sees a sign saying, "Small monsters". He gets excited because he is a small monster, only to find that the sign actually says, "Small monsters need not apply."
58	* The ''Webcomic/{{Buttersafe}}'' comic "[[https://www.buttersafe.com/2010/01/14/future-con-2010/ Future Con 2010]]" parodies this trope. A group of friends plans to attend a science-fiction convention because one of them received a flyer about it. Said friend has held onto the flyer for a week and [[TemptingFate loudly declares]] "I haven't even moved my thumb, which is covering what I can only assume is an inconsequential portion of the flyer [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial that, if revealed, would in no way alter the assumptions I've made about what kind of convention this is.]]" We then see that the flyer reads "FU***TURE CON," with said thumb covering up the missing letters--and cut to a group of people dressed as ''furniture.''
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Web Original]]
62	* [[https://derpibooru.org/tags/wow%2521+glimmer Wow! Glimmer]] is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fandom [[Memes/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicCharacterMemes meme]] about deliberately creating these gags, by carefully cropping advertisements from [[VideoGame/MyLittlePonyGameloft the Gameloft app]] to produce a different meaning, or just nonsense.
63	** The image that started it all: [[https://derpibooru.org/1117002 an ad reading "Wow! Starlight Glimmer Bundle!"]] was trimmed down to just the middle of the picture, now reading [[https://derpibooru.org/1208039 "Wow! Glimmer"]].
64	** An example from 2023 (with some spoilers from [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie2017 The Movie]]): [[https://derpibooru.org/images/3127519 This ad]] originally read "The unicorn formerly known as Tempest Shadow has started using her real name again [[spoiler:after defecting from the Storm King's army]]. Turns out, her horn is REALLY good at making fireworks! 85% OFF". Through careful cropping, [[https://derpibooru.org/images/3127592 the image instead reads,]] "Turns out, [[FictionalDisability her horn is 85% OFF]]".
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Web Videos]]
68	* ''WebVideo/CinematicTitanic:'' While watching ''Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks'', Trace Beaulieu mentions how much he loves the original novel ''Frankenstein''. None of the other riffers were aware of this fact, so Trace shows off his novelty t-shirt to prove it:
69	-->'''Trace Beaulieu:''' Why do you think I wear this t-shirt all the time? ''[opens his suit jacket to show off the shirt]''
70	-->'''Josh Elvis Weinstein:''' ''[reading the shirt]'' "I Like Frank."
71	-->''[Trace contorts himself so the rest of the shirt is visible...]''
72	-->'''Josh:''' ''[continued reading]'' "...enstein's Monster." Oh!
73	-->'''Frank Conniff:''' I always thought that shirt was about me! I'm a little sad now.
74	* ''WebVideo/PeanutButterGamer'': In his "Goodwill Games #9" video, PBG plays the PC adaptation of ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanA5thGrader''. While playing the game, he refers to the character of Edward as "Ard" due to the first half of Edward's name tag being obscured by Logan's head.
75	* ''WebVideo/SearchForSandvich'': The Medic watches the Sniper's video of Twin Peaks. However, the Medic pauses the video on a frame where the town's name is partially off-camera, and he deduces that they must be in a place called "Twin Pea".
76	* At the beginning of WebVideo/ScottTheWoz's episode on ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'', Scott is seen chugging a bottle of "Ru Alcohol", with his thumb partially on the label, stating that if there's anything underneath his thumb, it can wait until later. At the end of the episode, Scott finally moves his thumb to discover that the "Ru Alcohol" he's been drinking is actually rubbing alcohol.
77	-->'''Scott:''' That's where the death-y aftertaste came from! I should really work on my thumb placement more. ''(Passes out on desk)''
78	* ''WebVideo/{{Unraveled}}'': In his video on E3, Brian David Gilbert wears a shirt satiring 'Gamer' apparel that includes multiple slogans on it, including 'I love eating', 'Classic Gaming', and 'Do you?' at the bottom. When he throws a jacket on over it, letters conspicuously disappear to form the message 'I LOVE EATING ASS DO YOU?'
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Western Animation]]
82	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is big on this:
83	** In the "Itchy and Scratchy" sketch in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E2CapeFeare Cape Feare]]", Itchy purposely covers up the letter "s" on an advertisement board reading "We spay your pet - $75" so it would read "We pay your pet - $75". Scratchy falls for the offer and ends up StrappedToAnOperatingTable. Watch the scene [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV112-2HK5I here]].
84	** In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E9SideshowBobsLastGleaming Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming]]", Homer is at an air show where he spots a banner beyond a crowd of people advertising "Free Duff". Overjoyed, he heads over to the counter and empties 8 cups at once. Then the crowd dissolves and we get a better look at the banner which actually reads "Alcohol-Free Duff - $6". Homer has to resort to a fake {{Fainting}} attack in order to get out of paying those $48. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/Pvz9pA0EtPg?t=56 here]].
85	** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E3TreehouseOfHorror Treehouse of Horror I]]" segment "Hungry Are the Damned" (a parody of ''To Serve Man''), Lisa finds a cookbook titled "How To Cook Humans". One of the aliens blows dust off the cover, revealing the title says "How To Cook '''For''' Humans". Then Lisa blows more dust, showing "How To Cook '''Forty''' Humans", then the alien takes the book back and blows off even more dust, showing the full title "How To Cook For Forty Humans".
86	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E1BartOfDarkness Bart of Darkness]]", Bart thinks Ned Flanders has murdered his wife and sends Lisa into his house to investigate. Lisa goes to the freezer and pulls out a green bag labeled "human head", horrifying her and Bart. She is relieved after wiping off more frost, revealing it to be a "Sc'''human''' Farms '''head''' of lettuce".
87	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E10TheSpringfieldFiles The Springfield Files]]", Homer finds a sign that reads "DIE" while stumbling around Springfield drunk. He screams in horror, then the wind blows a tree out of the way, revealing the sign to say "DIET." [[FauxHorrific Homer screams even louder at this]].
88	** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]" tells the story of Maggie's birth. Homer quits his job at the power plant to work at a bowling alley, but he has to return to the power plant eventually because he makes more money working there and he needs to support Maggie. When he returns, Mr. Burns puts a plaque over his desk that reads "Don't forget, you're here forever." In the present day, Homer has now put pictures of Maggie over the plaque, making it read "Do it for her."
89	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E5HomerDefined Homer Defined]]", Homer almost causes a nuclear meltdown when he ignores the core temperature gauge on his dashboard, which was obscured by excess jelly from a donut he was eating.
90	--->'''Homer:''' Okay, okay, don't panic. Whoever's problem this is, I'm sure they know how to handle it.
91	--->''(at this point, the increasing heat causes an air bubble to blow from the stain and burst, revealing the gauge behind it)''
92	--->'''Homer:''' [[OhCrap AAAHH! IT'S]] ''[[OhCrap MY]]'' [[OhCrap PROBLEM! WE'RE DOOMED!]]
93	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E22TheySavedLisasBrain They Saved Lisa's Brain]]", Lisa sees Reverend Lovejoy driving the "Book Mobile" and she advises him to get anything by Creator/JaneAusten. As the van moves away from the branch hiding part of the vehicle, the slogan is revealed to actually be "Book '''[[BookBurning Burning]]''' Mobile".
94	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E3MidnightTowboy Midnight Towboy]]", Homer is driving around in search of milk, but none of the places he goes to have any. At one point, he sees a sign, partially obscured by a tree, which appears to say "MILK", but actually reads "Creator/MrT Is the Lion King".
95	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E17ApocalypseCow Apocalypse Cow]]", Homer is going to save Bart's cow, Lou, from slaughter. He looks through binoculars and sees a "laughter house," which he likes the idea of. He zooms out and notices it's a slaughterhouse, and screams.
96	** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRCYtOSKLP8 this official Sky 1]] channel bumper that aired in the UK, Scratchy is being wheeled through a hospital and sees a sign that reads "A&E" (an emergency room). He gets closer and finds it to be a Super Killing L'''ase'''r. While Scratchy remains initially unharmed from the laser, the operating table he's strapped to flips over and is then shattered by the laser, cutting him apart.
97	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E4TreehouseOfHorrorXVI Treehouse of Horror XVI]]", Bart gets into a fight at the zoo. He lands in the peacock habitat, and is relieved, until a peacock moves and reveals it to be a ''mutant'' peacock habitat. The peacocks reveal their many eyes and close in on Bart.
98	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E24LostOurLisa Lost Our Lisa"]], Lisa gets lost taking the wrong bus and stumbles upon a military base.
99	--->'''Lisa:''' How could I confuse Bus 22 with 22A? Area 51? Ha, I found Area 51!
100	--->'''Guard:''' No, ma'am. [steps back] This is Area 51-A.
101	** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS34E7FromBeerToPaternity From Beer to Paternity]]" does it three times in quick succession, with Duffman entering what he thinks is a bar for women and spraying them with beer, before being chased out by a bunch of angry female lawyers. These three buildings are the '''Women's Bar''' Association, '''Ladies' Pub'''lic Defenders Society, and Women's Le'''gal Dive'''rsity Initiative. The first two times, the concealed word was covered up by pigeons, so Duffman shooed the pigeons away from the third one before barging in, only for that sign to be [[SignsOfDisrepair a faulty neon sign]].
102	* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Krusty Koncessionaires", which features Mr. Krabs with a new advertising banner for the Krusty Krab:
103	-->The Krusty Krab
104	-->Krabby Patties are yummy
105	-->Please your face
106	-->Tonight would be great!
107	::However, the banner gets bent as he tries to get it up on the concert stage, it reads:
108	-->The Krusty Krab
109	-->Krummy
110	-->Place
111	-->To eat!
112	::The crowd isn't impressed.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'':
114	** In "Venison, Anyone?" (part of "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E48MrPopularsRulesOfCool Mr. Popular's Rule of Cool]]"), Montana Max tries to hunt a street-smart deer named Vinnie. At one point, Vinnie stands in front of a sign that appears to say, '''DEER CAVE''', and tricks Monty into going into the cave. However, his head and his right arm were blocking out the rest of the sign, revealing it to say, '''DEER KEEP OUT! BEAR CAVE'''.
115	** In "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E65HighToon High Toon]]", the Coyote Gang drink a bunch of water after eating very spicy chili, which is immediately followed by fast square dancing. Between the chili, the water, and the exercise, they get an intense case of PottyEmergency, and run into what appears to be an outhouse that says '''GUYS'''. Buster locks them in it, revealing it to be a cage that says '''BAD GUYS'''.
116	* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': In "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E03HoorayToddEpisode Hooray! Todd Episode!]]", Todd attends a fashion show as a celebrity's date. He reads a sign as "El Entrance" and, assuming it's Spanish, walks in to join the audience. However, a toucan's beak was blocking the sign, which really said "''Model'' Entrance," and Todd ends up on the runway.
117	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Oskar Can't Read?", as a final test to see if Oskar has conquered his illiteracy and learned to read, Arnold drops him off in a far-off part of town with written directions on how to get back home. When Oskar gets to the part where he has to take a subway to Sheffingtown, he looks up at the train schedule, which is partially obscured by a cart carrying a tall stack of luggage. The sign reads that a train going toward "Sheffing" is in one direction, and Oskar goes that way. Then the cart moves aside, and we see that Oskar has boarded a train to Sheffing'''ston'''--the Sheffing'''town''' train was the other way.
118	* A variant happens in a ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' sketch, where [[WesternAnimation/WonderPets the Wonder Pets]] rescue a baby cow. They think the cow is sad and bring him to a nearby building labelled "Laughterhouse" to cheer him up. However, the owner of the building then arrives and comments that he forgot to paint the letter "S" on his ''slaughterhouse''.
119	* In the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Battle of the Bands", Catdog joins a "battle of the bands" contest after seeing a poster that reads "Battle of the Bands, Nearburg's Best", along with a $1,000 reward. Part of the poster flies off and lands at the Greasers' feet, instead reading "Battle of Nearburg's Best". The Greasers enter the battle too but mistake it for a literal fight rather than a music battle between bands.
120	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode "Arthur Rides the Bandwagon", Arthur tries to buy a [[AnyoneRememberPogs Woogles]] toy, but all stores have sold out of them. He spots a street vendor he believed was selling them and bought one. The vendor moved the watch display uncovering the first letter revealing it to be [[ShoddyKnockoffProduct Poogles]] to the audience accompanied by a LosingHorns background sound and Buster's disgust as he walks by.
121	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}:'' In [[Recap/FuturamaS6E4PropositionInfinity "Proposition Infinity"]], Bender goes on a graffiti spree, posting pixel-art pictures of his own face in all kinds of inconvenient places. At one point he puts the picture on a traffic sign reading "FREEWAY ENDS AT NEXT CORNER", covering up just enough of the message to make it instead read "FREE CORN". Immediately after, the Hyper-Chicken drives by, gets excited at the prospect of free corn, then crashes his car into the end of the freeway.
122	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PartiallyConcealedLabelGag