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1->'''Edmund:''' Yes. It might be wise to appoint a new Lord, to make sure the old Lords vote the right way.\
2'''Prince George:''' Good thought...new Lord...any idea who?\
3'''Edmund:''' Well, sir, one name does leap to mind.\
4'''Prince George:''' Does it?\
5'''Edmund:''' Yes, sir.\
6'''Prince George:''' ''(long pause)'' You couldn't make it leap any higher, could you?
7-->-- ''Series/{{Blackadder}} the Third''
8
9Whenever a woman wants something from the significant man in her life, she will usually tell him. Not directly, [[CannotSpitItOut mind you]]; in true passive-aggressive spirit she will drop vague and subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints here and there (often in unrelated occasions), expecting he will put the pieces together himself.
10
11Such hints almost never work. The man won't take the hints (heck, he may not even ''notice'' the hints), and the woman will end up furious at him for it. And, more often than not, since she is often [[WomenAreWiser wiser]] and he is most likely a BumblingDad, the writer will expect the viewer to take her side, seeing him as insensitive and clueless and her as blameless.
12
13This can be TruthInTelevision, seeing as women who ''[[DoYouWantToCopulate are]]'' forward and direct in their advances [[MyGirlIsNotASlut tend to be frowned upon]], but TV (especially {{Sit Com}}s, where the trope is quite popular) highly exaggerates the phenomenon. One would expect a man who's lived with a woman for umpteen years to be able to read her hints with at least some degree of accuracy; but this never carries over into fiction. Nor does said fictional woman ever just speak directly about what's on her mind.
14
15Further, despite the gender slant of this entry, both women ''and'' men are subject to this trope. Fiction, however, [[DoubleStandard tends to show us more women than men]] dropping such hints.
16
17Naturally, with this trope nobody dropping hints ever thinks that the recipient got the hint and merely disagrees with it. Additionally, it is a little bit odd to blame the recipient of a piece of communication for not understanding the communicator's message; one shouldn't criticise a German, after all, for not understanding French. ([[SidetrackedByTheAnalogy Now, English, of course is spoken all over the universe!]])
18
19A subtrope of CannotSpitItOut; this is where the character ''will'' not spit it out. If the other person actually gets the hint, it's GladYouThoughtOfIt. This is itself a supertrope to PromptingNudge. Also see SecretMessageWink.
20----
21!!Examples:
22[[foldercontrol]]
23
24[[folder:Advertising]]
25* A car insurance ad in Australia for a company called AAMI (pronounced 'Amy') features a woman called Amy in a jewelery store talking directly to the camera, giving a message to "my man Todd". She turns on a CD player that starts playing the bridal march. She talks about how much AAMI could save him on his car insurance and 'who knows what he could do with the money he saves'. She ostentatiously droops her hand forward to display an engagement ring (with the price tag still attached) and pointedly tells Todd to "give AAMI a ring" as the phone number flashes up.
26** A follow-up ad had the now married Amy standing in a travel agency, complaining the cheapness of the honeymoon and waving a brochure for Paris.
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:Anime]]
30* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Asuka Langley Sohryu is drawn to Shinji Ikari. However; her psychological hang-ups, means that she cannot just spit it out because she is frightened of opening up and getting hurt again. So she occasionally -- and clumsily -- drops hints (the "Wall of Jericho" scene, shoving her breasts on his face, the kiss scene...). Unfortunately Shinji is too meek and just as socially inept and frightened of other people as her, so he never realizes her hints are... well, hints, even if he liked her back, and his obliviousness leads to Asuka getting increasingly furious, upset and depressed, which in turn makes him upset and depressed. Cue both breaking down.
31* Time and time again in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' where a girl would express blatant interest in Ash, but [[ObliviousToLove he always fails to notice]]. Misty tried it at least once or twice, Macey (one of Ash's opponents in the Johto League) is not even trying to be subtle about her declarations of love, and Serena, ''repeatedly'' (she tried it twice in her first episode together with him, and the count only keeps going up from there). [[spoiler:Eventually, Serena throws out the subtly and go for the broke with [[SacredFirstKiss a kiss]] for Ash]].
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Comic Strips]]
35* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'':
36-->'''Jeremy:''' Some people are going to a movie tonight... Wanna go?\
37'''Sara:''' I can't. I'm babysitting.\
38'''Jeremy:''' Oh.\
39'''Sara:''' Until midnight. By myself. At 6539 Windmill Lane. It's a light gray house. With a big comfy couch and a kid who goes to sleep at 8.\
40'''Jeremy:''' So you're busy then, huh?\
41'''Sara:''' ''[thinking]'' Sara, he's a GUY... You '''have''' to be more obvious.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Fan Works]]
45* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'':
46** Throughout the story several characters point Shinji out that Asuka had dropped several hints at his direction. Their explanations usually are followed by Shinji face-palming and groaning at being clueless and oblivious. Later Shinji and Asuka often wonder if their lives could have gone differently if he had got her hints or she had been more straight-forward.
47--->'' 'I'm starting to really like the feeling of a warm body keeping me company in bed while sweat cools on my skin. Too bad Baka-Shinji didn't catch my 'Walls of Jericho' hint. This would have made synch training a lot more fun… we could have had more days like this.'''
48** During a conversation [[spoiler:Hikari reveals Touji]] she liked him and had dropped several hints. He admitted that he was figuring it out and he was thinking of talking to her about it when [[spoiler:the Bardiel accident]] happened and ruined his plans.
49* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': After kissing for first time Asuka asks Shinji why he had never responded any of her advances favourably if he liked her. Dismayed, she learns that [[ObliviousToLove Shinji never realized that she was dropping hints.]]
50** In chapter 1:
51--->'''Asuka''':''"Wait, if you feel like that about me, why didn't you ever respond any of the other times I tried to flirt with you? I've been trying to get you to do something for weeks!"''\
52'''Shinji''':''"Wait, other times? What other times?"''\
53'''Asuka''':''"When a girl walks up to you in a bikini and starts using her chest as a ''physics demo'', she's trying to ''get your attention''!"''\
54'''Shinji''':''"Oh."''
55** And in chapter 2:
56--->''She'd finally gotten that dense, oblivious, blind baka to finally notice the fact she'd been trying to get him to react to her hints that she... kind of thought he was cute.''
57** Fortunately, they ''really'' [[SugarWiki/{{WAFF}} made up for]] lost time afterwards.
58* In the appropriately titled ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9354068/1/Dropping-Hints Dropping Hints]]'', when Starfire is desperate because Robin won't ask her out. Raven recommends she stop being subtle, and start dropping a lot of hints for him. However, when Starfire asks Beast Boy what that means, he realizes Robin might be too thick for the trope to work, so he tells Starfire the Earth custom is [[spoiler:to leave around notes stating her intentions]]. At least it works...
59* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': When Asuka meets Shinji she mentions on passing she had been constantly hitting on him… and getting exasperated because she could not tell whether he was dense or not interested:
60-->'''Asuka''':"You masturbating over my comatose body was far from the worst thing to happen to me that week. At least it proved you were too dumb to know when you're being hit on instead of just gay."
61* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': During the first half of the story, Asuka teases Shinji, incites him to kiss her, tries to sleep with him... and Shinji didn't got it until she bluntly said she loved him.
62* In the ''Manga/FairyTail'' fanfiction ''The Young And The Reckless'', the [[PerpetualSmiler kind and cheerfully helpful]] young man the MainCharacters meet up with drops dozens of hints that [[spoiler: he is actually TheDragon, TheMole, a {{Bifauxnen}}, and in it all ForTheLulz; the woman he was talking to when they met is married to another member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad; TheBartender who led them to him is another member of the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Squad]], and the BigBad has [[DiabolicalMastermind planned]] [[CrazyPrepared ahead]] for ways to [[CombatPragmatist kill them all as efficiently as possible]].]] Of course, no one gets the hints at the time, though they [[DopeSlap smack themselves upside the head]] for missing it once TheReveal happens.
63* ''Fanfic/SynepeiesACollectionOfNTRConsequences'' deconstructs this in the short story "The Childhood Friend Waited Too Long", in which Miki tried using this multiple times in order to get Takashi to make the first move. He never did, mostly because Takashi self-admittedly kind of dense. Not helping Miki's case is that she GaveUpTooSoon, trapping herself between flings and putting herself in a negative light out of frustration. Meanwhile, Saki was able to gain Takashi's feelings simply by [[MundaneSolution directly telling him exactly how she felt]].
64[[/folder]]
65
66[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
67* The Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston movie ''Film/TheBreakup'' is all about this, though in this case neither one is favored by the audience; he seems to be dedicated to being incredibly insensitive, and she fancies herself a [[ManipulativeBastard mistress of manipulation]], though her many {{plan}}s backfire. In the end, [[spoiler:nobody wins; contrary to expectation, they actually break up]], each wiser for the wear, apparently.
68* In ''Film/DjangoUnchained'', Lara Candie and the ranchers are trying to devise a FateWorseThanDeath for Django in the wake of [[spoiler:Calvin]]'s death. Stephen [[SurroundedByIdiots painstakingly]] recalls how he repeatedly made "casual" mentions to each suggestion that Lequint Dickey Mining Company slaves have it ''way'' worse than any of that, [[GladIThoughtOfIt before anyone took the hint]].
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Literature]]
72* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
73** This is the last straw for Nobby in ''Literature/TheFifthElephant.'' After Vimes and Carrot both go to Uberwald, acting-captain Colon becomes increasingly tyrannical, but Nobby is willing to put up with it if he can make sergeant. After dropping several boulder-like hints that he would ''definitely'' make a good sergeant and leaving no doubt the name he has in mind, Colon takes the advice and promotes Bauxite the troll. This prompts Nobby to finally organize the other angry Watchmen into a strike.
74** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', Nobby complains that people can't take a hint. The hint in question is that he's told them he rarely takes baths, in the hope that they'll stop giving him bath stuff every Hogswatch.
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' subverted it: Officer Don thought Sally was dropping hints that she wanted him to propose; but Sally, [[NoSocialSkills being an alien and all]], actually meant what she said literally.
79* The page quote is from the third series of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'', when Blackadder is trying to rise from butler to Lord by citing the work he's just done in keeping the spendthrift George from being bankrupted by Parliament. George, being [[TheDitz who he is]], doesn't get it at all and needs several increasingly-obvious hints to realize who Blackadder is suggesting. [[spoiler:So he makes Baldrick a Lord.]]
80* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': When Willow was unsatisfied that her and Oz's relationship wasn't progressing to smoochies:
81-->'''Buffy''': Have you dropped any hints?\
82'''Willow''': I've dropped anvils!
83* Inverted in ''Series/TheCosbyShow''. When an old girlfriend of Elvin's comes to visit and wants to have dinner with him and Sondra, Sondra declines, as she has to work on her law school application, but repeatedly (over his own insistence that he ''not'' go out) tells Elvin that it's all right if he does. Of course, this is exactly the opposite of what she really means and is furious with him when he comes home. Elvin is completely confused as to why she's so angry and wonders how she expected him to know that being told "Yes, it's okay if you go out" actually meant, "No, I don't want you to go out."
84* ''Series/DoctorWho'': At the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone "Flesh and Stone"]], Amy, having gone through a near-death experience that's led her to put her view on her upcoming marriage in perspective, tries to hint to the Doctor about "who" she wants, but he doesn't get it. So she tries to outright jump him. This leads him to decide that grabbing her fiancé and making him come along is absolutely necessary.
85* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' uses this trope pretty regularly, but offered a realistic subversion in at least one episode. After Debra criticizes Raymond for not picking up on her hints, he responds by saying that, after being married to him for so long, she should've already known that he can't take hints, and thus should've just told him directly. She reconsiders, admits that he's right and apologizes as well.
86* Compare and contrast with Father Dougal's idea of a subtle hint in ''Series/FatherTed'' -- writing what he wants on a banner that covers most of the parochial house.
87* In ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Jill has made plans for her and Tim to attend some formal event. She's marked the date on the calendar (apparently ''only'' marked it, not indicated what it was), ordered up his formal wear and all that. Tim, of course, doesn't take the hint. It should be noted, though, that this is a case where the trope is treated in a more balanced fashion. Jill and Tim are equally to blame for the misunderstanding: he for not noticing what she's up to (or at the least, ''asking''), and she for not realizing he wasn't catching on and just straight up telling him. Of course, in the end, just as Jill is about to apologize to Tim, he apologizes first... and Jill doesn't bother.
88* In ''Series/MikeAndMolly'' Mike constantly misses hints, notable examples being when she objected to his gallon of combined shampoo/conditioner so he bought separate gallon jugs of each. Also the time a week before Christmas she told him how much she loved the coffee from a certain shop that also sold the machine they used and he asked her if she liked birds.
89* Spoofed in the final episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', where the guys riffed ''Film/DangerDiabolik''; when the film's female lead outright points out what she wants for her birthday, Crow quips "Typical guy, didn't take the hint."
90* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Miss Brooks drops hints left and right for ObliviousToLove Mr. Boynton. Usually they don't work, that is until the GrandFinale.
91* A RunningGag on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''. in the game "Greatest Hits", Ryan would sometimes try to drop a hint about the next style of music. All too often, Colin would end up ComicallyMissingThePoint.
92-->'''Ryan''': What comes to mind when I say "Ricky Ricardo" and "great cigars"?\
93'''Colin''': Oh, tapioca.\
94''[beat]''\
95'''Ryan''': Really. Why is that?\
96'''Colin''': Wasn't that his big hit? "TAPIOOOOOOCA! TAPIOOOCA!"\
97'''Ryan''': ''[trying not to laugh]''. Oh, no no. I'm talking about Cu-- ''[[[{{Corpsing}} bursts out laughing]]]'' I'm talking about Cuba, Col-- ''[loses it again]''
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Radio]]
101* ''Radio/CabinPressure'':
102** In order to help Martin win a competition with Carolyn, Douglas, who had previously agreed not to tell Martin the correct answers, has to resort to this. And since it's Martin, some of those hints are very blatant.
103** in "Ipswich", [[TheDitz Arthur]] is preparing for a written test he's required to take, and knows full-well he's going to be terrible at it. One of the men who works at the center tries dropping some hints about the correct answer Arthur will need, but Arthur's too stupid to get it. And later on admits he wasn't listening to the conversation to begin with.
104
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Theatre]]
108* In the second act of ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}'', after telling Arthur that his Broadway musical needs to end with a wedding, The Lady of the Lake proceeds to drop a series of increasingly blatant hints that his wedding should be to her. He gets it eventually.
109[[/folder]]
110
111[[folder:Video Games]]
112* In ''VideoGame/TheDarksideDetective'', when [=McQueen=] and Dooley are Christmas shopping, Dooley sees something he likes in a shop window and tries to hint to [=McQueen=] that it would make a good gift. When [=McQueen=] is unreceptive to his first, relatively subtle, hint, he starts getting more blatant; his last attempt is a straight-up statement of what he wants that only qualifies as a hint because he says "Hint, hint" at the end.
113* Hilariously used near the conclusion of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', where your character can be completely oblivious to Leliana's invitations to bed the night before the final battle, forcing her to speak more frankly.
114* In VideoGame/DragaliaLost, Cassandra tries flirting with Aurelius in the past, only for them to never get married. In the present day, she regrets not being more direct with him.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Visual Novels]]
118* In ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', Amanda tries to seduce the protagonist by small but significant actions, such as delaying covering herself when he sees her in the shower. The culmination is in Whiskeyville, when she walks into his hotel room naked. Still, it takes [[spoiler:the protagonist finding out that Amanda is actually writing the father-daughter incest stories that Kathy is posting]] for him to figure out what's going on. Justified by the taboo on incest.
119** Later on, Amanda asks the protagonist if he notices anything different after he gets home from work. After he gives a generic answer, she is angry that he didn't notice the work she put into her makeup.
120*** Then, Amanda does this for a ''third'' time. She gives vague clues that she wants the protagonist to tell her about her mother, and when he doesn't take the hint, [[spoiler:she surreptitiously moves out of their apartment]].
121* ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'':
122** Johanna and Tamara both do this with the protagonist to show their respective feelings for him. He gradually wises up to Johanna's feelings, but Tamara soon loses patience and goes direct.
123** Dennis does this to the protagonist in a non-romantic example. After the yacht trip, Dennis starts making not-so-veiled references to the protagonist's role in the Barbarossa incident before playing a recording of his "therapeutic" conversation with Tamara about the incident. Subverted, as the protagonist actually wonders if Dennis could actually know about the conversation and/or what the two of them did.
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Webcomics]]
127* ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'': One of Erma's friends in [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/erma/erma-rat-trap-/viewer?title_no=170650&episode_no=159 Rat Trap]] states that a rat is causing a lot of havoc and it would be nice if '''''[[StringyHairedGhostGirl somebody]]''''' had the ability to stop it. Erma smiles and nods then returns to eating her lunch. The next scene has her friend pushing her to the area saying "that means you".
128* One ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' story arc included a segment where a sphinx repeatedly dropped hints that Shelly should cut open a sacred tree with a sword, but she repeatedly missed them.
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Western Animation]]
132* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons:''
133-->'''Marge:''' Oh, Homey, look at that watch. I've always wanted a watch like that.
134-->'''Homer:''' ''(slyly)'' Well, maybe someone will give you one for Christmas...
135-->'''Marge:''' ''(happy sound)''
136-->'''Homer:''' ''(thinking)'' Now she'll ''really'' be surprised when she opens that ironing board cover!
137* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Stewie drops hints that [[RefugeInAudacity Meg should become bulimic]].
138** In another episode, Chris gives Lois smoker's toothpaste for her birthday, asking her to "take the hint."
139** Another episode has Brian's new girlfriend give not-so-subtle hints that they should start having sex; namely, by hiring an air traffic controller and installing runway lights in her apartment, both of which point to her in a suggestive position.
140* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', in one episode Aladdin is shopping for a locket for Jasmine. When Genie asks why he sarcastically mentions she's been dropping "little hints" like pointing at them and shouting "I want one!"
141* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Isabella tries to reveal her crush on Phineas in non-direct ways. It...[[ObliviousToLove doesn't work]] and she eventually gives up. [[spoiler: When the tables turn in their teenage years, Phineas doesn't bother with hints]].
142* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'':
143** In "[[Recap/ArthurS8E9FleaToBeYouAndMeKissAndTell Kiss and Tell]]", D.W. spends most of the episode trying to hint to her classmate James that [[ItMakesSenseInContext she wants a kiss from him]]. [[spoiler:He never gets the hint, and it takes D.W. ultimately being direct with him to get one]].
144** {{Implied|Trope}} in "The Great [=MacGrady=]", where Ed Crosswire's butler Bailey gives him a copy of Creator/SamuelBeckett's ''Theatre/{{Endgame}}'' for his birthday. That book is about the life of an OldRetainer who is desperate to leave his demanding master but is constantly prevented from doing so, implying Bailey may be trying to hint to Ed that he feels the same way about working for him.
145* ''WesternAnimation/{{SixTeen}}'': Caitlyn pretty much personifies the "passive female" in relationships and thus struggles to communicate directly with any of her various beaus. When she's unhappy with the way Tallen kisses her, the only thing she can think to do is take him to a romcom and talk about how "''nice'' and ''soft''" the kisses look, rather than politely asking him not to use quite so much tongue. She freezes up trying to get a date to a Sadie Hawkins dance because her usual method of flirting is "flutter her eyelashes and await the invitation" and she actually considers it desperate and pathetic for a girl to be the one to ask, even when that's what the dance calls for. In another episode, when a boy isn't taking her hints and Jen encourages her to be direct, her solution is dressing up as a penguin because they mate for life and telling the boy she's chosen him to be her mate. She's not great at ''taking'' hints either; when Kevin tells her her flirtatious notes seemed "masculine" and "[he] and [she] are looking for ''the same thing,''" she still doesn't get why he's no longer interested in her until another character spells it out (though still euphemistically).
146[[/folder]]

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