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[[quoteright:251:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/not_hyperbole_8.jpg]]]]

->''"When someone says 'We've got people everywhere', you expect it to be hyperbole! Lots of people say that. '''Florists''' use that expression. It doesn't mean that they've got somebody working for them inside the bloody room!''"
-->-- '''[[Film/JamesBond M]]''', after narrowly surviving an assassination attempt, ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''

%%Quote changed per this (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=197#4902) thread.

It is a staple of fiction, and indeed casual dialogue in Real Life, to exaggerate when describing something. Everyone has heard it before: "I'm gonna hit you into next week!" "I'm the biggest baddest guy in town!" "He's the size of a house." We all know the people saying these things don't actually mean what they're saying. They're just using dramatic flair, that's all. It enhances the conversation or makes it funnier. So when the MightyGlacier tells his opponent that he's about to be punched through a wall, he can't actually do what he just said.

Unless he then proceeds to do exactly what he just said.

That's where this trope comes in. Not Hyperbole is when exaggerations and hyperboles that we've all become used to in conversation is neither exaggeration nor hyperbole. The character means exactly what he just said and nothing less and usually proceeds to prove it.

Usually part of a BadassBoast. See also LiteralMetaphor, and AllOfThem. LiteralAssKicking is a subtrope. NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer is a common variation. MyGodYouAreSerious may follow as well if another character realizes that this trope is in play.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* ''Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike'': In one commercial, [[Creator/TerryCrews Old Spice Man]] claims that Old Spice body spray "[[LargeHam WILL MAKE YOU SO POWERFUL IT'LL BLOW YOUR MIND AWAY IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE!]]" Cue Old Spice Man's brain flying in front of his face and exploding, causing him to lose the ability to speak properly.
-->'''Old Spice Man's Brain:''' Goodbye.\\
'''Old Spice Man:''' '''[[BigNo OH NOOOOOOOO!!!]]'''
* A Sprite commercial from the late '90s involves basketball players walking towards the camera. The announcer remarks that people look up to them for one reason: They're tall. They're very tall.
* In a Quizno's TV spot featuring a pre ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Creator/JimParsons, his character is eating an untoasted sub, making the Quizno's customer ask if the other one was raised RaisedByWolves. After seeing an aside with the character actually with wolves, he responds yes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': After Matsuri is [[LiteralSplitPersonality split into a boy and girl]], the boy says it feels like Suzu's gotten a lot closer to his female counterpart. [[RevealShot Then the perspective changes]] to show Suzu is ''physically'' at arm's length from boy Matsuri and almost shoulder-to-shoulder with girl Matsuri.
* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' begins with Denji and his AdorableAbomination Pochita dying and [[FusionDance merging together]] to resurrect the former. Denji assumes Pochita is still dead, but Makima assures him Pochita lives on inside him -- and specifies she means that [[OnlyMostlyDead literally]], as Pochita physically became Denji's heart (as in the organ). Ironically, Denji describes the situation to Power, who mocks him under the assumption he's speaking metaphorically, and he doesn't bother correcting her.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': When [[MakingASplash Juvia]] starts [[OcularGushers "crying waterfalls"]], this is ''no'' exaggeration. One time when she did this in relief of "her beloved" Gray's return, she ''flooded the guildhall''.
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': If Kenshiro says that after he's through with you [[NotEnoughToBury there will be not one hair left from you]], he ''means'' it!
* An ''unintentional'' variation occurs for a bit of drama in [[Recap/GhostInTheShellSACS1Episode14 Season 1, Episode 14]] of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', and only in the English-language track. Commenting on a recluse supposedly asleep in his bed...
-->'''Major:''' I'm amazed this racket didn't wake him. He sleeps ''like a dead man''.\\
''[pulls curtain; cue surprised look on her face; Togusa also looks]''\\
'''Togusa:''' That's 'cause ''he is''. Looks like he's been dead for about three or four months.
* ''Mazinger'':
** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': In the first episode, TheProfessor Dr. Kabuto tells TheHero Kouji whoever pilots Mazinger-Z has the potential to become a god or a devil. As later retellings and versions of the history (especially ''Z-Mazinger'' or ''Manga/ShinMazingerZero'') have proved, Dr. Kabuto was ''not'' exaggerating.
** ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': [[BoyfriendBlockingDad Danbei Makiba]] constantly yells he will hang with his bare hands whoever gets close to his daughter. Nonetheless, Kouji did not take his threats seriously... until Danbei attempted lynching him. Repeatedly.
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', [[PersonOfMassDestruction Evangeline]] doesn't have to exaggerate her threats:
-->'''Evangeline:''' [[EvilLaugh Ahahahaha! This is getting interesting!]] [[OneHitKill I'll finish this with a single blow!]] Hold the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad scum]] in place for me! ''[cue one-hit freeze]''
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Basically anyone noteworthy enough to [[NominalImportance get namedropped]] has an epithet, which is usually a badass-sounding RedBaron title, like "Heavenly Demon" (Donquixote Doflamingo) and "Surgeon of Death" (Trafalgar Law), but often enough it's a blunt and quite literal description. "Straw Hat" Luffy wears one, "Pirate Hunter" Zoro turned in pirates for their bounties prior to becoming one himself, and all of the Four Emperors have non-exaggerated epithets: "Red-Haired" Shanks, Edward "[[CaptainColorbeard Whitebeard]]" Newgate, and Marshall "Blackbeard" Teach all have the appropriate hair colours, "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin is a giant of a woman and the mother of 85 children from 43 husbands (lampshaded by Brook), and "King of the Beasts" Kaido has an army of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users.
** At one point, a samurai knocks over Sanji's soba cart, causing the chef to tell the man he's "gonna have to eat" the wasted soba. After beating the hell out of him, Sanji force-feeds the samurai all the spilled soba.
** The filler character Carmen claims she had wanted a cooking battle with Sanji for ten years, but her assistants quickly clarify she only saw the article about Sanji ten ''days'' ago. At the end of the cooking battle, it's revealed Carmen actually ''had'' met Sanji ten years ago and was inspired by him, leading to her desire for a cooking battle.
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', when Kyubey tells Madoka she could [[spoiler:become a god]], we're meant to assume he's exaggerating to convince her to [[DealWithTheDevil make a contract]]. Even he seems shocked when she actually does it, making a wish that hacks the system so she becomes less of a MagicalGirl and more of a [[spoiler:combination [[CrystalDragonJesus Jesus]] and {{psychopomp}}]].
* In the ''Anime/SamuraiPizzaCats'' finale, [[EvilChancellor Big Cheese]] drains the royal coffers for his latest and greatest scheme. Unfortunately, this is noticed by the Princess, who says there isn't enough money left to buy an ice cream. When Big Cheese says she's surely exaggerating, she tells him no, her check bounced that morning.
* ''Anime/SpacePatrolLuluco'': The BigBad mocks Luluco's crush on Nova as the most worthless thing in the universe. [[spoiler:In his words, a foolish girl superficially [[LovingAShadow Loving the Shadow]] of a person who is just as shallow (as in, he has no feelings whatsoever) produces an easily-reproducable gem called an Aflutter Jewel, which has no monetary or physical worth. However, because Blackholians desire worthless things, Luluco's Aflutter Jewels are especially coveted.]]
* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'': The opening theme tells that [[HumongousMecha Ideon]] can ''rip apart the galaxy''. Obviously an exaggeration, right? You keep thinking that if you live in that universe. You will live happier [[spoiler:for as long as you have left.]]
* ''Manga/SpyXFamily:'' In chapter 25/episode 18, Damian Desmond gets a call from his butler, Jeeves, who tells him that his father was very concerned after learning that Damian was punched on his first day of school. Damian, however, doesn't believe him, saying his father couldn't care less about him. Given that it's quite common for children and even teenagers to think their parents don't love them, one could easily dismiss this as typical child angst. [[spoiler: It isn't. At all. When we finally meet his father, Donovan Desmond, in person, he makes a speech about how he considers even his children strangers, [[AbusiveParents despite knowing full well that Damian can hear him.]]]]
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has the ArcWords, "[Simon's] drill is the drill that will pierce the heavens". Obviously, this is a metaphor, right? But by [[SerialEscalation the end of the series]], it's ''not''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Though it does not actually happen in this case, ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'' has the [[PhysicalGod Prime Mover]] warn a local IntrepidReporter that, if she should ever so much as ''think'' about revealing the secrets of the events that had transpired that day, her head would explode. This threat is, [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien with good reason]], taken entirely at face value.
-->'''Hyraxx:''' You're ''joking'', right? I can't control my ''thoughts''.\\
'''Prime Mover:''' I recommend a lobotomy.
* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Bullseye at one point comments that his jailors keep him on laxatives and stool softeners in the belief that he would murder his way out [[DungFu with a solid enough turd]].
-->''"And I would, too... if for no other reason than just to say that I did. Because I'm like that."''
* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Weather Wizard states that despite being a family man, he is ''not'' kidding about threatening to place a tornado into someone's belly, and actually carries it out.
-->'''Weather Wizard:''' That was '''never''' an empty threat.
* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' has multiple rumors, in-universe, about him being faster on the draw than his own shadow. ''[[FastestGunInTheWest They're all true]]'', and just in case you think you can get him to expend his six rounds by outnumbering him...
-->'''Lucky Luke:''' I also ''reload'' faster than my own shadow.
* ''ComicBook/NewXMen'': When Quentin Quire apparently dies, Charlies Xavier realizes that he actually managed to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. This is how he explains it:
-->'''Professor X:''' Quentin Quire was liberated from his physical cocoon and born into a higher world at 4:32 this afternoon. [[ArbitrarySkepticism I know how ridiculous that sounds]], but in this case, we believe it to be the literal truth.
* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': When Jody says he's going to "pull yore Goddamn head off so ol' T.C. can shit down yore neck", it's going to lead to T.C. saying "I better do my part. Either've you got any Kleenex, or'm I gonna have to wipe with my hand?"
* ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'': Prologue 1 is described as "Another exciting episode in the Earth-shaking adventures of Superman!" Next to "Earth-shaking", there's an asterisk that leads to the following message from Carmine and Stan: And if you think that's just hyperbole, then, fella -- hang on!
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' has [[PhysicalGod Dr. Manhattan's]] approach to dealing with violent protestors:
-->'''Dr. Manhattan:''' Pay attention. You will all return to your homes.\\
'''Protester:''' Oh yeah? And what if we don't, ya big blue fruit?\\
'''Dr. Manhattan:''' You misunderstand me. '''[[ThatWasntARequest It was not a request]].''' ''[Teleports all protesters to their '''individual''' homes]''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'':
** Alice will often follow through on her implausible threats, for instance when she stuffed Asok into his own shirt sleeve and punted him into the ceiling.
** She's also promised to "punch someone into next week" (or next ), only for the last panel to show them emerging from a time portal. [[RecycledScript Several times]].
** She's also kicked an Elbonian into his own hat.
** In another she threatened to punch a man so hard he'd have to drop his pants to say hello. The last panel shows a pair of arms sticking out of the top of a pair of pants, and Dilbert and Wally wondering what that odd "Melp, melp!" sound is.
** On another occasion she threatens to punch someone with an MBA so hard that everyone else with the same degree feels it. Cut to Dilbert and Wally talking to a third guy who suddenly doubles over in pain.
** When the PointyHairedBoss said that all the other departments were staffed with professional liars, [[https://dilbert.com/strip/2011-02-20 he really meant it.]] Dilbert had to concede that it was no exaggeration.
* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} once kicked Odie into next week. True enough, Odie didn't appear until the following Monday, when he fell on Garfield.
-->'''Garfield:''' [[BrickJoke Oh yes, I forgot I kicked Odie into next week, last week.]]
* In one ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'' strip, Hagar is in bed, above him a log being sawn in half indicating he is sound asleep. Then in the next panels, the saw turns into an axe, then a lumberjack with an axe, then a two-man saw, then finally, a sawmill rotary blade, as he uncomfortably turns and then thrashes in his sleep. Finally, he wakes up, [[CatapultNightmare falling out of bed]]:
-->'''Helga:''' How did you sleep?\\
'''Hagar:''' [[PunchLine Like a log.]]
* ''ComicStrip/USAcres'':
** Because of his allergy to flowers, Roy doesn't like it when Booker brings any to the chicken coop. [[https://garfield.com/usacres/1988/07/17 One time]], he said "Don't bring those flowers in here! You want me to sneeze my feathers off?!" Enraged, Booker picks a giant flower and brings it to Roy in retaliation. [[SneezeOfDoom The sneeze is so strong]] that both Roy and Booker lose their feathers.
** In one strip, Lanolin threatens to slap Roy's beak to the moon. She literally does that later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In [[https://incorrect-good-omens.tumblr.com/post/189923683557/roanoaks-flamingfoxninja this]] ''Series/GoodOmens2019'' post, Warlock as an adult becomes a stand-up comedian. He recounts an incident where he's in a car with [[NobleDemon Nanny Ashtoreth]] and [[AngelUnaware Brother Francis]], and Nanny and Francis start arguing. Warlock describes how the air filled with sulfur and radiant light, and time stopped at a critical moment, which would sound like ordinary storyteller hyperbole if Nanny and Francis didn't demonstrate similar powers in canon.
* Tracy, in ''Fanfic/AtTheFoodCourt'', tells his LoveInterest that the fiftieth time Team Rocket tried to steal Ash's Pikachu, they ought to have been institutionalized. The love interest is convinced that Tracy is exaggerating, but he denies it, and says that [[spoiler:after what happened to Ash]] he would never call anyone crazy as an insult, but only if they are genuinely insane.
* In ''Fanfic/ABoyAGirlAndADogTheLeithianScript'', the Steward states three words is all the Captain needs to prove he is crazy. His colleague argues the Steward is exaggerating things since three words can't possibly be enough to give your nuttiness away. The Steward retorts with what the Captain said when they were saved from death's door by the arrival of reinforcements during a military operation: "Happy New Year".
* ''Fanfic/ACertainDrollHivemind'': Bounced around; due to her LiteralMinded nature, Misaka-11111 will often make a euphemistic statement, then stop and explain that this is hyperbole. The fact that this often involves casually mentioning [[BlackComedy some horrible way they died before]] is ''not'' hyperbole.
-->This is intolerable.\\
The previous statement is, of course, an example of the phenomenon known as 'hyperbole'. It is entirely tolerable. It does not hurt as much as when the Accelerator decided to play 'stop hitting yourself' with Misaka-2813's arms and legs, and we tolerated that. Even if it did take a long time for him to beat her to death with her own limbs.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Early on in the sequel ''Ghosts of the Past'', [[MamaBear Wanda]] swears to find [[spoiler:Sinister]] and make him pay for the abusive childhood he ensured Harry received by reducing him to screaming molecules, with the narration noting that she's being entirely literal in her statement. A few chapters later she keeps that promise, confronting and effectively [[ImMelting melt]][[BodyHorror ing]] him.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4972504/1/Code_Geass_A_Different_Code Code Geass: A Different Code]]'' V.V. claims that C.C. loves pizza so much you could set a box on top of a landmine, paint "land mine" on said box, and she'd still let herself get blown up to have some. Lelouch insists such a claim is ridiculous only for V.V. to respond that he actually did it once.
* ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'': In the sequel ''Kidnapping of a Cryptid'' All for One promises if Bakugou ever calls Izuku useless again or threatens him, he will either rip his fingers off or make something karmic happen to him. When Bakugou does so out of spite, All for One has Bakugou hit with LaserGuidedKarma for his bullying of Izuku by making Bakugou [[BroughtDownToNormal quirkless.]]
* ''Fanfic/ACourierForKivotos'': The titular character from the [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Mojave Wasteland]] makes plenty of truthful claims to the residents of [[VideoGame/BlueArchive Kivotos]].
** Vice-President Rin doesn't believe him when he claims that he's managed an entire city before arriving at Kivotos. Seeing as this version of Courier Six took the Independent Vegas route with Yes Man, it's certainly not an exaggeration on his part.
** He tells Arona that he's been literally lobotomized before (courtesy of The Think Tank in ''Old World Blues'' DLC). She doesn't think it's a funny joke.
** Fuuka is aghast when Sensei reveals that before Kivotos he's used to eating 200-year old preserved food from the Old World.
* When [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Xander]] says he's attracted to breasts in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5237318/2/Crush Crush]]'', he's not saying that he finds them arousing (though he does); he's saying he's magnetically attracted to breasts. When Powergirl enters the room, Xander goes flying face-first into her cleavage. Powergirl flies upwards a few feet, only for Xander to remain stuck.
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In chapter 12 of the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', Aria says the sirens once threw Squirk out of their territory, and they meant it literally -- they levitated him out of the ocean and threw him over the horizon.
* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': From ''[[https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/6355712/ Writing Home]]'':
--> She had thought that the references to Boris' homeland being an outpost of hell now had been hyperbole. She was surrounded on all sides by sulphurous wastelands and blackened rock formations, broken up only by patches and rivulets of lava that gaped like open, bloody wounds in the landscape.
* In ''Fanfic/HeWhoFightsMonsters'', Tsukune is deadly serious when he says his girlfriend will kill anyone who tries to steal him away from her.
* In ''Fanfic/ImHALPING'', Zachary ''literally'' punches Assault into the next state. (His kinetic energy manipulation means that he's not actually hurt). {{Lampshaded}} by Clockblocker.
* In ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'':
** Nebula mentions she and Gamora "tried to kill each other" and Black Siren assumes she means the usual sisterly arguments or minor fights. A glare from Nebula makes Siren realize she meant they literally tried to kill each other.
** Constantine openly notes that when the Phantom Stranger talks of "the end of all that is," he's not just being dramatic.
* Few people who hear [[Franchise/StarWars Ahsoka Tano]] (and later Aayla Secura) say she can't tell them Harry's secrets in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11157943/1/I-Still-Haven-t-Found-What-I-m-Looking-For I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For]]'' realize she means that she's incapable of it. Due to a Magical Oath, if she intentionally tells someone (and she physically can't do so accidentally or be forced to), she'll be stripped of her ability to use the Force/magic.
* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', Spectrem finds out that yes, Paul is genuinely [[NighInvulnerable invulnerable]], as advertised:
-->Spectrem paused again, now rather astonished as well as angry. "How tough ''are'' you?"\\
Paul almost wanted to laugh, except he was too pissed off. "I'm invulnerable, or hadn't your spies told you that?"\\
"Well, yeah, I know you're ''tough'', or I wouldn't've attacked you, but even Andro would've been affected by all that, and he's three times stronger than you!"\\
"Well, I haven't any idea why that's so," Paul snapped, though he was quite pleased to find out he was tougher than the Guardians' leader. "I'm sure you know ''much'' better than me about such things."
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/224361/1/A-Letter-from-Screwtape-to-Mr-Holland-Manners A Letter from Screwtape to Mr. Holland Manners]]'', [[Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters Screwtape]] advises Holland Manners on his dealing with Series/{{Angel}} during the first season of the show, and also congratulates him on how he snared Lindsey [=McDonald=] into joining Wolfram and Hart willingly, while at the same time warning him not to make the same mistake that Mayor Wilkins made with Faith [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer back in Sunnydale]] by loving Lindsey as a son.
-->''Perhaps in this, I am worrying without cause. After all, you were willing to sacrifice your beloved first wife on the altar of ambition. Fancy, too, that in some circles, that would have been a figure of speech.''
* In ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'', Cocoa Mocha tells Statuette that "from disaster to death and everything in-between, [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys I always come back".]] Statuette takes that to mean that a die-hard supporter of his will take the group's reins and lead it by following his ideals. [[spoiler:She's wrong. At his death, Cocoa steals one of his grandchildren's bodies for his own use and returns to lead their group personally.]]
* ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'': Jane Seaworth is surprised that when [[spoiler:Thor]] declared he would feast for seven days, he was not kidding and promptly does so, even going off to get more food when Dragonstone runs low on supplies.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/15215117/chapters/39302659#workskin Balance]]'' reveals that Hela's claim about being the Goddess of Death wasn't just idle boasting. While still in the womb, she'd been empowered by the Soul Stone, granting her CompleteImmortality and power over death.
* ''Fanfic/{{MLPFML}}': Applejack threatens to "kick yer (Fluttershy's) little yellow ass eight months into next winter" if she doesn't take care of her apples. She makes good on her promise right after she finds out that [[spoiler:Fluttershy fed them to the Parasprites and kicks her straight into the "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp Winter Wrap Up]]" episode]].
* The narration in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/22908/1/my-little-pony-versus-equestria/interval-11-thick-as-thieves My Little Pony: Versus Equestria]]'' refers to Trixie and Rabbit as being "thick as thieves". This gets repeated after it's revealed they actually ''are'' thieves.
* After getting fed up with [[Franchise/StargateVerse SG-1's]] insistence they sign [=NDAs=] before being told anything about what's going on in ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-30529-9/Ravanne+Not+In+Kansas.htm Not in Kansas]]'', [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] threatens to drop kick O'Neill into the Atlantic Ocean if he doesn't start talking. When he still tries to get her to wait until everyone has signed a NDA, Kara asks if he'd prefer landing in the North or South Atlantic.
* An accidental variant occurs in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10685852/2/On-a-Pale-Horse On a Pale Horse]]''. When the Order of the Phoenix decides to summon a hero from another world to defeat Voldemort, at one point during the ritual the entire room jerks, with Harry comparing it to a god yanking on reality. What he didn't know is that they were (accidentally) summoning Death and that's precisely what he was doing.
* ''Fanfic/PennySavesPaldea'': Clive tells Juliana that his problems with Team Star include their "actively destroying the very fabric of Paldea." Juliana asks if he means this figuratively, only for Clive to say that he's being literal; he believes the various bizarre phenomena occurring around the region have something to do with the team's actions.
* ''Fanfic/AProfessorAndAStudent'' has Kukui assumes that mention of Ash's Pokemon using moves on him as a friendly greeting/training method is showing them at a safe distance or at very low power. He is flabbergasted when Lillie observes that this ''is not'' the case during his training of Rockruff.
* ''Fanfic/ARedRoseInTheBlueWind'': When Sonic explains to Ozpin that Dr. Eggman has an IQ of 300, he makes sure to add that it has been offically tested.
* In ''Fanfic/RobbReturns'', when Robert warned the Septon of Storm's End to not to attempt to damage the Weirwood sapling under pain of having his nose smeared all over his face, he was not joking.
* ''Fanfic/{{SAPR}}'': Nora frequently tells wild stories about her and Ren’s misadventures pre-Beacon, with the latter often interrupting to correct her exaggerations. After one particularly outlandish story involving working for a broke circus and being compensated with exhibit animals, Ren admits that one was completely accurate.
* In Chapter 65 of ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'', Tsunade wanted to force Jiraiya to dance with her until their feet bleed, then she'll heal them and they'll keep up until they bleed again. Jiraiya recalls she did the same in Shizune's wedding and the part about bleeding was quite literal.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9904569/2/Stand-Ins-and-Stunt-Doubles Stand-Ins and Stunt Doubles,]]'' Tara tries to enter Xander's mind to help clear up leftovers from his various possessions but warns him that it requires complete trust between them and it's likely to take weeks for her to even approach the border between their minds. When Xander insists he trust her fully, Tara waves it off because it's easy to say such but hard to mean it. Then she finds herself smack dab in the center of his mind, causing her to realize Xander really does trust her completely.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11568253/5/Supernova Supernova]]'', Luffy tells Arlong that he's going to feed the fishman his own nose for what he did to Nami. At the end of their fight, Luffy breaks off Arlong's nose and shoves it into his mouth.
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheMonkeyQueen'': Freeza claims at one point you could fill a planet with the number of children he's killed. Later he's shown working out the math and deducing that, assuming an average population and one moon each, you could populate five planets and their moons with the number of children he's killed.
* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'':
** Cross wonders if Hamburg is even human, Itomimizu tells him that's the multi-million beri question, then explains that's how large the ship's betting pool on the topic is.
** When Cross threatens to turn Luffy into Greninja (that is, wrap Luffy's tongue around his neck like a scarf), he's dead serious.
* ''Fanfic/TopOfTheLineEditorBug'': When Tak says that people on Aggrage 9 work for peanuts, she means they're literally paid in peanuts.
* ''Fanfic/VowOfTheKing'': When Bambietta claimed Candice's coffee was strong enough to eat through her mug, she wasn't joking and grouses that it had been her favorite mug.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3776911/2/Walking-in-the-shadows Walking in the Shadows]]'', when D'hoffryn refers to Xander as a "Paladin of snack foods", he's dead serious as demonstrated when Xander magically heals people emotionally with hugs.
* In ''Fanfic/TheWritingOnTheWall'', Daring Do and her crew assume the titular writing is just a curse promising a painful death on grave robbers and proceed to excavate the tomb anyway. It's only after ponies start dying and the writing is properly translated that they realize the writing isn't a curse, but a warning of the contents within, [[spoiler:complete with an accurate if simplified description of radiation poisoning]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Genie tries to convince Aladdin to use his third wish to become a prince again so he can marry Jasmine [[GreaterNeedThanMine rather than wish for his own freedom]]:
-->'''Genie:''' Al, you're not going to find another girl like her in a million years. [[TheOmniscient Believe me, I know. I've looked]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleCrashDummies'': When the heroes try to figure out who took the Torso 9000, Spin remarks that "It didn't get up and walk away". Dr. Zub then reveals an ImpactSilhouette on the door, and answers that's precisely what happened; Junkman's head was attached to the Torso, which he used to escape the Crash Testing facility.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyANewGeneration'': When Zipp tells Sunny her mother never takes off her crown, she means it; a quick montage shows Queen Haven wearing the crown while sleeping, showering, and swimming, even putting on a bathing cap over the crown before diving into the pool.
* ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'': Used when the Wolf reveals why he's after Puss-in-Boots in the first place. [[spoiler:It's because he's [[TheGrimReaper Death]]. And the Wolf clarifies that he does not mean it "metaphorically, or rhetorically, or poetically, or theoretically, or in other fancy way", he means it ''literally''. Later on, Kitty admits to Puss that when he told her "Death was after [him]", she thought he was just being melodramatic.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'': After being sedated by a bush doctor mouse, Wilbur wakes up and moans "I feel like I got my head in a vice..." Then [[RevealShot it zooms out]] to show Wilbur's head has been restrained by an actual vice.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'': After the Piped Piper's successful demonstration controlling the witches, Rumpelstiltskin tells them that it is time to pay the piper, meaning get his checkbook to pay the fee.
* ''WesternAnimation/Sing2'': [[spoiler:Jimmy Crystal threatens to throw Buster Moon off the roof if Buster ever disappoints him. Buster tries to awkwardly laugh this off as apparently a morbid joke on Crystal's part. But when Crystal's daughter Porsha loses the starring role and mistakenly assumes she's been fired, Crystal tries to literally throw Buster off the roof for ''real'', and then throws him off a catwalk later, which would have killed him if Rosita hadn't overcome her fear of heights and caught him. So Crystal wasn't speaking in hyperbole; he was completely serious about committing outright murder.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'', after Robyn runs away, EvilAunt Figg melodramatically tells the police, "I can't live without her!" Figg's AmoralAttorney Lickboot smugly points out that she really can't- Robyn is the heiress to a huge fortune, and the only way Figg can access any of it is by acting as Robyn's caretaker.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'': When the Buzz Lightyear with Utility Belt and the rest of the gang attempt to break into Al's apartment, Rex asks what they should do. Buzz suggests that Rex use his head, meaning they will [[UseYourHead use Rex's head]] as a BatteringRam to bash through the vent.
-->'''Rex:''' ''But I don't wanna use my heeaad!''
* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei's father tells her that her mother's giant red panda form was quite destructive, big and almost took out half the temple. Given that Ming's panda [[spoiler: turns out to be ''{{Kaiju}}-sized'']], he was underselling it.
* ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'': WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain fly to the Wishing Star on one of ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines that works by Pinky pedal-power. As they fly, Brain encourages his partner with, "Pedal, Pinky! Pedal as if our very lives depended on it!" He looks down from the height they're at. "...Which may well be the case."
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wolfwalkers}}'': After Robyn turns into a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolfwalker]] due to Mebh accidentally biting her, Mebh worriedly says her mother's going to kill her. Robyn, whose father Bill is a wolf hunter, replies that her father ''will'' kill her. Bill does indeed try to shoot Robyn both before and after this scene, not recognizing her in wolf form.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' Morticia reveals that the family motto is "We Gladly Feast on Those Who Would Subdue Us". [[BrickJoke In the following film]], the school camp counselors that tried to subdue Wednesday and Pugsley and are last seen being roasted on a spit by Wednesday's accomplices.
* ''Film/AustinPowers''
** At one point Austin pulls out his driver's license and shows it to Vanessa to make clear that [[MetaphorIsMyMiddleName his middle name, literally, is "Danger"]].
** When Scott and Dr. Evil are in group therapy, Scott says that he thinks his father wants to kill him. The group director tries to assure him by saying that it is only a remark. Dr. Evil, unfortunately, confirms that he is trying to kill Scott but Scott's wily nature is making it difficult.
* ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'':
** At the end of [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 Part I]] and beginning of [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII Part II]], when Marty is reunited with Jennifer after being in 1955, she says "Marty, you're acting like you haven't seen me in a week", to which he says "I haven't". For Jennifer, it'd been less than 24 hours since they were together, but for Marty, he really did go a week without seeing her, arriving on November 5, 1955 at 6:00 AM and leaving on November 12, 1955 at 10:04 PM.
** In Part II, when Doc and Marty go back to November 12, 1955, Marty says "[[IRememberItLikeItWasYesterday It's like I was just here yesterday]].", to which Doc says that he ''was'' there yesterday. From the time Marty left 1955 at the climax of Part I (arriving on October 26, 1985, 1:24AM), to the time he returns with Doc to 1955 in the middle of Part II (leaving 1985-A at around October 27, 1985, 2:00AM), is a real-time passage of about 24 hours, though from Marty's perspective, since he spent three hours in 2015, only to travel back to about 10 hours after he left 1985, it's a bit less than 24 hours for him. Of course, from the perspective in 1955, another Marty had been there yesterday on November 11, and about five more days before that.
* ''Film/TheBansheesOfInisherin'' is about the dissolving friendship between two men, Padraic and Colm, with the latter suddenly deciding he no longer has time to spend on the former. Padraic, however, refuses to accept that this is how things will end between them and tries to make amends but Colm is having none of it and gives Padraic an ultimatum; if Padraic doesn't stop bothering Colm, [[{{Fingore}} he will cut off one of his own fingers for every time Padraic talks to him]]. Naturally, everyone who hears this believes Colm is just bluffing or at least exaggerating. [[spoiler:As Padraic and his sister Siobhan learn the hard way, however, Colm is completely serious, and makes good on his ultimatum ''five times over.'' Of course, this ends up harming Colm more than anyone else, since it renders him unable to play the lute, [[{{Irony}} the very reason he cut Padriac out of his life in the first place.]]]]
* ''Film/BestInShow'': When Gerry and Cookie recount how they first met, Gerry said he told Cookie that he couldn't dance because he has "two left feet", and Cookie said she thought he was kidding. It turns out that Gerry was actually born with two left feet (with the camera panning down to his feet to show that they both face left), and he mentions having to learn how to stop walking in circles while growing up.
* ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'': Grandpa Potts at first assumes that Baron Bomburst's threat to "stuff [his] head with cauliflower and feed it to the ducks" if he can't reinvent his son's car is [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon either a joke or an exaggeration]]. However, the other scientists in the lab assure him that the Baron's threats are ''never'' jokes, giving some unpleasant descriptions of what he's done to them (a very tall scientist there claims he was a midget before they started using a stretch rack on him).
* ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'':
** In ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', when a couple of guards harass Riddick's friend Kyra, Riddick calmly informs one that he can kill him with a teacup. Then he does. Next, he holds up a key to a sardine tin and puts it down meaningfully in the same place where the teacup was -- and the other two get the hell out of there.
** It continues into the next installment, ''Film/{{Riddick}}'', where Riddick threatens the [[AssholeVictim total asshole]] villain Santana that he is going to kill him with his own, shiny blade. Santana tells him "[[TemptingFate I would like to see that]]" while Riddick is tied up. Needless to say, Riddick [[CurbStompBattle quickly ends him]].
* ''Film/ComingToAmerica'': When Lisa finds out from her father Cleo that [[KingIncognito Akeem is not merely a poor African immigrant but the Prince of]] [[{{Bulungi}} the African nation Zamunda]], he says "When I say the boy has his own money, I mean '''the boy has his own money'''!", showing her some Zamundan money with Akeem's portrait on it.
* Film/{{Hancock}} goes to prison and tells some prisoners to leave him alone or "your head is going up his ass". They don't leave him alone. [[AssShove The first one's head goes up the second one's ass]]. It is humiliating.
* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'': After Harold gets arrested, he finds himself in a prison cell with a black man. [[WhatAreYouInFor Harold asks "What are you in for?"]], and the man answers "for being black". By that he means [[RacialFaceBlindness the police were after a black man wanted in a crime]] ''[[RacialFaceBlindness in another city]]'' [[RacialFaceBlindness and he got arrested, instead]].
* From the John Ritter film ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080863/ Hero at Large]]'', Steve is talking to his agent Marty about Marty not getting him any stage work (instead of all the commercials he's doing).
-->'''Steve:''' Marty, how much can you do with, "That's what I call beer"? Marty, get me a play, any play.\\
'''Marty:''' It's not like you never had one. Last summer, Shakespeare in the Park.\\
'''Steve:''' I [[SpearCarrier carried a spear]]. Marty, that's a joke. When an actor says he carried a spear, he doesn't mean he carried a spear. '''I. Carried. A spear.'''
* ''Film/{{Highlander}}'': When Sunda and Connor meet each other again, Sunda remarks that it seems like a hundred years have passed since they last saw each other. Connor responds that it ''has'' been one hundred years.
* In ''Film/HotFuzz'', Sergeant Angel is frustrated that the local townsfolk write off every suspicious death as an accident, saying "Accidents happen every day." It's only after he encounters the EvidenceDungeon that it's apparent [[spoiler:The NWA have been murdering people on an almost daily basis, and the locals are so inured to the high death rate that they consider it normal]].
* ''Film/KickAss2'': Mindy states at one point that she can kill a man with his own finger. As [[spoiler:Black Death]] finds out the hard way during the final fight, she's not kidding. [[FridgeHorror So when she says]] she is going [[spoiler:to feed a guy his own dick]], that is also true.
* ''Film/KnivesOut'': Blanc and the other investigators assume Marta is being hyperbolic when she says she CannotTellALie because being dishonest makes her vomit. Then she tells a lie, and ''immediately'' has to go hurl into a flowerpot. Blanc is very apologetic, saying he didn't realize she really ''meant'' it.
* In the Creator/RichardPryor comedy ''Moving'', the protagonist buys a new home when his job forces him to move and the people who own it keep saying throughout the scene, [[SarcasticConfession with lots of laughs]], that they will take it all with them when they go (the pool, the tiles on the walls, the lights, the doors, the windows, etc). To Pryor's character's horror, when he and his family arrive to the house later in the film, ''everything'' has been dismantled and taken away. When he calls the owner in a rage, saying that with all of the sarcasm being flung around he expected the owner to be kidding, the owner answers that he has a record of the conversation and he can legally prove that he said that he ''was'' going to do it, the only moment [[ExactWords in which he explicitly said that he was kidding]] was when he mentioned that he was going to take the door hinges.
* In ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian'', the situation of Uncle Martin being stranded on Earth, made worse by the discovery of [[spoiler:[[SelfDestructMechanism the I.S.S. aboard his rental ship]]]], finally pushes him into depression. He tells Tim that he's falling apart because of it. Tim insists he's not, only to easily pull Martin's arm right out of its socket.
-->'''Martin:''' On Mars, when we get depressed, we ''literally'' fall apart!
* ''Film/{{The Nutty Professor|1996}}'':
** Dean Richmond provides a memorable example in the Creator/EddieMurphy remake:
--->'''Dean Richmond:''' You won't. I know you won't. As a matter of fact, I know you're going to be perfect! Do you know how I know all these things? I know them because if you're ''not'' perfect, never mind the yelling, the screaming, and the firing. If anything goes wrong, for any reason... I'm going to kill you. And I don't mean that as a euphemism, I am going to literally kill you. I'm going to strangle you and choke off your air supply until you pass away.
** Buddy threatens him with an IronicEcho near the end of the movie.
* Used and {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by M in ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', for the sheer RefugeInAudacity: Bond drags in a bad guy at the beginning of the movie who is resistant to interrogation. When the bad guy smugly informs Bond that, "Well, one thing you should know is that [[WeAreEverywhere we have people everywhere]]." [[spoiler:one of M's ''[[BodyguardBetrayal personal bodyguards]]'' pulls out his weapon and tries to assassinate her.]]
-->'''M:''' When someone says "We've got people everywhere," you expect it to be hyperbole! Lots of people say that. ''Florists'' use that expression. It doesn't mean that they've got somebody working for them [[spoiler:inside the bloody room!]]
* During ''Film/RamboLastBlood'', Rambo [[spoiler:threatens to [[AndShowItToYou literally rip Hugo's beating heart out]] and show it to him as he dies.]] What sounds like just a badass threat is proven to be ''very'' literal during the climax when [[spoiler:he does exactly as he threatened.]]
* PlayedForHorror in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': the Alliance tested a nerve agent to increase docility amongst the population, the "Pax", on the planet Miranda. The test [[GoneHorriblyRight went horribly right]]; it did increased the docility of the population, and then utterly destroyed their will to do anything else. As both the crew of the ''Serenity'' and [[spoiler:a medical ship that arrived before them and was massacred by the other result of the Pax agent, the Reavers]] describe (and Jayne asks before [[spoiler:the crew finds the wrecked medical ship]]), the people of Miranda literally laid down and died.
* In ''Film/TrueLies'', [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Harry Tasker]] explains how he will escape being tied up and kill his captors ''while on truth serum''. They really shouldn't have been surprised at what happened.
* ''Film/TheWatch2012'': Bob threatens to rip his daughter's boyfriend's dick out with his bare hands. During the climax of the film, he does just that. [[spoiler:The boyfriend is an alien, and that's where his brain was.]]
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** In ''Film/TheWolverine'', when Logan tells Noburo he has ten words to explain what's going on, he ''means'' ten words, actually counting them.
** ''Film/Deadpool2'': When Juggernaut says he's going to tear someone in half, it's not just a figure of speech, as Deadpool painfully finds out.
--->'''Juggernaut:''' I'm gonna rip you in half now.\\
'''Deadpool:''' That is such a Juggernaut thing to say!\\
'''Juggernaut:''' ''[rips Deadpool in half]''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'': When Priscilla Totman, an uptime midwife, saves the lives of the wife and child of the Mughal sultan from a paticularly difficult childbirth, the sultan orders that Priscilla recieve her weight in silver for her services. Priscilla assumes he means "a lot of money" until she enters the throne room and sees a pair of human-sized scales and a ''very'' large stack of silver bars.
* Raymond Queneau's 1961 book ''Literature/OneHundredBillionPoems'' featured 10 sonnets (14-verse poems) whose verses could be perfectly combined with one another's, resulting in a number of possible combinations of poems approximately equal to the one read in the title.
* The ''Literature/AgeOfFire'''s [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Red Queen]] once told [=AuRon=] that she couldn't be bothered to die. Thanks to [[spoiler:her CloningGambit and {{Body Surf}}ing abilities]], this turns out to be true, even decades after her apparent death.
* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': When Garion says that MasterPoisoner Sadi "could poison one man at a banquet of a thousand people", he ''thinks'' he's exaggerating. Later, Sadi actually does just that by poisoning the target's ''spoon.''
* ''Literature/ConstanceVeritySavesTheWorld'': To emphasize how unusual it is that Larry was kidnapped without her knowing how, Apollionia claims that their security is so tight that they know how many rats are in the building. When Tia rhetorically asks "how many", one of the henchagents lists them off their numbers (four, in two days eleven since one is pregnant), where in their nest is and how they live day to day.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', mention is made of Biers, a bar where the undead drank. "When Igor the barman was asked for a Bloody Mary, he didn't mix a metaphor."
** In ''Literature/{{Mort}}'', Death's Apprentice Mort manages to piss off [[TheGrimReaper Death]] so he strikes him across the face. A later book presented Death's grand-daughter Susan, daughter to Mort and Death's adopted daughter Ysabell. Susan has three parallel skeletal-looking birth-marks on her left cheek -- Death really ''did'' punch Mort so hard that his future children felt it.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** In ''Literature/DeadBeat'', a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Black Court vampire]], Mavra, once got away with successfully blackmailing Harry's friend Murphy, by having evidence that would destroy her. After nearly killing himself to ensure Murphy's protection, Harry tells Mavra in no uncertain terms that this will ''never'' happen again, and that if anything happens to Murphy, he's [[ThisMeansWar declaring war on her]], personally, and that he use every shred of power at his disposal to end Mavra. Dead Beat is the seventh book in the series, and she doesn't reappear until [[Literature/BattleGround2020 book 17]], and even then only with seven other Black Court master vampires and Vlad Drakul backing her up. [[spoiler:And she does nothing to Murphy, and might not have even expected Dresden to find her!]]
** Fast forward to ''Literature/{{Changes}}'', and another vamp has [[spoiler:kidnapped Harry's daughter.]] He picks the least bad of his options, [[spoiler:becoming the winter knight]], calls in all the cavalry at his disposal, and is more than willing to sell his soul and worse to get even ''more'' weapons. Then he proceeds to [[spoiler:exterminate the entire Red Court of vampires. All of them.]] For the record, if he had to use worse options like the Darkhallow or the Denarius, he ''would have'', he just happened to have a less evil option. Which is not to say he didn't pay a hell of a price for it.
** Also in ''Changes'', Harry tells someone "I have literally killed people I like more than you." [[ShootTheDog He's not joking.]]
** [[BigFriendlyDog Mouse]]'s bark has been described as loud enough it can be heard from a mile away. Later, in an odd turn of events, Mouse shows that he was holding back, and if anything, the entire cast underestimated him.
** When Lara Raith starts getting a little ''too'' physical with Harry, Ebenezer [=McCoy=] threatens to wipe her off the earth and leave her family with nothing but a pair of five-hundred-dollar shoes to bury. Lara is a vampire. She is armed, surrounded by bodyguards and ready for a fight. She and everyone around her know that if the old hillbilly wanted to turn her into a charred, greasy smear, he could and he would and there is literally ''nothing'' she could do to stop him. Of course, [[ColonyDrop he did just that]] in a previous book to an equivalently high-ranking Red Court vampire. (Except Ortega's shoes probably didn't survive in good enough condition to be buried.)
** In ''Literature/SkinGame'' Harry muses that Mab will crucify him if he fails to follow through on [[spoiler:helping Nicodemus steal the Holy Grail]]. He is not joking. In fact, if he doesn't follow through, he would be ''lucky'' to get off with just crucifixion. Harry's seen [[FateWorseThanDeath what Mab did]] to the last [[spoiler:Winter Knight]] who displeased her.
* From ''Literature/EarthTheBook'':
-->'''Q:''' How many insects are there currently on Earth?\\
'''A:''' 500 quintillion.\\
'''Q:''' How rough an estimate is that?\\
'''A:''' That is the exact number.
* In the ''Literature/EndersShadow'' series, the Russian military abducts a group of young military geniuses to serve as their military planners in the coming war. Realizing that a group of highly trained, super-intelligent tacticians is going to be hard to control, they put [[ProperlyParanoid very aggressive security measures in place]]. While listing these measures, one character mentions "They weigh our bodily wastes. I'm not kidding."
* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': PlayedForLaughs with Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, a brand of wizarding candy that comes in '''every''' flavour. That includes classical candy flavours like chocolate and peppermint, non-candy flavours like spinach and liver, and non-''edible'' flavours like bogey and earwax. A box of Bertie Bott's is a game of Russian Roulette with your tongue.
* ''Literature/HereticalEdge'' gives us this completely literal BadassBoast from Bastet: “Perhaps I have not made myself clear. The only chance you have of harming these children is if any happen to be allergic to your blood or the dust of your bones as it fills this room.” She then proceeds to wipe out a dozen experienced Heretics without a single attack going uncountered.
* In Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''Literature/TheHeroAndTheCrown'', Luthe tells Aerin, "I will love you until the stars crumble, which is a much less idle threat than is usual for lovers on parting." He is indeed not kidding: he's immortal.
* Creator/NKJemisin's ''Literature/InheritanceTrilogy'': The [[ImmortalImmaturity eternally childlike]] PhysicalGod Sieh extracts a promise from someone with a playful "Cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye?", per the children's rhyme. When they break their word, he shows up with some ''very'' large needles. [[spoiler:He gets talked down before following through on the threat, but only just.]]
* ''Literature/TheLegendOfSunKnight'': When Pink the necromancer asks to take Sun Knight on as an apprentice, he retorts that she can teach him when he's dead. His narration clarifies that this isn't a rejection; years ago, as part of a deal, he agreed to let her revive him as an undead creature after his death. Presumably, she would then teach zombie Sun necromancy.
* ''Literature/MobyDick'': Borders on a running gag with Queequeg, starting with him literally being off selling shrunken heads as the innkeeper said.
* In the ''Literature/NightHuntress'' series, Bones has this as a character trait. He makes the usual threats such as "I ought to rip off your stones and feed them to you," but he is known to follow through on them quite literally. This is his way of making sure people take his threats seriously.
* In ''Literature/{{Pale}}'', a spirit of war named John Stiles informs the main characters that if they call for his aid, he will be right behind them. As in, he will literally appear no more than 5 steps behind them and armed. Seeing as how magical users in the setting can't lie without losing their powers, [[MagicallyBindingContract as all magic is basically a contract with the spirits that make up the universe]], he means it.
* In the historical fiction ''Sarum'', the local priests tell Nooma, a stonemason, that they want him to build a [[CircleOfStandingStones giant temple out of 30-ton stones]]. Nooma tells them that their dream is impossible, and would require ''hundreds'' of labourers, anyway. They go, 'Okay, where do you want them?' [[GotVolunteered (This was an era when people generally did not tell priests 'no'.)]]
* A minor case in ''Literature/SnowCrash'', where in the opening chapter a sticker gets attached to Hiro's car, and he laments in the narration that getting it removed will cost him trillions of dollars. Later on in the book, we learn about the RidiculousFutureInflation.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has a woman break down in hysterics when she discovers the body of a man who's been murdered by the gholam: "However many times she had heard of a person torn limb from limb, she had never seen the results before."
* In ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' series of books, the current Nilfgaardian Emperor is also called "The White Flame, Dancing on the Barrows of his Enemies." The latter part of that is not metaphorical; he had all of his former political enemies and people who had crossed his family disinterred, and used their grave markers to tile the floor of his palace ballroom.
* In ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', the second book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', part of the reason Adolin is willing to enter an ArrangedMarriage is that he has had horrible luck with women; his aunt even claims he has offended every eligible woman in the war camps. Throughout the book, every single time he runs into an eligible woman, she is personally annoyed at him. ''Every'' one. Up to and including the stablemaster, who nonchalantly gives a riding lesson while throwing rocks at him, despite the fact that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Adolin doesn't even remember what he did to offend her]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' Lucille is one of the world's worst drivers. Her clip from ''World's Worst Drivers'' showed her responding to a space she might have had to parallel park into by driving in vertically, leaving her car covering half the road.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** Londo claims about G'Kar. "I will kill him one day." Without prompting, he explains it isn't a threat, it isn't him being annoyed. Centauri have prophetic dreams. He knows that they will die strangling each other. Years later, they do. Although [[spoiler:[[ProphecyTwist it doesn't go the way we originally thought it would:]] G'Kar [[MercyKill mercy-kills]] Londo at his own request to free himself from a PuppeteerParasite, and the parasite gains control just long enough to strangle G'kar to death in kind.]]
** Marcus makes a BadassBoast when trying to get some thugs to talk, and then follows through on it when the thugs remained silent:
--->'''Marcus:''' Because if you don't, then in five minutes I'll be the only person at this table still standing. Five minutes after ''that'', I'll be the only person in this ''room'' still standing. So, who's in?\\
''[ten minutes and a room full of senseless, drooling thugs later]''\\
'''Marcus:''' ''Bugger!'' Now I have to wait for someone to ''wake up!''
** The words, "I'll never leave you, Delenn, not if the whole universe stood between us," read as textbook RomanticHyperbole, right? Yeah, not when you're John Sheridan. The universe ''does'', and he ''doesn't''.
* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', Abed refuses to go to a restaurant because the manager hates ''Film/DieHard''. The assumption is that Abed is overreacting by not wanting to associate with someone for not liking a movie, but it turns out the manager rants constantly to everyone he serves about how much he hates it.
* Used tragically in the GrandFinale of ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}''. When Fran tells Earl that his plan to destroy an annoying infestation of flowers killed ''every'' plant on Earth, Earl dismissed it saying that a global-scale operation is bound to have casualties, but nothing ''that'' exaggerated. [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Until he looked outside]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho:'' Miracle weight-loss pill Adipose advertises itself with the slogan "the fat just walks away!" Turns out that for once it's not just advertising BS. It really ''does'' -- the "pill" forms the fat into a baby Adipose.
* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'': In "Drew Goes to Hell", Wick takes Drew to a sadistic themed bar actually named Hell. After getting disgusted, Drew starts to leave the room and heads elsewhere. Wick then informs Drew that if he leaves, he will be in a world of hurt, meaning that it is a another room actually called 'World of Hurt' with a separate cover charge.
* ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris'':
** Chris imagines his mother slapping him into next week by showing the family at dinner with him missing. When asked where he is, his mother answers she "slapped him into next week. He'll be back on Tuesday"
** Another episode shows Chris in a hospital after his mother literally put her foot in his ass (and left her shoe behind) after threatening to do so earlier.
** Chris mentions that if he ever lied to his mother, she'd slap him into another nationality. One imagine has her slapping Chris for bringing a Magazine/{{Playboy}} to school, turning him Asian.
*** Similarly, Chris finds Drew making out with a girl he likes and imagines himself literally slapping the black off of his brother, with paramedics carrying Drew away in a gurney with multiple patches of black missing.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters'':
** In the ChristmasEpisode "Have Yourself a Merry Winslow Christmas", Steve says that he will tape the wallet (Laura's gift to him) to his heart. Then he lifts up his shirt to reveal he actually does that to keep bullies from shaking him down for money.
** In "They Shoot Urkels, Don't They?", after a long stretch, Carl remarks that he could dance all night. After Steve looks out the window and sees the sun, he remarks that they have.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
** In one episode, the title character's devious agent brags about her relationship with the station's negotiator.
--->'''Bebe:''' Oh, we go way back, the Hammer and I. I know where the bodies are buried. ({{beat}}) Usually, that's just a metaphor.
** The episode where Roz learns she is pregnant ends with her freaking out over being a single mom, and Frasier starts a long passionate speech about her strength and how he will always be there for her, ending with:
--->'''Frasier:''' ...and you will look down on little Bobby, or little Alice, or dare I hope little Frasier? \\
'''Roz:''' Oh God, I’m gonna hurl. \\
'''Frasier:''' [chuckles] well alright, you name your child whatever you want... \\
'''Roz:''' No, I mean ''I’m gonna hurl!'' [sprints to the bathroom] \\
'''Frasier:''' Oh! Um, I’m out here if you need me.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'':
** In "You've Got To Be a Football Hero", Hilary tells Ashley that there are plenty of men in the sea. When Ashley asks if she meant fish, Hilary responds "No, I mean men. Fish don't own yachts."
** In "Hilary Gets a Life", Hilary hides in the supply closet after spotting two of her socialite friends during a catering gig she is managing to avoid embarrassing herself. After a bit of time, Geoffrey knocks on the door and tells her that it is time to come out of the closet (meaning the supply closet she is hiding in). A party guest misunderstands this and gives an unrelated pep talk.
* ''Series/FullHouse'': In "Silent is Not Golden," Danny is telling Stephanie about an abrasive guest on his morning talk show. When Danny asks Rebecca is she remembered when he showed a different side of himself, she responded: "Yeah. He mooned us."
* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'':
** In "Beauty and the Beast", Rose describes a year in which she lost the Little Miss Saint Olaf pageant by saying she smelled a rat. When Blanche asked if she meant Rose realized the contest was fixed, Rose responded that her talent was actually smelling rats.
** In "Yokel Hero" Rose tells the girls that the prior winner for Saint Olaf "Woman of the Year", Emma Immerhoffer, was disqualified for a skeleton in her closet. When Dorothy asked what it was, Rose responded that it was Mr. Immerhoffer.
* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', Elenore gets the cliff-notes version of the LoveDodecahedron between several other characters by way of Janet.
-->'''Elenore''': I don't think I've ever meant this literally before, but that might be TooMuchInformation.
* ''Series/HorribleHistories''' Hitler Youth sketch:
-->'''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler:''' ''Everyone'' is signing up. Don't miss out. You must join today. No, really, you '''MUST JOIN!''' It's compulsory.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** Whenever anyone asked Barney what his job was, he'd only respond with a dismissive "Heh, please." In the final season, it's revealed that Please is literally his job title, [[FunWithAcronyms and his job description is an acrostic of it.]] [[spoiler:[[TheScapegoat Provide Legal Exculpation And Sign Everything.]]]]
** Barney lives and breathes this trope. One prominent example being when he and Ted reveal they made a bet that the first of them to get into a threesome would claim "the belt", which Lily thought was a metaphor. Then a flashback reveals Barney got an ''actual'' championship belt.
** In "[[Recap/HowIMetYourMotherS2E11HowLilyStoleChristmas How Lily Stole Christmas]]", after Ted calls Lily a bad word ([[NarrativeProfanityFilter which he replaces with 'Grinch' in his explanation to his kids]]), Lily's lights go off, and Lily tells him he just ticked off 'the man upstairs'. Ted comments that he doesn't think it would matter to God, but it turns out that she meant her upstairs landlord, [[DisproportionateRetribution who threatens to turn off the water if Ted uses that language again]].
** Lily does this again by mentioning that Ted's relationship with Jeanette will be doomed when it all goes down in flames, in a literal sense. Cut to a few episodes later where that actually happened, with Ted's stuff being burned on the sidewalk.
* In ''Series/TheMicallefProgram'', Shaun introduces a guest with "My next guest needs no introduction" and then stares silently into the camera for a beat before the guest walks onstage.
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', in the episode "Different Drum":
-->'''Squatt:''' Gee, I'm so hungry I could eat a bug. Hey, not a bad idea! ''[reaches into a bag and pulls out a gift box with a nightcrawler in it]'' I was saving this for a special occasion, but too bad. ''[eats it]''
* In ''Series/TheMunsters'', a recurring joke is that when one claims they're so mad, they could go through the ceiling, [[CeilingBanger they really do leap through the ceiling]].
* Happens in one episode of ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'', when Alan wanders in while Charlie and Amita are working on the case of the week.
-->'''Alan:''' Am I interrupting anything?\\
'''Charlie:''' Just attempting to rescue a busload of tourists being held at gunpoint by four men demanding 18 million dollars. That's all.\\
'''Amita:''' Unfortunately, he's not joking.
* In one episode of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', [[BigEater Ron]] goes into a diner and asks the waiter to give him "all the bacon and eggs you have." When the waiter starts to leave, Ron stops him and adds:
-->'''Ron:''' I'm worried that what you heard was, "give me a lot of bacon and eggs." What I said was, "give me ''all'' the bacon and eggs you ''have''."
* ''Series/RedDwarf:'' In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIEpideme Epideme]]", after some unwanted advances from Lister (who mistakenly thinks she was coming on to him a moment ago), Kochanski belts him in the face and declares she wouldn't sleep with him if he was the last man alive. A confused Lister points out he ''is'' the last man alive. Kochanski rests her case.
* Subverted in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': "[[Recap/SherlockS01E01AStudyInPink A Study in Pink]]" has John Watson being kidnapped and confronted by an upper-class gentleman who claims to be "the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock is capable of having: An enemy. He would probably call me his ''ArchEnemy''." This is, however, just a ruse by Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother. [[DoubleSubversion However]], another dialogue might suggest more than that:
-->'''John:''' So, when you say you're concerned about him... you really are concerned?\\
'''Mycroft:''' Yes, of course.\\
'''John:''' And when you said it's a childish feud... it really is a childish feud?
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Played for laughs in "[[Recap/SmallvilleS04E08Spell Spell]]". [[ItMakesSenseInContext The ghosts of three witches possessing Lana, Chloe and Lois]] turn Chloe's birthday party in the Kent barn into APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy. Days later, Jonathan Kent [[FindingABraInYourCar finds somebody's misplaced brassiere in a haystack]] and queries Clark about it.
-->'''Clark:''' It was magic.\\
'''Martha:''' [[InnocentInnuendo I'm sure it was.]]\\
'''Clark:''' [[AWizardDidIt No, I mean it REALLY was!]]
* On ''Series/SomeGirls'', the girls watch Amber compete in a football trial when Viva spots one of Saz's crushes cuddling up to a girl.
-->'''Viva:''' Saz, don't look now, but Omar's there and he's snuggled up to Emma O'Brien.\\
'''Saz:''' Why is Omar snuggled up to Emma O'Brien?\\
'''Holli:''' Because he's dunking his Twix in her latte.\\
'''Saz:''' Oh God, why do you have to be so dirty, Holli?\\
'''Viva:''' She's not. [[http://fuckyeahsomegirls.tumblr.com/post/113416677173 He really is dunking his Twix in her latte.]]
* In one episode of ''Series/SpinCity'', Carter gets aggravated that he can't get reservations at a fancy restaurant, claiming that in rejecting him, the restaurant owners are saying "You're not good enough for us" and "Screw you!". Caitlin believes he's just taking the rejection too personally, but Carter reveals those insults are actually on his voicemail.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Survivors", the crew encounters a godlike being [[SelfImposedExile living in self-inflicted exile]]: he had previously settled down on a planet with a human wife and when the planet was attacked by a hostile alien race known as the Husnock, his species' pacifist ways forbade him from fighting back...[[PacifismBackfire until his wife was killed]], after which he used his powers to "destroy the Husnock". Noticing the crew's nonplussed reaction he clarifies: he didn't kill most or all of the ''attacking'' Husnock, he killed all ''50 billion'' Husnock ''[[FinalSolution in the galaxy]]'', literally "destroying" them.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''
** In "Scientific Method", Janeway tells the Doctor that she's been suffering headaches for days, describing them as "like hot needles driving into my skull.". Turns out that's actually what's happening to her due to [[MadScientist alien scientists]] secretly experimenting on her and the whole crew.
** During a civil war in the Q Continuum, one of the other Q's has the Creator/JohnDeLancie Q clapped in irons and says he's been waiting an eternity to do that. Given that the Q are immortal, that's no doubt true.
* It happens several times in ''Series/Supergirl2015'':
** In "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S1E5Livewire Livewire]]", [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]]'s opinion of chocolate pecan pie:
--->'''Kara:''' Chocolate pecan pie is the best dessert in the galaxy. And as someone who's been to twelve different planets, I mean that literally.
** In "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S2E12Luthors Luthors]]", Kara describes Metallo, an android whose heart has been replaced with a machine:
--->'''Kara:''' He ''literally'' has no heart.
** In [[Recap/TheFlash2014S3E17Duet a crossover episode]] with ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Kara and her boyfriend make up, but she promises she'll drop a mountain on his head if he ever lies to her again:
--->'''Mon-El:''' Figuratively?\\
'''Kara:''' ''Geologically''.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** In "All Hell Breaks Loose Part Two", The Yellow-Eyed Demon tells Jake that if he does not obey him, Jake's mother and sister will be forced [[{{Autocannibalism}} to eat their own intestines]].
--->"No Jake, I'm not bluffing".
** There are some people who will claim that they're older than God. [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Death]] might actually be telling the truth. (Probably not though, as God and his [[spoiler:sister]] claim that they're the first things there ever were, and the latter doesn't know who/what death is.)
** Similarly, in "Dark Side of the Moon", Dean tells the men who are about to kill him that he'll come back and be pissed. Sure enough... Of course, Dean had already pulled that trick once before, and he knew that the angels wouldn't let them stay dead for long. Interestingly, when said men ''finally'' reappear seven years later, Dean dismissively says "We're good." Apparently he's forgiven them for killing him (and Sam) and they have more important issues now.
* On an episode of ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', Bobby's new agent is getting him great roles, in exchange for sexual favors. Leading to this dialogue:
-->'''Tony:''' Bobby, you're sleeping with your agent??\\
'''Bobby:''' C'mon! Don't tell the whole garage!\\
''[Louie picks up the microphone for the intercom and speaks through it]''\\
'''Louie:''' '''Wheeler's sleeping with his agent.'''
* ''Series/{{Veep}}'': In a Season 5 episode, Dan calls Selina to tell her that Jonah shot himself in the foot during his Congressional campaign. When Selina asks what Jonah did to screw up this time, Dan explains that Jonah ''literally'' shot himself in the foot with a hunting rifle while filming a campaign ad.
* ''Series/TheWestWing'': During the final season, there is this quote about Republican Presidental Candidate [[WorthyOpponent Arnold Vinick]]:
--> '''Leo:''' Ever see Arnie Vinick campaign, up close? He'll go into those high school gymnasiums in Iowa and New Hampshire and blow them all away. Shake every hand in the joint, kiss every baby, hug every widow on social security, and sound smarter and more honest than any Republican they've ever seen -- because he is.
* ''Series/TheWire'':
** In Season 3, all the police majors are rounded up in a meeting and dressed down by their superiors for letting the crime rates spike. On their way out of the meeting, the majors all exasperatedly discuss mundane ways of getting their stats down, while Bunny Colvin, in a moment that sounds like a joke but is actually foreshadowing, says:
--->'''Bunny Colvin:''' Me? [[spoiler:I thought I might legalize drugs]].
** [[spoiler:When Daniels rebuilds the Major Crimes Unit in Season 4 with Lester bringing up the rear, Daniels jokingly (?) tells Lester "you can pick your own boss, for all I care." Lester ends up doing ''exactly that'', installing Asher as head of the unit, because Asher is a do-nothing who is solely focused on planning his imminent retirement and demonstrably will let the MCU investigate whatever and whoever it needs to, however it wants to, a much-needed return to smart police work after [[TyrantTakesTheHelm the Marrimow debacle]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/MarkHenry's nickname, the World's Strongest Man, wasn't hyperbole initially. He was actually a World's Strongest Man winner.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* In ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', [[Creator/MelBrooks Professor Krassman]], [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the world's leading expert on mind control in frogs]], promises a revelation so intense that the listener will have to hold on to his hat... and refuses to continue until [[BigBad Doc Hopper]] has a death-grip on his hat.
-->'''Pr. Krassman:''' When a German scientist says hold on to your hat, it's not casual conversation! ''Hold on to your hat! Hat! '''HOLD!'''''... Good!
* In ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'', when [[MeanBoss Richfield]] is angry about Earl's son Robbie [[BoyfriendBlockingDad dating his daughter.]]
-->'''Richfield:''' They're sitting together in math class ''right now!''\\
'''Earl:''' How do you know that? You must have some sort of parental radar.\\
'''Richfield:''' That's right! ''(Shows Earl a monitor with a satellite dish spinning on top)'' The latest in over-protective parent technology! That little blip is the apple of my eye!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Series/DeadRingers:'' Apparently Alan Bennett once got into trouble because when he claimed he would "kill for a Viennese Whirl" he was not actually kidding.
* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978:'' The interstellar jets on Brontitall are so old and dilapidated Ford says they'll fall apart if someone so much as looks at them, and one of them does just that.
* ''Radio/OldHarrysGame:'' At one point, Satan tries using the "would sell his own grandmother" line when talking about Thomas Crimp, only to stop and admit Thomas ''did'' sell his grandmother.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* La Capitan from ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' delivers one of these in the flavor text of one of her cards.
-->''I want their heads yesterday! '''[[TimeTravel Actually]]''' [[TimeTravel yesterday!]]''
* The "Fall" part of the [[AndManGrewProud Fall of Netheril]] in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' is very literal. Netheril was built on magically levitating islands, so when TheArchmage Karsus accidentally tore apart [[BackgroundMagicField the Weave]]... Well, things came crashing down in the most literal way.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* At the end of Act One of ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Willy Wonka sings to the Golden Ticket winners (as part of his WelcomingSong / IAmGreatSong "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen") "Your life's about to change now/So don't get left behind". In Act Two, as he leads them through the factory, this promise proves to be absolutely true for all the members of the tour group, as his world brings either catastrophe or happiness upon its visitors depending on their inherent natures.
* The Epilogue of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' start with Hamilton's surviving ArchEnemy and future President saying something about Alexander Hamilton's legacy.
-->'''Thomas Jefferson:''' I’ll give him this: his financial system was a work of genius; I couldn't have undone it if I tried!… [sheepishly] and I tried.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': At one point in the novel ''Time Trap,'' [[BigBad Teridax]] tells [[TheHero Vakama]] that "There are a thousand ways I could kill you right now. And 941 of them hurt."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* From the ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' community: In his overview of the Persian civilisation, WebVideo/SpiritOfTheLaw said that the Elite War Elephant is like a walking building. Complete with images showing that said Elephant's health and armour stats compare favourably to those of a ''house''. Except this is a house that does trample damage.
* In ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare,'' psychopathic SerialKiller Mr. Scratch adopts Music/PoetsOfTheFall's "[[https://youtu.be/BAh6ay9QDtE?list=PLjACqN5i5sDUEienDV52g85W6J7chzLXV The Happy Song]]," as his VillainSong. The lyrical EvilGloating makes a point of {{Impl|ied}}ying that the listener ought to have taken the singer's admissions about his mental state more seriously.
-->You knew I'm a psycho\\
Yeah, [[IWarnedYou I told you]] I'm a psycho\\
Why, why, why, why?!\\
Cause really, I'm a psycho\\
I told you I'm a psycho, psycho PSYCHO!
* Two brothers in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' calls Auntie Ethel a "hag". They don't just mean "a mean old woman", they mean that she's an ''actual'' [[WickedWitch Green Hag]], a kind of supernatural creature in the setting.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'':
** On the first glance, Aldrich's title "Devourer of Gods" is just a LargeHamTitle, right? [[spoiler:Turns out he literally devoured a god, and specifically, none other than ''[[VideoGame/DarkSouls Dark Sun Gwyndolin]]'' himself.]]
** The Jailers are some of the biggest DemonicSpiders in the game, because they can drain your health just by looking at you. That isn't an exaggeration: if you're in their line of sight, your maximum health drains away until you're only one hitpoint away from death, unless you can kill them quickly.
* The first thing V says to Dante in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' is [[Creator/WilliamBlake "I have no name, I am but two days old."]] [[spoiler:He isn't kidding, Vergil split himself into V and Urizen just two days prior to this]].
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'': Jahan says that he became a demon hunter for a thousand reasons in general and one personal, private reason. If asked about the general reasons, he [[LongList lists all 1000]] -- the dialogue box helpfully skips straight to the end.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'':
** A literal incarnation of fear claims that [[IAmYourWorstNightmare he is your worst nightmare]].
** In a more humorous example, Varric threatens to hand the person ripping off his books to his editor. No, he's not referring to his crossbow, his actual editor. Who runs half the Coterie (the biggest organized crime group in his home city) and once killed a man over a semicolon. He never publishes a book without her.
* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'':
** The second boss fight has Duke threaten to "tear off [his] head and shit down [his] neck." Successfully beating the boss leads to a cutscene where he actually does it.
** He does it again with the third boss. At the end of Chapter 2, he says to the monster that sends a message to him "The last thing going through your mind will be my size 12 boot." So at the end of Chapter 3, he proceeds to punt the Cyclopean Emperor's eye as an American football through the goalposts.
* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' also keeps with Duke's bragging here and here, especially for the final boss. He makes a very crude boast, and you basically have to carry out the boast in order to beat him.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'': Just before he's brutally beaten to death by Kratos, Poseidon warns the Spartan; "The death of Olympus means the death of us all!" He's not kidding, either, since when his dead body falls into the ocean, it triggers a cataclysmic tidal wave that floods most of Greece (and it's implied the rest of the planet). It's all downhill from there with each Olympian's death.
* ''VideoGame/HiFiRush'': Before going into the boss fight with Roquefort, [[spoiler:Korsica]] warns Chai that he's known around the office as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Entering the boss fight quickly reveals that this was a very literal statement, as Roquefort transforms into a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent gigantic mechanical werewolf]].
-->'''Chai:''' [[spoiler:Korsica]]...? That "wolf" thing... WAS ''NOT'' AN EXPRESSION!
* One intro in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' has [[EvilSorceror Shang Tsung]] almost laughing at [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Johnny Cage]]'s claim that he took down [[PhysicalGod Shinnok]]. Anyone who played ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' knows Johnny isn't making this up.
-->'''Johnny:''' Once upon a time, I beat Shinnok.\\
'''Shang Tsung:''' My, what a ''colorful'' imagination.\\
'''Johnny:''' Look it up! I laid him out!
* Meta-ish example in ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'': Whenever someone says something in this game costs "A king's ransom" or more, it'd do well to take it at face value, as you can capture kings and ransom them, and the money you get will fall quite short of some of the most expensive gear in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Off}}'', the first boss Dedan [[BadassBoast boasts]]: "I'm the guardian of zone 1! It ain't nothing without me!" [[spoiler:If you try to enter the zone after beating him, you'll find yourself in an empty landscape, devoid of color and ([[BossInMookClothing mostly]]) devoid of life. Enoch later confirms that the death of a Guardian causes his Zone and all its inhabitants to fade away.]]
* ''VideoGame/PlanetaryAnnihilation'' clearly is just a continuation of ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'', showing that it's more about planets now, right? Wrong. Players can have great fun completely annihilating celestial bodies.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', Team Galactic make vague threats in their appearances throughout the game not to interfere with their plans 'to create a new world'. It turns out that they aren't exaggerating. Their plan is to use the power of [[OlympusMons the Legendary Pokémon of either time or space]] to ''actually'' destroy the world and create a new one the way they want it.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', Guybrush claims he can hold his breath for 10 minutes. When he finds himself trapped underwater, if the player waits exactly 10 minutes, he will drown.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' introduced three items/moves with "light speed" in their names: Light Speed Shoes, Light Speed Dash and Light Speed Attack. The first thing [[ExpositionFairy Tikal]] mentions when describing the Light Speed Dash to Sonic is indeed that it "lets [him] race toward rings at light speed". Even when their names were changed in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' to remove the "speed" part, the description stayed the same.
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', [[HuskyRusskie the Heavy]] loves calling his enemies "babies". In a spin-off comic, he calls a group of [[BearsAreBadNews large bears]] this, [[CubCuesProtectiveParent just before their massive mother appears.]]
-->'''Heavy:''' These bears were babies.\\
'''Scout:''' Yeah yeah, everything's a baby to you.\\
'''MamaBear:''' '''RROARRR'''\\
'''Heavy:''' No, these bears ''were'' babies. ''Her'' babies.
* ''VideoGame/{{Transistor}}'': When the Spine keeps trying to crush Red with its tail, the Transistor is going a bit loopy and losing touch, and Red (whose voice has been stolen) finds a computer terminal and uses it to communicate by text, reassuring her EmpathicWeapon that they'll get through this, and promising to defeat the Spine and [[spoiler:break its heart]]. One of the awesome moments is just after the ensuing boss battle when Red [[spoiler:literally trudges into the monster's body and ''slices its heart in half.'']]
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': [[spoiler:If you continue to spare Flowey during the Neutral Ending, he warns you that if you let him live, he'll kill you and everyone you love. It's hard to decide which is worse; [[NightmareFace the face he makes when he says that]], or the fact that he isn't [[OmnicidalManiac bluffing]].]]
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': [[spoiler: Late in the game, Nia outs herself as a Flesh Eater to Rex and confesses her love for him. Rex, who is in love with the currently-absent Pyra and Mythra, gives her a memetically infamous BaitAndSwitchSentiment response, which an amused Nia brushes off. However, the ending of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' would show [[{{Polyamory}} just how serious]] [[BabiesEverAfter Rex was when he said that]].]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Trope named outright in the ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'' theme song, in regards to the many, many, curriculum Camp Campbell has to offer: ''There's endless possibilities / And no, that's not hyperbole!''
* In ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'', [[Franchise/GreenLantern Stellar Sapphire Carol Ferris]] was born flying. Literally.
-->'''Carol:''' Take it from me, there's nothing to fear. And I should know because I was born flying. Literally. I was born in a private jet flying over the Atlantic because my parents were needed in London for a Ferris Air board meeting that could not wait. And neither could I.
* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': In [[ComicBook/{{Invincible}} Omni-Man]] vs [[ComicBook/TheBoys Homelander]], when [[spoiler:Omni-Man finds out that Homelander had murdered his wife, he calmly tells Homelander that "I'm going to feed you your own heart" before the fight starts. He makes good on that promise in the end in [[CruelAndUnusualDeath a most literal way]], [[{{Jawbreaker}} crushing Homelander's jaw so hard]] that it breaks out distended, plucking Homelander's [[AndShowItToYou heart out of his chest]], shoving it into his distended mouth, and then crushing his head down with it.]]
-->'''Omni-Man''': Remember what I promised you...? Now swallow.
* In an episode of ''[[WebAnimation/{{Negas}} Pinchimono]]'', he shows his favorite cereal [[ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs Burger Flakes]], which boasts to have "MORE flavor! So much it doesn't fit in the box!". Then in points to a small baggie of "extra flavor" stapled to the box.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
** In an early season, Church recounts a time when [[ActionGirl Tex]] pulled out an enemy's skull and then beat him to death with it. Naturally, upon hearing this, Tucker declares, "What? That doesn't seem physically ''possible''!" to which Church replies: "That's exactly what Jimmy kept screaming." [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNqd62R6eKE Sure enough...]] [[note]]The first example is eventually subverted in Season 14. [[spoiler:While Jimmy's last words were indeed "This doesn't seem physically possible!", it's because he had the Alpha A.I. -- later known as Church -- forcefully implanted in him. His body didn't actually die until Caboose killed it with the tank, though [[LossOfIdentity Jimmy himself was long gone]], with a few fleeting memories merging with those of Alpha-Church's being all that was left of him. The one who caused this was not Tex, but rather Captain Butch Flowers, also known as Freelancer Agent Florida and the Director's man in Blood Gulch]].[[/note]]
** Earlier in the same scene, Church mentions one of the soldiers running around screaming bloody murder. The flashback shows a guy basically spinning on the spot and literally yelling "Bloody murder! Bloody murder!"
* In ''One Ring to Rule Them All'', Sauron tells Wayne the goblin that he'll get a job as an evil henchman in 5 seconds. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcl4HlqgSqY Literally.]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** When teaching Ruby Rose about leadership in Volume 1, [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]] states that he's "made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet". In Volume 5, he reveals that he wasn't exaggerating. [[spoiler:The gods made both [[ParasiticImmortality Ozpin]] and [[CompleteImmortality Salem]] immortal for clashing reasons, which has led to their ForeverWar. After thousands of years of trying to earn humanity's redemption in the eyes of the gods, Ozpin really has made more mistakes than any normal human is capable of. However, he also [[GuiltComplex assumes far more responsibility]] than is genuinely the case; this contrasts [[BigBad Salem]], who [[NeverMyFault assumes none]] and was the person responsible for humanity's fall from grace in the first place.]]
** In Volume 2, [[LargeHam Doctor Oobleck]] and Team RWBY are searching Mountain Glenn for signs of a covert criminal group, when an encounter with a sinkhole gives Dr. Oobleck his revelation: they've been searching for an underground crime network -- they just didn't expect it to be literally under the ground.
** In Volume 3, Qrow's disruptive entrance into Beacon Academy results in a frustrated Ironwood snapping that if Qrow was one of his men, he'd have him shot. Qrow retorts that, if he was one of Ironwood's men, he'd shoot himself. It turns out that this was neither a joke nor hyperbole. [[spoiler:In Volume 7, Ironwood turns on the heroes and [[KickTheMoralityPet shoots Oscar]] at point-blank range. Oscar survives due to Ozpin's magic, but it unleashes Ironwood's dictatorial instincts; he goes on to shoot Councilman Sleet for objecting to martial law and almost shoots Marrow for lashing out against his more inhumane decisions (Winter saves his life just in time).]]
* In the spin-off ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'':
** One skit involves Ruby playing "the floor is lava" with her teammates (she's very disappointed when they just use their various powers to effortlessly cross the room without touching the floor). Then Roman Torchwick appears, she repeats her warning, but he doesn't believe her, steps onto the room's floor -- and promptly melts, because the floor ''really was'' lava.
** Another skit has Ruby and Ren [[ItMakesSenseInContext attacked by Grimm pancakes]], and Ruby says "I never knew it would end like this... really! It never would have occured to me!"
* From near the beginning of ''[[WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyMeets Tsum Tsum meets My Little Pony]]'':
-->'''Sweetie Belle:''' Well she better hurry! I'm about to climb the walls!\\
'''Scootaloo:''' Oh, Sweetie Belle... ''[laughs]''\\
'''Sweetie Belle:''' You think I'm jokin', huh? ''[proceeds to climb wall]''\\
'''Scootaloo:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I'm surprised you don't get a cutie mark for that.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/AliceGrove'', Alice [[http://www.alicegrove.com/post/139005499504/alice-can-melt-rock-by-scowling-at-it gets angry enough]] at a fellow [[TheAgeless Ageless]], [[NighInvulnerability Nigh-Invulnerable]] ex-SuperSoldier to threaten to melt the rock underneath her and bury her in it. Much later, she turns out to have meant it quite literally, and [[spoiler:to have [[http://www.alicegrove.com/post/159906197084/she-really-meant-it-when-she-threatened-sedna-with done it]] to the AxCrazy "Mr. Church" 5000 years ago]].
* When two people in ''Webcomic/BooksDontWorkHere'' talk about how you should still be polite while playing God [[http://booksdontworkhere.thecomicseries.com/comics/50/ here]], it's practical advice.
* ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'': Done several times. For example, a man is shown arguing with a woman. He concludes by telling her not to let the door hit her on the way out. When she walks out of the frame, an angry door on legs stomps by and right-hooks her in the face. See it [[http://files.explosm.net/comics/Dave/comicdoorpunch3.png here.]]
* ''Webcomic/DragonMango'': Many years ago, a barkeeper bragged that his ale, Dragon's Breath, was potent enough to knock out a dragon. The visiting dragonslayers [[spoiler:who are dragons disguised as humanoids]] took that as a challenge and soon learned the hard way that he wasn't exaggerating.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': In response to her son's frustration at the laws that limit his ability to make a difference and protect others, Pandora [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2009-12-24 promises]] to "destroy the world as it is now known, and replace it with another. A world where your restraints will mean nothing, and you can do as you please." [[spoiler:When we finally hear back from her, it turns out that she has been working ToUnmasqueTheWorld and [[EveryoneIsASuper Awaken the entire human race]].]]
* In the finale of the ''Morth'' arc of ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'', the gang muse over the prospect of being trapped in a CollapsingLair.
-->'''Eastwood:''' Oh, I assure you I'm ''pissing myself'' with fear.\\
'''Virus:''' Well, I wouldn't go that far.\\
'''Rogue:''' I would. Just noticed. Watch your step there.\\
'''Virus:''' Oohh, right, ''NOT'' a metaphor.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
** When Dr. Sun [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080528 threatens to dismantle a battlemech with his bare fists]], [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20091223 he means it.]]
** Prince Vadim Sturmvoraus once said that he would eat his hat if a cathedral ever got built in Mechanicsburg. When the Heterodyne responded by building a cathedral, the prince by all accounts was true to his word. [[ItMakesSenseInContext And that is why "The Prince of Sturmhalten's Big Bet" is the name for a hat sandwich.]]
** During one of the radio plays, the announcer was supposed to say "...And exaggerated hyperbole is completly out of control!". However, he stumbled over the word "hyperbole" for a couple of seconds, meaning it really was out of control.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
** When [[HeroicComedicSociopath Spades Slick]] says [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003089 he made this town]], he means that [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003115 without him]] [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003136 it would be a lifeless desert.]] [[spoiler:This is because he's one of the Troll's session's Exiles and the town is in post-apocalyptic Alternia]].
** [[TheJuggernaut Cans]], one of the members of [[GangOfHats The Felt]], can [[MegatonPunch quite literally punch people into next week.]] He also slugs [[TheBigGuy Hearts Boxcars]] so hard that he ends up in ''a different calendar entirely.''
** [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003924 On this page,]] Gamzee refers to his parental guardian as "the old goat". It later turns out said guardian is a giant goat-like creature.
* ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'': The term for people who have a very low social credit score, but haven't reached the "all social credit privileges revoked" status of UnPerson quite yet, are called "garbage people". It turns out that they are still allowed inside the restaurant in which the main characters are seen at the beginning, but are seated in the "garbage section", which is right next to the restaurant's dumpsters.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Mindflayed}}'' the halfling just had to [[http://mindflayed.0nyx.com/comic076.jpg ask the wrong question.]] Or a horribly right question, depending on how you look at it.
-->'''Djaro:''' ...Would it be an understatement to say I was being sarcastic?
* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'':
** Cassiel is described as the closest you'll get to the devil himself, which is then clarified as being because he's her uncle.
** At one point, Vashiel threatens Cassiel with a slightly {{narm}}ful BadassBoast... until you remember [[CannotTellALie he's bound by an oath of truth]], suddenly making his promise "[[{{Satan}} not even your uncle will be able to protect you from me]]" ''much'' more impressive.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** Named for [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0473.html Lien's little speech:]] Though it's [[ThisIndexIsNotAnExample not an example]] as the phrase is actually a simile.
--->'''Lien:''' My parents were fishermen. When I was a little girl, I stood right here and learned how to clean the fish that they caught. I'm telling you this so that you know... when I say that if you take one more step, [[GuttedLikeAFish I will gut you like the Catch of the Day]] -- it is NOT hyperbole!
** In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0685.html another strip,]] when HeroicComedicSociopath Belkar says, "I swear, I am going to rip off your stupid bug head and piss down your neck hole!", he happens to be serious.
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0760.html It appears]] that one of these was the last straw in the marriage of Elan's parents.
--->'''Tarquin:''' You sound like your mother. "Oh Tarquin, you jerk! When you said that you would liquefy every man in the tavern if one of them grabbed my butt again during my shift, I didn't think you meant it!"
* In one ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' strip, when Gabe recommends that the reader play ''[[VideoGame/TimeSplitters TimeSplitters 2]]'' over ''[[VideoGame/RedFaction Red Faction 2]]'', he also recommends playing the latter if they want a game that will give them leprosy. When Tycho asks how does he know that, it's shown that the game caused Gabe's arms to fall off.
* Used in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''. [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1437 One person says it's hyperbole, the other insists it isn't.]]
* Tagon from ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20021228.html does this:]]
-->'''Tagon:''' You know, for all I've threatened to do it in the past, this is the first time I've actually torn someone a new one with my bare hands.
* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'': When your boss has the ability to somehow resurrect dead historical figures, conversations can [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/trampling get a little awkward]].
-->'''Ethan:''' I can't talk right now, Christmas shoppers are trampling Jesus. Manny, that's ''not a metaphor'', Christmas shoppers are ''literally'' tramping Jesus.
* A characters in ''Webcomic/ZeroPercentDiscount'' says he is contacting the spirits of dead presidents, which turns out to be [[http://zeropercentdiscountcomic.tumblr.com/post/34276426041 true]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In the Website/TVTropes page for SavedFromDevelopmentHell, it is stated that projects can stay in DevelopmentHell for decades, and states that this is Not Hyperbole -- and it isn't. Works finally emerging from DevelopmentHell after 10 years or more are:
** The film ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' (13 years)
** ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' (15 years)
** ''VideoGame/GrimoireHeraldsOfTheWingedExemplar'' (20 years)
** ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' (Over 30 years)
** ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' (over 60 years -- Tolkien worked on it for literally his entire adult life)
** The ''Film/JohnCarter'' film, in one form or another, for about ''70 years.''
* A couple from the ''Not Always'' series:
** [[https://notalwaysright.com/a-crazy-fan-with-a-few-wires-loose/ One]] ''Website/NotAlwaysWorking'' story has a repair company treat a customer's claim that her ceiling fan is hanging by its wires casually, because [[CryingWolf they get a call for the same thing about once a month and it's usually less serious.]] The electrician they send is quite shocked to find out that in this one case, it ''really was'' hanging by its wires.
** From ''Not Always Related'', an elderly woman who had chronic lateness issues often joked to her family that she'd be late to her own funeral. [[https://notalwaysright.com/funerals-dont-have-to-be-funereal/118856/ And she literally was]] -- her body had been sent to another parlor in another city, causing her funeral to be delayed a couple of hours.
* In ''[[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=322061 Sean Bean Saves Westeros]]'' (in which the actor appears in White Harbor the same day Ned Stark is beheaded, and subsequently takes his place in the new world, as well as taking advantage of book foreknowledge to help Stannis win the war), Sandor Clegane threatens Littlefinger and Varys with pissing on their dead mouths if they do not shut up. [[spoiler:When Littlefinger tries to get Sansa out of King's Landing and to the Vale, Sandor kills him and, to quote the story, "The last thing to go through Lord Petyr Baelish's mockingbird of a mouth was not a wry insult, nor pretty, manipulating words, but Sandor Clegane's piss."]]
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Several early stories had people joking about how one of these days someone would make Phase mad and suddenly the national economy would strike back. Turns out that was never a joke. In 'Ayla and the Great Shoulder Angel Conspiracy 6' Phase gets angry enough to sic the patent law departments at every single electronics company on two mad scientists who pissed him off, just to bankrupt them. He only calls it off because a friend came up with a nastier plan -- namely unleashing a whole bunch of other angry {{Mad Scientist}}s.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'': Linkara describes his videos as "the place where bad comics burn." There have been instances, like the infamous ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'', where Linkara has finished his review by setting the book on fire.
* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'':
** Happens when [[HeroicComedicSociopath Mr. Popo]] is acting out of character:
--->'''Piccolo:''' ... Okay, what's up with him?\\
'''Kami:''' Don't mind him; he just got through [[ItsSnowingCocaine dropping a gallon of LSD]].\\
'''Piccolo:''' A gallon?!\\
'''Kami:''' A ''literal'' gallon. Out of a milk jug. I don't even know where he got it from; he never leaves this place.
** When King Kai is threatened by the Ginyu-less Ginyu Force, he just gets annoyed and tells them that they can all go straight to hell. Then Recoome has the gall to ask him "[[TemptingFate Who's gonna make]] [[ThirdPersonPerson Recoome]]?" and getting in his face. Cut immediately to the entire force crash-landing in ''actual'' Hell.
** When Captain Ginyu retreives all seven Dragon Balls for Freeza, he declares he will perform the Dance of Joy. When Freeza tries to politely tell him he doesn't need to, Ginyu insists, and after some back and foth, points out that it's part of his contract.
--->'''Ginyu''': Now in celebration, I shall commence the Dance of Joy!\\
'''Freeza''': Oh, no, no, that won't be necessary.\\
'''Ginyu''': It is entirely necessary.\\
'''Freeza''': Uh, no, really, you don't have to--\\
'''Ginyu''': Actually, I do. I'm contractually obligated under your father to dance the Dance of Joy post every successful mission.
* In Episode 8 of ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'', when Anderson forgives Alucard, the latter calls bullshit by saying only God has that right, to which Anderson agrees and offers to let Alucard "speak to Him". Alucard assumed this was just a BadassBoast by way of ImpliedDeathThreat. However, sometime later, when Anderson's holy vines ensnare and immolate Alucard...
-->'''God:''' [[spoiler:Vlad Tepes of Wallachia... Son of the Dragon... the Impaler...]]\\
'''Alucard:''' [[SarcasmFailure Oh, fuck me, he wasn't kidding!]] *ahem* Hello, God!
* ''WebVideo/{{Numberphile}}'': [[https://youtu.be/XTeJ64KD5cg "Graham's Number"]] opens with Tony Padilla stating that "If you actually tried to picture Graham's Number in your head, then your head would collapse into a black hole", and then clarifying that he means this very literally:
-->'''Tony Padilla:''' The entropy of a black hole the size of your head carries less information than it would take to write out Graham's Number.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'':
** In "The Retroville 9", during Jimmy's team's rematch against Butch's team, Butch declares that if Jimmy hits the next ball, [[ClothesEatingWager he'll eat his hat]]. After Jimmy hits the ball, Butch quite literally takes a bite out of the lid of his hat and declares that it's actually not bad.
** In "Sorry, Wrong Era", when Hugh is left with Jimmy's time control remote, he goes to the Candy Bar and while eating an ice cream cone tells Sam that he can eat it all day long. He then reverses time to un-eat his cone and eat it again, which disgusts the other patrons.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
** In "The Laziest", Larry calls Richard "lazier than a rock". Larry is an [[AnimateInanimateObject anthropomorphic rock]], and he lost to Richard in a laziness contest in 1983, so this is literally true.
** In "The Quest", Anais calls Tina's house a dump. It turns out that Tina actually does live in a dump.
** Implied in "The Tape" when Ninja George says he'll never raise his fist again, then eats a sandwich with his foot.
** In "The Fraud", Gumball says he and Darwin have been ashamed so many times in their lives that they're now incapable of feeling shame. Darwin then [[AmusingInjuries takes apart Gumball's brain]] to show that he's run out of "shame-osterone".
** In "The Void", Mr. Small says Janis could never go anywhere without him. It's true, not because Janis cares about him, but because Janis is [[HippieVan his van]]. He's also not exaggerating when he says she "runs on good vibes"; gently patting the dashboard gives the van a tremendous speed boost.
** In "The Faith", Alan says that despite all of his attempts to befriend Gumball, the latter still won't look him in the eye. As it turns out Gumball literally refuses to look him in the eye, because offscreen the top of his head has twisted itself to face away from Alan.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "The New Normal", Anne's father remarks that his daughter is the poster child for hating responsibility. To drive the point home, we see a drawing (that Anne made herself as a child) proclaiming that she hates responsibility.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'' episode "Same Time Last Week" focuses on Daggett annoying his brother Norbert. Norb threatens to punch Dag into last week, and he does... only for Daggett to start annoying him all over again. It goes on and on, until finally when trying to avoid annoying Norb, he ends up getting punched back to the stone age.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'':
** This exchange:
--->'''Cyril:''' I got the 50 million in bearer bonds.\\
'''Spelvin:''' Unbelievable!\\
'''Cyril:''' ''[smiling as if complimented]'' Well, I...\\
'''Spelvin:''' No, I mean ''I literally don't believe you.''
** At the end of the fifth season premiere, after [[spoiler:it's announced ISIS will shut down]], Archer reveals they've been sitting on "Literally -- ''not'' figuratively -- [[ItsSnowingCocaine a ton of cocaine]]."
** Subverted when Cyril becomes a dictator and Cheryl claims he has a nuclear missile. SmashCut to [[MadScientist Krieger]] and his clones working on a giant missile. Then jump cut ''back'' to Cheryl, where she explains she was actually talking about his penis--the missile turns out to be something neither Cyril nor Cheryl knew about.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** There's a variation in the episode "The Waterbending Scroll". Iroh interrupts a fight between Zuko and a pirate captain ([[ItsALongStory that he hired only for them to double-cross him]]), scolding them with "Are you so busy fighting, you cannot see that your own ship has set sail?" When Zuko dismisses it with "We have no time for your [[{{Koan}} proverbs]], Uncle!" Iroh retorts that "It's no proverb", and points out that the Gaang have just stolen the pirates' ship.
--->'''Iroh:''' Maybe it ''should'' be a proverb...
** In "The Boiling Rock Part 1," the Warden says that he would rather jump into the lake of boiling water surrounding the prison than let the track record of nobody escaping be broken. Part 2 reveals he means that. When the heroes try to escape on the gondola with him hostage, he tells the guards to cut the rope, knowing that would mean he would fall into the lake too.
** When Toph says that she is the greatest earthbender in the world, you better believe she can back that claim up. This is the girl who duelled King Bumi, who literally had a hundred years of experience on her, and she fought him to a draw! At age 12! Even earlier, she figured out how to subvert a WeaksauceWeakness of Earthbending by figuring out Metalbending, which none in history had done before.
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'': Sarah Lynn gets letters every day from boys telling her she was the first girl they masturbated to. "''Literally! Every day!''"
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Breadwinners}}'', [=SwaySway=]'s eccentric distant grandfather rode a Tunnel Eater completely naked, claiming that "Duck naked is the only way to ride". Turns out this wasn't just crazy talk. Tunnel Eaters can't resist the soft down of ducks.
* In ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'', after Dracula finds out the Church had his wife put to death, he tells everyone present that they have one year before he lays waste to Wallachia. It turns out that's how long it will take for him to summon enough demons for that purpose.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' episode "Big Ball", Mung continuously says that scoring would ruin the titular game. Turns out he was quite literal as when Truffles's team wins the game, a giant [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]] {{expy}} throws the entire stadium in a trash can.
-->'''Truffles:''' ''[to Mung]'' I thought you were talking figuratively!
* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', [[DarkActionGirl Cree]] threatens to turn the treehouse upside down if Numbuh One doesn't tell her where her sister is. He tells her [[TemptingFate to go ahead and try it]]. SmashCut to the treehouse literally turned upside down and a dazed and very bruised up Numbuh One stating he didn't think she could actually do it.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Faux Chapeau", Dee Dee convinces Dexter to market one of his inventions as a hat, and his customers turn on him when it makes their heads all grow giant. In an interview, one man says "I can't leave my house", making it sound like he's experiencing FreakinessShame, but then he adds "[[LiteralMetaphor ...literally!]]", as his head has now become too big to fit through his front door.
* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/DogCity'', the Dogfather decides to work over Ace Heart to get info on the episode's MacGuffin.
-->'''Bugsy:''' Dis is gonna hurt me more dan it does you.\\
'''Ace:''' [[SarcasmMode Thanks for the sympathy.]]\\
'''Bugsy:''' What sympathy? I got pistol-whipper's elbow. This is really gonna smart!
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', Doug is repeatedly told that the candy bars he's trying to sell taste like cement. This, he later discovers, is entirely accurate; due to a serious mix-up at the factory, the bars actually are made with cement.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' episode "The Last Crash of the Sunchaser", [[spoiler:when the triplets' mother Della got lost in a cosmic storm, Scrooge stated he "spared no expense" to find her. His family took this as he spent as much as he could without putting a dent in his wealth. Turns out though, ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness he meant it]]''. He nearly brought his company to the brink of bankruptcy in his attempt to find Della, but the search was too futile and too expensive to continue]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "So Totally Spaced Out", this is how [[BigEater Cosmo]] inadvertently discovers [[CuteIsEvil the Gigglepies]]' weakness; when he says that they're cute enough to eat, he promptly stuffs one in his mouth, only to spit it out when he finds that they're made of manure. As manure is a [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad Yugopotamian]] delicacy, Timmy wishes for the king and queen to have bibs, utensils, and empty stomachs to be able to [[EatingTheEnemy eat all of them]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'':
** In the episode "[[Recap/TheFlintstonesS4E4DinoDisappears Dino Disappears]]", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin when Dino]] [[TropeyComeHome runs away]], Fred finds [[IdenticalStranger a dog that looks a bit like him]]. Despite the dog's owner telling him otherwise, Fred stubbornly believes that dog is Dino, stating he'll sleep in Dino's doghouse for a week if it's not him. After going through a manner of hijinks including dognapping and getting arrested, Fred is shocked when the ''real'' Dino shows up. The episode then ends with Wilma bringing Fred his dinner...at Dino's doghouse.
** In "Room For Two", when Barney tells Fred that half of his house's newly built room is on Barney's property, Fred doesn't believe it and calls the City Hall of Records to check it. Barney comments that Fred will raise the roof when he learns it's true. Sure enough, when Fred finds out that Barney does legally own half the room, [[GaleForceSound he angrily yells so loud that the room's roof jumps]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "[[Recap/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriendsS5E2TheBuckSwapsHere The Buck Swaps Here]]" has the main cast going to a swap meet to shop for stuff. Early into the episode, Bloo gripes his disinterst in going, to which Mac teases him by claiming Bloo can buy himself a new brain. Everyone laughs at Mac's joke until Frankie confirms that they actually can buy real brains from the swap meet (for $10 no less).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** In the first episode, when Fry first meets Leela, he learns that he is [[MarriedToTheJob designated to be a delivery boy]]. Having done that for most of his life, Fry refuses, but Leela tells him that everyone [[ResignationsNotAccepted must follow their designated roles]]. Those who don't get fired... [[KillThePoor out of a cannon,]] [[HurlItIntoTheSun into the sun]].
** When asked to bend some metal bars, Bender declares that Bending is his middle name. Then he further clarifies that his last name is Rodriguez[[note]]part of a series-spanning joke about how Bender was assembled in Mexico and whether that makes him Latino[[/note]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "All About Odie", while talking about Odie, Garfield mentioned that he liked to chase cars, and whenever he caught one, he'd bury it in the backyard, causing the entire audience to laugh at the ridiculous concept, to which Garfield stormed out of the lecture hall in a huff. Upon reaching home, he mentioned the humiliation he experienced to Odie while the two of them are walking through a yard full of half-buried cars containing annoyed drivers.
-->'''Garfield:''' Boy, try and educate some people.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'':
** In "The Hand That Rocks the Mabel", when [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Gideon]] very publicly asks Mabel to a dance, Mabel clearly wants to gently let him down, but a crowd of onlookers begins commenting on how adorable the situation is and eagerly anticipating her saying yes, including one little old lady who remarks quaveringly, "If she says 'no', I'll die from sadness"... and then an actual doctor (in full scrubs, no less, even in a fancy restaurant) chimes in with "I can verify that will ''indeed'' happen."
** In "Boyz Crazy", Wendy's claim that {{boy band}}s are "just a manufactured product of the bloated corporate music industry" (a perspective Dipper agrees with) turns out to be quite literal as Mabel's favorite band Sev'ral Timez is revealed to be clones that were genetically engineered by their producer to be perfect boys and treated like animals.
** In "Northwest Mansion Mystery", upon finding Mabel and her friends talking about the upcoming Northwest Family Party, Dipper reminds them that "[[RichBitch Pacifica Northwest]] is the worst. And that's not just jealousy talking, I'd say that to her face." Right on cue, the doorbell rings, and Pacifica is there to ask for help. Dipper dryly tells her "You're the worst" and slams the door in her face.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'':
** In the episode "Scary Poppins", Grim says that [[MetaphorIsMyMiddleName "Careful" is his middle name]]. ''[[EmbarrassingMiddleName Literally.]]''
--->'''Grim:''' ''[under his breath]'' Oh, I never forgave Mom for that one...
* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse2021'', while stuck with Teela for the night, Evelyn decides to sleep. When Teela asks why she'd feel safe enough to sleep around her [[ArchEnemy Nemesis]], Evelyn boasts that she sleeps with one eye open. While normally an expression that means someone's a light sleeper and can wake in an instant, Evelyn proves she literally sleeps with her right eye open, to Teela's discomfort.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Mr. Cat, who HatesBeingTouched, [[DisproportionateRetribution threatens to kill Kaeloo and Stumpy for touching him]] in one episode... [[MyGodYouAreSerious while holding a knife to Kaeloo's throat]].
* ''WesternAnimation/LegoStarWarsTheFreemakerAdventures'': When Zander tells Kordi a rich customer wants to hire them to replace his pod racing team, Kordi is reluctant until Zander tells her of the offered money and says she can't say "no" to this. She does try only to find out it's physically impossible.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** "Muscle Tussle": WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck loses his girlfriend to a strong duck who threatens to pound Daffy's head so far down, he would need to unbutton his shirt to eat. Daffy laughs off this threat, on which the muscle-head proceeds to make good.
--->'''Daffy:''' ''[[NonSequiturThud (dazedly unbuttoning his shirt to look out)]]'' [[NonSequiturThud One cheeseburger; hold the onions...]]
** In the Sylvester cartoon "Hippety Hopper", Sylvester gets taken down by a mouse working with Hippety Hopper, the baby kangaroo. Spike, the house bulldog, decides to take the mouse down himself. After the mouse and Hopper kick Spike out of the house, the mouse announces, "And if you come back in, I'll pin your ears back!"
--->'''Spike:''' Any time a mouse can pin my ears back, I'll take up ballet dancing. ''[enters house, gets knocked back with a clothespin on his ears]''\\
'''Sylvester:''' Well, I see you got your ears pinned back.\\
'''Spike:''' C'mon, cat. ''[drags Sylvester into his doghouse, they then emerge in tutus]'' We're takin' up ballet dancin'. ''[dance and exeunt]''
** In the climax of "WesternAnimation/KnightyKnightBugs", WesternAnimation/BugsBunny traps the Black Knight (played by WesternAnimation/YosemiteSam) and his dragon, who has a habit of sneezing fire at the worst possible time (it got a cold because its fire ran too low), in the Black Knight's castle's explosives tower. Surrounded by explosives, the dragon starts gearing up to sneeze yet again. Knowing full well what's going to happen, the Knight freaks out and tries to cover the dragon's nose while yelling, "No, no! Don't sneeze, you stupid dragon, or you'll blow us to the moon!" Of course, it's all in vain as the dragon sneezes anyway, causing all the explosives to blow up at once and send the explosives tower rocketing into the sky toward the moon.
--->'''Black Knight:''' Dragons is so stupid.\\
'''Bugs Bunny:''' ''(calling up to the sky and waving)'' Adios! Have a nice trip! Bon voyage! Farewell to thee!\\
''(The Singing Sword in Bugs' hand vocalizes to "Alohe Oe")''
** In the special "Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island", Daffy laments being stuck on a desert island with Speedy Gonzales, with nothing to eat but coconuts, and cries "I'll go nuts if I'm on this place another minute!" When Speedy points out "It's a minute already," Daffy has [[FreakOut a brief nervous breakdown]].
** The conflict between Duck Dodgers and Marvin the Martian in ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgersInTheTwentyFourthAndAHalfCentury'' is started by Dodgers' insistence that "there just ain't room enough on this planet for the two of us", which he repeats again at the end of the cartoon... after both of their explosives have reduced said planet to the size of a floating basketball the two can barely fit on.
--->'''Duck Dodgers:''' As I was saying, buster, this planet ain't big enough for the two of us, so... ''[shoves him off]'' ...off you go!
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madballs}}: Escape from Orb'', after Bruise Brother (one of Commander Wolfbreath's goons) [[BerserkButton makes fun of her hair]], Freakella says she'd like to pound him flat, fold him into a paper airplane, and send him flying into a brick wall. Later in the cartoon, she catches him trying to ambush her in a dark alley and makes good on her threat.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' had Flapjack exile himself to a leper colony after the people of Stormalong Harbor ostracized him due to his adoption of a plague-ridden rat. After the rat abandons him for a mate, the Stormalongians return to bring Flapjack back home, claiming [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou they can't live without him.]] On the boat, Captain K'nuckles explains they were being literal: the reason Flapjack never caught the plague is that [[TheImmune he's naturally immune]], and they need his blood to make a vaccine.
-->'''Flapjack:''' Oh. Well, it's nice to be needed!\\
'''Dr. Barber:''' ''[holding up a giant syringe]'' Don't you mean, ''needled''?
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'': Deathklok are in a bad mood after being blamed for awakening a troll in Finland.
-->'''Nathan:''' Aw man, I hate Finland. [[INeedAFreakingDrink I need a hundred beers.]]\\
''[cut to a bar]''\\
'''Nathan:''' I need [[ExactWords a hundred beers]]. Exactly. Exactly one hundred. Thank you.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse2013'', Mickey is trying to get [[MadScientist Ludwig Von Drake]] to help Donald with his temper, as he "has been blowing his stack at the drop of a hat". When Donald protests that he doesn't, Mickey takes out a hat and drops it, causing Donald to fly into a rage.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', Adam decides to run for class president against Bull Sharkowski, but Jake tries to convince him not to, claiming "You'll get beat!" Adam takes this to meaning that [[WithFriendsLikeThese Jake believes]] he has [[DudeWheresMyRespect no chance of winning the election]]; yet after making a stirring speech, he succeds. However, what Jake meant was that the animals at the school attack the class president to prove dominance.[[note]][[EtTuBrute including him]][[/note]] The episode ends with Adam running for his life.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE24BrightLights4 Bright Lights, Part 4]]", during the climax, the Flutter Ponies [[BraggingThemeTune sing]] about how they're [[SuperSpeed "faster than a lightning bolt"]] while [[NonchalantDodge effortlessly dodging]] the [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts the villain's shooting at them]], proving it's no exaggeration.
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Mare in the Moon]]": Rainbow Dash tells a skeptical Twilight she can clear the sky in ten seconds flat. If you time the clearing sequence, it takes her exactly ten seconds.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E5GauntletOfFire Gauntlet of Fire]]": Spike meets the ''enormous'' Dragon Lord Torch, who laughs that he "could squish [Spike] with my pinky claw!" When Spike nervously laughs along with him, Torch snaps, "That wasn't a joke; it was a fact."
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E12FlutterBrutter Flutter Brutter]]": "I'm going to zap you with a storm cloud!" is no figure of speech when it's coming from a pegasus pony, as Rainbow Dash demonstrates on TheSlacker Zephyr Breeze.
* This is used for a bit of BlackComedy in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Elswhere and Elsewhen". While looking for a [[PortalToThePast time pool]] that leads to the 1600s, Luz comes across one that shows three medival knights sitting around a campfire and one declaring that he's going to "revel [himself] to death". When she pulls her head back into the present day, she notices his desiccated skeleton nearby, still giving two thumbs up.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Bad Hair Day", Doofenshmirtz is shot in the butt with a tranquilizer dart and sings he'll "probably lose consciousness in 17 seconds", and indeed passes out exactly 17 seconds after singing the word "consciousness".
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': Done unintentionally in "It's Time": when Mordecai and Rigby are [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext hurtling through a time vortex on a microwave]], Rigby calls Mordecai out for flaking on him to hang with Margaret. In a fit of rage, Mordecai yells IllKillYou and pushes Rigby off, and the vortex [[ReducedToDust turns him to dust]] (he gets better).
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' episode "Two Weeks Without Food", the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKpbuWQMMJk first]] "Great Moments in Dumb Kids History" sketch has a mother threatening her son that if he doesn't stop touching his sister, she'll drive the car into a lake. [[TemptingFate He touches his sister anyway]], and the skit ends right as the mother is about to fulfill her claim.
* In the "Missouri Mish Mash" arc of ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'', Kurwood, the Moon Man wizard who created the Kurwood Derby, said that its creation would "take a lot out of him". Turns out he was serious, for the ritual that created the derby ended up reducing him to ''two inches tall''.
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': In "Unbalanced Load", Rocko declares that he needs to get some laundry done, because his bedroom looks like a pigsty. Then he sees an actual pig in his bedroom stuffing his face with pizza, and tells the guy to [[PigLatin "Amscray!"]]
* Used both tragically and as a WhamEpisode in the penultimate episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. [[spoiler:[[LoveInterest Ashi]] and her sisters being called "the Daughters of Aku" wasn't just a title bestowed on them as his greatest warriors; [[LukeIAmYourFather they were literally spawned]] from [[MysticalPregnancy their mother drinking Aku's essence]]]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' episode "Go Away, Ghost Ship", the gang sails through a bank of ominous fog, and Shaggy remarks "The fog's so thick, you could cut it with a knife!" Scooby tries it, and much to his surprise it turns out to be true.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheepInTheBigCity'':
** One episode features a [[ShowWithinAShow commercial within the show]] for a store called Les is Moore's Warehouse. Owner Les Wiggles tells viewers that his prices are [[InsaneProprietor "completely nuts!"]] -- and he ''means it.'' A single battery costs $42,000, while a giant elephant is only sixteen cents.
** [[TooDumbToLive General Specific]] runs afoul of this trope when the [[InsistentTerminology Angry Scientist]] tells him that he's cooked up a new plan to capture Sheep that "stinks." The general won't listen because he wants a ''good'' scheme, not a stinky one, so the Scientist explains that he wasn't exaggerating: the plan is to unleash a massive stink bomb into the Big City to drive Sheep out with the odor.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS23E21NedNEdnasBlendAgenda Ned 'N Edna's Blend Agenda]]" when Flanders and Mrs. Krabappel reveal that they're married, Bart reminds Homer that he said if Flanders ever remarried he'd eat his hat. His hat, in this case, was the Crown of Thorns he was wearing as Jesus in a play (long story) but fortunately for him, it's made out of licorice.
--->'''Homer:''' Mmmm... sacrilegious.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E10PokeyMom Pokey Mom]]", after being injured in a prison rodeo, Homer said, "I can't complain." while in the infirmary, then points to [[CantYouReadTheSign a sign that says "No complaining"]]. Upon being informed that only applied to the prisoners, he felt free to complain about his injuries and his life in general.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield 22 Short Films About Springfield]]", Barney comments that the people at Moe's had a good laugh when Moe said he'd need to send Barney's tab to NASA to calculate. Moe reveals that he did and the results have just arrived. Barney owes Moe $14 billion.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E11WorstEpisodeEver Worst Episode Ever]]", while Bart and Milhouse are taking care of Comic Book Guy's shop, Milhouse ends up buying a lot of comic books about a glasses-wearing superhero that proves extremely unpopular. Bart angrily says that they'll never sell them because "birds won't even use them for their nests". Right on cue, a crow comes in with a copy of the comic book, angrily shreds it with its talons, and leaves.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E8TakeMyWifeSleaze Take My Wife, Sleaze]]", the Simpson home gets invaded by a motorcycle gang, the Hell's Satans. When Marge offers to make breakfast for them, their leader, Meathook, replies "I'd kill for some waffles", with his friend Ramrod adding "He has. [[NoodleIncident Remember that IHOP in Oakland]]?", which makes them both laugh.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns A Star is Burns]]", Lisa is describing Jay Sherman as a possible judge for the upcoming film festival. Shortly after, Homer walks in and says "my ears are burning". Lisa promptly responds that she was not talking about Homer. Homer then responds that his ears were actually burning. He lit a Q-Tip to see inside his ears.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS18E16Homerazzi Homerazzi]]", Homer is selling his photos to a tabloid editor. The editor remarks that one of the photos has Page 1 written all over it, only for the viewer to find that Homer actually doodled the phrase "Page 1" on the margins.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E16Pygmoelian Pygmoelian]]", Moe gets plastic surgery to become more attractive-looking, and when's happy with the surgery, he says "It's like I've gone to Heaven". Then, wondering whether this is too good to be true, asks Homer "I died on the operating table, didn't I?", to which Homer answers "[[NoodleIncident Yeah, but just for a minute. It's a funny story, I'll tell you sometime.]]".
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', the Trokkle King has an advisor, who he never listens to. When the advisor gets upset and complains that there's no point in a king even having an advisor if he never listens to advice, the king thinks that makes sense -- and fires the advisor. Realizing he made things worse, the advisor fools the king into abdicating his throne to Brainy Smurf... But Brainy not only won't listen to ''his'' advice, [[FromBadToWorse he won't listen to]] ''[[FromBadToWorse anyone]]'', so now ''all'' the trokkles decide to overthrow him. When the original Trokkle King finds out about this, he gets frightened and warns the other Smurfs, because he knows that when the trokkles overthrow a king, they ''throw him over'' a cliff, literally.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In the episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS8E8DoucheAndTurd Douche & Turd]]", Music/SeanCombs (then known as "P. Diddy") walks up to Stan (who does not wants to vote for a new school mascot, because the two options are a literal turd sandwich and a giant douche and are both atrocious options) and enforces his message to "Vote or Die" -- as in, he pulls a gun on Kyle and threatens to [[WouldHurtAChild kill him]] if he does not votes. When Kyle still refuses to vote and is exiled from town as punishment, Combs hunts him down and massacres the South Park chapter of PETA as collateral damage, which resolves the issue of PETA ordering South Park Elementary to remove their cow school mascot and makes the whole election a ShaggyDogStory.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In "Pizza Delivery", Squidward demands that [=SpongeBob=] drive to make the titular pizza delivery, assuring him that the customer's house is "just around the corner" from the Krusty Krab. It turns out that Squidward was not wrong; the customer's house was indeed an extremely short distance away from the Krusty Krab.
** At the end of "Squid on Strike", [=SpongeBob=] has destroyed the Krusty Krab overnight (dismantled the establishment) and Mr. Krabs tells him and Squidward that they'll have to work for him forever to pay off the damages. This is followed by a card reading "One Eternity Later" and a shot of [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward's skeletons still working there.
** In the episode "Club [=SpongeBob=]", when [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick start their own club, they say Squidward couldn't get in. Squidward, thinking they're snubbing him, forces his way into their treehouse. Turns out they were being literal about Squidward not fitting in. Their treehouse was so small, there was no room for three people in it.
** In "Squilliam Returns", Squidward has to pretend the Krusty Krab is a five-star restaurant he owns. While convincing Mr. Krabs to play along, Krabs offers to play a sad song on the WorldsSmallestViolin. This sounds like sarcastic rejection at first, but then Krabs reveals he really is playing the world's smallest violin.
** In "Sing a Song of Patrick", when Patrick submits a terrible poem to be turned into a song, the leader of the band doing the song says that they're going to do it if it kills them. [[SmashCut Less than 5 seconds later]], it's shown that finishing the song quite literally killed them.
** In "Komputer Overload", Karen tells Plankton that without her, he probably wouldn't even remember to blink. A few seconds later, he does exactly that and Karen has to remind him to.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks:'' In "Mining the Mind's Mines", a distraught Tendi goes to Dr. T'Ana after failing to catch the captain's attention. T'Ana assures her that sometimes in life, a person faces adversity, like the guy she's currently seeing to whose foot is being eaten by a blob monster, which will require her to cut his foot off. Once Tendi is sufficiently reassured, she leaves, and the crewmember nervously asks Dr. T'Ana if the whole "removing the foot" thing was just a MotivationalLie... as she gets out a chainsaw.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Marco once threatens a knight that his face will hit every surface of a room and that said knight will wake up in the belly of a dragon. A few moments later he does exactly that (though by "in the belly" he meant "on the abdomen").
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "I Am My Monster", [[spoiler:Steven Universe has been corrupted into a monster due to trauma from his previous battles. White Diamond cries in guilt that this is all ''her'' fault, as she hurt Yellow and Blue, so they hurt Pink, and thus caused a [[TheChainOfHarm Chain of Harm]] that hurt everyone in the universe. Coming from anyone else, someone claiming to have hurt "everyone in the universe" would sound like hyperbole, except that the Diamonds used to be intergalactic dictators, so White's claim is literally true.]]
* This conversation from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' episode "Plumber's Academy":
-->'''Mario:''' I can't quit now, Luigi! I was born with a plunger in my hand!\\
'''Luigi:''' [[PrenatalPossessions I know. Boy, it was awfully hard on Mom]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Raven indicates during "[[Recap/TeenTitansS3E8Wavelength Wavelength]]" that she'd rather drown in the underwater CollapsingLair than [[spoiler:go into the mouth of a whale (or Beast Boy transformed into one)]].[[note]]At this point, she's been subjected to both once already.[[/note]] When the rest of the team goes to escape right after, she stays put as if fully intent on doing just that, until they pull her away.
* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'':
** In "Love That Pup!", Spike the bulldog threatens to skin Tom alive if Tom ever bothered Tyke again. At the end of the story, Tom is wearing a BankruptcyBarrel while Spike, Tyke, and Jerry are sleeping on a rug made of his skin.
** In "That's My Boy", while teaching Tyke how to chase cats, Spike demonstrates on an unsuspecting Tom, claiming that sneaking up on cats always scares them out of their skin. Sure enough, when Spike started barking, Tom was so spooked he ''leaped out of his fur''.
* Duncan on ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRama'' claims that he was born in timeout. This is followed by a cutaway to his birth, where the doctor gave Duncan a timeout for slapping him.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa'' episode "RV Olympics", Pizza Steve says that Uncle Grandpa can't tell the difference between a banana and a microphone. Sure enough, he's talking into a banana, then pulls a microphone out of his lunch bag, attempts to peel it like a banana and [[ExtremeOmnivore eats it]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Todd says [[WouldRatherSuffer he'd rather do anything than be Maurecia's boyfriend]], including eat Miss Mush's Mushroom Surprise. He actually eats it, much to Maurecia's disappointment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Creator/WernerHerzog once told Errol Morris that he would [[EatingShoes eat his shoe]] if Morris ever completed the film that he had been labouring over. When ''Gates of Heaven'' premiered, he did exactly that. He also told the cast of ''Film/EvenDwarfsStartedSmall'' after two near incidents of FatalMethodActing that if they made it through the rest of the shoot without any more injuries he would jump into a cactus patch and let them film him doing so. They made it through unscathed and he kept his word.
* This trope is inverted with the word "literal" as commonly used. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ly1UTgiBXM David Cross explains the problem here.]]
* At one point during the 2013 Oscars, host Creator/SethMacFarlane noted that "Our next presenter needs no introduction." He then simply walked off the stage -- and was immediately proved correct when none other than Creator/MerylStreep walked up to the microphone.
* In baseball, "knocking the cover off the ball" usually just means that the batter hit the ball really hard. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmy5ZSgNS_c Rarely is it meant to be literal.]]
* In 1943, the British, fearing a tea shortage after the bombing of Mincing Lane (the largest tea trading business centre of the British Empire), bought ''all'' the tea, as in literally every bit of tea that was available to be sold to them. They sent more tea to their troops in greater weight than anything, except for bullets. Pound for pound, they shipped more tea over to them than ''artillery shells''.
* One common statement historians have regarding the [[{{UsefulNotes/ThePacificWar}} Pacific War]] is that "The United States could build ships faster than Japan could sink them". ''Quite Literally''. The economic disparity between the two nations was massive. The U.S. had 17 time's Japan's national income; 5 times more steel production; 7 times more coal production and 80 times automobile production in 1941 alone, levels from ''before'' they entered the war. And once war production ramped up, this disparity only grew. In just two years (1943 & 1944), the U.S. built and commissioned more ships than Japan did in it's nearly 90 years as a modernized nation.
* During the Apollo 13 mission, NASA had to put a square peg in a round hole to keep the astronauts alive. In context -- the Lunar Module's CO[[subscript:2]] scrubbers weren't powerful enough to account for three astronauts.[[note]]The LM's job is to ferry two astronauts down to the Moon's surface to collect samples and run experiments while the third astronaut remains in orbit in the CM, then to launch them from the surface back into orbit to rendevouz with the CM for the trip home.[[/note]] The Command Module's were, but its plug-in was shut down along with the rest of the module. Now, the obvious answer was to put the CM's scrubbers in the LM's plug, but they were incompatible -- the LM's scrubbers were round and the CM's were square. So the engineers had to come up with a way to fit that square CM unit into the LM's round plugs, using only what limited resources the astronauts had on hand.
* The Exynos variants of Samsung's Galaxy S20 (and later Galaxy Note 20) series flagship smartphones have gotten a ''lot'' of flak for their many issues compared to their Snapdragon counterparts, such as overheating, throttling, and battery life, to the point that people [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_4NHHgwQ aren't exaggerating]] when they say that even budget phones run better.
* One of ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'''s Black Friday stunts was selling bullshit. [[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/17/30000-people-bought-crap-on-black-friday-literally-cards-against-humanity Literal feces, from a male bovine.]]
* Telling someone to "Go To Hell" is not a figure of speech for a place called [[UnfortunateNames Hell]] in Michigan or a village in Norway.
* In 1995, networking pioneer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Metcalfe Robert Metcalfe]] predicted that the Internet would suffer a "catastrophic collapse" the following year, and promised to eat his words if it did not. In a 1997 conference, he blended a printed copy of that column with some water and [[http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ils310/msg00259.html ate it before a cheering audience.]]
* Three days before his assassination, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln gave an impromptu speech from the White House window where he discussed for the first time support for limited black suffrage. UsefulNotes/JohnWilkesBooth happened to be in the audience and utterly revolted at the notion declared "That is the last speech he will ever make!". And indeed it was.
* CEO of small satellite rocket launch company Rocket Lab Peter Beck once promised to eat his hat if the company every shifted from single-use disposable rockets to attempting to design reusable rockets. When the company did ''[[ExactWords exactly that]]'' Peter Beck filmed himself tossing his hat into a blender then giving it a taste.
[[/folder]]

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