And Another Thing...

"One moooooore thing..."

— Uncle, Jackie Chan Adventures

Two characters are in a room having a conversation. One of them makes to leave. But as this character reaches the door, they turn back to deliver a final line. Often this is some bit of exposition that sets up something later in the episode ("the starboard discombobulator's on the fritz") but that the writer couldn't figure out how to work into the scene's main conversation. Other times, during an argument, it's used to reinforce a "The Reason You Suck" Speech with what usually equates to "The Reason I Don't Suck" and/or Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking. In some shows there might be several lines of dialog between the two characters as the departing actor tries desperately not to look as though he's loitering in the doorway.

Just to mix things up a little bit, sometimes they'll do it the other way around: the character who remains in the room will call to the character who's leaving just as the latter reaches the door.

This trope is distinctly different from a good old-fashioned exit line, because the line itself isn't dramatic ("You can't fire me! I quit!") and is often in fact something of a non sequitur, which must be eased into with a phrase like "and another thing", "oh yeah", or "by the way."

Sometimes a character actually gets out the door, then comes back in to deliver a line, but this is usually for comedic effect. See Door Focus.

Not to be confused with And Another Thing..., the sixth book in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Alyosha! leaves the meeting where she tells FBI Katie Lindberg that she's the infamous assassin Kortik saying "There are another two Kortiks beside me".
• In Bakemonogatari, Senjougahara tells Araragi that she has an idea how to help Hachikuji, but she has one more thing to say before they go:
  "One more thing, Araragi-kun... I LOVE YOU."
• In Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, when Yamada leaves Yamazaki's office in chapter 61 after realizing he didn't find the seventh witch after all, he suddenly turns around in the doorway and asks Yamazaki if he has seen Tamaki recently, implying that Yamada is suspicious of Tamaki being up to something.

Fan Works

• In the Phoenix Wright Loops Edgeworth comes over to ask Phoenix whether he has a relationship with the caped Pink Princess. Phoenix lies (to keep up The Masquerade) and, satisfied, Edgeworth leaves. It is at this point that the Princess enters through Phoenix's window to have a chat with him.
  But before he could begin his tale, the front door suddenly opened. "Excuse me, Wright, but I forgot to tell you..." Edgeworth trailed off when he saw who was now in Phoenix's apartment.

Films — Animation

• In Cinderella, the Wicked Stepmother gives the titular heroine a list of chores for her to perform. As Cinderella starts to leave the room, she states "Oh, yes, and one more thing... See that Lucifer gets his bath". Cue Oh, Crap! reaction from Lucifer, who then gives his mistress a Death Glare out of the corner of his eye.
• In Peter Pan, Peter, speaking in the voice of Captain Hook, orders Mr. Smee to return Princess Tiger Lily to the Indians, to which Mr. Smee, thinking it is indeed Hook speaking, says, "Aye-aye, sir." Then Peter adds, "Oh, and one more thing: when you return to the ship, tell the whole crew to help themselves to me best rum."
• She isn't leaving, but in The Emperor's New Groove, Yzma finishes up a rant about how stupid and useless Kronk is with "And another thing! I never liked your spinach puffs! Never!" (This actually motivates Kronk to turn against her.)
• In The Jungle Book (1967), Bagheera is adamant to Baloo that Mowgli should leave the jungle for the man-village, arguing that Baloo cannot possibly take care of Mowgli, if his getting kidnapped by monkeys was any indication. Baloo tries to ignore Bagheera, until the latter further explains why Mowgli should go back to the man-village:
  Bagheera: And another thing, sooner or later, Mowgli will meet Shere Khan.
  Baloo: [attentive now] The tiger? Well, what's he got against the kid?
  Bagheera: He hates man with a vengeance. You know that! He fears man's gun and man's fire.
  Baloo: But little Mowgli don't have those things.
  Bagheera: Shere Khan won't wait until he does. He'll get Mowgli while he's young and helpless. Just one swipe!
  [Bagheera swipes at the air in front of Baloo's face with his claws]
• In Toy Story, we get this moment when Woody approaches Buzz trying to fix his spaceship.
  Woody: Listen, Lightsnack. You stay away from Andy. He's mine, and no one is taking him away from me.
  Buzz: What are you talking about? Hey, where's that bonding strip?
  [slides under his spaceship before Woody pulls him out]
  Woody: And another thing, stop with this spaceman thing! It's getting on my nerves.
• In Turning Red, Grandma Wu stops at Mei's door after talking to her to lay on one final guilt trip.
  Wu: You are your mother's whole world, Mei-Mei. I know you'll do what's right.

Films — Live-Action

• Old Biff to 1955 Biff in Back to the Future Part II: "There's one more thing. One day, a kid or a crazy old man who claims to be a scientist is going to come around asking...". This is a callback to an earlier point in the film (though it occurs later chronologically), when 1985A Biff says to Marty: "Oh, and he told me one more thing. He said, 'Someday a crazy, wild-eyed scientist, or a kid may show up asking about that book. 'And if that ever happens...' (pulls out a gun) Funny. I never thought it would be you."
• Carnage would end if the visiting couple left the apartment. They're stopped at the front door or in the hallway outside several times by an invitation, an unresolved question, or just an argument. At least once, the husband (who desperately wants to leave) is left waiting with one foot in the elevator.
• Clockwise: In pursuit of his wife Gwenda, Brian dashes home and finds his son Paul there, in his pyjamas. After frantically asking where Gwenda is, he rushes outside; then goes back in to ask Paul (in a sterner tone) why he is not at school.
• Maggie attempts this in The Great Race, but never gets to finish it as Hezekiah drags her from the tent. She does manage to get in a nice air-kick though.
• Done on the person leaving in The Name of the Rose. The Abbot wants to consult the newly-arrived William of Baskerville about a suspicious death, but has been advised against it. Realising the Abbot has something on his mind, William waits till he's leaving the room before asking about the fresh grave outside. Caught off guard, the abbot ends up asking for William's help anyway.
• Spoofed in A Shot in the Dark with the help of Door Focus: Clouseau leaves Dreyfus' office after an argument, the door closes behind him, and we hear "And another thing!" Since Clouseau doesn't know it closed, he turns around as he says this, points at Dreyfus — and thus smashes the frosted glass window in the door. Embarrassed, he leaves without saying whatever that other thing was.
• Used brilliantly in many of Quentin Tarantino's movies. Uniquely, Tarantino usually uses this trope as a prelude to shit going down.
  • Most notably in Django Unchained; it is said verbatim by Candie, leading to an entirely unnecessary yet oh-so-rewarding shootout.
  • Likewise in Inglourious Basterds. Major Dieter Hellstrom was about to leave, but then decides he'll just have one last drink with the company before he goes. It doesn't end well.
  • It's used by the narrator in The Hateful Eight after the intermission to inform the viewers of a plot point.
• Mary Poppins: George Banks, just before he leaves the house.
  Mr Banks: (shouting loudly above Admiral Boom's cannon being fired) The discipline in this household has been undermined since that woman arrived! And I want you to know that I've noticed it.
  Mrs Banks: Yes dear.
  (The piano rolls over to Mr Banks: he plays a few tuneless notes.)
  Mr Banks: One thing more.
  Mrs Banks: Yes dear?
  Mr Banks: I suggest you have this piano repaired. When I sit down to an instrument, I like to have it in tune.
  Mrs Banks: But George, you don't play.
  Mr Banks: Madam, that is entirely beside the point!
  (Puts on hat and leaves the house)
• The Naked Gun: When Frank Drebin is angrily breaking up with Jane Spencer, he adds at the end, "By the way... I faked every orgasm."

Literature

• Discworld: Subverted in Men at Arms. Vimes, investigating an explosion at the Assassins' Guild, pulls an And Another Thing... moment to try to get Dr. Cruces, the Guild leader, to admit there was a theft as well. Dr. Cruces, however, doesn't fall for it, and flatly states, "I never said anything was stolen." It's true, he didn't say anything was stolen, but that doesn't mean that nothing was stolen. The key Plot Device was stolen. In fact Vimes expected Cruces to deny anything was stolen — doing so was what confirmed what was stolen was important.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Just after Dumbledore has persuaded Slughorn to return to the job of teaching at Hogwarts, Slughorn calls out "I'll want a pay rise, Dumbledore!".
• The Magic Finger: After the family have promised the ducks that they will throw away their guns, the ducks tell them to come down from the tree. As they fly down, the duck adds "By the way, may I congratulate you for the nest. For a first effort, it's pretty good."
• The Moonstone:
  • One of the Indians visits the offices of a couple barristers merely to form an excuse to ask one final question before leaving.
  • In Armadale, Mr. Pedgift senior does this all the time.
    He invariably kept his strongest argument, or his boldest proposal, to the last, and invariably remembered it at the door (after previously taking his leave), as if it was a purely accidental consideration which had that instant occurred to him. Jocular friends, acquainted by previous experience with this form of proceeding, had given it the name of 'PedgiftsPostscript'.
• Gleefully parodied by Isaac Asimov in his Self-Insert Fic "Murder at the ABA", when his written self gets up after chatting to a colleague about the murder that occurred the day before:
  I wish I could do the dramatic thing. I wish that at the last minute I could remember something for you, some little apparently unimportant event that would break the whole case, but I can't do it. But why should that bother you? I was ten feet away and completely busy with my own signings. I'm not your best witness. Why don't you ask what's-her-name?
• A Song of Ice and Fire: Tywin tells Tyrion, "You will not take the whore to court."
  • Subverted later in A Feast for Crows: Qyburn uses this to bring up to Cersei a play that seems to taunt the crown, leading her to order the performers be punished. This doesn't add anything to the plot and is never mentioned again.
• Sherlock Holmes: In A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock knows how to put in his place an overconfident Inspector Lestrade :
  "One other thing, Lestrade," he added, turning round at the door: "'Rache,' is the German for 'revenge'; so don't lose your time looking for Miss Rachel". With which Parthian shot he walked away, leaving the two rivals open-mouthed behind him.
• The Silver Chair: At the end of the scene with Trumpkin welcoming Jill and Eustace to the court of Narnia, Trumpkin gives orders to Glimfeather for food and lodgings to be provided for them. Just before he departs, he adds "Oh, and Glimfeather, see that they're properly washed". This echoes his earlier comment about them being "grubby man-cubs", and because he is partly deaf, he says it louder than he intends.

Live-Action TV

• In the Babylon 5 episode "Midnight on the Firing Line", Sinclair finishes his conversation with Kosh and turns to go. Only then does Kosh deliver his opinion on the matter at issue:
  Kosh: They are alone. They are a dying people. We should let them pass.
  Sinclair: Who? The Narn or the Centauri?
  Kosh: Yes.
• Breaking Bad: In "Ozymandias", the Neo-Nazis take Jesse away to torture him for information before they execute him. Right before Jesse's dragged into their truck, Walt stops them for a second to let Jesse know that he was at Jesse's house the night Jane died, he saw her dying and chose not to save her when he easily could have, just to crush his spirit one last time out of spite. The show's creator considers this one small act of pointless last-second sadism the absolute cruelest thing Walt ever does.
• Played for laughs in Brooklyn Nine-Nine:
  Jake: Oh, one more thing. Where in this "cage" did he go to the bathroom?
  Dvora: Bucket.
  Jake: OK, gross. Have a good night.
• Perfected by Lieutenant Columbo as a means of turning the screw on a suspect who is already exasperated by Columbo's shenanigans, since an Exasperated Perp is liable to make a crucial mistake. Though this became Columbo's most distinctive character trait, it started as a mistake, with two stories on how it came to be. In one, during the filming of the Columbo pilot, "Prescription Murder", Peter Falk simply forgot to deliver his last line before leaving the set, so he turned around, came back, and said "One more thing..." The take was left in, and became a defining moment. In the other, it was the writers that forgot something they needed Columbo to say, so — this being a time of type-writers — rather than start the script page over they threw in "One more thing".
• Detective Flack did this once on CSI: NY. When he made to leave, the door gave him a "Eureka!" Moment — he realizes that the victim's door had been locked from the outside, so whoever killed him must have had a key.
• Doctor Who: In "Rose", the Doctor does this to Rose twice.
  • After their first meeting, the Doctor ushers Rose out of the building and slams the door behind her, then opens it again to exchange the introductions they didn't have time for while being chased by Autons.
  • At the end, the Doctor asks Rose to travel with him, but she turns him down, so he leaves, dematerializing the TARDIS. He then returns a moment later, leaning out of the TARDIS to say, "Did I mention it also travels in time?" That persuades her.
• Fawlty Towers:
  • In "The Wedding Party", Basil berates Polly for wearing skimpy clothes around the hotel; and just as she is leaving, he then calls her back to make a further request.
    Basil: I know these drawings may be considered decent at art school, but would you please not leave them lying around on display at reception?
  • Also in "The Wedding Party", Basil bursts into the bedroom to tell the Lloyds and Jean and Alan that they'll have to leave the hotel, because they had accidentally double-booked the rooms, and he is so sorry. He leaves, and then re-enters to say that actually, he is not sorry at all.
  • In "Basil the Rat", Mr Carnegie makes a closing comment to Basil, echoing Basil introducing him to Sybil as a gourmet scavenger:
    Mr Carnegie: The only gourmets you'll find scavenging in this kitchen will be kamikaze ones.
• Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones ends some meetings with an afterthought. His hostile distaste for Tyrion's whoremonging ends two political conversations with his son, and when Tywin is heading for the door after a one-sided audience with King Joffrey, he feels the need to add a last second pleasantry, so he turns back and utters a condescending "Your Grace".
• The Golden Girls, season two, episode 14, "The Actor". Blanche, Rose and Dorothy have just learned the visiting actor they've all been (secretly) dating has been dating each other, as well as other women, and have decided to call him out for it during one of his performances, with Blanche rounding her bit out with:
  Blanche: And as God is my witness, I will never shampoo your hair again!
  Dorothy: And another thing — you'll never what?!
• Kellerman got an awesome moment in his first case on Homicide: Life on the Street. Interviewing a suspected murderer/arsonist, he tells the suspect that they don't have much of a case beyond what he's already explained away, and that it looks like he's free to go. As the man is grabbing his coat, Kellerman asks, "Why'd you kill the dog?" The man's answer, "I didn't know the dog was there."
• The medical version (the "doorknob question") appeared in House: according to the writers (and presumably their medical consultants), many patients come in for a trivial ailment, and then bring up the "other thing" (probably the serious illness they actually want treatment for, but which embarrasses them) as they reach for the door knob.
• Conversed on In Treatment, where Mia has a tendency to say something important when she's about to leave.
• Likewise, Detective Goren from Law & Order: Criminal Intent, also uses And Another Thing... in the same way as Columbo did.
• Frequently on NCIS, when Gibbs would visit Abby in her forensics lab and she would provide some information. Just as Gibbs is about to leave, Abby then chimes in with, "Wait, there's more," and provide another even more vital clue.
• Seinfeld:
  • In the second part of "The Cadillac", Susan Ross, George's fiance, goes to Elaine's apartment to confront Elaine about what she suspects is an affair between Elaine and George (in reality, George was lying so he could go on a date with Marisa Tomei). Initially, the two of them seem to have cleared everything up, as Elaine gave the same story that George gave Susan (that Elaine was having issues with her boyfriend over his importing/exporting business), which pleases Susan, who then turns to leave. As soon as she gets to the door, however, she asks Elaine what the issue is with the business and, since this part of the lie wasn't explained, the lie begins to unravel.
  • When George competes for sympathy points against a survivor of the Andrea Doria, he moves the condo board to tears by going through his lifetime of tragedies as a "short, stocky, slow witted, bald man." After concluding, he throws in:
    George: ...Oh, and my fiance died from licking toxic envelopes that I picked out. Thank you for your time."
• Done in the third episode of Sherlock. Jim Moriarty tells Watson and Holmes that he isn't going to kill them right now, and leaves, apparently taking his unseen sniper with him. Holmes runs to Watson and gets off the explosive jacket he is wearing, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief... until Moriarty walks back in, the little red dots of death return, and he says he's changed his mind and he can't let them leave after all.
• Six Feet Under: In the episode "The Foot", Claire comes home late after searching for the eponymous body part to find Ruth, David, and Nate in the front hall, wanting to have a serious discussion about her recent behaviour. The conversation lasts a couple of minutes and covers a couple of different topics before a pause, then:
  Claire: By the way, that house across the street? It's on fire.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation often raised this to an art form, with whoever Picard was talking with in the ready room would say that one more thing at the door. And the reverse happens just as often, with Picard adding "one more thing" when whoever is in his ready room at the time is almost out the door, especially in the later seasons. In fact, near the end of the series, it's surprising to see anyone coming out of the ready room without Picard adding a comment.
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In the Noir Episode "Necessary Evil", Odo does this while interrogating a Femme Fatale, in an obvious Columbo homage (although Odo's actually a fan of Mickey Spillane).
• Supernatural. Sam Winchester tries this in "Heartache", only to be cut short by the person he's talking to, who is clearly intent on not providing any useful information.
  Sam: Just one more question...
  Woman: There is always one more question in life, isn't there? That's what I find. [ushers them out]
• In Torchwood, at the end of Episode 1, Season 2 right before John Hart leaves, he tells Jack "Oh yeah, I found Grey."
• Happened on The West Wing too many times to count. Often the plot of an episode relied on one or more of these moments.

Theater

• Hamilton:
  Burr: Hamilton, sit down. "Our client Levi Weeks is innocent, call your first witness." That's all you had to say.
  Hamilton: Okay. [Beat] One more thing!
• The Women:
  Little Mary: And another thing, I think this bathroom is perfectly ridiculous!

Video Games

• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass includes a pirate whom you fight on your ship at least twice. Every time you defeat her, she gives one of these lines - most of them quite lame and irrelevant.
• Granin does this in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Snake is leaving, thinking he's done with the drunk scientist, but Granin stops him to give him a key and tells him which way to go.
• At one point in Persona 5, the police question everyone in Shujin Academy regarding the identities of the Phantom Thieves, and when it's the protagonist's turn, they try this on him. It doesn't work.
• At the end of an over half-hour video released in October 2014 that promoted at least fifty things that were to be expected in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, the announcer said, "Time for a special announcement!" as the video was completely black. Then, it fades into a clip showing a model of Mewtwo being rendered, with the video confirming that the Legendary Pokémon will finally be returning to the series as free DLC in Spring 2014. Smash fans around the world freaked the Hell out.
• Used in combination with Bond One-Liner in Team Fortress 2:
  The Engineer, dominating a Heavy: And another thing: You're. Ugly.
• Undertale has this gem:
  Sans: by the way... i was going to say something, then i forgot.
  • An earlier cutscene has Papyrus reentering just to add one more "HEH!" to his Signature Laugh.

Visual Novels

• In the court system of Phoenix Wright's setting, witnesses can be held responsible only for what they say while testifying (however obviously dishonest they may be otherwise). Therefore, the Fey method of lawyering involves asking a dishonest witness for more and more details about what they "saw", until that witness trips up and adds a detail incompatible with the rest of their story. Then the lawyer asks politely that they add [innocuous detail] to their official testimony, the witness does, and only then can their deceit be exposed.

Webcomics

• In Yumi's Cells, Sia intrudes on Yumi and Woong's date, leading them to bring Wook and Ruby along. Since Sia can't get a good read on Yumi with that many people, she decides to leave, dropping a "bomb" in front of Yumi on her way out in the form of hinting that she's moving to the same apartment as Woong.
  Sia: Ah, right! Woong, let's talk about me moving <again> tomorrow.

Western Animation

• In one of Tex Avery's George and Junior cartoons, George goes into a cave to lure out a chicken and instructs Junior to hit the first thing that comes out. He then turns around to say "And another thing"... and that's when Junior clobbers him.
• The Bugs Bunny cartoon "Hurdy Gurdy Hare" has Bugs going into business as an organ grinder but he fires his monkey for pocketing the take. He faces a gorilla who wants revenge on behalf of the monkey. When Bugs is done telling the gorilla off, he adds "And another thing... stop breathing on my cup!"
  • Bob Clampett's Tortoise Wins By A Hare (1943) has Bugs disguised as an old timer trying to learn Cecil Turtle's method of beating the hare. His final line (indicating he knew it was Bugs all along): "Another thing... rabbits aren't very bright, either!"
  • In the Daffy Duck cartoon "Birth of a Notion," instead of flying south for the winter, Daffy decides to stay over at a random house, but the owner is a Peter Lorre-type mad scientist, who needs a duck's wishbone for an experiment and naturally chooses Daffy. The resultant mad chase ends with Daffy feeling so mistreated that he soundly decides to just leave and tells the scientist so. As he leaves, he stops briefly to tell the scientist, "And another thing... you're a slovenly housekeeper!"
• Clone High did the same in in the premiere, as JFK kept coming back into the bathroom to reiterate the fact that Lincoln and Gandhi weren't invited to his party, and then because "I forgot to wash my hands!"
• In Daria, Daria Morgendorffer's mother and her principal don't get along very well. When they end up in a tent alone together in one of the Class Trip episodes, it looks like they'll be at each other's throats immediately, but the show subverts expectations by showing them to have... a pleasant conversation. An awkward conversation, to be sure, but a pleasant one. Helen ends up (unintentionally) admitting her age and her insecurity about it, and that doesn't escape Ms. Li's notice when, moments later, the scene devolves into a shouting match. As Helen is turning to leave, Ms. Li stops her to say, "And by the way, you look fifty." Helen's mouth turns into an "O" of shock.
• In the Family Guy Return of the Jedi spoof, Yoda continues to give dying gasps saying "Luke..." before sharing information before he finally dies.
• In the Gargoyles episode "Turf", Angela has to tell the Trio off. While they were showing off and generally acting like idiots, the bad guys got away. She tells them that they have to focus on catching the bad guys, she is not a prize to be won, "And one more thing... STOP CALLING ME ANGIE!"
• Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures easily established "One more thing!" as one of his catchphrases by the end of his first scene in the series.
  • In the French version, this is changed to "Je n'ai pas fini!" ("I'm not done yet!"), with similar results.
  • Especially funny when the "one more thing" was to smack Jackie in the head.
    • In fact, there was one episode in which Tohru actually called him out on this. As a result, the master and the apprentice could no longer do their teamwork, and Tohru was kidnapped. When it happened, Uncle blamed himself while noting his tendency to overrepeat "one more thing" (not without saying "one more thing" before, of course) and whacking himself in the head repeatedly.
  • This seems to be something that Uncle picked up as he got older. When he wore the Dog Talisman of immortality in one episode, he regained the vitality and mindset of his youth, though his outside appearance remained unchanged. Jade notices that he hasn't said "And one more thing" for a while.
• During one episode of Metalocalypse, Dethklok walks in on a sadistic fashion designer skinning models alive. They can only stand there and scream. Except for Nathan, who makes sure to say:
  Nathan Explosion: Oh, my god, what a horri- you're fired, by the way!
  • Made funnier by the fact that the entire episode beforehand was focused on the band working up the nerve to fire him in the first place (they found him too creepy).
• Scooby-Doo: In "Watt a Shocking Ghost," Scooby dresses up and acts like Lt. Columbo as he, Shaggy and Velma interrogate a parrot about the Monster of the Week, the 10,000-Volt Ghost. Scooby interjects "One more thing... got any Scooby Snacks? I'm hungry!"
• On The Simpsons, Nelson engages in Perp Sweating when he suspects Bart and Lisa of killing Martin. The whole thing is a spoof of Columbo, complete with Nelson engaging in an And Another Thing...
• This trope was parodied mercilessly on South Park with a scene that ended in four successive And Another Things...
• Steven Universe: In "When It Rains", the Crystal Gems are heading out, leaving Steven to hold down the fort, when Garnet remembers something important:
  Garnet: Oh! Steven, there's one more thing I have to mention!
  Steven: What is it?
  Garnet: [makes Heart Symbol with her hands] I love you! Bye!

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Oh, and one more thing...

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Real Life

• Steve Jobs was the Trope Codifier for this in regards to presentations and keynotes in the technology and entertainment world, famously saying "One more thing..." at the end of several Apple keynotes to reveal the existence of a new product or feature. These days, it can be surprising if a presentation doesn't end on this note, with the final announcement often being the biggest one of the event.
• Similarly, politicians often leave the "big" reveals until their end of speeches; for example, the 2011 UK budget left a cut in fuel duty until the very end of the budget. The end result is a noticeable "oh snap" moment among observers, including there at the speech and elsewhere, watching live. It also makes for prettier news coverage.
• In 1944, the FBI interrogated John W. Campbell over the story "Deadline", serialised in his magazine Astounding Science Fiction. Its depiction of a nuclear bomb was a little too detailed, and the FBI were worried that details may have leaked from the Manhattan Project. In reality, author Cleve Cartmill had merely read about nuclear fission in a scientific journal and used his engineering knowledge to piece together the rest - Campbell was able to persuade the FBI of this, and that censoring the story would only draw more suspicion. As the FBI agents were about to leave, Campbell reportedly told them, "Oh, by the way, I know you're building The Bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico" - Campbell knew from the magazine's subscription list that a number of prominent physicists had moved there, and the FBI's visit had just told him why.
• This is known as a "doorknob moment," where the very act of leaving prompts one party in the about-to-be-terminated conversation (often a patient to a doctor or therapist) to offer what could be vital information they didn't have the courage to do so prior.

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