Lame Rhyme Dodge

Kyle: We have to do something!
Stan: Well, we can't do anything for now — that fat bitch won't let us!
Mrs. Crabtree: WHAT DID YOU SAY!?
Stan: Uh, I said that rabbits eat lettuce!
Mrs. Crabtree: Oh. [cheerful] Well, yes, they certainly do!

— South Park

Generally speaking, Lame Rhyme Dodge is the result of someone having a Did I Just Say That Out Loud? moment, but doesn't want to/is afraid or embarrassed to admit to having said what they said, or, it's a case of someone trying to dodge having heard what somebody else just said to them. It's the little sibling trope to Last-Second Word Swap.

Frequently used by guys who are tongue-tied around women, or teenagers trying to dodge teachers or other adults.

The way both parties try to dodge this situation is to come up with a word that rhymes or sounds similar to the operative word in the sentence. Unfortunately, this usually results in a sentence that makes no sense at all.

A common variant is to have someone dreaming/daydreaming about something, then they're awakened from their reverie by someone saying "What did you say?" and realize they've been saying everything out loud. They proceed with the clumsy cover-up.

Compare Freudian Slip. Not to be confused with Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion.

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Examples:

Advertising

• Wotsits used this in their "Willy and his Whopping Wotsit" ads when Willy says something snide but backtracks due to being faced with bullies/his strict teacher/sharks. In the latter example...
  Willy: What a goon.
  Lead Shark: What you say?
  Willy: I said "nice harpoon."
• An ad for Aldi grocery stores involves signs that seem to respond to a shopper's comments, even addressing her by name: At the end of the ad she loudly agrees "Right!" to one of the signs, and when other shoppers stare at her, she amends it to "ripe!" and says she's talking about the avocado she's holding.

Anime & Manga

• A two-person version in Princess Jellyfish. Whenever Kuranosuke, who is Disguised in Drag among the man-hating Nuns, slips up on his pronouns and uses the male pronoun ore to refer to himself, Tsukimi loudly starts singing "olé" to cover it up and keep the ruse.
• In the Third Inuyasha movie, Kagome delivers her 'sit' command Osuwari on Inuyasha in the present time near her school, and some of her friends overhear. She attempts to cover it up by claiming that she said O su wa ii (vinegar is good), then went on to elaborate that her grandfather was always telling her how good it was for her. They are a bit weirded out but don't question it.
• Pokémon: The Series: In one of the episodes from the Orange Islands arc, Tracey makes a comment about Misty being "a chicken" when it comes to Bug Pokemon, which along with carrots and peppers are among Misty's three least favourite things. When Misty takes exception to this, Tracey claims that what he said was that "it's a good thing we have you checking for bugs."

Fan Works

• In Chapter 4 of The Thief Of Hogwarts, First-Year Neville Longbottom hastily tries to cover his Precocious Crush on Professor Sprout by claiming he said "she'll explain some facts too" instead of "she has a nice rack too".

Films — Animation

• The Lion King: When Banzai grumbles about Mufasa, earning an enraged "What did you say?!" from Scar, he nervously replies "I said, uh... que pasa?" Since "mostaza", "mustard" in Spanish, rhymes with "Mufasa", the Mexican dub renders it as "I said, uh... with mustard!" Which is funny, because they could have just continued to use "¿que pasa?" since it was already in Spanish.
  Scar: Good. Now get out.
• The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire:
  Littlefoot: [referring to the travelling dinosaurs entering the valley] They know they can find food here, and then be on their way.
  Cera: Yeah, with a belly full of our treestars!
  Petrie: Only if you not eat them all first..
  Cera: What did you say?!
  Petrie: Er...me say..."oh gee, that sure be the worst!"
• The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Wallace tries to stop Lady Tottington from noticing Hutch when he answers the door for her.
  Hutch: Geronimo!
  Tottington: Huh, Wallace?
  Wallace: [snatches Hutch] Uh, hang on a mo.
• In Return To Never Land Captain Hook orders his reluctant pirates to search the shore for Peter Pan.
  Hook: Step softly, you worthless dogs! Set your sights for Peter Pan!
  (Crew groans)
  Smee: Aww! Oh, goodness. Haven't we searched the island a thousand times before?
  Hook: (anger steadily rising) I beg your pardon, MR. SMEE?!
  Smee: Uh, I-I-I s-said, uh, "searching for Pan is, um, uh... fun galore!" (nervous chuckle)
  Hook: (facepalms) There'll be no rest until we have that boy in irons!

Films — Live-Action

• Done in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery during one of Dr. Evil's attempts to bond with his son, Scott.
  Dr. Evil: Son, wouldn't you like to see what daddy does for a living?
  Scott Evil: Blow me.
  Dr. Evil: What?
  Scott Evil: Show me.
  • And cleaned up for broadcast tv:
  Dr. Evil: Son, wouldn't you like to see what daddy does for a living?
  Scott Evil: Bite me.
  Dr. Evil: What?
  Scott Evil: Might be — fun.
• Inverted in the remake of Ocean's Eleven, Rusty is talking to a bartender, only it's too loud in the bar for them to hear each other. Rusty begins the conversation with something like, "Longest night of my life" When the bartender looks up, wondering what Rusty said, he says, "I'm running away with your wife," and the bartender just nods and smiles.
• In Wet Hot American Summer, camp chef Gene tends to accidentally mention his odd fetishes and then offer up a lame rhyme dodge when questioned.
  Gary: You said you were going to... fondle your sweaters.
  Gene: Ah, uh — no I didn't. I said... fondue the cheddar... I was thinking about making fondue with cheddar cheese for dinner tonight.
• An unusual version of this happens in Hot Rod when the main character changes his sentence into something worse instead of something innocuous when he suddenly backtracks on his brief moment of having enough nerve to compliment the girl he likes.
  "You look pretty."
  "What?"
  "Uh, I said you look shitty."
• Mannequin has Switcher quickly substitute "Nice hall" when Felix overhears him calling him an asshole.
• In A Fish Called Wanda, Archie cries out "Wanda!" while she is on the stand, drawing suspicion of why he is being so familiar with her. He tries to turn it into "I wonder..." but is so fazed that he has a lot of difficulty getting there.
• In Grosse Pointe Blank, Martin Blank, a hitman going through a crisis, is reluctantly going to his 10 year high school reunion with Debi, his high school girlfriend (whom he abandoned on prom night but whom he's still in love with). As they walk in:
  Martin: [under his breath] Should have brought my gun.
  Debi: What?!
  Martin: [loudly] Should be fun!
• In Are You Being Served?, Mr. Grainger insults a rude German, who hears him, and Mr. Humphries has to try and cover up what he has said:
  Mr. Grainger: Boche basket!
  German: Uh, was war das?
  Mr. Humphries: He said, "What a posh basket".
• When Alex is standing up for Miranda in Raising the Wind:
  Chesney: Well, I hope you think you've earned it, my girl. Personally, I think it's ridiculous. I flatter myself I can conduct anything.
  Alex: Why don't you try lightning?
  Chesney: I beg your pardon?
  Alex: I said, "My G-string needs tightening".
• While Henry is at his wit's end trying to explain Chess to George in Twice Round the Daffodils:
  Henry: How many times have I gotta tell you we're not playing draughts? What d'you think I am, a fool?
  George: Lookin' at you, I sometimes wonder...
  Henry: What did you say?
  George: I said, "Looks bad enough for thunder".

Jokes

• A guy is drinking in a bar when another man sitting next to him remarks quietly, "Tickle your ass with a feather." The guy can't believe what he just heard, so he asks the other man, "I'm sorry?" The other man ingenuously comments, "Particularly nasty weather, am I right?". This clever wordplay impresses our guy, so when he gets pulled over by the cops on his way home after getting properly intoxicated, he slurs, "Hey... cram a, cram a feather in your ass." The officer asks, "Are you drunk, sir?", to which the guy manages to get out, "Rain's been... it's been pissing down lately, haznit?"

Literature

• From Lolita, there is this exchange between Humbert Humbert and another pedophile. Which is sort of a subversion since Humbert clearly knows what he's being accused of.
  Pedophile: Lovely girl, where'd you get her?
  Humbert Humbert: What?
  Pedophile: I said lovely weather.
  Humbert Humbert: She's my niece.
  Pedophile: You lie, she's not.
  Humbert Humbert: What?
  Pedophile: I said July was hot.
• In Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, the yard teacher Louis intends to give a bouquet to Ms. Nogard (a substitute teacher he's smitten with), but he gets cold feet and ends up instead giving it to the surly principal, Mr. Kidswatter. Under his breath, Louis calls Kidswatter a "maggot-infested string bean", then when asked to clarify, changes it to "a magnificent human being".
• In the Goosebumps book Bad Hare Day, the protagonist's sister tells their parents that she and her brother have a secret. When their parents ask what it is, the protagonist says that his sister was saying that she wanted a "wee pet", claiming that she was practicing her Scottish accent.
• In one of Hunter Davies's Flossie Teacake stories, Floz ^note Flossie's 18-year-old alter ego is working in a boutique when she tells a customer who's a little on the large side "nothing's your size, my dear, unless it's a tent." The customer takes exception to this and Floz quickly covers her tracks by claiming that she said "I'm just a temp."
• A Clash of Kings: When Arya Stark gets into a fight while travelling undercover with recruits for the Night's Watch, she loses her head in the heat of battle and screams "Winterfell!", the name of her home castle, as a battle cry. When another boy mentions this to her friend Gendry, he claims all she was "Go to Hell!" and later warns Arya to say the same thing if asked.

Live-Action TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Xander doesn't take it well when Buffy admits to being in love with Angel.
  Xander: You're in love with a vampire?
  Willow: Xander! (looks nervously around at the other students)
  Xander: How can you love an umpire! Everyone hates them!
• A sketch on The Two Ronnies features Ronnie Corbett's character doing this with every sentence, ie: "Tickle your botty with a feather tonight" is changed to "Particularly grotty weather tonight." Eventually the people around him figure it out and he admits that he's doing it to try and to drum up his trade; he sells deaf aids.
• Drake & Josh uses it in a way that's WORSE than what it was before. Drake agreed to pay for Josh's speeding ticket so their father wouldn't find out.
  Josh: Thanks, Drake! You're really saving my butt!
  Megan: How is Drake saving your butt?
  Josh: Oh, I didn't say he was saving my butt! I said Drake was... (realizes he can't think of anything else) shaving my butt...
• Judge John Deed: George Channing does this.
  John: Mr Justice Everard is indisposed.
  George: (muttering) With his leg over some git.
  John: What was that?
  George: I said, "we'll miss his wit".
• Mystery Science Theater 3000: In Soultaker, there's a needlessly long slow-motion scene where the female lead gets undressed while a soultaker, disguised as her mother, spies on her from the doorway. Crow gets something in his eye at a critical moment and has to leave the theater and look for some eye drops, Missing the Good Stuff.
  Tom Servo: Sh-sh-she's turning around!
  Mike: Shh!
  Crow: [offscreen] Did you say she's turning around?
  Tom Servo: No, no, Crow, I said she's spurning a clown!
  Crow: Well, I like that too! Where's the Visine?
• The Nanny: Throughout the season Maxwell and Fran refer to the incident in which he told her he loved her and then took it back as "the Thing", their constant vagueness about it driving Niles up a wall. In the episode "Danny's Dead and Who's Got the Will?", Maxwell accidentally lets slip to Niles what happened after Fran quits. Niles, naturally, is furious at this and makes it known.
  Maxwell: (about Fran quitting) I suppose I should've seen it coming. A man can't tell a woman he loves her and then just take it back.
  Niles: You WHAT?! […] Did you just say that you told Miss Fine that you loved her?
  Maxwell: (mumbling) Mm-hm...
  Niles: And then you took it back?
  Maxwell: (mumbles) Uh-huh...
  Niles: That's it, isn't it?! THAT'S "THE THING"! Oh, I could kick you in the seat of the pants!
  Maxwell: I beg your pardon?
  Niles: I said, "I need to press the pleat in your pants", but that's beside the point.
  • In another episode, a potential investor reveals that C.C. referred to herself as the brains of their company and Maxwell was "just a pretty face in a blazer," which Max and C.C. happened to overhear since they were hiding in his closet at the time. At Maxwell's Death Glare, C.C. tries to cover by claiming she actually said he was "pretty great and a trail-blazer," and blames bad phone reception for the mistake.
• On Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson once remarked that newsreader Fiona Bruce had "a nice bottom." When she was a guest on a later episode, he claimed to have said "Oxford-educated newsreaders wear cotton."
• That's So Raven: Raven calls Alana a "stinky boyfriend stealer", but when Loca asks what she said, Raven gives the pseudo-German phrase, "shneeky shnoyland shnealer".
• Rumpole of the Bailey: Rumpole, given to muttering to himself, uses this constantly on his wife and in court and always gets away with it.
• In the second season of the series Misfits, Shaun the probation worker walks in on the Misfits plotting to rob a bank so they can ransom Kelly who has been kidnapped by Tim and asks them what they're doing. Nathan informs him that they're going to have a wank and starts extolling the benefits of communal masturbation. Shaun, as always, decides that he doesn't want to know.
• iCarly:
  • Mr. Howard rants about how he hates Principal Franklin, calling him a "weak, spineless fool". Later, when Principal Franklin confronts him about the insult, he tries to save face by saying that he actually said "sleek, stylish, cool".
  • At one point, Carly blurts out that her father is serving on a submarine in Alaska. Sam questions whether Carly should say where, and Carly says, "I meant Nebraska, a submarine in Nebraska."

Video Games

• Torin's Passage: The Queen of the Escarpa, Di, often quips sarcastically and harshly to her husband Rupert. Each time, the king assumes he has misheard his wife and asks her to speak up, this time with his full attention on her, to which she almost always replies in a softer and more supportive manner that rhymes with her previous quip. He instantly believes her each time.
  King Rupert: Di, my dear? Why don't you give this boy [Torin] a piece of your jewelry? That way, Leena [their missing daughter whom they wish Torin to find] will know that he represents us?
  Queen Di: [sullen voice] Oh brother, aren't you right in his pocket?
  King Rupert: What was that?
  Queen Di: [chipper supportive voice] I said, "Tell her, mother sends her this locket."
  King Rupert: Oh yes. Good idea!

Web Animation

• In Hunter: The Parenting, Big D thinks fondly upon his grandson Boy during a police interrogation, and says, "I love my grandson." Since he gave his age as twenty-seven and looks it, he backpedals and pretends he said something about Bryan Cranston. The cop thinks it's a bit off-topic, but accepts it.
• The Emperor in If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device makes a rhyme dodge one time. Kitten is not entirely convinced — perhaps because the text-to-speech device has no whisper function.
  Emperor: Well what was I supposed to say? I can't just tell my own children that I am building a gate into the webway because I need some booty and Eldar prostitutes are cheaper and a lot less shoddy.
  Kitten: I'm sorry WHAT?!
  Emperor: I said, I can't just tell my own children that I am building a gate into the webway because Humanity needs some booting up in its transportation department and Eldar webways are safer, and a lot less shoddy than warp travel.
• OverSimplified: In "The Emu War", Minister of Defense George Pearce incites an outrage among the parliament when he expresses his desire to turn the emus into feather hats. He tries to use several rhyme dodges to tell them that he's not actually trying to turn the birds into feather hats, but always ends up saying that he's going to turn them into feather hats again.
  Pearce: Aw, c'mon guys, the machine guns will make it quick and painless.
  Member of Parliament: Machine guns?! You're using machine guns?! This is animal cruelty!
  Pearce: Look, I know it's unusual, but it's not like we're poachers turning the birds into feather hats. Think of the benefits. It'll be good target practice for our boys, the government can show it took action, plus, I can get myself a nice new feather hat!
  (Crowd gasps)
  Pearce: Uhhhh, did I say "feather hat"? I meant I want to-gether chat, with you, about getting you all some feather hats.
  (Crowd gasps again)
  Pearce: Uhhhh, did I say "feather hats"? I meant I want to wage...terror at! These emus! And turn them all into feather hats!
  (Crowd gasps once more)
  Pearce: Dammit!

Webcomics

• Subverted in this El Goonish Shive strip. Catalina doesn't even bother with trying to make her response rhyme with her earlier rapid-fire insult and relies on an innocent and submissive act instead. It works and Principal Verrückt accepts it without any doubt.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: In "The Suitor", Finn remarks that the eponymous suitor, Braco, seems "too unheroic for Peebs". When he finally realizes Jake has been trying to alert him to the fact Braco was standing within earshot, Finn hastily changes it to "And then I smashed that peach!"
• American Dragon: Jake Long
  • Jake normally avoids such verbal dodges, but he is self-conscious about molting at this time.
  Rose: Jake!
  Rose: [moments later] Jake? I was calling you.
  Jake: Oh, did you say Jake? I thought you said... steak.
  Rose: Why would I say steak?
  • Spud, disguised as a member of the Huntsclan sees Jake get knocked down and apparently killed by the Huntsgirl. He calls out "Jake!" and then realising that he's surrounded by Huntsclan trainees, changes it to "Cake! Which is what we'll have to celebrate the death of the dragon."
• Around the World with Willy Fog: After Tico kicks him in the leg during the voyage across the Pacific Ocean, Dix mutters that he will "take care of him." This earns Dix a glare from Rigodon, who moments before punched Dix in the face and knocked him to the deck in the belief that he drugged him and Tico in Hong Kong. ^note It was actually Transfer, posing as Dix, who administered the drug. Dix then claims he "said lovely day for a swim."
• As Told by Ginger: In "Season of Caprice", when Darren is telling everyone about the miserable time he had at military camp, particularly eating mystery stew, Ginger starts talking in her sleep about a boy she met at camp.
  Ginger: You're so funny, Sasha...
  Darren: Sasha? Who's Sasha?
  Ginger: (wakes up) I said squash...ah. That's what they put in the mystery stew, right?
• Danny Phantom:
  • In "Maternal Instinct", Vlad accidentally said in front of Maddie how he wanted to kill Jack. How he fixed it? 'Flapjacks'.
    Vlad: They're here, kill Jack.
    Maddie: What was that?
    Vlad: I said... Flapjacks! Mm-hm, pancakes. I have pancakes.
  • Done again in "Secret Weapons" after Danny's parents tell him Jazz ran away from home, and he quickly realizes that she left to catch a ghost after telling her she was a lousy ghost hunter^note He assumes it's Skulker, but she's really planning to pull one over Danny's nemesis Vlad Plasmius. He then has to come up with a reason to leave and find her after blurting out why she left in front of his parents.
    Danny: She must've gone after Skulker.
    Maddie: What was that?
    Danny: I said...I'm so upset about Jazz leaving that I'm going to skulk...her.
• A Running Gag in South Park is the back-and-forth between Stan and the cranky school bus driver, Mrs. Crabtree. Stan will frequently insult Crabtree under his breath, Crabtree calls him out, and Stan responds that he said something completely innocuous which rhymes with what he said. For instance, Stan calling Crabtree a "hissing skank" has him change it to "I can't wait to own a new fishing tank". A subversion comes on the final time he does it, as Stan says "we're not getting on [the bus], you fat ugly bitch", only to repeat it word-for-word back to Crabtree, causing her to drive off without him.
• The Simpsons:
  • Played with in "Whacking Day" as Superintendent Chalmers inspects Springfield Elementary. Skinner shows off the students' intelligence by "randomly" having Lisa answer a question about the Battle of New Orleans. Ralph Wiggum then asks: "What's a battle?" Skinner attempts to use this trope to cover it up, but it takes some effort to get Chalmers to buy it:
    Chalmers: Did that boy say "What's a battle?"
    Skinner: No, he said "What's that rattle?" - it's the heating duct.
    Chalmers: Hmm... It sounded like "battle".
    Skinner: I've had a cold so I...
    Chalmers: Oh, so you would hear R's as B's?
    Skinner: Yes.
    Chalmers: I understand.
  • In "Rosebud", Mr. Burns dreams about his lost teddy bear and talks in his sleep, which Smithers hears him doing. Immediately after, it cuts to Homer, who actually is shouting about Sheriff Lobo.
    Burns: Bobo... Bobo... [wakes up]
    Smithers: Who's Bobo, sir?
    Burns: Hm? Bobo? Er... no, I said... Lobo! Sheriff Lobo. They never should have cancelled that show.
  • Done by Mr. Burns a second time in the "Treehouse of Horror III" segment "King Homer" while taking Marge to Ape Island:
    Marge: Am I coming?
    Mr. Burns: Of course. We wouldn't think of going without the bait — uhh, that is, the bait-thing beauty. The bathing beauty! I covered that up pretty well.
  • The episode "Tales from the Public Domain" contains a parody of Hamlet where Bart (as Hamlet) tries to trick Moe (as Claudius) into confessing that he poisoned the King (Homer) by having Krusty reenact the moment of the King's death.
    Moe: Wait a minute! I didn't use that much poison!
    [everyone gasps]
    Moe: I mean, I didn't use that much poi, son, at the royal luau.
  • Famously done by Principal Skinner in "22 Short Films About Springfield" when he has Superintendent Chalmers over for dinner:
    Skinner: Superintendent, I hope you're ready for mouthwatering hamburgers!
    Chalmers: I thought we were having steamed clams.
    Skinner: Oh, no! I said "steamed hams"! That's what I call hamburgers!
• Family Guy:
  • In "The Tan Aquatic With Steve Zissou", Stewie believes he is dying of cancer and asks Brian to help him fulfill his last requests, one of which is ballroom dancing, which Stewie gets a little too into.
  Stewie: I love you.
  Brian: What?
  Stewie: Uh... I said... olive juice.
  Brian: Olive juice?
  Stewie: Olive juice too.
  • From the episode "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea" after Stewie's attempts to turn the new bar owner's daughter into a proper lady fail.
    Stewie: Well, dog if you have extra sensitive hearing, hear this: [mouthing] Fuck you.
    Brian: I'm telling.
    Stewie: Wait! I said "vacuum"!
• In Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child's take on "Thumbelina", the mole is played by a fruit bat, who shows Thumbelina his collection of pinned butterflies. Seeing one she recognizes, she exclaims, "Mario!" which she tries to pass off "Marry you, I can't wait to marry you."
• Phineas and Ferb: Done twice by Dr. Doofenshmirtz in "Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown"; played with in that both times he manages to have evidence to back up his back-spacing:
  • First, Doof explains his plan to control people with his Music Video Mind-Control-Inator. When he realizes that all of what he just said was on-camera, he quickly says, "I meant, 'Mimes control my gator!'" Cut to two mimes wrangling an alligator.
    Dr. D.: See? And you thought I was just making it up!
  • Later, when Dr. Doofenshmirtz brings up his plan to enslave the Tri-State Area, he claims he meant to say "Engrave my pie-plate carrier!"
    Dr. D.: [pulls out a pie tray] It's silver! Got it in the divorce! That's right, ladies, I'm single!
  • In "Spa Day", Candace doesn't seem to understand that, no matter how quietly she speaks, if the person is standing right next to her they can still hear what she's saying. Jeremy even goes on to point this out, leading to the truly horrible rhyme dodge while talking to Stacy:
    Candace: Look, I don't want him to know about the whole spa thing. He'll think all I care about is myself.
    Jeremy: Candace?
    Candace: [to Jeremy] Uno momento por favor! [turns back to Stacy] Look, we'll go help people for like fifteen minutes and then we'll go to the spa.
    Jeremy: Candace!
    Candace: [to Jeremy] Your call is very important to us and will be answered in the order received. [turns back to Stacy again] We'll still be able to make it to our spa day!
    Jeremy: Candace, if you'd rather have a spa day...
    Candace: Oh, you heard SPA day? Because I said HURRAH DAY!
• Big City Greens: In "Papaganda" when Cricket rebels against Bill's "Live, Laugh, Love" philosophy, he complains, "How can anyone think this is fun?!" Bill hears, and he quickly rephrases his statement as, "So great to work in the sun." Then he complains, "If he hugs me again, I'm gonna lose it!", only to change it to "Gramma's gonna teach me how to knit," when Bill comes again.
• Blinky Bill did this a lot; in one case it set the plot of an episode by having Blinky change "Have you ever seen such a silly face?" to "We're practicing for a heavy race". Blinky then proceeds to (unintentionally) give Mayor Pelican the idea for a cross-country race to raise money for a new hospital.
• The title character of The Deputy Dawg Show had a bad time from a bird visitor that does imitations. Mimicking Deputy Dawg's voice, he yells out "Hey, sheriff! How'd you like a lumpy lip?" The sheriff zips back angrily to D.D. with his fist balled up and yells "WHAT DID YOU SAY??!" Deputy Dawg sheepishly says "Er...I said, don't have a bumpy trip!"
• In Gadget Boy & Heather, it was a Running Gag for Spydra's pet vulture Boris to insult her and then make up a phrase that vaguely sounded like his insult when she got angry. Boris himself is given one by Spydra's henchman Mulch in "Boris for President".
  Mulch: Just wait until Spydra catches up with you!
  Boris: What was that?
  Mulch: Er, I mean, I'll use catsup to do it!
• In the Gravity Falls episode "Gideon Rises," at one point Dipper is alarmed when Wendy says that she may have to leave town. Soos tells Wendy that would be terrible for Dipper, "because of his giant crush on you," but then seeing Dipper's anxious reaction, he amends it with a lame rhyme: "you . . . calyptus trees! The kid loves eucalyptus trees!" And then he declares, aloud, "Ha! Saved it!"
• The Loud House: In "No Spoilers", when Lincoln has Leni make new clothes for him as part of a plan to keep the notorious blabbermouth from spoiling a surprise party.
  Lincoln: My sisters owe me big time.
  Leni: What was that?
  Lincoln: Uh, I think we need to redo the hemline.
• Butt-Ugly Martians often had Dr. Damage insult Emperor Bog under his breath, then covering it up by claiming to have said something that rhymes when Bog gets mad at him. For example, the first episode has him call Bog a "royal nincompoop", which he covers up by claiming to have been talking about Bog's "loyal troops".
• Turns up in the Dr. Zitbag's Transylvania Pet Shop episode "Son of Zitbag". Dr. Zitbag and Horrifido search for ingredients needed for Zitbag to create a son, but Horrifido deliberately avoids informing Zitbag that puppy dog tails are needed because he fears he'll have his own tail used to create Zitbag's son. When Horrifido remarks that he hopes the concoction will work without puppy dog tails, Zitbag overhears him and the skeletal dog covers up his statement by claiming he said he hoped the concoction would work with the nicely done snails.
• Muppet Babies:
  • In the episode "Good Clean Fun", Kermit remarks that Piggy weighs more than he thought when she stands on him to reach the sink. When Piggy gets angry, Kermit hastily claims that he said "Those are the nicest shoes you've bought".
  • During the imagination sequence of "The Pig Who Would Be Queen", Skeeter tells Piggy that she has to complete some tasks in order to prove herself worthy of being queen, to which Piggy responds by complaining that by the time she'd be finished with the tasks, she'd be a grandmother. When Skeeter asks what she said, Piggy claims that she said "You look just like your brother".
• The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants:
  Krupp: I swear, one day I will destroy you!
  Melvinborg: WHAT WAS THAT?!
  Krupp: Um, I said, "Hi, there. Fun day! Why fill me toy shoe?"
  Melvinborg: ...Did you just replace the words that you said you didn't want me to hear with random gibberish words that rhyme with those words?
  Krupp: No, heh heh. No.
• The Clone High episode "Episode Two: Election Blu-Galoo" has Joan of Arc tell Abe Lincoln that she's so angry at him she could kiss him. When Abe asks about the last part, Joan claims that she actually said "piss glue".
• In Rockin' with Judy Jetson, Rosie sees the house being mobbed by Judy's fans and says "There's no accounting for taste." When Judy asks what she just said, Rosie covers, "They're all over the place."
• Transformers: Prime: In the episode "Project Predacon", Smokescreen laments having to do grunt work
  Smokescreen: I was nearly a Prime, but somehow I'm still a rookie.
  Ratchet: What was that about a "Prime?"
  Smokescreen: Uh...no, time. Time to stop acting like a rookie.
• Thundercats 1985: In one early episode, Slithe decides Castle Plun-Darr needs "a woman's touch" and orders Monkian to go and capture some female Third Earthlings for the Mutants to use as slaves. Monkian mutters "chauvinist reptile" under his breath and, when Slithe challenges him, claims that what he said was: "You're right, Slithe."
• In The Legend of Vox Machina with Grog secretly talking to the Hungry Weapon Craven Edge, while fighting some fire demons that only have lava inside of them.
  Craven Edge: I HUNGER. FEED ME.
  Grog: (groans) I'm trying, but none of these guys got bloody insides!
  Pike: What was that, buddy?
  Grog: Uhh, I just love me some.. blueberry pie!
  Pike: (beat) What!?
• SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Big Top Flop", Mr. Krabs wants to get rid of the new circus in town that's stealing his business away. He tells SpongeBob and Squidward that they're going to the circus to destroy it. SpongeBob cheers, then momentarily pauses and questions it. Krabs covers it up by saying that they're going to enjoy the circus.
• Hercules: The Animated Series: In the middle of a forest, Phil sees a Sexy Silhouette of a woman behind a waterfall and mistakes her for a nymph introducing himself as a "brave mighty boar hunter", though it turns out to be Artemis, Goddess of the Wilds and she does not like hunters in her forest. Phil tries to backpedal by claiming he said that he was "bored with hunting" but she doesn't buy it.

Real Life

• Happened (reportedly) to Pierre Trudeau once. No microphone picked up what he actually said on the floor of Parliament, but he hastily claimed it was "Fuddle Duddle".

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