Open Mouth, Insert Foot

"Right. Right. 'Cause there's a lot stupider names than Chi Chi. I'm not saying that Chi Chi's a stupid name. I'm just saying that it's not normal. Ah. But normal is overrated. I'm not saying that you're stupid or overrated. I'm just— I'm gonna stop now."

— Goku, Dragonball Evolution

A character with a big mouth says something stupid or, better yet, self-incriminating, often with the subject of their commentary standing nearby or, better yet, right behind them.

The trope name comes from the phrase "to put your foot in your mouth" (also playfully referred to as "foot-in-mouth disease", a pun on the very serious livestock illness "foot-and-mouth disease").^note Which in turn is not to be confused with the rather less serious hand, foot, and mouth disease, which primarily afflicts small children and is generally speaking a week's nuisance at worst.

A subtrope of Fee Fi Faux Pas and closely related to Ignore the Disability.

Compare Shutting Up Now for a similar reaction. Can lead to any of the following: Change the Uncomfortable Subject, Digging Yourself Deeper, Did I Just Say That Out Loud?, That Came Out Wrong, Can't Believe I Said That. Sometimes more than one.

Don't confuse for "Open mouth, insert food", as if this is about eating.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Deconstructed in Asteroid in Love. Ao developed a fear of speaking because she was teased for one of these during the sixth grade when she accidentally made an innuendo:
  Ao: So hot...anybody feel it's super wet today?
  Classmate A: I think "humid" is the word you're looking for?
  Classmate B: (Yelling to the rest of the classroom) Hey guys! Ao just said something really dirty!
  Other Classmates: Ao is dirty!
  (Ao gets Quivering Eyes)
  Present-Day Ao: Since then, I've had trouble speaking up.
  Suzu: That changed her whole personality?!
• Cowboy Bebop: Spike is very aware of this trope.
  Open foot, insert mouth.
• The title character of Crayon Shin-chan can be really naive and straightforward at times. Notably, an episode where Ume Matsazuka has to be separated from her boyfriend Tokuro due to the latter having a job posting to South Africa; Shin-Chan and friends tries cheering up Ume, but Shin-Chan who's first to talk immediately tells her about a neighbor of his celebrating her wedding and going on her honeymoon a week ago (cue Collective Death Glare from everyone).
• Done in epic fashion in Death Note when L asks Light how, as a detective, he would go about trapping Kira, Light's secret Serial Killer alter-ego. Once Light has given L his answer, L "praises" him by pointing out that while it usually takes professional investigators several minutes to even come up with an answer to that question, Light immediately responded with an answer that a serial killer talking directly to the investigators would give.
• In Digimon Adventure's English dub, Joe Kido does this twice when the kids are going to go back to the real world from the digital world without their digimon. He even says the trope name the first time around.
• Latvia of Hetalia: Axis Powers is prone to this, which is a very bad thing when Russia is constantly hanging over your shoulder. Often closely followed by Lithuania or Estonia's "Latviaaaaaaaaaaa!"
  Latvia: I do feel safer in his hairy arms.
  Estonia: You should really keep your mouth more closed.
• Tsurubami Kamome from Medaka Box actually gets kicked in the mouth twice for doing this too often. Not that it hurts him.
• Rebuild World: When Sheryl mentions she only ordered coffee because she's on a diet (which is a lie to cover up that she's poor), Katsuya says Sheryl has Curves in All the Right Places, basically calling her fat, which his female companions call him out on.
• In She's My Knight, Ichinose, despite being popular and attractive, has no tact at all.
  Ichinose (trying to ask Mogami to a movie): I bet you have too much time on your hands after school. I can take you to a movie, 'cause I feel bad for you.
• In Wasteful Days of High School Girls, most of Majime's interactions with Robo come off as this, as she gets so nervous that whatever she blurts out doesn't make a lick of sense.

Comic Books

• Archie Comics (2015): Archie agrees to come camping with Jughead, but almost immediately gets distracted and takes them towards a girls' camp instead. When Jughead complains, Archie responds "I won't apologise for being a normal guy!" Jughead, being asexual in this continuity, is stunned speechless. Archie immediately realizes how that came out and apologises, but Jughead is uncharacteristically thrown and seems genuinely hurt.
• Be Prepared: Vera, upset that she has to stay at Russian summer camp for two more weeks she didn't plan for, pleads with her Struggling Single Mother to take her home. She first pleads to go home alone (to which her mother says she can't) and then go with her mom on her interview trip—which she can't. Angry and upset, she yells that she can just go stay with her dad. Her mom gets a hurt, wounded look, and Vera immediately regrets what she said—her parents are divorced and Dad is out of the picture (and given she has a toddler sister, he hasn't been gone that long). Vera meekly says she can endure two more weeks of camp.
• Forgotten Realms:
  • In one issue, a bronze dragon mistakes the wizard Dwalimar Omen for the famed Elminster, Sage of Shadowdale. Omen scoffs at this, calling Elminster "overrated" and dismissing him as a "feeble-minded hedge wizard" who couldn't hold a candle to even the lowliest mage from Omen's native Halruaa. Elminster himself arrives soon afterward, and having clearly overheard Omen, he sarcastically introduces himself as "Elminster the Overrated". The closing textbox of the issue lampshades the trope:
    Join us next month to watch Omen try to remove his foot from his mouth!
  • In the second issue, the elf cleric Vartan Hai Sylvar brings up the wizard Ostus Agrivar while remarking on Priam Agrivar's family name. He mentions that he heard Ostus got eaten by a demon and effectively says that it served him right for dabbling in matters beyond his feeble human ken, only to become contrite and apologize after Priam reveals that Ostus was his father, who was murdered in front of Priam by the demonic sorcerer Imgig Zu.
• Powers Vol 2 #13 has Detective Pilgrim exclaim, upon hearing that a homicide that left a street of collateral damage has only one witness, that she had more witnesses when she lost her virginity.
  "That's one of those things I wish I hadn't said out loud."
• Spider-Man: In any continuity, Spider-Man has a very bad habit of doing this, since his defense mechanism against people tougher and/or deadlier than him is his wit. At the very least, it's a Death Glare. At the very most, he'll start running.

Comic Strips

• From a Calvin and Hobbes Story Arc where Hobbes gets lost in the woods:
  Calvin: (calling out while carrying a flashlight) HOBBES, YOU MANGY FUZZ-BRAINED LUNKHEAD, WHERE ARE YOU?? (Beat Panel) ...I DIDN'T MEAN THAT QUITE THE WAY THAT SOUNDED.
• Cartoonist Ron Tandberg often depicted former Victorian Premier and Hawthorn Football Club president Jeff Kennett literally doing this when he made a gaffe.
• Happens during a story arc in Zits, when Jeremy says increasingly thoughtless things to Sara (first "Your freckles help cover your zits" and "What's it like having divorced parents?"), the word balloons for which immediately turn black with white letters and linger in the air.

Fan Works

• #8024: When Batman sends Nightwing and Red Robin to visit Marinette at Arkham Asylum and ask her a few questions about how she ended up there, she takes one look at their costumes and asks "Is this an interrogation or a plea for help because your team's outfits are terrible?" She's immediately horrified, though both take it in stride:
  Nightwing: ...Well then. That's, uh, the that's the first time one of these was started by criticism on our outfits—
  Red Robin: Speak for yourself. (chuckles) You sure? I enjoyed the comments on Hood's helmet, definitely — but what about you? When you went around as Discowing? I'm half-tempted to give her a photo of you like that just to see her reaction.
• All Assorted Animorphs AUs: In "What if Rachel's mom was a controller?", Rachel tells Tobias that she doesn't want to fight because some of them have families who depend on them, then regrets it when she sees the stricken look on his face.
• While discussing Su's desire to up the security at the Hinata Inn in The Beast That I Am (to stop the Ogre if she shows up again), Keitaro tries to dissuade Kitsune by pointing out that eventually Su will turn all of that security on him.
  Kitsune: But it ain't a big deal when bad stuff happens to you! It's me and the other girls I'm worried about!
  Keitaro: Wait... what did you just say Kitsune?
  Kitsune: I said it's me and the other girls I'm worried about! It don't matter when bad stuff happens to -! Well, what I mean was that... well, you're indestructible. You and I both know that!
  Keitaro: Uh... yeah.
• The Chaotic Masters: When the Titans and Big Hero team are discussing Jade with Zatanna and Constantine, the subject of chi wizards refusing to teach women comes up. Constantine offhandedly states that they have a point about that, resulting in every woman present glaring at him.
• Child of the Storm:
  • Played for Drama in the sequel when Maddie, whose social skills are somewhat lacking, picks a very unfortunate moment to tell Jean that her boyfriend is cheating on her (having just found out via her own Telepathy). Specifically, when said boyfriend was meeting her parents. Jean, unsurprisingly, blows up, having been under a lot of pressure to begin with, and ends up taking it out on Maddie, who is miserable because she didn't want to hurt Jean and was only trying to help.
  • Played seriously earlier on in the sequel in the case of Harry's friends after he returns to Hogwarts — having been through an epic Trauma Conga Line, he really does not have the patience for teenage idiocy anymore. Thankfully, some counseling and the passage of time helps him cool off a bit.
• In Chrysalis Visits The Hague, The protagonist Estermann says the following to Lyra, a pony (It Makes Sense in Context):
  Estermann: Because as far as I'm concerned, a pony's only good to be ridden and sliced up for sausage. How the hell am I supposed to make myself a picture of one's 'inner workings'?
• Played for Drama in the The Loud House fanfic A Dark House: Inadequate when Lori, in a fit of anger over some broken perfume, snaps at Lincoln that sometimes she wishes she didn't have a brother. While she quickly realizes what she said and is clearly upset, Lincoln runs off in tears and locks himself in his room, even shouting that no one cares about him when Lori and some of the other girls try to talk to him.
• Elecktrum's Narnia Fics are full of this trope. One fic revolves around it completely, and another has a chapter revolving around the similar phrase "eating crow." Her OCs and minor characters also get into the act, especially where Edmund is concerned:
  • Tumnus unintentionally insults Edmund by implying that Edmund had worked for the white witch in "The Conscience of the King".
  • In "Black Dwarfs, Blue River" an overzealous faun angrily tells Edmund regarding the persecution of families of some satyrs who fought on the witch's side that the wives and children (who did not fight for the witch) were "Sons of traitors [who] deserve what what they get." Edmund responds coolly: "so what will you call my sons?" Oops.
  • And then there's Ilano's Right in Front of Me moment in "They Also Serve".
• Eleutherophobia:
  • In These Are the Damned, Jake said in an interview that when he was a kid, he wanted to grow up to be like Kevin Johnson... or his own older brother. Eight hours later, Tom is still getting phone calls asking for a quote.
  • In THX 1138, Colette wonders out loud why Tom's parents weren't suspicious when he started getting straight As after becoming a Controller... and immediately regrets it when Tom freezes.
  • When Rachel chastises the Animorphs for drifting apart in How I Live Now, she starts to mention how Marco let Jake sleep over at his place when Jake didn't want to deal with "Tom", but interrupts herself when she remembers that Tom is present.
• Enchanting Heist:
  • Ryuji as always, has a tendency to spout out thoughts that he soon comes to regret even if he means well. A notable example occurs when Ryuji finds out that Luz has a girlfriend, wherein he accidentally blurts out his surprise that she is attracted to other girls due to having never met someone attracted to the same sex before. when Luz gets upset and starts to storm off, Ryuji quickly apologizes, and states that he doesn't judge her.
  • Luz herself is guilty of this as well. When she is whisked off to the Velvet Room for the first time, Luz accidentally lets slip that she actually has prior knowledge of Personas from other sources, due to Eda, and Philemon teaching her about them before she ever made contact with the Velvet Room. To say that this is a massive shock to the Velvet Room inhabitants is an understatement, as Caroline and Justine both perform a Jaw Drop and even Igor is visibly surprised. Luz nervously lampshades that she probably shouldn't know about what her new powers are yet based upon their reaction.
• Epiphany: After having an erotic dream about Sephiroth, Aerith finds him and accuses him of infiltrating her dreams only to quickly realize he has no idea what she's talking about, and her evasive answers about the nature of the dream only make him more intrigued.
• In the Back to the Future fanfic Homecoming, George, not knowing about the age gap between Doc and Clara, asks where "Mrs. Brown" is. He's mortified when he finds out that Clara is Doc's wife, not his stepdaughter, and apologizes profusely.
• Khaos Omega has one character often do this. Whenever Yolande Azeat says something that comes out wrong, her butthole usually ends up getting sexually destroyed (especially if Jet's nearby when it happens).
• In Kira, Sweetheart Light has one of these moments when he discovers that L has been abused in the past.
  Light: WHO did this? Give me their name!
• Metal Gear: Green: When transferring captured MSF soldiers to the nearest detainment site on foot (as the MSF have air superiority), they spot the refugees and tell them to not worry and go back home, with some hoping they want autographs. The problem was that A: These refugees have been under warlord rule for practically their entire lives. B: The Heroes not only attacked the MSF soldiers out of the blue for no reason, but also smashed up the medical supplies that the MSF was providing to the refugees. C: The heroes were never there when they suffered, and then intervened when they received help from a third party. And lastly, the refugees were completely pissed at how utterly arrogant and stupid the heroes were. The refugees predictably attack the heroes while freeing the captured MSF members.
  • When Shoto claims that he, Bakugou and Kirishima were trying to help when Ocelot was chewing their asses out in his What the Hell, Hero? speech to them, Ocelot angrily retorts that their actions not only allowed the USJ Nomu to get free, but endangered them, All Might and the Ocelot Unit as well.
• The Mountain and the Wolf: Played for Drama when Tyrion is discussing the unknown traitor (who opened the gate of King's Landing during the siege) with the Wolf, a Chaos Norscan the size of a bear. Tyrion realizes his comments imply that the Wolf is behind it, and he has a very uncomfortable moment when he sees the Wolf getting angry (especially since the viewer knows the Wolf is behind it). Fortunately, it turns out the Wolf was thinking up a plausible explanation that Tyrion believes to be the truth.
• The My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic The Model Caretaker Has Fleur de Lis struggle with this in the first half of the story, especially when Fluttershy is about.
• A Moon and World Apart: Rarity has a bad case of this in chapter 7, when she first starts flirting with (unbeknownst to her) a married stallion, then (after being informed of his marital status) wrongly assumes the mare with him is his wife. Then she gets really mortified at her actions when she finds out he's actually gay. To her credit, she does apologize to both he and Twilight for the misunderstanding and any offense she may have caused as soon as she can.
• In My Huntsman Academia both Izuku and Nora are frequently guilty of this. The former's tendency comes from his social awkwardness, while the latter's comes from her Cloudcuckoolander tendencies. For instance, the following conversation Izuku has with Weiss:
  Izuku: (when Weiss asks what he isn't good at) W-W-Well, I'm not good with t-talking to people! I get really nervous, and I can't even talk to girls sometimes without just going blank.
  Weiss: (snorting) You're doing a fine job with me at the moment.
  Izuku: Yeah, but I don't see you as a girl. (Beat as Izuku goes sheet-white)
  Weiss: Explain. Now.
  Izuku: I-I-I-I didn't mean it l-l-l-ike that Weiss! I m-mean I just see you as a teammate! I know you're a girl! A smart, nice, pret-
  Weiss: Compliments later! Speak!
  Izuku: (curls up into a ball as she looms over him) B-But it's easier to just see my teammate! When I think about it, I get all n-nervous and shakey, so it's just simpler that way! Please don't be mad!
• My Lesbian Life with Monster Girls: Monster Yurisume: In chapter 129, Yuisu, overworked and stressed out, chews out Haru for changing her mind about getting printer paper when Yuisu asked and forgetting to tell her, which leads to her declaring that Haru never takes her requests seriously, citing the fact that Haru dyed Hakuto pink after Yuisu literally begged her to stop the prank war as proof. All Haru can think of to say in response is, "That was different. I mean, I had already ordered the hair dye", which really sets Yuisu off.
  Yuisu: Oh, so that's how it is. My heartfelt plea is worth less than a bottle of hair dye.
• In Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!, Professor Stein gushes over the possibility of being a godfather when Hisashi is discussing his sudden vacation. He quickly apologies when Hisashi screams about how he's infertile. He does end up becoming a godfather when the Midoriyas adopt a baby Kal-El.
  Stein: Congratulations, Hisashi, my boy! You're going to be a great father, I just know it! Can I be the godfather? I've always wanted to be a godfather, Hisashi!
  Hisashi: Yeah, well that's not going to happen, because we can't have any kids! (spits a stream of fire out of frustration)
  Stein: Um, well, now that you've finished whatever that was and I've finished removing that foot from my mouth, allow me to apologize, again.
• The New Look Series has several examples of this trope.
  • Young Link gets in trouble with Peach due to him pretending to be her, mockingly.
  • Kenshin also gets in trouble when he tells Kaoru that he can't understand what Kaoru is going through right now because he isn't a woman like her.
• Once Upon a December, Brain inadvertantly angers Yakko (currently going by the name "Elo") when he asks why why "Elo" is so fascinated by homes - then realises that, as an orphan, the idea of having a home obviously means a lot to the boy.
• In Patterns of the Past, the Patternista taunts the rescue team by telling them that they have no way to contact anyone for backup. Orscheln, the sole Scientist on the team, then reveals that Dr. Ozzington, Precinct 13579's Lab Director and her boss, has a portable Telephone-inator handy, which elicits a couple gasps from the other agents on the team and leaves Olesya cold. This causes the Patternista to notice O'Sullivan reaching in his Hammerspace spine for a gadget, as she orders him to stop and threatens to kill Old Missie with her gun if any of the agents use gadgets against her.
• In the prequel to Respawn of the Dead, Heavy accidentally insults Medic a few times. But, to be fair, it's pretty clear that Medic is only insulted by being told he sounds like Greta Garbo because he has no idea he was practically quoting her.
• Revelation (Hellaverse) plays this for drama. Two years prior to the story, Alastor managed to kill Lucifer and took over as ruler of Hell, turning it from a kingdom of hedonism and chaos to a totalitarian fascist regime. Anybody who criticizes him or his rule is considered a traitor and sent to the Pit Of Fire. The whole plot is kicked off when Moxxie, after being grilled by Katie Killjoy on a live interview, accidentally calls Alastor's elite army, the Crimson Guard, "brutal". This has disastrous consequences for not just him, but also for anybody who associates with him or have just been in his vicinity.
• From another MLP fanfic, The Rise of Darth Vulcan: Artful Dodger is discussing showering with Eiderdown and starts speaking before thinking.
  You could literally see the words traveling from his mouth, to his own ears, and from thence to his brain. His eyes went round for a second. "Once. One. At a time, that is. Not that there isn't enough room for two. Heh. I mean—- I'll go first, that way you can take your time. Afterward. By yourself." He literally shoved his own hoof in his mouth to shut himself up. He bit down on his hoof for a second then spoke around it. "G-g-give you time to, uh, pretty yourself up afterward...."
• In the Rivals Series Viktor can't help but unintentionally offend Yuuri through unwanted advice or very poor wording which doesn't help Viktor's attempts to get Yuuri to at least tolerate him. Then Viktor starts to develop the opposite problem so Yuuri would at least speak to him.
• SAO: Mother's Reconciliation: In chapter 9, Kyouko ends up doing this when she tells Asuna that since her brother turned out successful because he listened to her and followed her orders, Asuna should just "stop wasting her time and theirs, and do what she says." This ends up pissing Asuna off so much that she runs away from home.
• Stars, Eyes of Heaven
  • Joseph Joestar has a tendency to this when recounting the events of Stardust Crusaders to his family, especially when he brags about the plane crashes they've been through. Caesar was not amused.
    Joseph Don't look at me like that Caesar...CAE-
  • His son Josuke isn't much better. After he, Okuyasu, and Koichi finds out that the mysterious man they thought was an enemy was really Jotaro's lover Tenmei Kakyoin, he rambles how he didn't realize since it seemed weird^note He meant the idea of Jotaro showing affection to anyone but Jolyne. It doesn't take long for Tenmei to guess that Josuke is Joseph's kid.
    Josuke: Aah! Sorry! I didn't realize! It's just kind of weird! Not the gay part! It's not like I'm not okay that you're girlfriend's a man! Boyfriend! Love who you love, and all that. Just, uh- Jotaro-san didn't... seem... like a love kind of guy? I guess?
• This Bites!:
  • During the scene in the palace baths, after Cross finishes telling Nami he has too much respect for her to peep on her, she manages to call him up to the wall to talk to him, only to give him an eyeful of Vivi instead. The first thing Cross comments on is whether she's dedicated with the hair dye. Vivi's stool, meet Cross's cranium.
  • When Cross wakes up from Enel's initial attack and sees Conis, he makes a statement about how he wished he could've seen Enel's face when Luffy kicked the crap out of him, thinking that he missed the whole arc... not realizing he was only knocked out for a second and a very unamused Enel is right next to them.
  • Since Usopp never leaves the crew in Water 7, while acting as Sniperking to try to pretend to be someone braver, he essentially states that 'Usopp' deserted from the mission of rescuing Robin without any significant reason. Luffy is not pleased by the implications.
• In Trouble, when Dumbledore is being rightly called out for how he handled the Chamber of Secrets, he tries to placate the pissed off crowd by claiming that he wasn't certainly stalling in the hopes that damage would be done to those Voldemort and his kind deemed of 'lesser bloods'. This pisses them off and they give a vote of no-confidence in him.
• In Zero Context: Woolgathering, Ellen Harrison has a moment of this when, after being mistaken for a new initiate, a group of cultists tell her that they plan to summon their warlord dragon master to the park she'd been relaxing in.
  Ellen: ... ...So if I'm understanding you correctly, you're summoning a malevolent world conqueror from the other side of the universe... and being the complete morons you are, you think this is somehow a good idea?
  (Stunned looks from the cultists, and the lead summoner doing a landed-fish impression)
  Ellen: (thinking) ... ...Excellent work, me. Of all the times to fail at keeping your thoughts to yourself, you had to pick now. This is why I hate talking to people.

Films — Animated

• Turning Red: When Jin and Ming find out about their daughter Mei's first red panda transformation, Jin's reaction isn't the most tactful to the cautious Ming.
  Ming: Sweetie, it's okay. Mommy is here.
  Mei: What's happening to me?
  Jin: This happened already?
  Mei: What did you just say?

Films — Live-Action

• Dragonball Evolution: When Chi Chi reveals that she knows of the existence of ki and states that her name doesn't mean she's an idiot, Goku proceeds to embarrass himself this way.
  Goku: Right. Right. 'Cause there's a lot stupider names than Chi Chi. I'm not saying that Chi Chi's a stupid name. I'm just saying that it's not normal. Ah. But normal is overrated. I'm not saying that you're stupid or overrated. I'm just- I'm gonna stop now.
• In The Grizzlies, white history teacher Russ has a few moments in the Arctic Inuit community of Kugluktuk.
  Russ: Don't they want an education so they can get the hell out of here?
  Mike: Spoken like a true Qabliunaaq.^note white man
• Peter Rabbit: When Bea decides to greet her new neighbor who just moved into the McGregor mansion, she makes insulting comments regarding the late McGregor without even suspecting that the newcomer became the mansion's new owner by being the late owner's next-of-kin.
• Short Circuit: Howard theorizes the potential danger of having their laser-armed robot roaming free. The stereotypical Indian guy, Ben, hasn't really grasped the concept of discretion.
  Howard: What if it decides to melt down a bus full of nuns? How would you like to write the headline on that one?!
  Ben: Nun soup?
  Newton: BEN!
• X-Men: First Class: During the climax, Charles desperately tries to reason with Magneto and calm him down after the combined Soviet and American fleets fire on the X-Men after seeing their power, insisting that they're all good, innocent men who are Just Following Orders. This ends up really setting Magneto off, since he's a Holocaust survivor and the Nazis Magneto had previously confronted said just that to excuse their actions.
  Magneto: I've been at the mercy of men "just following orders". Never again.

Literature

• Taran does this constantly around Eilonwy in The Chronicles of Prydain, which just fuels their UST. He grows out of it (mostly) after some Character Development.
• In Codex Alera barbarian chief Doroga of the Marat recounts to his human friends a story of his first day in wedded bliss where he went out and tasted some soup that was in the camp's meal area. He spent many days making up for this blunder.
  Doroga: I praised it to the skies as the best soup any woman ever made for a man.
  Amara: Your wife hadn't made it?
  Doroga: She did not. Hashat^note Hashat was his wife's sister had.
• In the Fortunes of War books, the lead character has a tendency to stick her foot in her mouth, and lampshades it on herself in Dreadnought! when she makes a snarky comment about a particular phaser design to Mr. Scott only to learn that it was his design.
  Piper: [to Sarda] Do me a favor, will you? Just reach down my throat and pull out my vocal cords.
• Gamers! (2015) runs on this trope for romantic comedy hi-jinks. Due to a number of compromising situations, Blatant Lies, poorly-worded statements, and plain old bad decisions, a number of misunderstandings results in a Love Dodecahedron where none of the characters actually know what's going on.
• Jane of the Green Hills series tends to carelessly say whatever she's thinking. She's afraid this will get her in trouble again.
• Nina Tanleven: In The Ghost in the Third Row:
  • When one of the costumes for the play is damaged, one of the people involved says that "Does it make sense to think it was done by a ghost? Or is it more likely that it was done by one of our local looney birds?" He remembers too late that the script writer Alan Bland, who's right on stage with him, had spent time in a mental hospital the year before and starts to blush and stammer. Nine and Chris are confused at the time, but learn why he reacted like he did the next day.
  • After learning about Alan's history, Nine unwittingly tells the man's writing partner Paula Gellar that "You guys are crazy!" after finding out how much material they'd written and discarded while writing the play and music, then looks horrified when she realizes what she just said. Paula figures out what she'd learned, and gives her a patient lecture about everything Alan had gone through and how much effort and courage it'd taken for him to put his life back together.
• Reign of the Seven Spellblades: Oliver has a bit of a problem with this, especially early in the series.
  • During the first sword arts lesson, Richard Andrews volunteers to cross swords with Nanao, but Oliver jumps in instead, saying that he met her first and they even fought the troll together. Richard gets very angry at this, and Oliver realizes Richard was one of the students who ran for it while he and the other Sword Roses were holding the troll off, and that he's made an enemy of Richard by accidentally calling attention to it.
  • Oliver tries to reassure Katie after she's bitten by the magical silkworm, and makes an allusion to an angel coming down to Earth. Katie turns bright red, and Oliver realizes he laid it on way too thick.
• Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs: In the Marie Route Alternate Timeline, a key event is Leon and Marie happily gossiping at a party about how horrible the five princes and especially Olivia are, with her two-timing of the princes. Leon and Marie realize everything suddenly went silent, find everyone in the room is looking at them, and bolt. This has major consequences for Olivia and her mental state.
• Warrior Cats: In Sky, When Bramblestar says that he doesn't think Tigerstar intends to take over RiverClan for good, Leafstar replies that ambition is in Tigerstar's blood and that he can't help himself. Bramblestar then points out that he and Tigerstar share blood. (He's Tigerstar's uncle; they're both descended from the villainous Tigerstar I.) Leafstar, upon realizing this, is very awkward, but Bramblestar just seems amused.

Live-Action TV

• Arrow: Felicity Smoak, to the point where Earth-2's Harrison Wells, who literally got kicked out of his universe for having No Social Skills, still has more tact than her.
• The Barrier: Iván is prone to such moments when drunk or hungover.
  • When meeting Hugo, who's interviewing to work for his parents because he's been told that the government took his daughter away because he's jobless, Iván heavily implies that his own family is a Dysfunctional Family and that Hugo would be lucky to not get the job.
  • He makes very snide comments about a man whose photo is being shown on the news right when the man's girlfriend is next to him, masquerading as her own twin sister.
  • He decides that being told that his father lost a friend, who was incidentally one of his very few remaining true ones, is a good time to make a comment about the fact that the vast majority of his father's friends qualify for False Friend.
  • He blames his less likable traits on genetics in front of Manuela, his de facto girlfriend, shortly after she has found out that she's carrying his child. The latter situation also makes it a bad time to offer to take her to a party the next time he goes to one.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • Spike does this often when he's trying to court Buffy.
  • Invoked by Buffy in "Doppelgangland" when she tries to apologize to Willow (not realizing she is talking to Willow's alternate universe vampire double) for an unfortunate comment earlier in the episode, saying, "You know how my foot likes to live in my mouth."
• The Chosen: Simon is looking forward to a little alone time with his wife Eden, only for Nathaniel to show up to crash at his place. Nathaniel reassures them that he understands and rather tactlessly says he'll cover his head with a pillow. He quickly backpedals in response to Simon's Death Glare.
• Coupling: A form of Cannot Talk to Women, by Jeff: just about every time Jeff talks to a woman, he manages to do this. For example, this exchange occurs just when things seem promising:
  Lynda: I like kissing, don't you?
  Jeff: Oh, yeah! Especially the tongues part. I love getting all that extra tongue. You know, sometimes I eat really cold ice cream just so that my tongue goes numb and it feels like someone else's... But then we all get lonely sometimes.
• CSI: Hodges gets an epic one when Mac Taylor visits from CSI: NY. He doesn't know who Mac is and starts telling him that it's a crime lab and that he can't walk around without an escort. Then his boss speaks up from behind him.
  Hodges: This is a crime lab. You can't just wander around without an escort.
  D.B. Russell: I think the head of the New York Crime Lab knows what a crime lab looks like.
• Doctor Who: In "The Day of the Doctor", the Tenth Doctor has a bad habit of doing this while talking to Queen Elizabeth I, repeatedly saying terribly offensive or regrettable things under the assumption she was a Zygon duplicate. It gets them married.
• On ER, Carol's new boyfriend Shep makes some insensitive comments about the suicide attempt patient was brought in, suggesting that "she didn't really mean it" because she took pills as opposed to a more lethal method. Carol snaps, "I really meant it", referring to her own suicide attempt a year earlier in which she herself overdosed on pills (and as a nurse, she would certainly have known what would be a fatal amount) and storms off. A flustered Shep asks if she was serious and the mass Death Glare from everyone else confirms it.
• In Firefly, Simon does it virtually every time he tries to have a conversation with Kaylee.
• In one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, when Uncle Phil makes a remark that offends Vivian, Will quips "I've always known you're a hungry man, Uncle Phil, but both feet?".
• Friends: When Rachel is giving birth she accidentally headbutts Ross while pushing. Ross gets up off the floor and announces "you have no idea how much this hurts". Cue Rachel and her delivery doctor shooting him Death Glares. Ross immediately realises how insensitive that was and drops it to focus on coaching Rachel.
• In one episode of The Golden Girls, Blanche had an epic one. She meets and asks out a man she met in a bar, not realizing at the time (since he was sitting down) that he was blind. When he comes to pick her up for their date, she enters the room, saying things like, "Aren't I the prettiest thing you've ever seen?" and "What's the matter, are you blinded by my beauty?" She finally takes a good look, sees his cane, and stops in her tracks. Sophia directly addresses it, saying, "Want a glass of water to wash down your foot?"
• JAG: Lt. Bud Roberts falls victim to this fairly often, especially in the pilot movie whenever dealing with Lt. Caitlin Pike. His case of Foot-in-Mouth Disease is particularly unfortunate given that his original job is Public Affairs.
• The Journey of Flower: Dongfang Yu Qing attempts to compliment Qian Gu. Instead he accidentally tells her she's simple-minded.
• Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Kit says this trope word to word after unknowingly hurting Chris.
• Referenced fairly often on M*A*S*H. In one case, BJ claims Charles has "put a whole shoe store" in his mouth." (That example, interestingly, was incorrect, as Charles had fully meant to offend everyone.)
• A Moody Christmas. In the first episode Dan mistakes Cora for a door-knocking Red Cross volunteer because of her shirt, and donates some money. It turns out she is his cousin's new girlfriend, isn't a volunteer, and designed and hand-made the shirt herself.
• NCIS:
  • Jimmy Palmer is very prone to this. He does not seem to have heard the old adage that "a closed mouth gathers no feet". His foot tasting episodes routinely escalate to Digging Yourself Deeper territory.
  • DiNozzo runs afoul of this trope from time to time as well.
• In Sherlock, we have Molly.
  Molly: How's the hip?
  Mrs. Hudson: Oh, it's atrocious. But thanks for asking.
  Molly: I've seen much worse. But then I do post-mortems.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: During "Hollow Pursuits", Capt. Picard accidentally calls Barclay by his unofficial nickname Broccoli. Data tries to put a positive spin on the situation by referencing psychology but really only makes the situation worse.
• Schitt's Creek: All the Roses do this occasionally, but Johnny Rose does it all the time. Often, Johnny has every right to assume something he's wrong about, but he still gets blamed and guilted. Examples include when he assumes Alexis is pregnant, when he assumes Ted's mother has a crush on him and when he assumes Patrick's parents know their son is in a relationship with David.
• Strong Medicine's Dr. Lu Delgado often has moments like this. Sadly, none of them seem to make her realize that she should think before she talks:
  • When her partner Dana takes time off to spend with her mother, Lu makes a snide comment about them taking "a Paris shopping trip", only to be coldly informed by Dana that her mother has breast cancer.
  • She's incredibly rude to her son's girlfriend until the girl zings her for hating her for being white rather than for being rich.
  • She's also quite rude to her new partner Andy after she's hired, insinuating that she can't handle working with low-income patients, until Andy reacts like she wasn't even listening to her.
  • She lectures Andy about supposedly exploiting her Eastern European nanny/housekeeper. Andy angrily informs her that she is doing no such thing—she's paying the woman even more than the norm and has taken care of the necessary paperwork.

Music

• The cover for Robert Sherman and Al Larsen's album "Smash Flops" (containing such bon mots as Columubs, You Big Bag Of Steam and Watch World War III On Pay TV) has a Virgil Partch drawing of a conductor directing three male singers, each with their foot in their mouth.
• "Postcard Xo" by RedHook:
  P.S. I'm drinking, to drown the failure
  'cause I've fucked up again like you would not believe!
  Guilt like an anchor, pulling me under
  My foot's so far inside my mouth it's hard to breathe!

Myths & Religion

• The Bible:
  • Peter from The Four Gospels does this constantly, saying something that he thinks is smart only for Jesus to show him how completely wrong he is. He finally breaks this habit somewhere in the middle of Acts.
  • James the Lord's brother spends the middle part of chapter 3 from his own epistle to explain how dangerous the tongue really is.
    Even so, the tongue is a little part of the body and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. The tongue is among the parts of the body, defiling the whole body, and setting the course of nature on fire, and it is set on fire by hell. (James 3:5-6)

Podcasts

• The four main kids in the Cool Kids Table Harry Potter-themed game Hogwarts: The New Class start talking about how lame Voldemort is in front of Felicia, only for her to tell them that her father was killed by Voldemort, followed by her tearfully running away.
• The pilot in the Black Box season of Within the Wires is extremely prone to making awkward comparisons and comments that he then regrets and apologizes for. (For example, comparing his passenger to a sick dog in Episode 5.)

Roleplay

• In Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues, Michal asks Ivan upon first meeting him if the acquisition of his superpower took away his voice. When Ivan explains that his lack of voice is a disability that he's always had, Michal is horrified at his mistake and panics so badly that he bursts into flames.

Video Games

• Final Fantasy:
  • Tidus, not being from Spira, tends to put his foot in his mouth a lot.
    Tidus: Hey, aren't you being just a little unfair?
    Lulu: Excuse me?
    Tidus: I know I could never take Chappu's place. You're the one who told Wakka that, right, Lulu? And I don't think Wakka would ever try to take Chappu's pl—
    Lulu: You don't want to finish that sentence.
  • Alphinaud has this tendency, especially around Y'shtola and his sister Alisaie.
• God of War (PS4): Prior to the final boss fight, Freya tries to soothe Baldur, telling him that she knows that he's still angry with her, that how he feels hasn't changed... Not the best thing to say to a guy who, because of her actions, has gone insane from not being able to feel anything at all for a hundred years.
• GreedFall: During one of Thélème's side quests involving a "demonic cult", De Sardet ends up investigating one of the islander's houses with Petrus. Petrus will make the same derogatory comments regardless of who the other companion is, but if it's Síora, he'll realize the faux pas.
  Petrus: Síora I am sorry, what I really wanted to say-
  Síora: Leave it, old man, I know exactly what it is you wanted to say.
• In Tales of Symphonia, if you have Colette cook for the party after Lloyd reveals that she can't taste or feel anything, you can sometimes get a skit where Kratos will complain that the food was cooked too hot and over-seasoned. He immediately realizes his mistake and quietly tells her to ignore him.

Visual Novels

• Occurs in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony during the second class trial, after Monosuke accidentally reveals some important information regarding the current murder to the students. His siblings weren't too happy about it.
  Monotaro: Way to put your foot in your mouth.
  Monophanie: His foot? Monosuke just unhinged his jaw and swallowed his entire leg!

Webcomics

• Check, Please!: When Jack asks to bring his boyfriend to a dinner party, Marty laughingly asks if he's joking, realizes that Jack just came out to him, then launches into a rapid-fire combined apology and reassurance until Jack reassures him that everything's fine.
• Code Name: Hunter: Gypsy stuffs both feet, up to her knees in when called to the commander's office by Queen Moraine. She's not in trouble. Yet. One of the readers lampshaded this in the Shout Box.
• Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures:
  • Aaryanna has the bad habit of invading the dreams of her boyfriend Merlitz, but when she tried to convince Dan to embrace his Cubi's cultural heritage, she commented that's nothing better for a cubi than simply invade other peoples' dreams... and she said that within Merlitz's earshot.
  • The title says all...
  • Abel, when he has to explain his Cubi mark on his back (neither he or his mother were aware that he was a cubi at the time, but his theory of how it got there doesn't please his mother).
  • Dan is a master of this trope, and he is aware of this.
  • Lorenda does this epically here.
• Dragon City:
  • Rachel makes a demeaning comment over the Ex-mayor, Donningan, saying that he was arrested for being ugly in the wrong place. Too bad that his grandaughter was within Rachel's earshot.
  • Sam would do the same mistake when he talked an explicit language to Rachel within Jonas' earshot.
  • Beatrix isn't a master in keep compromising secrets to herself.
• The Fox Sister: Alex has a talent to say just the wrong things to Yun Hee.
• Freefall:
  • Niomi is busy repairing the waste-water recycling plant. The toilets will work and you can get a drink. Not the best thing to say to an uplifted dog (well, wolf).
  • Sam Starfall tries to convince Florence not to trust Winston too quickly, only to accidentally confess to being everything but trustworthy
• Grrl Power has Sydney do this constantly when Peggy's artificial limb comes up. For bonus points, said missing limb is the leg below the knee, and the page's title is "Open mouth, insert foot to just below the knee."
  The Rant: Sydney, think of things NOT to say, then DON'T say them.
• Gunnerkrigg Court: In "Questions and Answers", Mort the ghost says Annie is "attractive", then starts backpedaling and trying to explain he didn't mean that kind of attractive, and concludes by turning himself into a gravestone with a "foot -> mouth" pictograph.
• Ménage à 3: Clueless geek Gary is prone to this sort of error. See here for one, lampshaded, example.
• A defining trait of Flux from morphE, to the point that the comic introducing her was even named Open Mouth to imply this very trope.
• Paranormal Mystery Squad: Apparently, Stephanie's been around the block a few times 'cuz she seemed way too familiar with "Inspiration Point". She not only failed to cover it up, she wound up confirming it by proudly admitting it to Agent Lisbon:
  Agent: After all, this is "Inspiration Point". You know what kids do out here.
  Stephanie: [smiles proudly] Don't I EVER.
  [realizes she said that out loud, as J.C. and Charlotte smirk behind her]
  Stephanie: [busted] Er— no! I totally don't!
• Pixie Trix Comix: Maura manages an unforced display of embarrassing unintentionally risqué blather in the (marginally NSFW) October 1st 2019 strip.
• Questionable Content:
  • Lampshaded when Faye belatedly realizes she shouldn't be asking the retired Shell-Shocked Veteran combat droid Bubbles why she doesn't fight.
    Faye: I'm just crammin' my foot further and further down my throat, aren't I.
    Bubbles: A Cronenbergian ouroboros, indeed.
  • Marten does it even better here. Faye describes him as "choking on [his] own femur".
• A Running Gag in Schlock Mercenary is the multiple creative variations used to call someone (usually Tagon, but he was by no means the only guilty party) out when they said something particularly embarrassing to or about another character while in earshot. It doesn't get mentioned as frequently in more recent strips as it did early on, but still pops up from time to time.
  • Special mention should go to the Reverend, for getting two situations in two days.
  • Nick tends to get them more than the average.
  • This happens literally when Elf gets her artificial Odin boots, and inserts one of them in Schlock's mouth.
• Stand Still, Stay Silent: One character describes the sound of the Danish language. With a pair of Danish soldiers right behind him.
• In Tales of the Questor, Quentin tries to compliment Meribeth on something other than her breasts.
• Done at least twice by Grey O'Shea in Terra, though the best one is also the first. See page 130 where he crossed it with Right Behind Me.
  Simmons: [referring to Grey's rescue of Alex and Rick] C'mon, I saw that one of the officers was female, and a cute one at that—I know you, Grey.
  Grey: Her?! Please, she's way too uptight. I don't have time for girls like that.
  Simmons: What, you think you even stand a chance?
  Grey: Give me a break. She may have an attitude, but if I wanted her, I could have her by the end of the night.
  Alex: Hm, I'll take that bet.
• TwoKinds: "Red" has recently started running afoul of this trope, particularly once he's found out Raine, the girl he has a crush on, is half-Keidran. Winds up running into Digging Yourself Deeper territory.
• The Whiteboard:
  • In this strip Pirta and Swampy get into a brief discussion of his nickname. After Swampy asks about her name in an idiot moment for him, he comments that he can skip the appetizer, as he'll just chew on his own foot.
  • In this strip, a customer that's been hassling Pirta for a date is asked if he'd be okay with the situation were their positions reversed, and she were trying to get him to cheat on his girlfriend. He accidentally lets slip that he'd be fine with cheating on his girlfriend Jenny for a date with Pirta. He winds up thrown bodily out of the store after being beat up by Pirta for his troubles.

Web Videos

• Dream SMP: During his first campaign speech for the Election arc, Wilbur passionately begins a speech about keeping the "filthy Americans" out of L'Manburg, before cutting himself off, stammering something generic about upholding the nation and leaving the stage. It only gets funnier with The Reveal in Wilbur's lore finale that his character was born and raised in the U.S.
  Tommy: Wilbur, a large majority of our viewers are American.
  Wilbur: I realized that half-way through the word 'Americans'...
• Gavin Free has one epic case, which he blamed on watching Red vs. Blue beforehand. The only context needed is two words: Headlight Fluid.
• From The Runaway Guys, Emile's Accidental Innuendo tendency.
  • The most infamous case was a livestream of Mario Party 6, known as "Chugga's Lost Innocence.
  • As Tim once described the habit during Mario Party 7 after Jon quipped that Emile's look seriously indicated he was NOT making his latest such moment up:
    Tim: Deer in headlights.

Western Animation

• Happens often in Aladdin: The Series with the title character.
  Iago: Would you like some salt with your foot?
• Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: When Gwen fails a driving test, Kevin tries explaining that she has to treat a car the way she'd treat a woman. Gwen's Fascinating Eyebrow tells him that he's made some sort of mistake.
• Celebrity Deathmatch: The Bruce Willis vs. Ashton Kutcher fight in Season 5 came to be due to Willis’ then wife, Demi Moore, leaving him for Kutcher. Bruce is just mopping the floor with Ashton, venting his frustrations over this, to which the latter responds, "Look at me! I can get any woman in Hollywood I want! I could dump Demi and have a date the same night!" Bruce suddenly smirks, telling him that he just made a big mistake. Cue a furious Demi Moore rappelling into the ring, and proceeding to beat the shit out of both of them.
• DuckTales (2017):
  • In "Storkules in Duckburg!", Storkules mentions his friendship with Donald is what he values most—in front of harpies that take whatever people value most. They then grab Donald's house boat with him in it, and Storkules admits he should not have said that.
    Storkules: ...That was most unwise of me.
  • In, "Moonvasion!", when Scrooge gloats to Lunaris that the latter was prepared for Earth's best but not Earth's dumbest, Glomgold adds that he is "the dumbest there's ever been" and laughs manically only to realize he accidentally insulted himself.
• Family Guy: In "Road to the North Pole", Brian, while accompanying Stewie at the mall to meet Santa Claus, sees Quagmire with a bald child and assumes that he has a nephew. He learns, to his utter horror, that it's actually his niece, who has cancer and is bald from chemotherapy.
  Brian: Oh gosh, I... I didn't know! I'm so... I'm so sorry!
  Quagmire: Oh, you're sorry? F-For what? That waiting in line is such a catastrophe, that you'd rather destroy the confidence of a 5-year-old cancer patient?
  Brian: Aww, come on. I-I didn't know she was dying.
  Quagmire: Who said anything about dying?!
• The Flintstones: Fred did this on many occasions. It was also a Literal Metaphor as there were times when his foot went into his mouth whenever a doctor tested his reflexes.
• Gravity Falls: In "The Stanchurian Candidate", Grunkle Stan insists on speaking his mind rather than use the speech Dipper and Mabel wrote for his mayoral campaign against Li'l Gideon, but he can't even complete a sentence without revealing his amoral nature.
• In Justice League Unlimited, Batman and John Stewart are talking about relationships when John idly mentions Bats and Wonder Woman being together. Batman starts explaining that, while he admires her as a friend and a teammate, going any further isn't really in the books before he comes to realize that, oops, she's right behind him.
• This happened in The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: The titular character calls her crush a "total babe with the hair and the cute smile" when he's standing Right behind her. She quickly realizes this. In fact the full sentence is:
  "Just because Marcus is a total babe with the hair and the cute smile, doesn't change the fact that he's standing right behind me, does it?"
• Lilo & Stitch: The Series: In "Splodyhead", Experiment 625/Reuben makes a quip at Gantu just before the latter heads out to Niʻihau, leading to Gantu deciding to force 625 to come with him. The experiment lampshades this.
  625/Reuben: Note to self: Only open mouth to insert sandwiches.
• In My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "No Second Prances", after Starlight Glimmer calls out Twilight Sparkle on her paranoia towards Trixie, Trixie begins to gloat and calls winning over Starlight a victory. This hurts Starlight and she wants an explanation. When Trixie tries to explain that she really was her friend and beating Twilight was just a bonus, Starlight's so hurt by this, she ends up running off.
• The Simpsons: In "Pygmoelian", when Moe sees how ugly his photo is, Carl tries to console him. It doesn't go well.
  Moe: Am I really that ugly?
  Carl: Moe, it's all relative. Is Lenny really that dumb? Is Barney that drunk? Is Homer that lazy, bald, and fat?
  Moe: Oh, my God, it's worse than I thought!
  [Moe, Lenny, Barney, and Homer start sobbing]
  Carl: [to camera] See, this is why I don't talk much.
• Steven Universe has a few:
  • Pearl is in fine form in "The Test", first accidentally revealing that the Sea Spire mission was a test, then digging herself deeper when she desperately tries to rectify the situation. Her Oh, Crap! expressions throughout the whole thing are priceless.
  • Peridot. Due to her lack of social skills, she makes crucial blunders time and time again. She manages to get on everyone's bad side in "Too Far" because she doesn't realize that her bigoted remarks are hurtful. In "It Could've Been Great", she praises the original plan that would've destroyed Earth. In "Message Received", the Crystal Gems think she betrayed them due to a lack of communication, and then she completely fails at trying to negotiate with Yellow Diamond. In "Barn Mates", she has a difficult time making her attempts at apologizing to Lapis seem sincere. Fortunately, as she gets Character Development, Peridot seems to suffer this trope much less often.
• Happens to The Hipster in the Tex Avery short "Symphony in Slang" when he's put on trial for skimping out on a restaurant bill, and every time he opens his mouth, he puts his foot in it. Like everything else in the cartoon, this is illustrated.

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