History Main / CutASliceTakeTheRest

Bob is preparing to take his share of a large item (a pie, money, or, as in the page image, a pizza) that is clearly meant to be split between several persons. He cuts a small, Bob-sized portion out from the main lump -- and then leaves that behind while he makes off with the rest. The tinier the initial portion, the funnier the joke becomes: [[BaitAndSwitch what appeared at first to be moderation and restraint on Bob's part]] is actually just {{greed}}, since a smaller remnant means more for him.

** The page image is the title panel of [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1990/05/20 this Sunday comic.]]

* The gag of cutting one piece of cake only to hog the rest is used in the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode "Happy Birthday, Uncle Piggy", where the song "It's Hard to Be as Wonderful as Me" has a scene where Piggy "shares" a cake with the other babies by handing over a tiny slice and keeping the rest of the cake to herself.

* Used in a ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short, "Baby Butch", in which Butch the alley cat cuts a small slice of ham, then takes the rest for himself.

* In the Funimation dub of ''Anime/ShinChan'', Penny's mom cuts two slices of cake for Shin and Penny, but Shin complains that Penny's slice is bigger. When told that they're all the same, he grabs the entirety of the cake left on the tray and eats it.

* The gag of cutting one piece of cake only to hog the rest is used in the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984'' episode "Happy Birthday, Uncle Piggy", where the song "It's Hard to Be as Wonderful as Me" has a scene where Piggy "shares" a cake with the other babies by handing over a tiny slice and keeping the rest of the cake to herself.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Krabby Land", when [=SpongeBob=] realizes the kids like seeing him in pain when liquid from a popped bubble he was blowing gets into his eyes, he dips his bubble wand into the bottle only to throw the wand away and intentionally splash the entire bottle into his eyes.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Disenchantment}}'' Bean is leaving a tavern for the night and decides to take one more drink "for the road". So she fills a tankard from the keg, then [[TheAlcoholic takes the keg]].
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in the ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' episode "[[Recap/LiloAndStitchTheSeriesS1E12Amnesio Amnesio]]"; the moment Stitch sees Lilo's [[TrademarkFavoriteFood coconut birthday cake]] at the end of the episode, he proceeds to eat seemingly the entire cake all at once, much to Lilo's shock. However, as he's chewing, he lifts up a plate showing that he saved her a slice, showing that he's not going to deny her (at least, a slice of) her own birthday cake.
* The ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Fancy Party" has Sylvia grab a sandwich from a plate of sandwiches before devouring the rest of the sandwiches that are still on the plate.

* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', Asuna's idea of "sharing" a cake with Kirito involves cutting him a slice and taking the other 7/8 of the cake. Kirito objects, saying they should each get half. He eventually settles for 1/4 while Asune takes the other 3/4.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and Cleopatra'', [[TheBigGuy Obelix]] is asked to cut three slices from the Special Iced Arsenic Cake. He cuts out two normal-sized slices and takes all the rest as his own piece.[[note]]This makes sense, as the cake was poisoned and they were trying to prove it wasn't by eating it themselves (after having prematurely taken antidote), so they needed to dispose of the whole thing to prevent anyone else from eating it and being poisoned by it afterwards -- three even-sized slices would have been too big for Asterix and Getafix. Although it is unlikely that he thought all of that.[[/note]]

* One issue of ComicBook/TheDandy had Sneaker invite Crawford round for tea. He does this twice with cutting cakes ("One tiny little slice...for you! And the rest for me!"), and the third time he pours a small glass of pop for himself...and sprays the rest onto Crawford.

* A common gag for ''ComicBook/ArchieComics''' resident BigEater Jughead. His idea of "help yourself to a piece" is to cut one slice of pie and chow down on the rest. In another example he conned Archie into having a square pizza; Jughead sliced a small perfect square in the center, and took the rest of the share.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In the Creator/WCFields short ''Film/TheFatalGlassOfBeer'', there's a scene where Fields eats a bowl of soup with a ridiculously long baguette. He breaks the baguette in half and repeatedly dips one half in the soup, but then takes bites from the other half.

* Fay does this with a pizza in ''Series/RoundTheTwist'', most likely because of her pregnancy and WackyCravings.
* A variation in ''Series/RedDwarf'', Lister carefully measures out a spoonful of curry powder, [[BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce throws the rest of the can into his mix]], and dumps the spoonful back into the can.

* And Compo of ''Series/LastOfTheSummerWine'' does it with sugar and tea.

* ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'':
** During an extended sketch parodying ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' Benny (as Butch) and Jackie Wright (as Sundance) are enjoying a stolen picnic dinner. Benny offers to cut a slice of cheese from a large -- like 2 feet long -- cube. Sundance makes him move the blade so the slice is thinner, and thinner, and thinner until it's practically a paper thin slice; after Butch cuts the thin slice, Sundance picks up the rest of the cheese and starts to eat it. [[http://stagevu.com/video/ksbumicuhrlc (Seen here starting about 2 minutes in.)]]
** Another stock gag is someone taking out a bottle of liquid medicine, pouring themselves a spoonfull, then drinking what's left in the bottle and pouring the spoonful back in when they're done.
* In ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'', this was done on more than one occasion by Geraldine, the titular vicar. She would cut a slice of cake and eat the rest, or break off a piece from a chocolate bar and then eat the rest, or one example when she poured a glass of wine, then downed the rest of the bottle in one continuous gulp.
* On an episode of ''Series/FamilyTies'' Alex's [[Creator/TomHanks uncle]] asks for a beer. He takes most of the six pack and hands one back.

* On a 2013 episode of the American version of ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', in a "Helping Hands" sketch, a quirky medical doctor explaining things to an assistant is acted by Ryan, with Colin controlling the arms. The doctor demonstrates pouring out a small dose of "cough syrup". Then (in a funny choice by Colin) chugs the whole bottle. This actually goes back to the old US series, with full size wine bottles so Ryan never actually finishes 'the rest' in any case.
* In an episode of ''Series/WhatsHappening'', Rerun is handed a bowl of pretzels and is told "Take one and pass it on." Rerun takes out a pretzel, and hands the pretzel to someone else.
* In ''Series/CallTheMidwife'', series 3 episode 2, Sister Monica Joan does a version of this. Faced with a tray of cakes, she takes one, then another. Resident DeadpanSnarker Sister Evangelina responds by suggesting she takes them all. Sister Monica Joan, being senile and SarcasmBlind, ''does''.

* ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', "[[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS4E07HelpIsOtherPeople Help Is Other People]]": Eleanor asked Janet to prepare margarita cocktail for the end of the experiment. Janet brings her a jug and offers her one glass. The experiment didn't go as well as they had hoped, so Eleanor grabs the jug and takes a swig. [[INeedAFreakingDrink She needs a freaking drink.]] It looks like she'll drink it all in one go.
* In the original ''Series/{{All Creatures Great And Small|1978}}'', Siegfried tells James to hand him some cotton wool. James, following Siegfried's previous orders to be sparing with materials, tears a tiny piece off and offers it to him. [[HypocriticalHumour Siegfried snatches the rest of the wool leaving James holding the remaining piece.]]
* In one episode of ''Series/KickinIt'', Jerry asks for a thin cut of steak only to take the larger piece.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/SesameStreet'': As Ernie prepares slices of pie for both himself and Bert, he gives Bert a tiny sliver, and himself a large slice.
-->'''Bert:''' You know, Ernie, that is not very polite...if ''I'' had two pieces of pie, I'd offer you the big piece and take the small one for myself.\\
'''Ernie:''' Well, Bert. You have the small piece.
[[/folder]]

* In "Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812" Anatole asks Pierre for fifty rubles during the intro to Preparations. Pierre complies, and Anatole hesitates before taking the entire wallet in his other hand.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'', while [[https://ennuigo.thecomicseries.com/comics/1046 recruiting Floridians for Izzy's army]], [[OnlySaneMan Noah]] is so disturbed by the [[FloridaMan three new recruits]] that show up that he pours himself a mug of whiskey, then promptly tosses it over his shoulder and chugs straight from the bottle.

* As described above, used often in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'', usually the cake variation.
* Used in a ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' short, "Baby Butch", in which Butch the alley cat cuts a small slice of ham, then takes the rest for himself.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'':
** In the opening, George takes a few bills out of his wallet for Jane, but Jane takes the entire wallet instead.
** Also used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZc-I6Lx60 this Jetson's sponsor's tag]] for Saran Wrap.
** In the episode "Future Tense," George wins a pile of money at a horse race. At the end, the "[[IntimidatingRevenueService interplanetary revenue service" agency]] [[TaxmanTakesTheWinnings takes the pile, hands him a stack out of the pile, and keeps the rest for themselves]].
* The ''Jetsons'' opening is spoofed on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where George yells at Jane for taking all his money and ends up throwing her out of the air car, killing her. [[note]]The spoof is not done in the typical ''Family Guy'' animation, but rather they recreated the exact style of ''The Jetsons'' animation down to the smallest detail, even the aged film, trying to make it look as authentic as possible.[[/note]]
* At the end of the Barney Bear cartoon [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045863 "Heir Bear,"]] the taxman comes to take "Uncle Sam's share" from the treasure Barney had just uncovered. He takes a coin...for Barney to keep while he collects the rest.
* In an early WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse & WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoon, "Orphans' Picnic", there's a sequence where Donald's laying out the picnic and trying to stop the orphans from making off with food before it's all ready. At one point, one of the orphans sneaks up to a chocolate cake, carefully cuts a slice, and then makes off with the rest of the cake, leaving the slice behind -- which another orphan steals moments later.
** In another Donald cartoon, "Donald's Cousin Gus", Gus Goose does this, also with a chocolate cake.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSnorks'', Willie does this after saying "piece of cake". He takes the cake minus one slice and shoves it in his mouth.

* In the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "A Glass of Warm Ed" where Ed sleepwalks into Edd's house and eats Edd's food from his fridge, Ed opens a pickle jar, takes out a pickle, waits for a second, and pours the contents of the pickle jar into his mouth.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'': Beetlejuice once found a huge gold rock. A tax collector took a small piece of it and did like the taxman from the Barney Bear example above.
* In a BirthdayEpisode, Franchise/ScoobyDoo cut a normal slice of his birthday cake and offered it to Shaggy, who told him the birthday boy should take the first slice. Well, since it's this trope and [[BigEater Scooby]] we're talking about, you must know what happened.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. Wally is a BigEater, due to his SuperSpeed requiring a ''lot'' of food. So when it's his birthday, the team goes out of their way to make two cakes, presumably to avoid this trope. However...
-->'''Wally:''' Great! What are you guys going to eat?\\
'''M'gann:''' We'll split the cupcake.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' episode "Clan of the Cave Goof" cavewoman Peg cuts a piece of cake for caveman Pete this way.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' episode "Operation: Happy Birthday", Snaptrap scarfs down the rest of the cake after cutting one slice when Dudley convinces him to help him celebrate Kitty's birthday. He later finds out from Dudley that the cake was a cheesecake, and since he is horribly allergic to cheese ({{Ironic|Allergy}}ally enough, being that he's a rat), he swells up and hits the controls, which cause him to set Dudley and Kitty free.
* Tubby does this in one episode of ''The Little Lulu Show''.
* Greedy does this to a test cake that he made in preparation for Woody and Laconia's wedding in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' special "Smurfily Ever After".

* Used on ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' when the Rubbles were living with the Flintstones; Wilma sets out two pieces of cake, one small, one huge. Fred lets Barney choose, so naturally, he scarfs down the larger piece. Fred objects that if he got to choose first, he had picked the smaller; Barney counters, "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint What are you complaining about? You got it]]!"
* In the Creator/FamousStudios ''Screen Song'' short "The Ski's the Limit", a Swiss cheese factory has a mouse serve as its cheese taster. The mouse cuts a slice, swallows the larger part, and stamps "OK" on the smaller part.
* The 1937 WesternAnimation/ColorClassics cartoon by Creator/FleischerStudios ''WesternAnimation/BunnyMooning'' has a hippo guest at the bunny wedding roll up to a frosted layer cake, cut a thin sliver into it, then shovel all but the sliver into his huge maw. Occurs at the 3:50 mark.
* {{Inverted|Trope}} on ''WesternAnimation/MaggieAndTheFerociousBeast'' in "Happy Birthday to All of Us." The Beast seems very disappointed when Hamilton cuts him a tiny slice of cake...until Hamilton reveals that the tiny slice is his, and all the rest of the cake is for the Beast.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "That's Life", Timmy has eaten a slice of his pizza and refuses Wanda's suggestion that Timmy throw them a slice. Timmy picks up the rest of the pizza and says he's down to the "last really big, really round, almost circular piece", when his mother notices them in a starved condition and says he also should give them some food.

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Asuna's idea of "sharing" a cake with Kirito involves cutting him a slice and taking the other 7/8 of the cake. Kirito objects, saying they should each get half. He eventually settles for 1/4 while Asune takes the other 3/4.

* While [[https://ennuigo.thecomicseries.com/comics/1046 recruiting Floridians for Izzy's army]], [[OnlySaneMan Noah]] is so disturbed by the [[FloridaMan three new recruits]] that show up that he pours himself a mug of whiskey, then promptly tosses it over his shoulder and chugs straight from the bottle.

** Roger also did this once with coffee. He pours a cup and leaves it on the counter while grabbing the pot.
*** Andy then notes that Roger really ''is'' cutting back as she takes the mug for herself

* In the Creator/WCFields short ''The Fatal Glass of Beer'', there's a scene where Fields eats a bowl of soup with a ridiculously long baguette. He breaks the baguette in half and repeatedly dips one half in the soup, but then takes bites from the other half.

[[quoteright:234:[[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/slice_9546.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:234:[[BigEater The big bit's the best.]]]]

** Another stock gag on the ''Benny Hill Show'' is someone taking out a bottle of liquid medicine, pouring themselves a spoonfull, then drinking what's left in the bottle and pouring the spoonful back in when they're done.