History Main / DiggingYourselfDeeper

* In the ''Cilvanis'' video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU2VY4vCDug When Your Friend Watches Sus Anime]]," a man tells his friend about "The Time I, as a 40-Year-Old, Fell in Love With a 12-Year-Old." What follows is the man trying to explain to his horrified friend how the concept isn't as bad as it sounds, from mentioning that the 40-year-old traveled back in time to his 12-year-old body, or claiming that the age of consent is different in the fantasy world, none of which make his friend feel any better.

* After Music/TinaTurner's autobiography ''I, Tina'' revealed that ex-husband Ike Turner was physically abusive, he responded by saying "Yeah I hit her, but no more than the average guy beats his wife." Then when the book was made into the film ''Film/WhatsLoveGotToDoWithIt'', which [[CreatorKiller destroyed his reputation once and for all]], he responded saying "Sure, I've slapped Tina. We had fights and there have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. [[NeverMyFault But I never beat her]]."

* Sally in ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'': "I thought I'd say thank you for doing a great job, so I thought I'd let you stay with me. I mean not with me, but there. Not with me there, but there in your own cozy cone, and I'd be in my cone..."

Not to be confused with DugInDeeper (where someone pursues something because they're told they're great at it, even though they're not), DugTooDeep (which is about physical digging), or DiggingToChina (same). Nor DigYourOwnGrave, for that matter.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Kaorin has this one in ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh: [[UpdatedRerelease Supplementary Materials]]'':
--> '''Kaorin''': (Sigh) Sakaki is [[{{Fangirl}} so cool]]...\\
'''Osaka''': [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight Kaorin, are you gay?]]\\
'''Kaorin''': [[YouKeepUsingThatWord The correct term is lesbian]]! [[ThatCameOutWrong Uh, not that I'm a lesbian]]!! [[ImmediateSelfContradiction It's just, you know,]] [[GayRomanticPhase a teenage thing]]. That's all. Anyway, [[ImmediateSelfContradiction that's not what I meant]] when I said she was cool. [[ImmediateSelfContradiction Just to prove it,]] [[IfItsYouItsOkay I wouldn't mind if she was a guy]]!\\
({{Beat}})\\
'''Osaka''': Huh?
* Played for '''catharsis''' in ''LightNovel/TheCreationAlchemistEnjoysFreedom''. The plot is kicked off by Duke Bragas Regus having his son kidnapped from the government office/apartment where he works by a contingent of knights, dragged back to the family home, and proceeds to not only berate him himself, but has the entire household staff mock him for daring to have a non-combat class, and then summarily banishes him to what he believes to be certain death in the country known as Demon King Territory, and to make sure the boy utterly hates him, renders him unconscious by punching him in the gut for good measure, ''after doing his best to try and drive him to suicide for at least six years'', starting at age 10. In less than a week, this turns around to bite him, hard, and his knee-jerk responses keep making it worse until he's facing felonies just shy of high treason.
** Mistake 1: When the crown asks for an update on the royal holy sword he ''volunteered'' to have repaired, he is so dismissive of the alchemy profession that he doesn't go to the guild himself but instead tasks his head butler to go with the order "Get it fixed, no matter what" since failing a royal commission would shame him and his house.
** Mistake 2: When the butler gets to the alchemy guild and is informed that nobody ''currently'' working at the guild can even come close to working on it, let alone fix it, the butler quickly realizes that mocking Thor, rather than standing up for him, and letting the Duke banish him may have been a mistake, but rather than inform the duke while there was any chance of salvaging the situation, instead goes with his orders and orders the guild-master to simply make it look repaired, and when the guildmaster balks, thinks nothing of using the house seal to sign a contract absolving the guild of blame. When the duke gets the sword, he just assumes it's ceremonial anyway, and it doesn't matter, as long as it looks good.
** Mistake 3: When he's at party hosted by the crown, he's bragging for the umpteenth time how he's proud to have banished his "incompetent" son to "appease those savages in Demon King Territory" and is given the cold-shoulder by the crown princess Liana. Confused and feeling slighted, he demands, in public, to know why. She responds by tearing into him for putting her life in danger by delivering a sword that was pieced together out of sub-standard materials which shattered when she took it into battle.
** Mistake 4: He tries to blame the alchemist's guild for the error to save face. Liana responds by presenting the contract signed with his house seal, indicating that he ordered the sword be put together poorly to make it look whole when it wasn't.
** Mistake 5: Desperate to recover his reputation and standing, he goes with a hair-brained scheme to gain accomplishments by stealing silver from a mine at the border with Demon King Territory and bribing General Respalgia with some of the stolen silver, planning to shift the blame to Thor if things go wrong. This enrages the general, who is a man of honor, and has a debt of gratitude to Thor, to the point that he considers Thor his son-in-law. Word of the duke's treachery reaches both Demon King Rukia and the emperor, both of whom condemn him.
** Result: He is stripped of the duke title, demoted to count, and sent to the front lines to "lessen his sins." Being a coward, he's horrified and tries to plead and beg to get out of the sentence, but is denied. But he's not done.
** Mistake 6: When he's ordered to write an apology letter to Thor, he puts forward absolutely no sincerity and makes it glaringly obvious that he's trying to make Thor an imperial mole and betray his friends in Demon King Territory. Thor makes the letter public and gives the imperial messenger a polite "NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!"
** Result 2: With the apology letter's failure, he's informed that he can kiss any hope of amnesty good-bye and it's only because of Thor's existence that he's not summarily executed. He breaks down in despair and has to be carried out of Zagran's mannor and office.
* PlayedForDrama in ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime''. Heinz, leader of the Five Colored Blades adventuring party, kicks off the plot by taking a hand-delivered note from Baronet Bestero as fact and attacks Darcia, Vandalieu's mother, ultimately condemning her to three days of horrific and public torture and public immolation, for the "crime" of daring to get pregnant and give birth to Van in the first place. He spends the next 10 years desperately fleeing his guilt and giving himself a RedemptionQuest in the form of bringing down the very system of oppression that brought the quest about. Problem is, he is devoted to the god Alda who is entirely human supremacist, to the point of genocide. As such, Heinz ''still takes those types of quests without thinking'', and then does little more than preaching in the town square about how persecution is wrong, so he rescues another dhampir, Selen, and lets his party tell him that he's successfully atoned, when he hasn't even come close. Naturally, Van sees this all as deeply insulting, and the goddess Vida, who created the very races Alda's trying to eradicate, actively agrees. Refusing to own up to his actions, Heinz just keeps getting worse and worse until he and Van come as close as possible to "kill on sight" with each other.
* Happens in an [[BonusEpisode extra episode]] of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', when some poor sod attempts to talk down [[HairTriggerTemper Shizuo]] with flattery and compares him to a really popular {{bishonen}} actor, Yuuhei Hanejima. Unfortunately for him, said actor is actually Shizuo's little brother, whom Shizuo is ''[[BigBrotherInstinct very]]'' protective of, and he instinctively interprets the namedrop as an attempt to invade Yuuhei's privacy through him. Of course, since the poor sod doesn't know this, he just thinks Shizuo's suddenly angry because he ''hates'' Yuuhei -- so he [[OpinionFlipflop rescinds his previous statement and calls Yuuhei an asshole.]] The only thing surprising about [[UnstoppableRage what happens next]] is that the poor sod actually ''survived''.
* Early in ''VisualNovel/{{Air}}'', Yukito's explanation about why he was hugging Kano is like this and leads to Hijiri getting angry and charging him with scalpels. Luckily, Misuzu's intervention means that Hijiri's reaction is PlayedForLaughs.
* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', Keima has an accidental pervert moment with Haqua with a [[{{Tsundere}} predictable]] result despite him not even really caring. A bit later, he reassures her by saying he has no memory of her naked body anyway. This might help normally, only Haqua is already bothered by the way he never shows attraction to anyone or anything outside of his games. Cue getting hit again.
* A dramatic example occurs in ''Manga/HappyYarouWedding'' when a drunken makeout session is suddenly halted by Yuuhi and Todou fears he's made him uncomfortable and lies that he mistook him for his dead wife. Since Yuuhi had stopped because he was shocked to realize he was in love with Todou, this crushes him and he decides to never return. Todou then persistently texts him with messages like "I have no interest in men" and "sorry for making you feel bad" in attempt to get him to come back, but of course, this just makes Yuuhi even more upset.
* In ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'', Mamimi confronts Naota and accuses him of having a crush on Haruko, to which Naota replies, "How can you like someone who's insane?" The problem is that Mamimi is a pyromaniac arsonist, and Naota knows this.
* Kurando Wada falls victim to an exaggerated case in ''Manga/PopcornAvatar''. Thanks to a previous incident when [[EasyAmnesia a bump to the head]] made him regress to the hyperactive, skirt-flipping personality he had as a 9-year-old, all the girls in his class start treating him like he's a dangerous pervert. He assures them that he has no interest in what's under their clothes, which they automatically take as an insulting comparison to Lisa Vayu. He immediately counters that he doesn't even like big breasts, only for Lisa to [[RightBehindMe put a hand on his shoulder]] right after he says it. While she's painfully punishing him for that, he tells her she has the best breasts in the world... just when his sister happens to walk in looking for him.
* ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaInnocent'' has Nanoha attempting to explain away her crush on Fate [[RescueRomance after the latter rescued her]].
-->'''Arisa:''' She's been worrying about you aaaaaaaaall day, Fate. [[LoveAtFirstSight And she just couldn't take her eyes off you when she first saw you]].\\
'''Nanoha:''' NO- I, uh- I was just thinking about how cool you looked... and how pretty you are...
* In ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'', this happens to a nosebleeding [[TheBigGuy Kuroda]] who meets Ryoko (his crush) at this time.
-->'''Kuroda''': N... No, it wasn't [[TheHero Kitano-san]] who did this to me ... [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial and it wasn't from some unfamiliar girl kicking me,]] it just [[{{Nosebleed}} started flowing as I stood here, thinking of you ...]] Ah ... no, no they weren't like...''those'' kind of thoughts ... I just, um, really want to eat chocolate when I think about you ... B ... But wait, that doesn't mean I really want to eat you! I just ...\\
'''[[ThoseTwoGuys Kuroda's Lackeys]]''': (''What the hell is he saying?'')
* In ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'', Jae-Ha wanted to recruit Hak into his pirate gang but did so by [[NotWhatItLooksLike holding Hak's hands and declaring that "I want you"]]. Naturally, Hak declined. To convince him further, Jae-Ha then wrapped his arms around Hak's waist, saying he was a handsome man and they should go somewhere private to continue their conversation. HilarityEnsues.
* A RunningGag with Romio from ''Manga/BoardingSchoolJuliet'' is his tendency to run into trouble, and his attempts to talk his way out of it only makes it worse for himself. When Juliet told him that she wasn't bothered by Romio having a PornStash (which wasn't his to begin with anyway), Romio told her that he wasn't interested in any other girls' breasts ''but'' Juliet's. He immediately regretted saying that.
* A dramatic example happens in ''Manga/{{Sazanka}}''. After breaking up with her boyfriend Keita, Tatsuki has her friend Aoi over. After telling Aoi about the breakup and quitting her job, Tatsuki accidentally shows Aoi one of her bruises, resulting in her frantically trying to explain it away so as to not get her ex-boyfriend in trouble.
-->'''Aoi''': What's that bruise?\\
'''Tatsuki''': [[BlatantLies Oh, I... hit it against something]]!\\
'''Aoi''': The underside of your arm? [[SarcasmMode Yeah, likely story]]. Don't tell me, when you told your boyfriend that you wanted to break up, he beat you?\\
'''Tatsuki''': No, it didn't happen then![[note]]According to the author's notes, the scene where Keita beat Tatsuki happened a week before their breakup[[/note]]\\
'''Aoi''': ...What? You're saying [[DomesticAbuser he beat you up regularly]]?\\
'''Tatsuki''': ''(thinks)'' [[OhCrap Oh... crap...]]
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':
** When Katsuya meets Sheryl, she ends up buying coffee at the Hunter’s Office shop because it’s the cheapest thing on the menu and she’s poor. As an excuse to keep up her guise as a FakeAristocrat, she claims it’s because she’s on a diet. Thus Katsuya digs himself deeper saying she has CurvesInAllTheRightPlaces, inadvertently calling Sheryl fat.
** When Akira, who [[HeIsAllGrownUp has grown taller and more muscular]] gets his measurements taken by Celene for a custom outfit he’s ordering, she’s too preoccupied EatingTheEyeCandy and digs herself deeper making herself sound more and more like a pervert. Fortunately it goes over Akira’s head, him thinking she’s referring to hunter topics.
* In ''Manga/TrashSkillGacha'', Duke Bahurst has royally screwed the pooch by unjustly exiling his fifth and youngest son to near-certain death for an imagined slight, and learned the next day that said son, Crest Bahurst, is needed to save the kingdom from a prophesied monster stampede. He and his four other sons, ''loved'' to brutalize the boy and blame him for it, by proclaiming that the boy is a murderer who escaped justice because he survived his mother's DeathByChildbirth. So now he's got to try to win the boy back before either one of his rival duchies sends wins him over, the king wins him over, or he's monster chow. What does he do? He takes volunteers from his "beloved" sons who only see each other as rivals to eliminate and have good reason to want Crest dead, as the king has stipulated that if Crest returns, the duke title is his. Naturally, he just keeps alienating Crest further and losing more and more of his "good" sons. Thus bordering with SunkCostFallacy.
[[/folder]]

* A ''stunningly awkward'' moment for Nurse Annie in issue #421 of ''Uncanny ComicBook/XMen'', doubling as a bit of a FreudianSlipperySlope.
-->'''Alex:''' So my brother tells me I have you to thank for keeping me clean and odor-free while I was a vegetable, Annie.\\
'''Annie:''' Well... It was my job.\\
'''Alex:''' It's still pretty special to me. If a little awkward, given what you probably had to do.\\
'''Annie:''' It was my pleasure. Really. I mean--not like I get pleasure out of--I mean--I had to keep you clean--It's just part of the, the, the--\\
'''Paige:''' I'm surprised she can talk with that much foot in her mouth.\\
'''Alex:''' Yeah, I thought ''I'd'' be the embarrassed one. I mean, I was the one naked during the procedure.\\
'''Annie:''' Well, yeah, but if I could have been the naked one, I would've been--I mean, not the naked one, that's not what I meant, I meant the one without clothes on--and you'd be naked--I mean, the one with clothes on and you'd be rubbing me naked--''cleaning'', not rubbing, cleaning, you know, sponging, in a medical way--\\
'''Paige:''' I think she's going to explode.

* Used as a visual metaphor in the furry comic ''Webcomic/{{ISO}}'', when Cody has to swiftly make up lies about his supposed girlfriend to keep his parents from finding out about Doug, as well as the fact he's on the outs with Todd [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and has a roommate he can't stand]].

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': [[https://garfield.com/comic/2013/10/11 While talking to Liz on the phone]], Jon says he lied about his past and had thousands of girlfriends.
-->'''Jon:''' Okay, I'm still lying!\\
'''Garfield:''' And the hole gets deeper.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the Persona 5 fic ''Fanfic/ConfideInMe'', one of these occurs in Chapter 20:
-->'''Joker''': So...would this be a bad time to mention that she wanted to go to the Red Light District together afterwards.\\
'''Sae''': Excuse me!?\\
'''Joker''': O-Oh, well, I mean, she wanted to go, but I told her 'I'm sorry Makot-...er, Niijima-senpai, but that's very irresponsible, not to mention that your incredibly smart and talented older sister would never approve of t-\\
'''Sae''': Yeah, nice try. Now why don't you tell me what really happened?\\
'''Joker''': Ummm...\\
'''Sae''': You have five seconds to explain before I wring your neck.\\
'''Joker''': You wouldn't do that...\\
'''Sae''': 5\\
'''Joker''': Like I said, she wanted me to go there with her!\\
'''Sae''': 4\\
'''Joker''': We were pretending to be a couple!\\
'''Sae''': ...2\\
'''Joker''': She wanted to meet with this club host.\\
'''Sae''': 1\\
'''Joker''': ''[originally written [[MotorMouth without spaces]]]'' She was really worried about a fellow classmate because of rumors that she was seen at the Red Light District so she asked for my help and we found out she had a boyfriend who was also a club host so she asked me if we could pretend to date so we could go on a double date and investigate him!\\
'''Sae''': ''[DeathGlare]''
* {{Averted}} in the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', where [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Danny]] would make a comment that would upset Sam, but would always follow up with a nice recovery. Sam once accused him of enjoying that.
* ''FanFic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': When Chloe calls out Goh for how his obsession with Mew led to him drifting away from her, Goh shoots back that at least he ''has'' a GoalInLife, claiming that she doesn't have any dreams of her own. Even Ash recognizes that he's DramaticallyMissingThePoint, and is only driving the wedge between them deeper this way.
* VideoGame/Persona5 PeggySue fic [[FanFic/StartAgain Escher]] has Yusuke accidentally reveals intimate and personal details of Hifumi's life (that he knows from the future) while distracted, then promptly ditching her. When she confronts him in a cold fury over this, he's so intimidated by her his "clarification" compounds his error by rambling about whether it 'is happening' or 'will happen'.
* ''FanFic/LadyBugOut'':
** Alya's attempts to dodge around admitting that she ''knows'' Ladybug isn't happy about a photo she posted to the Ladyblog only serve to rile up most of her classmates further. Including Marinette, who's none too pleased that her 'best friend' is putting her 'big scoop' over Ladybug's express wishes.
** Lila also ends up painting herself into a corner with her lies and losing all the respect she'd gotten from her classmates as a result. When she attempts to regain some of it by claiming that she [[spoiler:was Rena Rouge]], that only serves to isolate her from her two remaining allies, as Alya and Nino realize that she's lying since [[spoiler:that was ''Alya's'' old identity]].
* When Ladybug confronts him about ditching patrol for selfish reasons in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31017641 Lying on the Job]]'', Chat Noir insists that [[BlatantLies he wouldn't lie to her]]. Ladybug skeptically asks if he's really never lied ''to'' her or ''about'' her, and when he sticks to that claim, reveals that she met up with Theo and [[InternalReveal learned the truth about]] the Copycat incident -- something else Chat Noir lied to her about, having caused his akumatization by falsely claiming he was dating her and rubbing their supposed relationship in Theo's face, then telling her that [[NeverMyFault she caused it by not showing up to the dedication ceremony]].
* ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7088386 Red For Fortune]]'': Adrien does this when Marinette confronts him about a fashion shoot arranged by his father that, while supposedly inspired by Chinese New Year, only featured white models in {{yellowface}}, including Adrien himself.
-->'''Marinette''': ''[throwing the magazine down on his desk]'' ''This'' is what’s going on in here, Adrien. This racist pile of crap that your father helped produce.\\
'''Adrien''': ''[glances at the magazine and recognises the photos, before turning back to Marinette]'' You're upset over a fashion spread in Mᴏᴅᴇ? I don't see what the big deal is; I mean, none of it is lewd or anything. I guess this collection isn't my father's best work...\\
'''Marinette''': Oh, it's an awful collection; completely uninspired and cliché. But I wouldn't be half so upset if an Asian designer had been behind a shoot supposedly inspired by an Asian holiday.\\
'''Adrien''': There probably weren't any Chinese designers that were high profile enough.\\
'''Marinette''': Do you honestly believe the words coming out of your mouth? I can name three Chinese designers off the top of my head that have been members of Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. There are tons of other Chinese designers that participate in Paris Fashion Week. One of them, Ms. Min, even puts out a collection every year in honor of Lunar New Year. The Met Gala, you know, the premier fashion event in the world? It was teeming with work from Chinese designers last year - four of whom were featured in the exhibit! ''Your father'' has never caused such a sensation as Guo Pei's fox fur gown, and he sure as ''hell'' has never been featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gabriel doesn't make art; if this is anything to go by, all he makes is racist garbage.\\
'''Adrien''': ''[stands up and glares at her]'' It’s not like he could control who Mᴏᴅᴇ asked to do this spread. They chose the person they thought had the best collection for what they wanted to portray.\\
'''Marinette''': Gabriel Agreste could have easily turned them down if he had the decency to see that what Mᴏᴅᴇ was doing was wrong. Of course, that would require him to realize that his collection was racist trash and that Mᴏᴅᴇ clearly wanted to portray racist trash. ''[turning the pages over, with PunctuatedPounding]'' How. Else. Can. You. Explain. This? ''[finishes on a shot of Adrien]'' It wasn't enough that they whitewashed my culture, was it? They also had to deck their white models in yellow face. ''[glaring into his eyes]'' What made you think that this was in any way okay? How can you claim to be my friend and do something like this?\\
'''Adrien''': He’s my father; I couldn't just say no.\\
'''Marinette''': Your relationship to him is precisely why you were the only one who ''could'' say ‘no’.\\
'''Adrien''': ''[bitterly]'' You really have no clue about how wrong you are there.\\
'''Marinette''': I know that any other model or member of the production crew would have committed career suicide if they confronted him. Just as your father was in a position to turn down Mᴏᴅᴇ without consequences, you were in a position to call him out without ruining your future career.\\
'''Adrien''': You're crazy if you think I wouldn't have faced consequences, Marinette.\\
'''Marinette''': What, you'd be grounded? Lose your video game privileges? No sweets for a month? Do you really care more about some petty personal comforts than doing the right thing?\\
'''Adrien''': 'The right thing'? This isn’t some grand moral conflict. You're overreacting.\\
'''Marinette''': Spoken like a truly privileged white man. Your father must be so proud.\\
'''Adrien''': Don't act like such a martyr, Marinette. It's not like you're some oppressed minority - heck, your skin is even paler than mine.\\
'''Marinette''': ''[lets out a harsh and bitter laugh before cutting it off and continuing to glare at him]'' You were right, Alya; white faves will ''always'' disappoint you in the end.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic ''Fanfic/SerendipitousFate'', there's a scene where Adrien wakes up [[RagingStiffie erect]] after spending the night in Marinette's bed. And he soon learns from an amused Marinette that this isn't the first time it's happened there.
-->'''Marinette''': Poor kitten. You can't help it, I know that. Though I was a little startled the first time I saw it, I'll admit.\\
'''Adrien''': Just kill me now.\\
'''Marinette''': Don't say that! We're both victim to mother nature, that's all. No need to be such a baby about it.\\
'''Adrien''': It doesn't happen only when I'm here. It happens all the time, whether you're here or not. ''[realises how that sounded]'' I-I mean, not that- not that you don't cause- It's different! I mean, sometimes it is because of you! But not all the time! Some- sometimes it is. But I don't do anything about it! I don't think about you like that! ''[realises she's a little offended]'' I-I mean, I don't think about those things at all! Not about you, anyway. Haha. Wait, no! ''[{{Facepalm}}s]'' I don't think about anyone when it comes to those things! Like, doing things when I'm alo- I don't- Never! That's not- sometimes! Sometimes I do! But never about anyone else other than- But not- Shit. Uh, I do- I do sometimes. But only you! And not often! Oh god! ''[realises he just admitted to [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating while thinking about her]]]'' It's really not that often! Like, not that I don't think about you a lot- but I have- It's not-\\
'''Marinette''': Shhh. Just stop talking.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7544355/8/When-a-Veela-Cries When a Veela Cries]]'' Su Li makes an AccidentalInnuendo while referring to Neville and continues making more when she tries to clarify it.
-->'''Neville:''' Um, thanks for defending my honor, but next time, maybe we should leave it undefended.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4776976/19/The-Problem-with-Purity?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=5VnYFJ1mkvBx9iEuYCk6c8Iph4w6ZlVvMxYu_ym.6TM-1641159369-0-gaNycGzNCT0 The Problem with Purity]]'' Draco unthinkingly insults Harry's foxtrot skill and then dances with Hermione to demonstrate how it ''should'' be done. A jealous Harry makes an excuse and leaves.
-->'''Draco:''' Is he going to come back from the kitchens?\\
'''Hermione:''' Depends how seriously he's convinced himself that maybe it's not him you're interested in.\\
'''Draco:''' You've got to be kidding. He thinks I'm interested in ''you''? [beat] Which is to say that if I were interested in women, I would of course be interested in you, but since I'm not—\\
'''Hermione:''' I don't want to have sex with you either, Draco, so let's call it even, shall we?
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10034752/1/The-Art-of-Binge-Eating The Art of Binge Eating]]'' Harry has gained weight during a period of depression. Draco shows up to apologize about his initial reaction to Harry's new looks.
-->'''Draco:''' Bit of a narrow doorway, how do you fit through? Right, well, that was joke, in case you wondered. I don't think you are fat. Look! I brought you more junk food, doesn't that show that I don't care if you get ''even more fat''. Not that you're fat! Okay, let's start this again.
[[/folder]]

* Done in ''Film/Severance2006'' with a great jab at the end:
-->'''Richard''': Hi Maggie. Not eating?\\
'''Maggie''': Why are you all so obsessed with what I eat? I am not too skinny.\\
'''Richard''': No, no, no, no. I don't mean... Just that you'll need your energy for the team games. I mean, you're perfect just the way you are. And when I say perfect, I obviously don't mean that in a sexual way. I mean perfect in a neutral way. As if I were another woman saying that you were perfect, you know? Just one woman to another. Not that I'm implying anything like that. Or that there's anything wrong with that... sort of thing. Or... anything.\\
'''Steve''': Keep digging, we can still see you.

* Done rather drolly in ''Film/TheGreatNewWonderful''. Pastry chef Emme, along with her assistants, is presenting a line of birthday cakes to a wealthy Park Avenue girl. The girl expresses interest in one cake, commenting on how beautiful it is. One of Emme's assistants, Justin, then chimes in with "And it's easy on the hips." Another assistant hastily bails him out by explaining that the cake is a low-density one that doesn't require a lot of processed sugar to hold it up. When he's done, Justin says "That just basically means it's less fattening."

--> Nice to meet you, Frau Göring!
--> ''Von Hepp.''
--> Oh, I'm sorry.
--> You don't have to, I am not ashamed of my uncle.
--> Neither am I, my uncle was active in [[LaResistance the resistance]]!
--> (She stays silent.)
--> Maybe... the two of them sometimes have met then...
* ''Film/MyCousinVinny'': The plot is the result of Vinny's cousin Billy and his friend Stanley being charged with murder. How did they get a murder charge? They didn't even ''know'' what they were arrested for, and kept answering questions thinking they were being charged with stealing some groceries they forgot to pay for. In fact, this is TruthInTelevision for many people convicted of a crime because of statements made to the police, because many of the things you say, no matter how innocuous, can lead to a conviction. It's taken up to eleven when one of them says "I shot the clerk?" as a question, but it sounds like a statement.
* [[CuteAndPsycho Norman]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes Bates]] from ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' does this with absurd regularity.
-->'''Norman''': You eat like a bird, [[GigglingVillain haha]].
-->'''Marion''': You'd know, of course.
-->'''Norman''': You know, I hear the phrase 'eats like a bird' is actually a fa - fals - f - fa - falsity because birds really eat a tremendous lot.
-->''({{Beat}})''
-->'''Norman''': ...I really don't know anything about birds.

* Wallace's conversations in ''Film/TheFWord'' almost universally fall under this trope. Fortunately, Chantry, his love interest, keeps up with him line after line, both digging themselves deeper.
* Kat, in ''Film/LoveAtTheChristmasTable'', manages somehow to go from that there are romantic prospects in her life to describing how there are guys lined up one after another, ready to land... and then she admits that she's digging herself deeper.
* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', after Tony Stark's daughter Morgan accidentally learns the word "shit" from him, he tells her not to swear, and then says "'Cause I got shit to do!". Cue her continuing to repeat the word...
* ''Film/{{Bean}}'': Subverted when Mr. Bean is forced to give an improvised speech on the Whistler's Mother painting. After fumbling for a bit, he handles the speech quite well, although it lacks any meaningful content. General Newton and much of the audience just appreciate Bean's straightforward remarks on ThePowerOfFamily. The characters who might have been offended take it as dryly comical ribbing at their earlier request not to have a boring lecture of art history, and maybe insert a joke or two into the speech, since they assumed Bean to be a stereotypical British academic.

* A scene in Creator/RobertAsprin's ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth-ing Persons]]'' has Guido doing this to himself with his employer Skeeve; he only belatedly informs Skeeve that they're being followed, and then tries to defend himself by saying that the follower is [[IncrediblyObviousTail so obvious]] that any idiot could tell they were there. Fellow employee Massha cheerfully invokes this trope.

--> '''Melchior''': Judging from past experience and what little I've heard, I'm thinking you're following the pattern where you start out in a lot of trouble, and then through a series of brilliantly chosen words, make it infinitely worse.
* In the ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' / ''Literature/TheMalloreon'' by David Eddings, several characters fall for this, usually cut short by another character suggesting "Why don't you just stop talking now." or "What a fascinating observation, why don't we pursue that line of thought." or similar.
* Chloe William's comment to her husband Buck when he tries to explain the reason he calls a car by a girl's name in the Literature/LeftBehind book ''The Mark''.
* In ''[[Literature/TheMagicians The Magician King]]'', Quentin is outraged at the primitive learning conditions in the safe house for hedge-wizards and insists that his friend Julia doesn't belong there, insisting that she can't have learned magic from "unlicensed losers"... only for Julia to take offence, for - as Quentin full knows - she's a hedge-witch who had to learn unofficially after [[WizardingSchool Brakebills]] turned her down and Quentin refused to help her get in. Flustered, Quentin tries to point out that it's a wonder that nobody's burned down the safe house, but Julia simply points out that he's not angry about the safety standards but about how the hedge-witches aren't good enough by his standards. In a desperate attempt to mollify Julia, Quentin changes tack and points out that he earned the right to perform magic in his years at Brakebills, claiming that the residents of the safe house picked it up at the 7-11; Julia, who had to endure several painful years of depression and obsessive study just to succeed as a hedge-witch, even going so far as to [[spoiler: trade sex for magic knowledge]], is ''not'' amused.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The opening skit of the 2006 Emmys had host Creator/ConanOBrien wandering onto the set of several TV Shows. The final bit had him walking into an empty house, only to find himself confronted by ''Series/{{Dateline}}'''s Chris Hansen and in the middle of another edition of ''Series/ToCatchAPredator'', at which point every legitimate excuse he gave only made things worse. In particular, claiming that "it's my second time" (he also hosted in 2002), and "I did it once and I liked it and thought I should do it again", prompting Hansen to declare, "Of all the predators I've met, you are by far the creepiest."
%%* Any sitcom involving Creator/RickyGervais.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
** Xander was very prone to this. The kicker is that he's not even talking to Buffy, just practicing with Willow. Which rather neatly demonstrates the wisdom of doing so, yes?
-->Y'know, Buffy, Spring Fling just isn't any dance. It's a time for students to choose, um... a mate and then we can... observe their... mating rituals and tag them before they migrate ''just kill me''.
** Buffy and Xander also get another good one in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E16Doppelgangland Doppelgangland]]":
--->'''Buffy''': See? I told you, Old Reliable.\\
'''Willow''': Oh, thanks.\\
'''Buffy''': What?\\
'''Willow''': Old Reliable? Yeah, great, there's a sexy nickname.\\
'''Buffy''': Well, I-I didn't mean it as...\\
'''Willow''': No, it's fine. I'm Old Reliable.\\
'''Xander''': She just means, you know, the geyser. You're like a geyser of fun that goes off at intervals.\\
'''Willow''': That's Old Faithful.\\
'''Xander''': Isn't that the dog that that guy had to shoot...?\\
'''Willow''': That's Film/OldYeller!\\
'''Buffy''': Xander, I ''beg'' you not to help me.
** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E21TwoToGo Two to Go]]", a panicked Andrew runs into Willow, who knows he was an accomplice in the killing of her girlfriend:
--->'''Andrew:''' Warren killed Tara. I didn't do it, and he was aiming for Buffy anyway.\\
'''Willow:''' ''[[[DeathGlare glowering]][=]=]'' Not making it better.
* In ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', Diane ''begins'' by yelling at a prospective employer, "I will not sleep with you!". It actually manages to go downhill from there.
** When Norm finds his dream job as a beer taste tester and is only an interview with the president away from getting it, Rebecca advises him not to do something stupid like mention his pants. Of course, the first thing he does is say "Nice pants!", not so bad in itself, but he retracts himself immediately, then retracts the retraction and digs his way down to a song and dance number about him not being such a grumpy puss. Camera cut back to the bar and Norm mourning his lost opportunity.
* Was made into something of an art by ''Series/{{Coupling}}'', in which attempted conversation-starters, usually by the hapless Jeff, devolved into such subjects as amputation, and collecting human ears in a bucket. In fact, this page used to be called "Bucket Of Ears".
-->'''Jeff:''' You have the eyes of ten women. ...I don't mean, like, [[HavingAHeart in a jar]]. I wasn't accusing you.
** A non-Jeff example is when Steve talks to Jane's psychiatrist Jill. She thinks that he's nervous because sometimes what she does makes people nervous in a social context. Believing her to be Jane's girlfriend, he tells her that "you girls" have got "the best of both worlds." When pushed to explain what he's talking about, he uses a metaphor Jeff brought up earlier in the episode:
--->'''Steve:''' Well erm, you've got four breasts...\\
'''Jill:''' I'm sorry?\\
'''Steve:''' No, no hang on.\\
'''Jill:''' This blouse isn't particularly flattering actually...\\
'''Steve:''' No, no.\\
'''Jill:''' If nothing else.\\
'''Steve:''' I'm not saying you've got four at the moment, just when you're...\\
'''Jill:''' What?\\
'''Steve:''' Excited.\\
'''Jill:''' You think I develop extra breasts when I'm excited?\\
'''Steve:''' Not so much develop as, you know... acquire.\\
'''Jill:''' What in the name of God are you talking about?\\
'''Steve:''' Sorry, sorry I've been totally sidetracked by the irrelevance of your breasts. Not that you have irrelevant breasts! You've only got two, that's for sure. Unless you were some sort of cow. No! No, an attractive cow! Or a prize-winning cow! But you're not a cow. You're a person. But I'm sure that you'd be a prize-winning person if they had a sort of cattle market for women! A women market! Which, thinking about it would be a bad thing in many ways.
** Steve gets a lot of these, usually digging a lot faster than Jeff. During his run-in with his celebrity crush Mariella Frostrup, she apologises for spilling her drink on his pants. He replies "Don't worry about it, I was about to go to the toilet anyway. Not that I was intending to wet my trousers, obviously. Although I am pleased to meet you." At this point he has a hilarious "What the hell I am I saying?" look on his face.
** [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Oliver]] carries on the tradition well on several occasions, such as his conversation with Jane about the large number of toilet rolls he's buying.
* Digging Yourself Deeper is pretty much the basis of every episode of ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' where Larry David makes an innocuous statement which is taken badly, or misheard, and the ensuing consequences lead to hilarious further exchanges and climax.
* On the season 15 premiere of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars'' Tom told two different people "When you're in the hole stop digging."
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor does this quite a lot, especially in his fourth and tenth incarnations. However, this is quite often a highly calculated move on his part, as a way of distracting the person he is talking to.
** Though not always, as in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E5RiseOfTheCybermen "Rise of the Cybermen"]]:
--->'''The Doctor:''' What are you doing that for?\\
'''Mickey:''' ''[holding down a button]'' Because you told me to.\\
'''The Doctor:''' When was that?\\
'''Mickey:''' About half an hour ago.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Um... you can let go now.\\
'''Mickey:''' Well, how long has it been since I could've stopped?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Ten minutes? Twenty? ''[[GoodIsNotNice Twenty-nine?]]''
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment "The Lazarus Experiment"]]:
--->'''The Doctor:''' Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Jones. Heard a lot about you.\\
'''Francine:''' Have you? What have you ''heard'', then?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Oh, you know; that you're Martha's mother, and... um... no, actually, that's — that's about it. We haven't had much time to chat, you know, we've been... busy.\\
'''Francine:''' "Busy"? Doing what, exactly?\\
'''The Doctor:''' Oh, you know... stuff...
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E1PartnersInCrime "Partners in Crime"]]: The Doctor is inviting Donna to travel with him, but wants to clear up the fact that he isn't looking for a relationship:
--->'''The Doctor:''' But the last time, with Martha, like I said, it got complicated, and it was all my fault. I mean... ''[sighs]'' I just want a mate.\\
'''Donna:''' You just want TO MATE??!\\
'''The Doctor:''' I just want A mate!\\
'''Donna:''' You're not mating with me, sunshine!\\
'''The Doctor:''' '''A''' mate, I want, a! Mate!
** Also well done in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp "The Unicorn and the Wasp"]]:
--->'''The Doctor:''' Agatha Christie! I was just talking about you the other day. I said, "I bet she's brilliant." I'm the Doctor; this is Donna. Oh, I love your stuff. What a mind! You fool me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once, but it was a good once!
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E6TheVampiresOfVenice "The Vampires of Venice"]]: The Doctor goes to talk to Amy's fiancé... and opts to show up by [[JumpingOutOfACake jumping out of a stripper's cake]] ([[ItMakesSenseInContext at his bachelor party]]):
--->'''The Doctor:''' Rory! What a relief! I'd thought I'd burst out of the wrong cake. [[NoodleIncident Again]]. That reminds me, there's a girl sitting outside in a bikini, could someone let her inside and give her a jumper? Lucy? Lovely girl. Diabetic. Now then, Rory. We need to talk about your fiancée. She tried to kiss me. Tell you what though, you're a lucky man, she's a great kisser.\\
''[pause as everyone stares at him in amazement, and someone [[DramaticDrop drops a glass]][=]=]''\\
'''The Doctor:''' ''[uncomfortably]'' [[ThatCameOutWrong Funny how you can say something in your head and it]] ''[[ThatCameOutWrong sounds]]'' [[ThatCameOutWrong fine]]…
* Josh of ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', on a date with a model:
-->I got you a diet soda, 'cause I figured you're probably watching your figure. ...Not that you need to watch your figure, you have a great body! ...Not that I was looking at your body!
* Robert did this at least once on ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''. Amy invites Stefania over to a singles party because she thought Peter might like her, but Robert is not happy with her arrival.
-->But she's my Stefania!\\
...I mean, she's my ex-Stefania.\\
...I mean, ''you're'' my Stefania now... baby.
** Probably the most blatant example is the entire premise of "Faux Pas", where Ray makes a joke about his son's new best friend's dad, tells it to the man himself, and keeps trying to apologize, only making it worse. His family coming in doesn't help, either.
** Robert, again, while trying to endear himself to [[ObnoxiousInlaws Amy's parents]], who are staying over.
--->'''Robert:''' We have a great bed, you're really going to enjoy it... Not "enjoy" enjoy. Sleep! Enjoyable sleep! Cause that's all you'll be doing, I'm sure... Which is not saying you can't do what you want cause you can... It's not like you'll be breaking any Commandments.\\
'''Ray:''' It's like your mouth is falling down the stairs.
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'' - a psychiatrist guest is talking about vacations, and asks Basil, who hadn't heard most of what he'd said, "How often do you and your wife manage it?" Basil thinks he's talking about sex ("[[AllPsychologyIsFreudian that's what it's all about to them!]]") and gets all indignant and defensive. When he hears from his wife what the psychiatrist was in fact asking about, he rushes out with a plastered-on grin and starts babbling about how he thought he was talking about walks, not sex! NO, vacations! and coming off much worse than he started.
** Basil digs himself even deeper that night, while bidding the psychiatrist and his wife good night
--->'''Basil:''' Well then, I'll leave you to it. I mean, to go to bed! To ''sleep''! [[GeniusBonus To sleep,]] [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} perchance to dream]].
* Jayne Cobb from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' manages to turn an observation that dead people make him restless into defensively insisting that he isn't a necrophiliac. He was just giving examples of things he does when he's restless. Nothing corpse-specific in there.
** Jayne's good at this, but Simon is the undisputed ''master''. Especially if Kaylee's in the room. Heck, the fact that Simon does this is pretty much the reason he and Kaylee don't get together [[spoiler:until the movie]]. They'll be flirting and getting close, and just as it looks like they'll kiss, he says something that she thinks is offensive and she storms off.
-->'''River:''' You are such a boob.
* Done in ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' by Niles when talking to Daphne about her possible dismissal.
-->'''Niles:''' Yes, and even if by some small chance that were to happen, Daphne, I could always use you.\\
...I, I would know of a position you could take.\\
...Services that you could perform.\\
...I would know of an opening.\\
...This is on me.
** Speaking of ''Frasier'', this is the formula for a lot of episodes; a conflict arises, and each attempt at a resolution digs the characters deeper. Some (if most) episodes even end without any resolution at all and show the characters wallowing in self pity in their inability to come to a resolution.
* Seen in the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt", in which Ross's attempts to flirt with a pizza delivery girl degenerate into a lecture on the smell of gas and an intended compliment which makes Ross [[MistakenForPedophile sound like a pedophile]].
** There was another one where he ended up talking about sewage.
** And Chandler brought up another occasion, when Ross talked about the Irish Potato Famine.
** Ross' failures at flirting cannot be emphasised enough. Another attempt led to the conversation derailing into asking two women if they had to choice, which method of dying would they preferred: being burned or drowning.
** Chandler also did this once, while attempting to suck up to Monica's parents.
** In the first season, Chandler one says to Monica that if they turn 40 and neither of them are married then they should marry each other. When Monica asks why she wouldn't be married by then, everything he then says just makes her angrier.
--->'''Chandler:''' [[LampshadeHanging Dear god, this parachute is a knapsack!]]
** In one episode, Phoebe and Rachel start taking karate classes, and Ross tried to prove that they weren't as good as they thought they were by pretending to attack them. When they easily overpower him, he goes to their instructor for some pointers:
--->'''Ross:''' I tried attacking two women. It did not work.\\
'''Instructor:''' What?\\
'''Ross:''' No, I mean... it's okay, I mean, they're... they're my friends. In fact, I, I, I was married to one of them.\\
'''Instructor:''' Let me get this straight, man. You attacked your ex-wife?\\
'''Ross:''' Oh, no! No, no! No, I tried. But I couldn't. That's why I'm here. Maybe we could attack them together?
** In the final season, Chandler accidentally reveals to a step-kid that he's adopted. Then he traumatizes the kid even worse by revealing Santa Claus isn't real. And this was already after he attempted to make a joke to the kid's foster parents about them being infertile. In all seriousness, he and Ross were made for this trope.
** Chandler comforting Phoebe after her heart attack in the hypothetical episode.
--->'''Monica:''' Phoebe, a heart attack is nature's way of telling you to slow down.\\
'''Chandler:''' I always thought a heart attack was nature's way of telling you to die. I mean you're not going to die. I mean you are going to die, but you're not going to die today. (Beat) I wish I was dead.
** In a semi-PlayedForDrama case, there's Ross and Rachel's breakup. He's already in hot water for sleeping with a copy girl, but makes things even worse when he tries to salvage it by stating he was trying to keep Rachel from finding out about it the whole time.
--->'''Rachel:''' "[[SarcasmMode Oh, that is so sweet. I think I'm falling in love with you all over again!]]"
** Variation in one episode where Rachel accidentally does this to Ross by mistakenly bringing up every single one of his failed marriages to the father of his date. Ross has already mentioned Carol and their son, and Paul replies, "I just didn't know you were married." At this point Rachel returns from the bathroom and assumes they were talking about his marriage to her, and she clarifies that it was just a big drunken mistake. Then she realises her mistake and asks if they were talking about Emily.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Tyrion's efforts to convince Shae he's not interested in Sansa fall comically short in "Dark Wings, Dark Words".
** A serious example in "The Dragon and the Wolf". During [[spoiler:Littlefinger's trial, Sansa starts listing all the crimes he did to the Starks and his responsibility in instigating the War of the Five Kings. Every single thing that he says to deny the charges is turned against him by Sansa, Bran, and Arya, until he is literally reduced to his knees, begging for his life. His request is denied, and Arya slits his throat.]]
* On ''Series/GetSmart'', a married Max is on a mission dating a KAOS femme fatale; a very pregnant and emotional 99 isn't taking it well. She sniffs "You've stopped loving me just because I've grown fat and unattractive!" He soothingly replies "That's ridiculous - just because you've grown fat and unattractive doesn't mean I don't love you any more!"
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': Santana tells Karofsky that she has figured out that he is gay.
-->'''Karofsky:''' Who told you that?\\
'''Santana:''' No one had to tell me. First of all, I saw you checking out Sam's ass the other day. You really need to be more careful with your leering.\\
'''Karofsky:''' I didn't. I was just... seeing what jeans he was wearing.\\
'''Santana:''' ...Like that is any less gay.
* In the ''[=HawthoRNe=]'' episode "Final Curtain", the titular nurse keeps doing this with a doctor (or nurse, it wasn't really specified). She tries to get him to talk Arabic to a patient's husband, but (1) the husband is speaking Dari (as we find out from the Army vet nurse Sullivan) and is thus Afghani, and (2) the guy in the turban is ''Sikh'', not any kind of Muslim (and from Chicago).
-->'''Guy''': You're a racist! (''stalks off'')\\
'''Hawthorne''': (''ashamed'') Yeah...
** She manages to keep digging later, by thanking him with a ''namaste'' gesture, which is not generally used that way when you're not Hindu.
* One ''Series/{{House}}'' episode had Cameron trying to explain to a TV crew that when she said it was exciting being around him, she didn't mean it ''that way''. It failed in a spectacular way. Because, you know, she kinda actually felt ''that way'' in the first place.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis''- Fabian does this when pressured to ask Nina to the prom. It's the expressions from all his friends, especially Patricia's, that sells it. Here's the entire conversation:
-->'''Amber:''' ...ANYWAY, Fabian was wondering...\\
'''Fabian:''' Who ''you'll'' be going with, Patricia!\\
'''Patricia:''' Why?\\
'''Fabian:''' No reason, just...curious!\\
'''Patricia:''' Uh...I don't know, no-one, probably.\\
'''Fabian:''' Right. Okay. Good.\\
'''Patricia:''' Good?!\\
'''Fabian:''' No! No! Not good! Absolutely, definitely not good! I mean, it could be good, because someone will...ask you out eventually. ({{Beat}}) I've got to go...brush my teeth, before dinner...
* Will from ''Series/TheInbetweeners'' does this a lot:
** When he's refused alcohol at a pub, Will angrily complains that everyone else present is clearly underage. As a result, everyone gets kicked out.
** The roller coaster scene. Will is furious that most of the front row seats have been taken, even though his gang were queuing for them. Despite being told by his friends and the attendant to just sit down, he demands that the queue-jumpers be removed and calls them "inconsiderate arseholes". He then finds out he's just insulted ''two men with Down syndrome''.
** And again at his work experience at the car garage. Although the staff attempt to pull a hazing prank on him, they aren't actually that unfriendly to begin with. But Will's cocky reaction to foiling the prank, as well as his continual complaining about being "too clever" for working at the garage, encourages them to pull an even worse prank on him.
** His worst moment comes when he breaks up with Kerry. He makes her upset and refuses to apologise, even after Tara tells him that her dad died the previous month.
--->'''Will:''' Well it's not... it's not relevant, is it?
* In ''Series/TheIncreasinglyPoorDecisionsOfToddMargaret'', Todd could hardly have a conversation without doing this, usually in the form of creating layers of lies to cover up other lies. In one episode he got into the old "not that you're not attractive" trap and Alice admitted she was just messing with him, and then he fell for it again just moments later.
* In an episode of ''Series/TheITCrowd'', Moss dates a woman that looks ''exactly'' like Roy's mother. She's also a psychiatrist, which leads to an... [[Funny/TheITCrowd interesting]] conversation:
-->'''Roy:''' I'm sorry, it's just that you look ''exactly'' like my mother. Not - not that my mother's ugly or anything, she's a very sexy woman. Not that I want to have ''sex'' with her, because I know how you psychiatrists think, and my mother would never stand for anything like that. I can see her now... "what you are you ''doing'', Roy? ''What are you doing?!''"
* In ''Series/KimsConvenience'', Jung tries to explain to his co-workers what a ''ddong chim'' (a Korean wedgie) is and he was just messing around when he gave it to Kimchee. His explanations get increasingly more awkward and sexually disturbing.
%%* Gwen did this often, sometimes once an episode during season one of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''.
* On ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', Miss Piggy tells Creator/DannyKaye how thrilled she is to meet him. Danny says that they've actually met before, which she might not remember because it was a long, long time ago. Then he realizes women don't like to be reminded of their ages, and says it was back when she was thin. The punchline comes during their subsequent musical number: "I'm sorry I said I knew you when you were thin. I ''never'' knew you when you were thin."
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}''
** A minor one from the episode "[=UnSEALed=]":
--->'''Tony''': Do you sleep with a gun under your pillow every night? \\
'''Kate''': That depends. \\
'''Tony''': On what? \\
'''Kate''': On who I'm sleeping with... ''(she turns around and [[RightBehindMe runs into Gibbs]])'' Oh uhh, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. Tony just asked me what I would do if a man came into my bedroom and I said it depends. I mean it doesn't depend on the man... Tony could you help me out here please? \\
'''Tony''': She sleeps with a gun boss. \\
'''Gibbs''': That true? \\
'''Kate''': Sorta... sometimes... yes. \\
'''Gibbs''': Good girl!
** After the Director has suggested that Gibbs has "really pissed somebody off":
--->'''Tony''': That's not a short list! ''(DeathGlare from Gibbs)'' ...of people that - that you've angered just because you have rock-solid principles, and so it's easy for people to misunderstand that, and misconstrue, because, you know, people don't -- \\
'''Director''': Why don't you quit while you're behind, [=DiNozzo=]? \\
'''Tony''': I'm trying!
** Jimmy Palmer, who [[OpenMouthInsertFoot puts his foot in his mouth]] every other time he speaks, often falls victim to this trope.
** Most of the cast seems to be both aware and afraid of this trope, with one of the shows running gags providing many subverted examples of this: Many episodes have a short off-topic conversation between the team members after the opening, before they head out to the crime scene. Usually, it ends with one of the characters (mostly Tony) making an either ambiguous, sexist, or simply dumb statement, followed by a snarky comment from suddenly appearing Gibbs. Now, the character who made the statement will usually pick up the shovel and look for the right spot to start digging while stuttering, but eventually either put it down himself by simply shutting up, or have it taken from him by Gibbs ordering him to work.
* Brilliantly done in an episode ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' wherein a) Michael says to a superior that the office grinds to a halt when he is not there, accidentally implying that despite being a manager, he has no idea how to delegate; b) tries to cover that up by saying that it runs much better when he is absent and he is a hindrance to everybody, which, in the context of the situation, imply that things only get done because he is ''frequently'' away during work hours; and c) desperately corrects himself a ''third'' time by outright asserting that his presence or absence has absolutely no meaningful effect on business at all.
* On ''Series/{{QI}}'', a person giving an 'uninteresting' answer - a wrong answer that the elves writing the questions can predict ahead of time - gets a klaxon and loses points. David Mitchell managed to get three klaxons on one answer for arguing with the elves:
-->''[the question is "When was the First World War first named as such"]''\\
'''David:''' It's gonna be some point after 1939, isn't it.\\
''[klaxon]'' ''[screen flashes "1939"]''\\
'''David:''' Excuse me!... I ''think'' what I ''said'', people in the box, is "''after'' 1939". Which may ''contain'' 1939, but does not mean it.\\
''[klaxon]'' ''[screen flashes "AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR"]''\\
'''David:''' Okay! No no no! "After 1939" and "After the Second World War" are ''not'' synonymous; now this is just ''giving'' you time to ''type'' "After 1939"!\\
''[klaxon]'' ''[screen flashes "DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR"]''
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Elliot meets a guy named Sean, but her attempts to strike a conversation up with him end with them talking about poo. "At one point I tried changing the subject to art. But we went from art to artists, to alcohol, to coffee... and that just led right back to poo!"
** When she first tried talking to Jake, her boyfriend for twenty minutes in season 4, the only thing she could think of was to compliment him on what a perfectly square head he has.
** There was that one very early episode with Elliot and Carla feuding over Elliot tattling on Carla for not doing something. When Elliot apologizes and then doubles back to elaborate on her reasoning, the scene shifts to a visual gag of her standing in a grave literally "digging herself deeper"; as Carla and the other nurses look on in like the Mafia.
*** Subverted in the end, when Turk gives a lecture to Carla to the effect that what Elliot was saying was perfectly reasonable and it was ''Carla'' who was in the wrong.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'':
** [=McKay=] pulls one off in "Trio". When Samantha Carter finally stops him, Keller has a nice little comment:
--->"Aw, I bet if you hadn't stopped him he would have gone on like that forever!"
** This exchange from 5.15 "Remnants", as Richard Woolsey sees that a woman he's been flirting with found his balcony hang-out spot:
--->'''Woolsey:''' [[AccidentalInnuendo You’ve approached my private spot!]]\\
'''Woman:''' ...What?\\
'''Woolsey:''' I mean you’ve entered my little personal area. ''[{{beat}}]'' ...This is where I come... to be alone with my thoughts.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': In "Friday's Child", [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] is trying to convince a woman (Eleen) to want the child she is going to give birth to:
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': Say to yourself: "the child is mine. The child is mine. It is ''mine''".
-->'''Eleen''': [[AmbiguousSyntax Yes. It's yours.]]
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': No... no, you've got it all wrong.
-->'''Eleen''': Yes... [=McCoy=]... it's yours.
-->'''[=McCoy=]''': No. Say to yourself "the child is mine. It is mine. It is--" ''({{Beat}})'' Uh-oh.
** He eventually settles on the 'the child is ''ours''.' It is clear that his shipmates aren't going to let him forget this one any time soon.
** In ''Shore Leave'', Spock tricks a reluctant Kirk into taking shore leave by describing a crewman who is clearly overtired but refuses to take a vacation - guess who.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Season 2: Dean and Sam find a case at a carnival and are looking for the owner. Dean has a couple of these with a knife-thrower who happens to be a blind man and a little person.
-->'''Dean''': Excuse me, we're looking for a Mr. Cooper, have you seen him around?\\
'''Blind Man:''' What is that, some kind of joke? ''[pulls off his sunglasses; he's blind]''\\
'''Dean:''' Oh. God, I'm, I'm sorry.\\
'''Blind Man:''' You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to see Mr. Cooper? Or a sunset, or anything at all?\\
'''Dean:''' ''[quietly, to Sam]'' Wanna give me a little help here?\\
'''Sam:''' Not really.\\
'''Little Person:''' Hey man, is there a problem?\\
''[Dean turns, then looks down to see an extremely short man in a red cape]''\\
'''Blind Man:''' Yeah, this guy hates blind people.\\
'''Dean:''' No, I don't, I-\\
'''Little Person:''' Hey buddy, what's your problem?\\
'''Dean:''' Nothing, it's just a little misunderstanding.\\
'''Little Person:''' Little?! You son of a bitch!\\
'''Dean:''' No, no, no, no! I'm just, could somebody tell me where Mr. Cooper is? ''[Sam laughs]'' Please?
* Frequently, this is what people do on ''Series/{{Survivor}}'' when the jury really doesn't like them and is just picking between the lesser of two-three evils.
* ''Series/ThankGodYoureHere'' tries to actively induce this in contestants. The master of it is Frank Woodley, who can go somewhere [[{{Jerkass}} horribly]], [[ComedicSociopathy horribly]] [[BlackComedy wrong]] with whatever they throw at him.
* ''Series/That70sShow'': In "Kitty's Birthday (That's Today?!)", [[ForgottenBirthday Red and Eric forget Kitty's birthday]], and then tried to pass it off as a NotSoForgottenBirthday, buying her a few balloons and a funnel from the gas station at 11:40 P.M., When she sees through it, it leads to this:
-->'''Red:''' Well, Kitty, marking the calendar is your responsibility!
-->'''Eric:''' [[NoJustNoReaction Dad.]] ''[[NoJustNoReaction No!]]''
%%* Half the fun in ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' and by extension, ''Film/InTheLoop''.
* ''Series/TrueBlood'' gave us this priceless exchange between best friends Jason and Hoyt:
-->'''Jason:''' Hoyt, I had sex with Jessica.\\
'''Hoyt:''' ''[obviously hurt]'' [[BrosBeforeHoes How?]]\\
'''[[TheDitz Jason]]:''' Well, first we did it missionary, then doggy style, then...\\
'''Hoyt:''' ''[clocks him square in the face]'' I MEANT HOW COULD YOU?!
%%* This is pretty much Allan's character in ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen''. Contrast to his brother who can talk his way out of anything.
* On ''Series/{{Veep}}'', Vice President Selina Meyer doesn't just put her foot in her mouth, she proceeds to slow boil it, chew and digest it, getting herself into even bigger trouble. Half the time her staff has to work hard to fix things... and the other half ''they're'' the ones who end up making even bigger messes for their boss.
%%* Mark Warey from ''Series/TheWedge'', whose public apologies would invariably end up making the situation worse.
%%* Josh does this a ''lot'' on ''Series/TheWestWing'', perhaps most famously in the infamous "Secret Plan to fight inflation" from Celestial Navigation.
* ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'', Greatest Hits, "Songs of the Motorcycle".
-->'''Ryan''': Hi. How are you? We don't know what you're watching, so we're not gonna tell you when we're gonna return you to it.\\
'''Colin''': Oh, w-- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAV-T2IoQE4 We're watching animal porn]]! ''[{{beat}}, double {{facepalm}}]''\\
'''Ryan''': ''[snickering]''\\
'''Colin''': ''Mary Had A Little Lamb'' will be right back in just a second. But you...\\
''[Drew frantically buzzes]''\\
'''Ryan''': ''[laughing out loud]''
* Too many Creator/DisneyChannel "original" series to count, especially if the main characters are getting "disciplined"[[note]]And especially if they are about to either be [[YouAreGrounded grounded]], or otherwise have their priviliges taken away...you know, in order to [[ViewersAreMorons "teach" the viewers]] a "valuable" moral lesson.[[/note]]
[[/folder]]

* NPR's Radio/WaitWaitDontTellMe lampshades this with a bit of SelfDeprecation in a clip-show where host Peter Sagal quips, "[[ThatCameOutWrong When we find ourselves in a hole]], [[RefugeInAudacity we break out the steam-shovel and set course for the center of the earth]]."

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'''s Bastila has one or two Freudian slips that result in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiO5QkxoFcw similar conversations with a male player]]. One of those conversation paths contains one of the funniest lines of the whole game: when Bastila is trying to clarify what she meant by 'feelings for' the player, a possible response is "You're cute when you're embarrassed."

* ''Bioware'' must love these, because Merrill does this all the time in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', and she knows it.
-->'''Merrill''': "... and I'm rambling again, aren't I?"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', Wheatley tells Chell that he hates having to look after all the 'smelly humans' and then blusters about it.
* James Tobin has this happen to him in the game ''VideoGame/InThe1stDegree''. He changes his story of what happened between him and Zack more than once. He admits to shooting himself in the leg because he was afraid no one would believe him when he said that Zack was shot in self-defense. If you play the game right, you get to watch as the prosecutor Granger pins Tobin on the leg-shooting thing. Granger asks if Tobin's first thought was to protect himself as his own business partner was lying there at his feet bleeding to death. Tobin responds by saying no, and that he tried to give Zack CPR. Granger says "You tried giving CPR to a man who was bleeding from the throat?" Tobin then gives a "Yes! I mean...No!" Yep, Tobin is ''so'' experiencing this trope.
* In Kurugaya's route in ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', Kyousuke declares that the name of their mission is 'Love Love Hunters', and when Riki complains, changes it to 'Loli Loli Hunters'. Naturally, the others are a little...unnerved by this, but all of Kyousuke's hasty attempts to insist that he isn't actually a {{Lolicon|AndShotacon}} only end up making him look worse. Finally, he gives up and declares that he'll be going on with Loli Loli Hunters on his own...right as Rin walks into the room. She proceeds to spend the entire rest of the scene glaring at him from across the room. Kyousuke is silent.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'', the protagonist's relationship with Becca can come crashing down from a badly managed conversation. When the protagonist helps Becca paint her apartment, the mood for sex hits, but they don’t have a condom ready. The protagonist can then choose to say that they could just have unprotected sex. He then goes down a path with leads Becca to kick him out, not wanting to see him again.
* In ''VisualNovel/MyHaremHeavenIsYandereHell'', when asked what her favorite food is, Sayuri blurts out that she wants to eat [[LoveInterest Yuuya]]. A shocked Yuuya quickly tries to abandon the subject, but Sayuri is so desperate to...[[ICanExplain "explain"]]... that she doesn't ''let'' him. And then she accidentally says no (as in, 'no, I had a different reason', not 'no, I was serious') in response to Yuuya's statement/subtle suggestion that she was joking. The situation only deteriorates from there.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Alex [[http://www.venisproductions.com/angelmoxie/archives/3/4/349.html does this once]] in ''Webcomic/AngelMoxie''.
-->'''Alex''': You tell us everything, and I mean '''everything'''. Well, not everything, actually. Just the stuff about you and your friends and things. None of that birds and bees stuff. We already know all that, and besides, it's kind of icky.
* Mort from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' falls into this when [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=158 speculating]] on why Antimony can see [[{{Psychopomp}} The Guides]]:
-->'''Mort:''' Y'know, It's probably because you're so attractive. I noticed that about you when we first met.\\
'''Antimony:''' Oh?\\
'''Mort:''' Oh! I uh... I don't mean you're attractive... I mean, like a [[WeirdnessMagnet magnet]]... or a [[ISeeDeadPeople medium]]... Haha... Yeah. Ah! B... But I don't mean you aren't... I mean you look really... I... Uh... Oh geez... *turns into a tombstone with a picture of a foot going into a mouth*
* An essential part of [[strike:Hannelore]] the whole cast from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''
* Piro of ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' tends to do this a lot. [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/221 Some times are worse than others.]]
* Jeremy from ''Webcomic/DeadWinter'', [[http://deadwinter.cc/page/189.htm here]].
* [[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0318.html This]] ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', in which Jim gets mixed up between talking in character and out of character, as well as whether Padme is telling Anakin she loves him, or whether he's telling Annie that he loves her.
* Inherent to ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. Usually with Tagon, who has done this not only with a compliment to Breya, but his [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-07-13 defence in a trial]] as well.
-->'''Tagon''': I'm not stopping until this hole goes straight through.
** Ennesby [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-11-14 caught this]], too.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'', Mitzi, realizing that Rocky has been saying that she might've hired him to off her husband, tried to reassure Wick that's not the case, but ends up making a lot of joking remarks about offing Rocky.
-->'''Mitzi''': Uh... you stopped rowing.
* Used as a visual metaphor in ''Webcomic/FlyingSuitReiko'', when one character awkwardly confesses his FA/Feederism fetish to his girlfriend. His thought balloons have him digging a hole deeper and deeper. When she finally tells him it's okay and she likes it too, his visual metaphor is raised out of the pit by an oil geyser.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has a character "[[HeroWithAnFInGood good]]" in this--Abraham, who managed to rile Raven more with every phrase as he tried to explain himself. He's absent for now, but Elliot somehow [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-04-23 found]] his IdiotBall.
** The Abraham example is interesting because there are no tongue slips - everything he says is completely intentional - he just doesn't realize that he's hitting another one of Raven's {{Berserk Button}}s with every passing sentence.
* ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' has a hilariously cringe-inducing example, split across three pages:
-->'''Jhalm:''' Honored Digger... Almost, I could believe I had misjudged you. Except that this very morning, I received a report from one of the Veiled, that you were seen to be consorting with a hyena creature, not half a mile from this spot. The '''very same creature''' that attacked me a few days ago.
-->'''Digger:''' ''(stunned expression)''\\
'''Statue of Ganesh:''' Is this true, Burrower?
-->'''Digger:''' Well-- Yes, but-- It wasn't ''like'' that!
-->'''Jhalm:''' Do you ''deny'' that it was the same creature, then?
-->'''Digger:''' No--
-->'''Jhalm:''' Do you ''deny'' that it attacked me?
-->'''Digger:''' No, but--
-->'''Jhalm:''' Do you ''deny'' that you were speaking on friendly terms with it?
-->'''Digger:''' No! But that's a recent development! We weren't friends before she attacked you!
-->'''Digger:''' ''(FacePalm)'' Hang on, ''that'' [[ThatCameOutWrong didn't come out right at all...]]
-->'''Jhalm:''' An interesting criterion for friendship, ''Honored Digger.''
* In ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', the local {{Goth}} girls refer to Summer's friend as "the Blessed Virgin Carrie". Carrie ignores it, but Summer and Uma try to [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/2080304/say-what/ explain why she should be insulted]]... and end up invoking this trope.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Doc Scratch, "an immortal entity with a large cue ball for a head, and no biological means of reproduction", [[https://homestuck.com/story/3627 explains to Rose]] that he doesn't like her ''that'' way after being MistakenForPedophile:
-->'''Scratch:''' There should be no reason for you to feel uncomfortable with this interaction. Try to think of me as one of your kindly human uncle figures.
-->'''Scratch:''' In fact, if I were in your presence now, I would offer you candy to prove it.
-->'''Rose:''' Oh my god.
* Some people, like Larisa in ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'', just [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/06/07/0171-guilty-as-defended/ shouldn’t try to defend themselves...]]
* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Zii demonstrates the trope [[http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/it_is_just_a_mild_craving here.]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'':
** Rumisiel manages to pull this big time when [[http://www.misfile.com/?page=1870 talking to Dr. Upton about his daughter.]] The comic provides a nice visual metaphor for what he's doing.
** Rumi does it again [[http://www.misfile.com/?date=2017-12-11 when he needs to ask Dr. Upton a question]]. The doctor asks if [[CallBack he'd like a shovel for that hole]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Weregeek}}'', Sarah's character in their ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' LARP [[http://www.weregeek.com/2012/07/24/ sometimes]] gets [[http://www.weregeek.com/2012/08/21/ like this]] -- as her friend said, "Blackmailing vampires: like shooting fish in a barrel, except you give the guns to the fish and then just wait".
* In ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'', Mary mentioned that she liked to [[GoingFurASwim wear furs over swimsuits in summer]], and her boyfriend Bill insisted that was a private thing with them. His sister Adriana realized that Mary then let her borrow those [[PrettyInMink very furs]] after Mary wore them that way. [[BrainBleach When Adriana thought she was going to be sick]], Mary insisted that nothing happened; Bill just took pictures.
-->'''Adriana:''' "[[http://elsaletyoufinish.tumblr.com/post/90881450883/kobv-frozen-0017 That's NOT helping, Mary!]]"
* ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'': [[https://www.xkcd.com/651/ Cueball has an argument at the airport]]:
-->'''Cueball:''' But if you're worried about bombs, why are you letting me keep my laptop batteries? If I overvolted them and breached the cells, it would make a sizeable explosion.\\
'''Megan:''' Oh god.\\
'''Cueball:''' It's okay, dear. In a moment he'll realize I have a good point and return my water.

* ''WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows'' lands in this in his review of "Bang Bang" specifically talking about Ariana Grande's part, struggling to talk about the sexual nature of it without sounding like a creep. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] heavily through various screen pop-ups like "Breaking News: Todd in big trouble." and "Todd digging hole even deeper."
* The victims of LetsPlay/{{Jayuzumi}}'s pranks frequently fail to realise that they are being recorded and trolled, and thus their shouting at him to stop just makes him press their buttons more.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* "The Cave of Two Lovers" episode in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' had a stunningly awkward pit trap for Aang when he tried to diffuse his embarrassment over a possible kiss with Katara.
-->'''Aang''': Us...kissing... (looks dreamy)
-->'''Katara''': Heh, us, kissing! What was I thinking? Can you imagine that?
-->'''Aang''' (laughs it off): Heh, yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to kiss you. *suddenly realizes what he just said*
-->'''Katara''' (offended): Oh. Well, I didn't realize it was such a horrible option. Sorry for suggesting it.
-->'''Aang''': No, no! I mean, if it was a choice between kissing you and dying...
-->'''Katara''': ''UGH!''
-->'''Aang''': What? I'm saying I would rather kiss you than die! That's a compliment!
-->'''Katara''': *storms off* Well, I'm not sure ''which'' I would rather do!
-->'''Aang''': [[LampshadeHanging What is wrong with me...?]]
** Followed by Zuko in the third season revealing that he sent Combustion Man after them when, at the time, all they knew about him was that he was a psycho who wouldn't stop chasing them. This revelation didn't exactly earn Zuko any points with the good guys.
** In SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s "A Leaf in the Wind", Bolin correctly presumes that Korra is a [[MakingASplash waterbender]] due to ethnicity and clothing, but Korra [[StereotypeReactionGag trolls him]] by saying she's an [[DishingOutDirt earthbender]] ([[PhysicalGod which she is too...]]). Bolin hastily tries to apologize for MistakenNationality.
--->'''Bolin''': I'm sorry, no, no! I didn't mean to assume! It's that, I was just figuring... with your Water Tribe getup... that you are... a Water Tribe... gal.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMysteryOfTheBatwoman'' had this one from one:
-->'''Bruce:''' "Working late again?"
-->'''Roxanne:''' "Yeah. Fortunately, my boyfriend is very understanding. What about yours?" *pause* "Girlfriend, I mean! Of course, girlfriend! I mean, considering your reputation and- [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat NOT that it's]] ''[[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat bad]]'' [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat or anything]] or even any of my business, because it's not, I was just curious!" *stops suddenly* "How red is my face?"
-->'''Bruce:''' (cheerfully) "Crimson."
* Defied by Kevin in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' after he tells Gwen that you need to treat a car like you treat a woman. Gwen asks him to go on, but he wisely drops the idea.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BumpInTheNight'' episode "A Sneeze In Time," Bumpy points out Squishy's mistake by saying, "What a rush! Why'd you turn the wrong valve? Boy, only a doofus would do that!" In an attempt to undo his indirect insult, he travels back in time. He only makes it worse. He tries this repeatedly until [[spoiler: Future Squishy shows up and suggests that Bumpy simply apologize.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Welcome Back, Carter", when Peter catches his father-in-law with a woman (that's not his wife):
-->'''Peter:''' Oh, my God, Mr. Pewterschimdt, you're having an affair? Ew! Eww!
-->'''Carter:''' No, no, this is my sister!
-->'''Peter:''' Eww!
-->'''Carter:''' No, no, no, I'm impotent!
-->'''Peter:''' Eww!
-->'''Carter:''' I mean, she looked at me, while I did it to myself!
-->'''Peter:''' Ewww!
-->'''Carter:''' I mean, she's a man!
-->'''Peter:''' ''Ewww!''
** The episode "Road to the North Pole", Brian takes Stewie to see Santa at the mall and they cut in line because Quagmire, who hates Brian with a passion, is in line with his niece and so tries to be as friendly as possible with his niece to be on a good note with him, only Brian mistakes his niece for a "nephew" because she's gone through chimotherapy to fight cancer and took out her hair, causing her to cry. Then after learning that, Brian assumes she's going to die, which causes her to panic further and leaves in tears with Quagmire. Later on, what convinces Brian to take Stewie to the North Pole is so he can avoid Quagmire after accidentally causing his niece to go to the hospital from a sudden drop in health due to his ineptitute.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' episode "[[ChristmasSpecial Tis the Cleveland To Be Sorry]]", Cleveland apologizes for pretending to be homeless at a gathering, only for him to belittle another certain group of people with rights, forcing him to apologize that other group for being disrespectful...only for him to repeat the same mistake over and over. (Child molesters have rights as well, apparently).
* Used in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' when Crusher is staring down Daffy:
--> '''Daffy:''' You'll have to pardon my friend. The heat's getting to him. He's not used to this. He's not a hardened criminal like you. I mean, I shouldn't assume that you're a hardened criminal. But in my defense, you do have a Neanderthal-shaped head, which I normally equate with stupidity--uh, not that you're stupid. I just mean that you ''look'' stupid. I don't mean that as an insult. I mean, some people think stupid to mean cool, like "That's a stupid car," "You've got a stupid apartment"...I wish I could stop talking. I'm just very nervous right now. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. You know what the word "ramble" means? You're probably too ''stupid'' to know! And here, I mean stupid-stupid, not stupid-cool!
** Another time, after Daffy goes off at Tina for not telling him about "her" baby;
-->"It's not my kid, it's my sister's! I'm babysitting!"
-->"... She's beautiful."
-->"He's a boy!"
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "Alone Again, Natura-Diddly", Moe tells Ned that Maude was very special, only to mention that he would have courted her immediately if ''Ned'' had been the one who died. He then says that Maude was hot, which sends Ned into a rage.
** In "Girls Just Want To Have Sums", while Principal Skinner is publicly speaking to a former student of his, he states that she was good at math for "a girl". This gets him in hot water and he tries to explain himself, but his comments only make him sound like more of a misogynist until finally pleading ''"Just tell me what to say!".''
** In "Bart-Mangled Banner", the Simpsons are accused of being unpatriotic when Bart accidentally moons the American flag (and a little word-twisting) and are put on a talk show to clear themselves, the host asks "Which part of America do you hate the most?". Marge protests, sarcastically replying that if the government is built on questions like that, then she ''does'' hate America. Naturally, this gets the family in a bigger mess.
** In "Double, Double, Boy in Trouble", a rich boy named Simon Woosterfield [[PrinceAndPauper traded places with]] Bart. When Lisa figured out Simon wasn't Bart, she slapped him and pointed out the real Bart would have hit her back. Simon then asked if he would ''defenestrate'' her, prompting Lisa to mention the trope.
** The episode ''To Cur, with Love'', which aired a month after the 2012 presidential election, ends with a time filler sequence of Burns recording a political advertisement expressing his displeasure with Mitt Romney losing the election.
---> '''Burns:''' And we've got to change our approach to immigration. I have a progressive proposal to let into this country 200 grimy Irishmen a year. I've got lots of potatoes that need peeling and stables to be mucked out.
---> '''Smithers:''' Sir, the insta-polls are in. You're just digging yourself deeper.
---> '''Burns:''' Well, then let me just say this. Marco Rubio es un panuela rosa.
---> '''Smithers:''' I'm afraid you just made things even worse.
---> '''Burns:''' How? Why?
---> '''Smithers:''' You just said Marco Rubio is a pink handkerchief.
---> '''Burns:''' This public service announcement is over. Execute the cameraman!
** In "See Homer Run", Homer accidentally ruins Lisa's Father's Day gift to him (a book she drew herself) when he tries to hang it on the refrigerator with a magnet, only for it to slide down into the automatic water dispenser and get soaked. Homer tries to blame the magnet, but Lisa runs off crying because she made it for his birthday.
** In "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation", after a night drinking, Homer takes a taxi home, [[TrumanShowPlot but discovers laters that the taxi was part of a reality show]], ''Taxicab Confessions'', which films the passengers' personal thoughts. This puts Homer in the uncomfortable position of explaining away his drunken statements.
-->'''Lisa:''' (''saddened'') Have you always resented us, Dad?
-->'''Homer:''' Oh, I don't resent you, sweetheart. What I was trying to say, and maybe I didn't use the right words was that marriage is like a coffin and each kid is another nail. But as coffins go-
-->'''Lisa:''' Please don't say any more!
** In "Homie the Clown", the Springfield Mafia kidnap Homer whom they mistake for Krusty because of Homer being dressed like him. Homer tries to tell them that he isn't Krusty, but everyone he claims to be, including himself, is targeted by the mafia for several reasons.
-->'''Homer:''' You can't kidnap me for being Krusty. I'm not him. I'm Homer Simpson.
-->'''Fat Tony:''' [[NoodleIncident The same Homer Simpson who crashed his car through the wall of our club?]]
-->'''Homer:''' Actually my name is Barney. Yes, Barney Gumble.
-->'''Legs:''' [[MySisterIsOffLimits The same Barney Gumble who keeps taking pictures with my sister?]]
-->'''Homer:''' Actually my ''real'' name is eh...(to himself) Think, Krusty, think.(to the mafia) Joe Valachi.
-->'''Louie:''' [[TheStoolPigeon The same Joe Valachi who squealed to the center commity of our organized crime?]]
-->'''Homer:''' [[UsefulNotes/BenedictArnold Benedict Arnold.]]
-->'''Legs:''' [[EvenEvilHasStandards The same Benedict Arnold who plotted to surrender Westpoint to the hated British?]]
-->'''Homer:''' [[OhCrap D'Oh!]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "The Test", Pearl accidentally tells Steven that a disastrous mission he went on in the earlier episode "Cheeseburger Backpack" was actually a test of his abilities that he just barely passed. Her attempts to rectify the situation following Steven's shock (and his notion that he failed the test by his own standards) fall straight into this trope.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E6NoSecondPrances "No Second Prances"]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Trixie]] accidentally reveals that her new friendship with [[TheAtoner Starlight]] was mostly a way to humiliate Twilight. She then offers this explanation:
-->'''Trixie:''' "I like you! Beating Twilight was just a bonus." ([[FacePalm facehoof]]) [[LampshadeHanging "Saying that didn't help, did it?"]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode "Merry Christmas, Mordecai", Mordecai has an ImagineSpot of Margaret and CJ meeting at the Christmas party and literally digging himself into a hole the more he talks.
-->'''Mordecai''': CJ, this is Margaret. My girlfriend. ''(the ground caves beneath him)'' I mean, my ex-girlfriend. ''(the ground gives way even more)'' I mean, a girl I kissed a bunch in the past who's my friend. ''(the hole gets even deeper)''
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' involves Riley referring to a classmate as "gay" due his dance moves and [[OrderedApology having to apologize for the remark]] which later backfires when Riley [[BackhandedApology stands by his comment by saying "Gay is gay"]] and Robert and Reverend Rollo Goodlove only worsen the situation by excusing Riley's disrespectful behavior by claiming that he has special needs.
[[/folder]]

* ''WebAnimation/SekaiNoFushigi'': After a woman [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsWPjIepBw&t=3m25s broke into Daisuke and Miyuki's wedding and revealed the latter had an affair with her husband, she tries to deny it to Daisuke. However, her poor choice of words when answering his questions only confirms it even further.

* Played for '''catharsis''' in ''LightNovel/thecreationalchemistenjoysfreedom''. The plot is kicked off by Duke Bragas Regus having his son kidnapped from the government office/apartment where he works by a contingent of knights, dragged back to the family home, and proceeds to not only berate him himself, but has the entire household staff mock him for daring to have a non-combat class, and then summarily banishes him to what he believes to be certain death in the country known as Demon King Territory, and to make sure the boy utterly hates him, renders him unconscious by punching him in the gut for good measure, ''after doing his best to try and drive him to suicide for at least six years'', starting at age 10. In less than a week, this turns around to bite him, hard, and his knee-jerk responses keep making it worse until he's facing felonies just shy of high treason.

* PlayedForDrama in ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageDoesntWantAFourthTime''. Heinz, leader of the Five Colored Blades adventuring party, kicks off the plot by taking a hand-delivered note from Baronet Bestero as fact and attacks Darcia, Vandalieu's mother, ultimately condemning her to three days of horrific and public torture and public immolation, for the "crime" of daring to get pregnant and give birth to Van in the first place. He spends the next 10 years desperately fleeing his guilt and giving himself a RedemptionQuest in the form of bringing down the very system of oppression that brought the quest about. Problem is, he is devoted to the god Alda who is entirely human supremacist, to the point of genocide. As such, Heinz ''still takes those types of quests without thinking'', and then does little more than preaching in the town square about how persecution is wrong, so he rescues another dhampir, Selen, and lets his party tell him that he's successfully atoned, when he hasn't even come close. Naturally, Van sees this all as deeply insulting, and the goddess Vida, who created the very races Alda's trying to eradicate, actively agrees. Refusing to own up to his actions, Heinz just keeps getting worse and worse until he and Van come as close as possible to "kill on sight" with each other.

* In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' [[TheMcCoy McCoy]] is trying to convince a woman (Eleen) to want the child she is going to give birth to:

-->'''Eleen''': Yes. It's yours.

** In the episode ''Shore Leave'' Spock tricks a reluctant Kirk into taking shore leave by describing a crewman who is clearly overtired but refuses to take a vacation - guess who.

* In the ''Cilvanis'' video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU2VY4vCDug When Your Friend Watches Sus Anime]]," a man tells his friend about "The Time I, as a 40-Year-Old, Fell In Love With A 12-Year-Old." What follows is the man trying to explain to his horrified friend how the concept isn't as bad as it sound, from explaining that the 40-year-old traveled back in time to his 12-year-old body, or that the age of consent is different in the fantasy world, none of which make his friend feel any better.

* Done in ''Film/{{Severance}}'' with a great jab at the end:

--> '''Daffy:''' You'll have to pardon my friend. The heat's getting to him. He's not used to this. He's not a hardened criminal like you. I mean, I shouldn't assume that you're a hardened criminal. But in my defense, you do have a Neanderthal-shaped head, which I normally equate with stupidity--uh, not that you're stupid. I just mean that you ''look'' stupid. I don't mean that as an insult. I mean, some people think stupid to mean cool, like "That's a stupid car," "You've got a stupid apartment"...I wish I could stop talking. I'm just very nervous right now. I tend to ramble when I'm nervous. You know what the word "ramble" means? You're probably too ''stupid'' to know! [[WhatAnIdiot And here, I mean stupid-stupid, not stupid-cool!]]

---> "Hi, Jack, it's me. Jas. Jasmine. I'm sorry I missed you on IM yesterday but I got arrested for murder. I mean, I didn't do it, but I accidentally told the police I did, so it was confusing. Now we're going for dinner at The House That Kills, but that is only a nickname because a lot of people have died there, but it's completely safe. Anyway, I hope you're having a very nice morning and not melting in anyone's mouth or hands - Sorry, I meant molting. On anyone. Ha ha. Because molting is bad. Unless you're a wee creature of the forest, but - um, never mind, I've got to go, bye."

'''Kaorin''': [[YouKeepUsingThatWord The correct term is lesbian]]! [[ThatCameOutWrong Uh, not that I'm a lesbian]]!! [[ImmediateSelfContradiction It's just, you know,]] [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship a teenage thing]]. That's all. Anyway, [[ImmediateSelfContradiction that's not what I meant]] when I said she was cool. [[ImmediateSelfContradiction Just to prove it,]] [[IfItsYouItsOkay I wouldn't mind if she was a guy]]!\\

-->'''Louie:''' [[StoolPigeon The same Joe Valachi who squealed to the center commity of our organized crime?]]
-->'''Homer:''' [[BenedictArnold/UsefulNotes Benedict Arnold.]]

* ''Film/MyCousinVinny'': The plot is the result of Vinny's cousin Billy and his friend Stanley being charged with murder. How did they get a murder charge? They didn't even ''know'' what they were arrested for, and kept answering questions thinking they were being charged with stealing some groceries they forgot to pay for. In fact, this is TruthInTelevision for many people convicted of a crime because of statements made to the police, because many of the things you say, no matter how innocuous, can lead to a conviction.