History Main / MistakenForProfound

* In ''Fear of a Black Hat'' Tone Def states, "Because when you take the bus, you get there." His fellow musicians think it's gibberish, but the producer is deeply impressed with this sage wisdom.

->'''Cave Johnson:''' "I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"\\
'''[=GLaDOS=]:''' "HE SAYS WHAT WE'RE ALL THINKING!"
-->-- ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''

* ''HowIMetYourMother'', "Definitions": Ted shows up to the wrong classroom on his first day as an architecture professor, and misinterprets his students' attempts to inform him of this as profound reflections on architecture.

** [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] herself can get this, oddly enough, when she makes a sarcastic comment that people take literally (or as a suggestion for some school activity):

* On ''KingOfTheHill'', Peggy's father is a senile Montana cowboy whose meaningless ramblings Hank takes as "cowboy wisdom."

* On ''TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy,'' [[CloudCuckooLander Fred Fredburger]] has to cast the deciding vote about whether [[TheDitz Billy]] or [[EnfantTerrible Mandy]] is [[TheGrimReaper Grim]]'s true master. [[MathematiciansAnswer He replies yes]], which the judge takes as profound wisdom about how the two friends shouldn't be forced to split up in the first place.

-->'''Mr. O'Neill:''' Hmm...

-->'''Daria:''' So no one would pester him to do a sequel?

-->'''[[HippieTeacher Mr. O'Neill]]:''' Now, why do you think it is that Tolstoy felt he had to make War and Peace so darned...unpleasant? Daria?

** [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] herself can get this, oddly enough, when she makes a sarcastic comment that people take literally:

* On ''KingOfTheHill'', Peggy's father is a senile Montana cowboy whose meaningless ramblings Hank takes as "cowboy wisdom".

* This happens relatively often in ''{{Daria}}'', usually only between the least intelligent members of the cast. For example, Kevin and Britney telling each other how smart they are, Sandy telling Quin that she's deep, and Mystic Spiral lyrics.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Dawn brings a robot replica of Buffy to a parent-teacher conference rather than reveal that Buffy (her sole legal provider) is dead. The Buffybot naturally makes boneheaded remarks, such as "[[AC:School is where you learn.]]", all of which are accompanied by 'yeahs!' and 'you said it!' from the other parents. ("Bargaining Pt. 1")

* Brian from ''LifeOfBrian'', who gained devoted followers that saw anything he said or did as profound, even if they didn't agree on what he meant by them.

!!Examples

* In ''{{Medabots}}'', a man sitting on the street selling chicks (baby chickens) keeps trying to peddle his birds to protagonist Ikki. Ikki always interprets the man's sales pitches as words of wisdom pertaining to whatever problem he currently has. Occasionally, other characters pass him by when they have trouble and treat him and his speeches the same way Ikki does.

Compare IceCreamKoan.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' mentions that wisdom from far off appears more profound, which explains why saffron-clad young men tend to pay visits to Ms. Marietta Cosmopolite, an Ankh-Morpork dressmaker. They take the cliches she spouts like "I wasn't born yesterday" and "When it rains, it pours" as profound sayings, and end up inventing a martial art inspired by her that involves shouting at people and hitting them with brooms. ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'' reveals that Lu-Tze of the Time Monks is a follower of "The Way of Ms. Cosmopolite", but it's unclear whether Lu-Tze actually believes it to be profound or not. He seems to find a certain profundity to them, but unlike the other monks, he also knows what they actually mean; the other monks try to parse them as koans, which makes them look silly (not that they really need Lu-Tze's help at that).

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', in ''[[Discworld/ThiefOfTime Thief of Time]]'', Lu-Tze, a FantasyCounterpartCulture oriental monk, comes to Ankh-Morpork to study the profound sayings of Mrs. Marietta Cosmopolite. She spouts cliches like "I wasn't born yesterday" and "When it rains, it pours," which Lu-Tze thinks of as profound mystical wisdom.
** It's implied other monks also venture to Mrs. Cosmopolite's as a pilgrimage. It's unclear whether Lu-Tze actually believes it to be profound or not.
*** He finds a certain profundity to them, but unlike the other monks, he also knows what they actually mean; the other monks are trying to parse them as koans, which is making them look silly (not that they really need Lu-Tze's help at that).

->'''Cave Johnson:''' "I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"\\

* In ''BeingThere'' the simple-minded main character is mistaken for a profound intellectual who uses deep metaphors to express his ideas, when he's really being literal.

NoRealLifeExamples, to avoid natter.

* In a ''KidsInTheHall'' skit, Mark, Bruce, and Dave are sitting on a roof. Mark and Bruce take turns saying some things about the moon, Mark says something about romance, and Bruce says something like an angry beatnik poem. But when it's Dave's turn, he doesn't know what to say and just blurts out, "Gee, I wonder who owns ''that'' moon". Bruce and Mark act as though it's deep. Dave just shrugs and the skit ends.
* In ''ThePowerpuffGirls'', Mayor is running for reelection, spouting his usual, tired lines. Fuzzy Lumpkins gets tired of Mayor's shouting to the crowd interrupting his sleep, so he yells "SHUT UP!", and people act like it's the best campaign slogan ever.
* [[http://nonadventures.com/2006/09/23/lucy-in-the-sky-with-genocide/ This strip]] of ''TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''.
* This happens relatively often in ''{{Daria}}'', usually only between the least intelligent members of the cast. For example, Kevin and Britney telling each other how smart they are, Sandy telling Quin that she's deep, and Mystic Spiral lyrics.
* ''{{Cheers}}'': when Woody is running for City Council his simple statements are taken as down home country expressions and powerful political messages by reporters.
* Trash Heap from FraggleRock who gave out random bits of advice that usually worked out this way.
* Brian from LifeOfBrian, who gained devoted followers that saw anything he said or did as profound, even if they didn't agree on what he meant by them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Inner Child", self-help guru Brad Goodman convinces the entire town of Springfield to copy Bart's mantra of "I do what I feel like".
* In ''{{Medabots}}'', a man sitting on the street selling chicks (baby chickens) keeps trying to peddle his birds to protagonist Ikki. Ikki always interprets the man's sales pitches as words of wisdom pertaining to whatever problem he currently has. Occasionally, other characters pass him by when they have trouble and treat him and his speeches the same way Ikki does.

* In BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure, Bill and Ted are trying to convince Socrates to help them. But the only thing they can think of that's "philosophical" is explaining the lyrics of "Dust in the Wind" in pantomime. By coincidence, the concept "All we are is dust in the wind." is similar to what Socrates was trying to explain to someone else a moment before, so he is convinced Bill and Ted are of interest to him.
** Also spoofed again in the sequel, when they quote the band {{Poison}} when asked the meaning of life.

* In ''FearOfABlackHat'' Tone Def states, "Because when you take the bus, you get there." His fellow musicians think it's gibberish, but the producer is deeply impressed with this sage wisdom.
* There was an issue of ''GreenLantern'' in which Hal Jordan, while living as a drifter, was working temporarily as a seasonal farmhand. One of the other farmhands was a hippie who told Hal that he mostly "follow[ed] the Dead," which Hal thought was poetic until the man explained that he followed TheGratefulDead on tour.

-->-- ''{{Portal 2}}''

* In ''{{Discworld}}'', in ''[[Discworld/ThiefOfTime Thief of Time]]'', Lu-Tze, a FantasyCounterpartCulture oriental monk, comes to Ankh-Morpork to study the profound sayings of Mrs. Marietta Cosmopolite. She spouts cliches like "I wasn't born yesterday" and "When it rains, it pours," which Lu-Tze thinks of as profound mystical wisdom.

* In ''TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Inner Child", self-help guru Brad Goodman convinces the entire town of Springfield to copy Bart's mantra of "I do what I feel like".

* In ''{{Portal 2}}'' when [=GLaDOS=] finds inspiration in the insane ramblings of Cave Johnson.

->'''Cave Johnson:''' "I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"\\