History Main / ParentheticalSwearing

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' does this sometimes because of the Framing device of a man telling a story to his children. Various episodes will have examples like [[CountryMatters "Grinch"]], [[ClusterFBomb "Kiss"]], and [[FlippingTheBird the thumbs-up]].

* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' played a clip of professional persecution junkie Bill Donohue ranting about how "every Lenten season" Catholics in America have more PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad to put up with; Jon noted that "Lenten" really sounds like a swearword when you say it in that tone.

** In ''Literature/ThiefOfTime'', Lobsang tries to save his master rather than stop the obliteration of time, leading Susan to say "you ''hero''!" to him in the same tones someone would say "you ''idiot''!"

[[caption-width-right:350: Iceman illustrates this... '''''trope'''''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: Mamma-mia! Now I can't go for that type of pizza, because it has the P-word in the name!]]

Compare StealthInsult, PrecisionFStrike. Not to be confused with NarrativeProfanityFilter, where a character really does swear--it just doesn't appear directly in the text, or with {{Mondegreen}}, which is when a character doesn't swear, but a word they say can be misheard as a swear word.

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[[caption-width-right:350: Iceman demonstrates.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/IceAge4ContinentalDrift'', Diego tells Shira that she has a way of making "thank you" sound like "drop dead".

* Fenrich from ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' has two {{Catch Phrase}}s that are meant to compliment his Lord Valvatorez -- "All is for my Lord" and "X is one of my Lord Valvatorez's many formidable powers." However, while he does use them to legitimately praise Val, he uses them just as often whenever [[ServileSnarker Val says or does something stupid]] with a very weary tone. It's easy to see the phrases as Fenrich more or less saying "Goddamnit, Lord Val!"

* In 2021, critics of U.S. President UsefulNotes/JoeBiden adapted [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Go_Brandon "Let's go Brandon!"]] as a seemingly family-friendly way of saying "Fuck Joe Biden!" after a chant of "Fuck Joe Biden" at a UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} event was misheard as "Let's go Brandon" by reporters interviewing NASCAR driver Brandon Brown.

* In the GrandFinale issue of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', all it takes is one quip for the Green Goblin to realize he's not dealing with the so called "Superior" one whom the Goblin had been taunting and playing with, but the original "Amazing" one, who always beats him, and whose return he was ''not'' expecting. He says "It's you", but the inflection is way more OhCrap

{{Beat}}\\

* ''WesternAnimation/IceAge 4'' utilizes this trope to make "Thank You" sound like "Screw You".

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'':

* The [[StarTrekTheNextGeneration]] novel ''Q-in-Law'' has a wedding taking place on board the ''Enterprise'', about which Worf is not at all pleased. When he informs his captain of the arrival of guests for impending "festivities," the text notes that he pronounces the word as if it were a profanity.

* Occasionally used on ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' as a way of GettingCrapPastTheRadar: "Perhaps he should go sack himself."

** And in [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel 1 Samuel 20]], King Saul realizes that his own son Jonathan is more loyal to rival for the throne David than he is to him. Some translations render his words to Jonathan as "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman!" This...doesn't really hide his real meaning. The Living Bible went for a closer, decidedly more vulgar translation.