History Main / SidetrackedByTheAnalogy

* Creator/BillGaede will interpret ''any'' analogy from theoretical physics literally, with unintentionally hilarious results.

** ''Series/{{Justified}}: When Raylan tells Wynn Duffy that he's going after Duffy's boss, Quarles:

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1589294874073650400

--> [[note]] Scars will fade over time as skin absorbs sunlight. They can even be made invisible or erased for good with proper skin care and make-up.[[/note]]

[ComicallyMissingThePoint note: Scars will fade over time as the skin absorbs sunlight. They can even be made invisible or erased for good with proper skin care and make-up.]

* ''WebComic/SluggyFreelance'': In "That Which Redeems", TalkingWeapon Chaz explains to Torg that the demon lord Horribus is so obsessed with finding Torg not because of revenge as such, but because failing to capture Torg has been his big disgrace, and he's seeking redemption. He sums thisa up with the line "[[TitleDrop That which redeems,]] consumes."

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0516.html "Turning Azurite, I Think I'm Turning Azurite, I Really Think So"]], Tsukiko says that Thanh will understand the undead better once he's walked a mile in their shoes. To her annoyance, her wight starts worrying about the fact ite doesn't wear shoes, and asks if this means it's going to get Thanh's shoes. (In subsequent strips, [[FunnyBackgroundEvent the wight is, in fact, wearing Thanh's shoes.]])

Kreese: Shut yer trap!

--->'''Jerry:''' Yeah, he killed. Because I killed first and warmed up the crowd. He's like that fish that attaches himself to the shark.\\

'''Jerry:''' Yeah, I'm the shark and he's the fish [[{{Metaphorgotten}} eating my laughs]].\\

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Hamptons," George's new girlfriend sunbathes topless in front of his friends while he's not around, to their confusion.
-->'''Jerry:''' This is weird, wild stuff. George hasn't even seen her yet.\\

* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Hamptons," George's new girlfriend sunbathes topless in front of the others while George is inside, to their confusion.

Sister trope to AnalogyBackfire. Compare {{Metaphorgotten}}, where the speaker themselves gets sidetracked. See also DerailedTrainOfThought.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 1 "[[Recap/CentralParkS1E6RivalBusker Rival Busker]]", near the end of "Too Close", a QuarrelingSong about being too close to someone, Birdie and Griffin sings how the boy who got too close to the pig is now a vegan after it got slaughtered. Then they go off-topic saying that the boy has it hard now since vegans don't have a lot of food options and they both agree on it.

[[quoteright:195: [[Webcomic/{{Nedroid}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Economymetaphorvert_709.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:195:Everyone likes a trampoline.]]

Basically, an ExtendedAnalogy extended into absurdity, PlayedForLaughs. Compare DerailedForDetails. Could also be seen as the conversational variant of a WikiWalk, where starting with one topic leads to dozens of completely unrelated topics with only tangential connections.

** In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', for example, Ponder is explaining how the new mechanical ear on [[{{Magitek}} Hex]] works. He stops himself from describing sound as traveling in waves on the grounds that Ridcully will just assume he's talking about the seaside, and sheepishly handwaves it as [[AWizardDidIt "magic"]].
** By ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'', Ponder's realized that Ridcully does this on ''[[ObfuscatingStupidity purpose]]''. If the other person doesn't have the patience to walk Ridcully through the issue, it probably wasn't urgent or important enough to require his attention in the first place.
** Ridcully's brother Hughnon is just as bad. Witness his conversation with Vetinari in ''Discworld/TheTruth''. Here's a hint: Vetinari's not actually talking about sending prawns over the clacks.

** Most dwarfs tend to be very literal-minded, which is the case with Carrot (who was raised by dwarfs) as well. For example, you shouldn't tell a dwarf [[Discworld/{{Jingo}} not to tell you the Klatchian embassy is on fire]], and if you use the phrase "Bob's your uncle," be prepared for a dwarf [[Discworld/GuardsGuards patiently explaining that his uncle's name is Bjorn Stronginthearm]]. It's implied that being literal and specific is the natural consequence of living their lives in mines, where for safety reasons one needs to know ''exactly'' what is happening at all times.
** When [[Discworld/ThiefOfTime Wen the Eternally Surprised]] teaches Clodpool the Apprentice that time is like a coat, which you can put on when needed and discard otherwise, Clodpool asks "Do I have to wash it, master?" Wen responds that this is either [[IceCreamKoan a brilliant piece of philosophy]], or else extending a metaphor in a rather stupid way. And it's not the first one.
** The thugs in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' briefly got sidetracked by the metaphor "riding the tiger," describing it in terms of getting fleas or having branches smack you in the face. They did wander back onto topic (Mr. Teatime) eventually.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Marge trying to get the town to move against a burlesque house. Her use of "the house" as figurative language for the burlesque shows causes the townspeople to initially rise up against her [[AmbiguousSyntax as being unfair to the house itself, as in the physical building, which hadn't done anything.]]

* ''Disney/{{Pinocchio}}'':