History Main / StupidestThingIveEverHeard

* The Trope Image, from ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. [[http://dilbert.com/strip/2012-03-11 As an addendum]], Dilbert reaffirms the PointyHairedBoss by giving him an even ''bigger'' trainwreck of technical jargon, which [[SuckinessIsPainful stuns the co-worker into traumatized silence]].

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': Red Mage tends to trigger this in his "comrades", but the best example may be [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/07/09/episode-1150-stuck-in-the-middle-with-you/ 1150]]. "That is quite literally the least practical plan put together by an '''allegedly''' thinking creature." According to Black Mage, it's the stupidest thing [[UpToEleven anyone]] has ever heard, not just him.

->''"Mr. Madison, what you've just said...is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point, in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' after Farquaad realizes that Shrek is in love with Fiona, Farquaad laughs at him for having the idea of a princess and an ogre being together.

'''Stan:''' ... this is the worst idea I've ever heard.

* Played for laughs in ''Disney/TheLionKing''.

--->'''Linkara:''' This is quite possibly the ''dumbest'' plan I've ever heard in my life, and I've seen someone deciding to make twin clones of Hitler!

** The villain from the 1970s ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' serial get this reaction from Spoony when it's revealed that he wants to nuke Phoenix Arizona to get at the gold repository under the city.

* In ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad'', after hooking it up so he can do so, Sam proudly declares that he can [[ItMakesSenseInContext control the rotation of a rotating restaurant on top of the world's largest ball of twine via a pair of mounted binoculars]]. Max informs him that this is the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard. It may very well rate pretty high in that category. Even better, since ''Hit The Road'' was made during the dark ages long before Microsoft caught on to the concept of hardware abstraction the UNIX world had years earlier, it had its own audio hardware configuration tool. The sound clip used as a test to make sure your hardware was working correctly was Max saying that very line. So yes, this can even be considered a meta-example of sorts.

* In the pilot for ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls2019'', the evil plan involving destroying various buildings while everyone is stuck in virtual reality is revealed to be not the work of Lex Luthor, but his little sister, Lena. At her MotiveRant about doing away with ''everything teenager-related'' so that ''kids'' will run free and rule the city, the collected superhero girls (obviously still there to stop her and her HumongousMecha) look at a loss for words, or ''concerned,'' until Supergirl blurts out:
-->'''Supergirl:''' That's the stupidest plan I've ever ''heard!''\\
'''Lena:''' (over the loudspeaker) ''[[NoYou You're]]'' [[NoYou the stupidest plan I've ever heard!]]

->''"Mr. Madison, what you've just said... Is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point, in your rambling, incoherent response, were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."''

However, if it's said too liberally or about something that everyone in-universe knows actually isn't stupid, they in turn open themselves to ridicule, as seen on TheInternet where it's [[DiscreditedTrope become so overused that it's turning into the]] ImYourWorstNightmare of insults.

** Danielle Moonstar uses this against Cyclops early in ''[[ComicBook/NewMutants New X-Men: Academy X]]'', when the latter suggests keeping from their students that the corpse of their recently deceased teacher has been stolen, and that he might return as a brainwashed zombie.

* ''Fanfic/DextersLabEquestria'': This is the titular ''[[WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory boy genius]]'' response to the Canterlot Wedding story, actually to a ''lot'' of things [[KnowNothingKnowItAll that are common knowledge]] in Equestria. [[spoiler:That is, until he encounters a Changeling himself that targets him over his diagnostic machine]].

'''Harry:''' What the actual fuck? Have people even seen the size of the sphinxes? They're almost twice as big as a full grown tiger! [[BaitAndSwitch Even if I was into the kind of thing, their twats would be way too big for either of us to get anything out of it]].

** Note that this is HypocriticalHumor, since Homer delivered ''the exact same line'' to Marge not half an hour earlier in the movie. Quite a very cruel subversion to MeaningfulEcho.

-->'''Guy #1:''' I heard Tyler Durden was born in a mental hospital, and sleeps only one hour a night.\\

'''Agent #1:''' That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. Of course he's a Russkie, but he's a retard or something.

* Sean Devine in ''Literature/MysticRiver'' says this when his partner Whitey suggests a theory for the murder they're investigating, that Dave Boyle, Sean's childhood friend, killed Katie Marcus. In this case the theory itself isn't actually that stupid, as there's a good deal of evidence suggesting it, but Sean simply doesn't want to consider the possibility. In the end [[spoiler:Sean was right, and while Dave did kill someone, it wasn't Katie]].

-->'''The Emperor:''' [[AC:That has got to be the single dumbest thing I have ever heard in my entire life, and that is coming from a half-dead skeleton that has been stuck on a life-sustaning god-couche for the past 10,000 years.]]

'''Hamleto:''' That's right! Were do we get crocodiles at this hour?

* [[https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/war-nerd-obamas-wars Not too surprisingly,]] Creator/GaryBrecher isn't avert to this kind of hyperbole:

** In episode "Operation: L.O.C.K.D.O.W.N.", Numbuhs Two and Four are discussing the Quadruple Emergency Bypass Code.

* Subverted in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''. Billy, Mandy, and Nergal Jr are training for a track meet. Junior is doing excellent (having demonic powers helps) but Billy isn't doing so great. Then Billy remembers that Junior can shapeshift, and asks if he can turn himself into anything. When Junior says yes, Billy suggests he turn into a pair of pants so that the two can win the hundred yard dash together. Prompting this response from Mandy:

* In July of 2017, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham claimed that President UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's idea of a "cyber security task force" with Russia (who had been accused of meddling in [electronic] election results) was [[http://www.postandcourier.com/politics/lindsey-graham-blasts-u-s--russia-cyber-security-task/article_127ad448-64b3-11e7-9275-abe3a0be225e.html "not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close."]] (Note that Graham has been in politics since his days as a judge advocate for the U.S. Air Force in 1982. He's been at it a while.)

* ''Film/BillyMadison'' provides the page quote, which was a response to Billy comparing the Industrial Revolution to a completely unrelated children's book that dawdles on into a tangent, and the question wasn't even about comparing it to a book, it was about discussing modern novels that got their influence from the Revolution. The applause Billy got [[CheapPop after showing support for the school's football team]] did nothing to mask his "insanely idiotic" answer.

* Creator/LewisBlack used this as one of his most iconic bits, in which he recounts the time he overheard a young woman say, "[[OrphanedPunchline If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college]]," and nearly has an aneurysm trying to comprehend just what the hell she meant by it.

'''Jill:''' ...that is the ''stupidest'' thing I have ever heard. [[YouFailBiologyForever No wonder you failed bio]].

'''Patrick:''' Well maybe it is stupid, but its also dumb!

-->'''Lucius:''' {{Let me get this straight}}. You think that your client - one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world -- is secretly a masked vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan... [[BullyingADragon is to]] ''[[BullyingADragon blackmail]]'' [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} this person]]? [[WhatAnIdiot Good luck!]]

'''Mr. Electricidad:''' [[GilliganCut That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard.]] We're in the middle of Texas in August!

* In ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', when Cliff confronts Theo about his grades, Theo goes into a spiel about how being an educated professional was fine for his parents, but that wasn't the path he wanted in life and his family should accept him the way he is. The anticipated "Awww" hug scene is averted when Cliff tells him "Son... that's the DUMBEST thing I ever heard in my entire LIFE! No WONDER you get Ds in everything!" The audience was supposed to realize that Theo was talking nonsense. Mr Cosby [[ThrowItIn ad-libbed]] the line to shift their reaction.

* Creator/LewisBlack used this as one of his most iconic bits, in which he recounts the time he overheard a young woman say, "If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college," and nearly has an aneurysm trying to comprehend just what the hell she meant by it.

-->'''Lucius:''' {{Let me get this straight}}. You think that your client - one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world -- is secretly a masked vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan... [[BullyingADragon is to]] ''[[BullyingADragon blackmail]]'' [[ComicBooks/{{Batman}} this person]]? [[WhatAnIdiot Good luck!]]

-->'''Lucius:''' {{Let me get this straight}}. You think that your client - one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world -- is secretly a masked vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan... is to ''blackmail'' this person? [[WhatAnIdiot Good luck!]]

* Even the mild-mannered Gil Grissom of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' once said this. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Grissom's tone while saying the line is quite possibly the closest thing to facepalming in vocal form]].

* In '''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Vriska reveals that she was behind [[spoiler:Jack Noir]] becoming omnipotent and extremely dangerous, saying that she created him because she plans to kill him. John's reaction is as follows: