History Main / YouJustToldMe

* ''WebVideo/TheBuggerAnthology'': A Dalek and a pair of Cybermen argue over which party will identify themselves first. One of the Cybermen breaks the stalemate by telling the Dalek "'''Ladies first'''"; when the Dalek objects by saying its kind has no concept of gender, the Cyberman comments that it has identified itself as a Dalek. Then the Cybermen brag about their species' cleverness - allowing the Daleks to identify them in turn.
--> '''Cyberman:''' Bugger.

** Cassie (morphed as Rachel) is talking to a [[PuppeteerParasite Controller]], and he suspects her, so he randomly blurts out "Andalite!" If Cassie had reacted, she'd have given herself away, but she plays it cool and responds "[[IncrediblyLamePun Yeah, a light would be good too.]]"

* This is sometimes used a part of ColdReading and similar trickery. For example: a PhonyPsychic, magician, etc might say something like "I see something having to do with the letter D," and the client might say something like "My sister's name is Darci! How did you know that?" Well, they ''didn't'', they just made a vague guess and you supplied the information. Furhtermore, considering there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, and D is a fairly common one, it would be more unlikely if the average person ''couldn't'' find some kind of connection to it, especially if they already want to believe the person has PsychicPowers.

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
%%

%%
%%

-->-- ''Series/BurnNotice'', "Breaking and Entering"

* In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Black Widow has been captured by a Russian General. She [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretends to have outdated information on]] who runs the various illegal trades and what they sell, and the General is more than happy to correct her. When Coulson calls her to come in, she breaks character and protests that "this guy is giving [her] everything," to the hapless general's confusion and dismay.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'':
** Light Yagami of all people is once tripped up by this ploy, when Namikawa tells him that he already knows that [[spoiler:Higuchi is the Yotsuba Kira]] -- it's only a very strong hypothesis at this point, but Light's surprised reaction is all the confirmation he needs. Of course, Light is [[spoiler:an amnesiac at the time]].

** At the end of the series, Light does this again. [[spoiler:"Looks like I win, Near." You'd think he'd wait until they were actually dead to start gloating. Dying doesn't make someone ''deaf'', Light]]. Considering some of them were [[TakingYouWithMe armed]], Light was very nearly TooDumbToLive.

* In the ''[[Series/Columbo]]'' episode "A Deadly State of Mind", the crime is observed by a blind witness who cannot identify the perpetrator. Columbo confronts the suspect with the witness's identical twin. When the suspect wrongly accuses the twin of being blind, he accidentally reveals that he already saw the real witness - with his guide dog - at the scene of the crime.

* In the ''Series/Columbo'' episode "A Deadly State of Mind", the crime is observed by a blind witness who cannot identify the perpetrator. Columbo confronts the suspect with the witness's identical twin. When the suspect wrongly accuses the twin of being blind, he accidentally reveals that he already saw the real witness - with his guide dog - at the scene of the crime.

* From ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
-->'''Mr. Schue:''' Wait, who gave you these questions to ask me?\\
'''[[TheDitz Brittany]]:''' Coach Sylvester says I'm not at liberty to say.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' Holmes does this on numerous occasions, notably to get Irene Adler to reflexively glance at the cabinet where the compromising photos she took are in "[[Recap/SherlockS02E01AScandalInBelgravia A Scandal in Belgravia]]".

'''Saiyaman:''' Simple! I just said I was going to the bathroom and got here as... ''crap''.

* ''WebVideo/TheBuggerAnthology'': A Dalek and a pair of Cybermen argue over which party will identify themselves first. One of the Cybermen breaks the stalemate by telling the Dalek '''"Ladies first"'''; when the Dalek objects by saying that Daleks have no concept of gender, the Cyberman comments that it has identified itself as a Dalek.

** In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', Goren and Eames are trying to find the missing daughter of a [[PaterFamilicide family annihilator]]. They suspect that he hadn't actually killed her yet (because she had apparently been tied up and transported elsewhere, while this killer tended to kill his victims wherever they happened to be), but they can't be sure, so Goren asks the killer why he spared his daughter's life. The killer tries to avert this by giving an ambiguous response, but Goren knows that if he ''had'' killed her, he would have just said outright that she was dead; the fact that he's hedging could only mean that the daughter is in fact still alive.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' for [[http://assets.amuniversal.com/88e046c00b560130fb37001dd8b71c47 November 17th, 2012.]] Zipper starts a rumor that Walden College was going private. He approaches the president of the college and tells him that he started the rumor, and the president asks him how he knew that they were planning to do just that. Zipper says "I didn't until just now. I can't believe that worked, I saw it on some cop show".

* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'', a Goth-Gaul interpreter pretends not to speak Gaul to prevent Astérix from interrogating him. Later on he sneezes and when Astérix absent-mindedly says "Bless you" he thanks him, ''in Gaul''. Made funnier by his subsequent frantic insistence that he does not speak Gaul - still in Gaul.

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' mini-series ''ComicBook/TheKryptonChronicles'', Pym-El -an ancestor of Superman- apprehends a gang of saboteurs. As interrogating them, Pym-El states he'll demand answers from their rich backer if they keep refusing to talk. When the saboteurs ask how he knows about their boss, Pym answer he didn't... until now.

Ben has a secret. Stan, typically a [[TheRival rival or enemy]], indicates, in some fashion, that he knows it - either by stating so directly or by implying it with his words or actions. Ben reacts in a way that confirms Stan's suspicions - sometimes, though not always, by outright asking "how did you know?", in which case the answer, of course, is this trope's name.

The ploy used to force TheReveal can be an outright declaration that they know, a specific word/phrase, or (if the chracter is hiding their identity) a name or something spoken in the other character's native language. It can even be a non-verbal prompt, such as a familiar face, location, scent, etc. The point of the trope is that the mark is hiding something, and the deceiver tricks them into revealing it by acting as if he already knows the truth.

* In ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'', Shizuka deduces from Akira's reaction to Sara and Elena that he's the one who saved them. She confirms her suspicions by bluffing to him about the bullet he left behind, exaggerating its effectiveness as an identification tool until he confesses to her. She then advises him to allow himself to trust good people like Sara and Elena, as a hunter needs friends to survive.

** In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', Goren and Eames are trying to find the missing daughter of a [[PaterFamilicide family annihilator]]. They suspect that he hadn't actually killed her yet (because she had apparently been tied up and transported elsewhere, while this killer tended to kill his victims wherever they happened to be), but they can't be sure, so Goren asks the killer why he spared his daughter's life. The killer tries to give an ambiguous response ("you don't know that she's alive"), but Goren knows that if he ''had'' killed her, he would have just said outright that she was dead; the fact that he's hedging could only mean that the daughter is in fact still alive.

'''Kamoshida''': [[''JawDrop'']] How did you know that?\\

'''Kamoshida''': [''JawDrop'']] How did you know that?\\

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' book 1, ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'': [[BrokenAce Kaladin]] proves his suspicions that [[TheLancer Teft]] was once a [[SergeantRock squadleader]] using this method.