One Dialogue, Two Conversations

Homer Simpson: I want peas.
Capt. Tenille: We all want peace, but it's always just out of reach!
Homer Simpson: Uh huh.
Capt. Tenille: So, what's the best way to get peace?
Homer Simpson: [scooping up peas with a knife] With a knife.
Capt. Tenille: Exactly. Not with the olive branch, but the bayonet!

— The Simpsons, "Simpson Tide"

Two characters are discussing something... but they're discussing two totally different things. Their actions and responses — vague enough to be applied to either topic — happen to match up so well, though, that neither notices for some time, if at all.

A common scenario in comedies. Expect one of the 'conversations' to be sex-related. Similar to Out-of-Context Eavesdropping, but with the overhearing party actually being a participant. Mistaken Confession is a possible outcome if the conversation is an interrogation. The technical term in real life is "double illusion of transparency". This can also happen when a question is answered with a seemingly unrelated answer until one thinks about interpretation.

See also Multitasked Conversation. Not to be confused with One Scene, Two Monologues, where no misunderstanding is possible because nobody listens anyway; with Two Scenes, One Dialogue, where two separate intercut conversations contribute to exposition together; or with Sustained Misunderstanding, where only one party is missing the point. Related to Digging Yourself Deeper. This may overlap with Who's on First? or Funny Phone Misunderstanding. If one side is doing it deliberately, it may be Non-Answer.

---

Examples:

Advertising

• In a Vonage VOIP commercial, a couple with a new child walk into the room where the father refers to their daughter as "their new bundle of joy". Hearing the word "Bundle" the wife remembers something and explicitly states that they are losing a lot of money to his current phone bundle and they should drop it. The husband, seemingly unable to hear the word "Phone" in her sentence, thinks she is talking about their child. So when she states they should get rid of the bundle as it will just get harder to do the longer they don't, the husband has a look of utter horror on his face.
• Some of the Bresnan Communications commercials involve a married couple talking about 2 different things
• A commercial features a husband and wife talking about how they've "been waiting so long" and hoping something has "turned blue" and how excited they both are. She's talking about a pregnancy test. He's talking about the new cans that change color when the beer inside is at the ideal temperature. When they realize this, she runs away crying, and his attempt to apologize... falls flat. "It's blue like your eyes!"
• Commercials for Kraft Bagel-fuls have a woman commenting on someone's giant diamond ring or a ferret in a pouch harnessed to the stomach, but the other woman thinks she's talking about the Bagel-ful she's eating.
• The ad campaign for Super Mario Bros. Deluxe involves people goofing off at their jobs by playing on their Game Boy Color systems, with the people around them misinterpreting the things they shout at it. One ad involves a driving instructor playing the game while his student drives recklessly thanks to his "instructions", while another involves a drive-thru worker seemingly hurling threats and insults to customers through the intercom.
  "With games like Super Mario Bros. now in color, you might actually forget where you are."

Anime and Manga

• Ayakashi Triangle: Matsuri exorcises spiritual corruption from Suzu's brother Ritta under the guise of giving him a massage. Because Matsuri shows No Sense of Personal Space, Ritta thinks he's being come onto.
  Matsuri: Just count the stains on the ceiling or something for now. Okay, Ritta?
  Ritta: Um... okay!
• A Certain Magical Index: Touma confronts his dad about getting involved with magic and casting the appearance-swapping Angel Fall spell... and his dad thinks he's just talking about collecting occult souvenirs.
• Occurs early on in Crimson Spell when Mars offers to counsel Vald on his love troubles. Vald tries to explain that he's confused about why one of their fellow travelers, Halvir, kissed him in the heat of battle (and why he liked it despite himself), but Mars thinks he's talking about their Team Pet, Ruruka.
  Vald: My heart is beating so fast....There must be something wrong with me. Perhaps it's because I was looking at his lips in such an impure way.
  Mars: [thinking] Looking at the bunny's lips in an impure way...
  Vald: What do you think I should do?
  Mars: That is a sickness. You should be checked out by a doctor.
  Vald: ...I changed my mind. You can stay in there.
• In Dragon Ball Z, Gohan gets blackmailed by a girl to go out with her (not Videl), since she knows "his secret." No, it isn't that he's the Great Saiyaman; it's that he wears teddy bear underwear.
• In Demon King Daimao, when Akuto goes to visit Junko's father, he doesn't realize that the reason for the visit is a marriage interview, rather than just a typical meet and greet. Junko however, thought he knew, and their conversation is pretty ambiguous until she secretly meets with him in his room at night.
• This makes up most of the conversations Cid has with the members of the Shadow's Garden in The Eminence in Shadow. He fully believes that they are playing a game and due to him saving their lives they are playing into it to make him happy. The girls on the other hand know full well that the Diabolos Cult is real and are taking the Shadow's Garden Organization extremely seriously, believing everything he says is to further the Organization.
• In Fly Me to the Moon, at the end of Episode 3, Tsukasa asks if Aya is pretty, and gets jealous when Nasa says yes. After spotting a wedding, Nasa thinks Tsukasa is upset that they're not married yet, then says that while he isn't ready just yet, he has some preparations to do. Tsukasa then wonders why it's so hard for him to say that she's pretty.
• In Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed and Al begin talking to Maria Ross when she mentions Hughes's death. However, due to Mustang telling them that he retired to the countryside, they think Ross is talking about his retirement. It's then subverted when she mentions that he received a double promotion. When the Elrics question the flawed logic of somebody retiring and receiving a Double Promotion, both parties realize what happened.
• In episode 2 of Haganai, when playing the Monster Hunter game, Kodaka tells Sena and Yozora that since its a co-op game, they should try playing more cooperatively. Both girls immediately "agree" they should "play more cooperatively" from that point on, and in the next scene they're just fighting each other more than the monsters.
• One of the running gags in The Hating Girl is the lead characters' constant misinterpretation of each others' words and actions, leading them to have completely separate reactions and trains of thought to each other.
• In Hayate the Combat Butler, this is the source of most of the drama, including the plot itself.
• Expertly done in an episode of Irresponsible Captain Tylor, where the main character has a running conversation with himself which has little do with what several characters who come in one at a time have to say to him... but somehow manages to sound okay to them.
• Kaguya-sama: Love Is War:
  • Kaguya gets buried under a mountain of embarrassment due to the fact that she thought that a couple "doing it" meant kissing. Both Shirogane and Fujiwara were thinking that Kaguya was a little too cavalier when she admitted that she had "done it" with her newborn nephew.
  • Chapter 70 is built on this, when Kaguya asks Shirogane what kind of underwear he wears in order to find out if he's promiscuous. Unfortunately, the way she words it makes him think that she's talking about women's underwear, leading to a hilarious misunderstanding.
  • When Tsubame talks to Ishigami about setting a deadline for her to accept or decline his "love confession" in chapter 133, he's under the impression that she's talking about setting a date for cherry blossom viewing.
  • In Chapter 171, the Tabletop Gaming Club is working on a board game, but Karen from the school newspaper (who's on the phone and never trusted them in the first place) misinterprets everything they say and comes to the conclusion that they're running a prostitution ring, counterfeiting money, and planning acts of terrorism. At one point the club president Makkii-senhai even outright says "Are we on the same page here? We're just talking about a game", but Karen misinterprets that too and ends up believing that Makkii-senhai is a psychopath. It all ends with Karen calling the police on the club, and then having to apologize after everything is cleared up.
  • Chapter 95 of spin-off series We Want to Talk About Kaguya has a case of One Dialogue, Three Conversations, with Karen and Erika both misinterpreting Fujiwara's suspicions about Shirogane and Hayasaka being a gay couple (Karen thinks she's talking about the possibility of Shirogane being with Saburo or Ishigami, while Erika thinks it's about LGBT rights in Japan).
  • In Chapter 228, Ishigami and Koromo Shiranui's classmates ask them how they know each other after seeing them chatting amiably before class, something that struck them as very odd given that she's one of Shuchi'in High School's "Impossible Girls" and known for barely talking to guys. Long story short, they met online and played some games until late the night before without Ishigami realizing she was a classmate until she called him by a nickname. Problem is, their gamer jargon didn't translate well at all when they explained this to their classmates, resulting in the whole classroom (save for Osaragi) getting the idea the two of them are Friends with Benefits and that Ishigami is such a good partner that she wanted their next encounter to be as soon as tonight.
• A late scene in Kaitou Saint Tail has a conversation between Meimi, who's the Secret Identity of Phantom Thief Saint Tail, and Asuka Jr., the Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist assigned to catch Saint Tail whom she also happens to be in love with, during which Meimi asks Asuka Jr. why he's so obsessed with catching Saint Tail. At this point in time, Asuka Jr. is harboring suspicions that Saint Tail is actually Meimi, but due to a combination of uncertainty about it, the fact he doesn't want to think about it too hard, and the fact he can't ask Meimi about it to her face yet, he gives a vague answer about Saint Tail being an "ideal" that he wants to know more about the "true face" of (i.e. he understands the Secret-Identity Identity problem and wants to know more about her Beneath the Mask). Later, he tells Saint Tail herself that he has to catch her "because you're like a girl I can't stop thinking about" (i.e. he's caught onto their suspicious resemblance and is worried about her). Unfortunately, Meimi, who's convinced that he's only interested in Saint Tail and would never care about her as Meimi, interprets these statements as "Saint Tail is his ideal type of girl whom he wants to see the literal face of" and "Saint Tail has some coincidental resemblance to some other girl he likes", making her insecurities even worse. Notably, the anime adaptation having a bit of an Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole problem resulted in even fans interpreting his statements the way Meimi does.
• In Episode 11 of Kiniro Mosaic, Alice asked Karasuma whether she's going out with her boyfriend on Christmas. Karasuma replied, "For me, Christmas is a day for prayer." Alice responded with awe as she took that to mean Karasuma actually goes to the church on Christmas, unlike most Japanese who took the day for something completely unrelated. Karasuma probably meant she is praying for a boyfriend of her own.
• The last episode of Kyou no Go no Ni ends with two of the characters talking about a childhood promise they made. The boy is talking about a Childhood Marriage Promise, and the girl is talking about her (broken) promise not to tell about the time the boy wet his bed.
• Happened at least twice in Love Hina, at least in the OVA, with a newly-arrived girl claiming to be 'the promised girl', but actually talking about an entirely different (but nonetheless important) promise than the one that's been a central theme for the entire series.
• In Mayo Chiki!, Jiro receives his "First Kiss" from Subaru as CPR; later, Kanade kisses him as well, and he believes this to be his first. Subaru notices that he seems troubled and offers to help as a friend, but freaks out when he starts talking about his first kiss. She thinks he found out and doesn't know about the kiss he had with Kanade, while he has no idea about Subaru's kiss and thinks Kanade told her about her own. The discussion becomes quite heated, and neither realizes what the other's talking about until much later.
• A staple of Mitsudomoe. Such as Shinya's fangirls mistaking a younger photo of the triplets' dad for their crush. Futaba being a Daddy's Girl leads to some awkward tension between them.
• The final episode of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED has a Dead Person Conversation between the main character Kira and his ex-girlfriend Flay, who was just killed in front of him. The dialogue on first watch makes it seem as if they are holding a conversation about his regret over her death, but on second watch, it becomes clear that he's not even responding to what she is saying to him. Word of God is that this was intentional, as the scene was meant to illustrate what Flay wanted to tell Kira, but now never could, even though sadly he can't hear her because she's a ghost.
• In Goto's introduction story in My Neighbor Seki, she goes up to Yokoi and tells her the behavior she witnessed between her and Seki was inappropriate for the classroom. Goto thinks Yokoi and Seki are a couple and trying to romance each other during class time. Yokoi thinks she saw Seki playing games like he normally does and admits that she tries to stop him but gets caught up in things.
• In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Negi asks Asuna to accompany him on a trip to search for traces of his father, as his magic partner. Asuna misinterprets it as a love confession, as do Yue and Nodoka, who overhear it. Haruna doesn't, but she does enjoy the ensuing hilarity.
• In chapter 6 of Omujo Omutsu Joshi, Morei Nekomtata decides to confess her love to her childhood friend and male lead, Shouta. After witnessing an Accidental Pervert moment leaves her with the mistaken impression that he has a fetish for girls in diapers, she wears one herself to improve her chances. Between this, Morei stumbling on the actual "I love you" part, and describing an incident in elementary school when Shouta inadvertently covered up for her Potty Failure as the moment she fell in love, Shouta concludes that she's the one with the fetish and from that moment forward is interpreting her words as Morei confessing that. This leaves Morei more than a little confused when their conversation ends with Shouta telling her "Fine by me, I guess!" and giving her a thumbs up. The manga lampshades the whole thing by adding in parentheses what each of them is actually talking about and noting that they've been talking past each other.
• Mashiro in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is an Idiot Savant with No Social Skills, so she causes quite a few of such moments.
  • In episode 2 , Nanami walks to school with Sorata and Mashiro. She asks them what their relationship is, and the resident Idiot Savant Mashiro innocently answers that he's her "first boy". She then makes it sound like they're lovers, causing Nanami to run off, and she finally clarifies he's the first boy she's befriended, which irritates him due to her out of context dialogue just moments earlier.
  • Another hilarious incident occurs in episode 7, when Mashiro enters the bathroom after Sorata is done cleaning it up. His sister Yuko wonders what he's been doing at the apartment, when she shows up, and pats her belly and says its ready. His sister immediately assumes they were sleeping together and passes out. Then Mashiro mentions that dinner's ready.
  • One that Mashiro was not to blame: In episode 11, Sorata overhears Rita on the phone talking to Mashiro's father. She says that Mashiro will be returning to where she belongs, and he immediately assumes she would be heading back to England. Episode 12 reveals that said place was Sakura Hall, and Mashiro was at the airport with Rita merely to send her off, something she had planned to get Sorta to tell Mashiro what she means to him.
• Being the Genre Deconstruction of the Fighting Series Played for Laughs, Ramen Fighter Miki shows us Token Mini-Moe Wakana who misinterprets Unknown Rival Kankuro's constant challenges to The Bully Miki as a sign that he's Tsundere for her, and gives him dating advice. Likewise, Kankuro further misinterprets Wakana's advice as tips to find and exploit Miki's weakness(es). Kankuro still follows Wakana's advice to the (love) letter, and Hilarity Ensues.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena. In episode 27, Nanami thinks she has laid an egg. The rest of the episode is full of this trope whenever she tries to talk to someone about it.
• In Saki, this happens when the Ikeda triplets, Kana's younger sisters, run into Koromo, because of the various quirks in their manner of speech.
  Nazuna:: Onee-chan ^note Not only is this a way to refer to one's older sister, but it's also a way for young children to address older girls is a high school student.
  Koromo: That's right, Koromo is a high school student.
  Shirona: Koromo?
  Nazuna: Our onee-chan isn't called Koromo.
  Koromo: Aah... you have an older sister.
  Hina Is she our older sister?
• Episode 7 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei opens with Itokishi talking to his student Harumi Fujiyoshi about producing "fan-made publications". He's talking about self-published poetry; she's talking about erotic doujinshi.
• Several times in School Rumble. A notable one is when Eri idly asks Tenma if she's seen a male body before. Tenma says yes, referring to a wrestling match she had recently gone to with Karasuma. The resulting conversation has Eri thinking Tenma is talking about sex while Tenma describes the various moves she saw at the match.
• This happens regularly in Silver Plan to Redo From JK. Sayuri, the protagonist, started out as a Rich Bitch but then lost her wealth and became homeless. She reincarnates into the body of her high-school self and decides to do everything she can to improve her future, which includes being nicer to other people. However, other people still see her as a Rich Bitch so they often interpret her actions in the worst possible light. For example, Sayuri asking another girl if they're in the same class (they are) is interpreted as her saying she can't be bothered to remember the other girl.
• Spy X Family:
  • When Anya tearfully apologizes to Damian for punching him, he realizes that he's falling for her and, ashamed because he's the second son of the Desmond family and she's a mere commoner, blurts out "I'll never accept it" and runs off. Anya (and Twilight) think the apology was rejected.
  • Invoked when Twilight talks with various other spies in public, be it Handler or Nightfall. They have simple conversations about the weather or sports, while using codewords or lip movement to convey the actual conversation to their fellow spy.
• In Taishō Baseball Girls, there is a scene where Koume's father discovers she has been sneaking out of the house at certain times. The reason is because she has been playing baseball, but he thinks it's because she is dating a certain boy. As a result, they later get into an argument in which Koume thinks the subject is baseball, while her father thinks it is dating.
• A Town Where You Live could be considered The Series of this trope. Seriously one cannot go three chapters without the story of the week situation around a character thinking of one thing and everyone else thinking of something entirely different. Though it doesn't help that the characters have a habit of using vague comments. Some Key Examples being:
  • Eba being told that Erectile Disfunction could lead to failed relationships. Believing the it is some kind of Gum Disease she goes around casually asking all of her friends about Haruto might having this.
  • Eba's friend asks if she and Haruto would like to try this sometime to which she holds up a magazine with an article about a vacation. Eba sees another article about sexual exploration and thinks she wants to have a threesome, and is later shocked that Haruto is so casual about accepting.
  • Haruto is on a trip with an old female friend to which he causally mentions that he met up with someone he hasn't seen in awhile and is happy to be with her. While he was talking about his girlfriend Eba, she believed he was confessing his feelings to her.
  • Then there is the situation where Haruto's female neighbor asked if there was anything she could do to help him after he helped her earlier. He comments that she could help help him with a load he needs to get out. While he is talking about his dirty laundry, she assumed he wanted to have sex with her.
• The Way of the Househusband: While talking with his other housewife acquaintances, Tatsu started reminiscing about his old yakuza life and how brutal it was. Since the other housewives were complaining about their husbands, they all naturally thought he was talking about his current life with Miku. Cue hilarious Imagine Spots on their end.

Comic Books

• In Peter David's Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics) run, in the final issue, Marv had this with Eulogy. Marv believes Eulogy is talking about the people of Earth, but Eulogy is referring to the fans, and how their collective apathy killed the series.
  Marv: Be happy?! How, when I know people are going to be calling me for help! Granted, no one has yet, but that's only because they became afraid of me, because I was dangerously insane. But I can wait. Wait for them to—
  Eulogy: They didn't become afraid, Captain. They became bored. Bored because they didn't know what to make of you. Your unpredictability became your liability. Furthermore, they didn't really care about you that much in the first place. That, combined with boredom, was fatal.
  Marv: No, they'll come back.
  Eulogy: No. They really won't.^note Sadly, Eulogy was right, at least for this version of Captain Marvel.
• In a 1989 Detective Comics storyline, Bruce Wayne is questioned by federal agents who bring up his years traveling in Europe, connections to shady individuals and how millions of dollars of Wayne Enterprises funds have been funneled into special projects. They press on how Bruce "knows what we're talking about" and, assuming they've figured out he's Batman, Bruce replies yes. It's only when he's being arrested that Bruce realizes the agents are under the impression he's a Communist spy.
• In Spider-Girl #5, there is an oblique conversation between Peter Parker and Phil Urich after which Peter thinks he made Phil understand that Mayday must not continue being Spider-Girl while Phil thinks Peter told him to train her being a superheroine because Peter can't do it himself for fear of worrying his wife Mary Jane.
• Happens in X-Factor (2006) #29, when Theresa tries to tell Jamie she's pregnant with his child, and Jamie thinks she's trying to quit the team. The situation is resolved and lampshaded by Monet, who apparently recognizes the situation from Three's Company.
• Neil Gaiman loved to do this in his The Sandman (1989) comic series, with at least three separate occurrences. The most notable instance takes place in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", in which an actor asks Hamnet if he is proud of his father. Instead of answering the question, Hamnet laments how distant and aloof his father is, much like Dream is to Orpheus, only to hear the actor reply that he'd be proud if Shakespeare were his father.
• A brief example occurs in Harbinger. Peter, visibly nervous, invites Charlene to his motel room, talking about how he's unsure about "this next part" and hesitantly asking if it's okay to touch her. She assumes they're about to have sex, but he's actually preparing to activate her latent powers.
• In Runaways, little Molly asks her parents about how she's been feeling weird lately. Since she's just about the age of puberty, and her parents are busy, they tell her it's natural and they'll talk to her about it later. Turns out not to be her period, but mutant powers.
• In one issue of the short-lived Beetlejuice comic series, Beej and Lydia overhear her father talking about how he can't afford to maintain something anymore and he's going to have to get rid of it. They think he means the house, and both sort of panic over the idea of her having to move. It later gets revealed that Charles was talking about a storage shed.
• In issue 17 of Daredevil (Mark Waid), a flashback to the early days of Matt and Foggy's law office shows them having a spat about the division of workload. Foggy accidentally makes an insensitive remark about sight and apologizes, but the artwork implies that Matt's response was actually obliquely referring to his double life as Daredevil.
  Foggy: I wish you could see the nonsense I deal with!
  Matt: [with Daredevil's shadow] So do I.
  Foggy: That's not... not what I...
• Tintin: In "The Castafiore Emerald", two reporters from the Paris Flash magazine ask Calculus about whether Bianca Castafiore and Captain Haddock are in a relationship, but Calculus assumes he's getting interviewed about the new breed of rose he developed. Hilarity Ensues.

Comic Strips

• In one Zits comic strip, teenage Jeremy is explaining to his friend Hector how he's Googled everybody he knows. Hector is somewhat startled (perhaps at the fact that Jeremy now knows everything he'd need to know about everybody), as Jeremy goes on: "Friends, teachers, neighbors... you name 'em, I've Googled 'em." All the while, Jeremy's dad is standing behind them with an increasingly alarmed look on his face, until he runs over to Jeremy's mom to learn that Google is actually an internet search, and not, well...
• In one FoxTrot strip, Andy asked Roger what he thought of her new haircut. Roger thought she was asking about the new brand of beer he was drinking and replied that it didn't have much body and he hoped she hadn't paid a lot of money for it. He then wondered why she ran off crying.
• Calvin and Hobbes has this in an early strip where Calvin imagines himself as Spaceman Spiff shooting down Zargons:
  Susie: Psst, Calvin! What was the capital of Poland until 1600?
  Calvin: Krakow.
  Susie: Thanks.
  Calvin: KRAKOW! KRAKOW! Two direct hits!

Fan Works

• In the third entry of these Fire Emblem Fates headcanons, Kamui becomes pregnant and her husband Takumi tells her he knows from Sakura. However, by that he means she's terminally ill due to Sakura only telling him Kamui has six months left. It isn't until Takumi asks if their lovemaking is killing her does she realize the misunderstanding.
• In the Haruhi Suzumiya fanfic Kyon: Big Damn Hero, Kyon and his father have a chat. Kyon thinks his father found out about his connections to a Yakuza family. His father is actually talking about an Arranged Marriage.
  • Earlier, Kyon and Mori had a conversation about protection. Kyon thought they were talking about bulletproof armour when actually...
    • This started when Mori misunderstood a comment about people literally sleeping together.
• A couple or few Lois & Clark fanfics have Lois thinking that her partner is gay, while Clark thinks that Lois has discovered he's Superman. Cue hilarity, with such questions as "When did you realize you were...different?"
• The Kingdom Hearts fanfic The Renegades features a chapter in which Axel and Larxene start a conversation in which tea is used as a euphemism for sex, and the other Nobodies start joining in on the wordplay. Eventually, Lexaeus enters the conversation, and completely misinterprets their meaning, remarking that there's probably enough tea to go around. The others burst into laughter while Lex blinks, confused.
• In the Kim Possible fanfic "A Ronmantic Proposal", Kim and Monique had one of these where Kim thought Monique was talking about a mission and Monique thought it was about Ron proposing.
• Happens in Chapter 25 of the Negima! Magister Negi Magi fanfic A Day Indoors between Negi & Yuuna, when Yuuna misinterprets just what is required to form a Pactio. (Negi: "We're supposed to kiss!" Yuuna (having just stripped nude): "Sounds like a great way to start!" (jumps him))
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Kneazles Harry and Bill have a conversation where Bill is talking about Ginny's virginity and Kneazle-raised Harry thinks he's talking about a rather tempting yarn ball under her bed. Needless to say, things don't end well for Harry.
• A Running Gag in Make a Wish. Harry's insane luck causes him to be in the right place at the right time to accomplish all sorts of impressive feats. For example: Harry observes how much better a painting at some of Amsterdam's museums is than the paintings at Hogwarts, and muttering "Amateurs." under his breath. The law enforcement officials secretly following him take this to mean he knew they were there the whole time. On another occasion, Harry enters a bar in Italy to hear Cornelius Fudge give an announcement blaming Voldemort's continued existence on organized crime. The old man next to him asks what he thinks of the announcement, and Harry says he thinks Fudge is a blithering idiot because the people who run organized crime are too smart to join a conflict that wouldn't make them any money and would make them a lot of enemies. The old man is one of those people and believes Harry was in fact telling him how his business was going to be run from then onward, and has the power to make sure he does. Because, after all, who would walk into the bar, sit next to him, and tell him how to do his job if they ''didn't'' have that power?
• In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic Winter Child, Rainbow Dash asks Applejack how she feels about siblings having sexual relations, so Twilight knows what to say when she tells her she's pregnant with Shining Armor's foal. Applejack , thinking she knows about her and Big MacIntosh, tells her she's alright with it and is shocked when she finds out Twilight's telling her friends about it.
• In Wizard Runemaster, Harry Potter's group does this deliberately with Malfurion Stormrage after they research the ruins of Azshara in the Darnassus archives. Malfurion thinks the girls are talking about their research into the area; the girls are actually talking about having sex with Harry down in the archives.
  • A later chapter however shows that Tyrande is fully aware of what they were talking about and she forbids them from entering the archives again.
• In The Thief of Hogwarts Harry regularly tells his housemates about all the time he spends playing with his fiance Fleur whenever they ask. Remarks like how much fun it is playing on the bed or that they often have to "heal Fleur's goddess" afterwards has everyone assuming Harry's a Sex God. In reality, Harry and Fleur play with action figures on her bed because it has the most space.
• In Big Trouble in Old England Harry mentions a prophecy and the Weasleys think he's talking about Trelawney's prediction when he's actually referring to a Chinese prophecy which says he'll marry the Mouse Princess' granddaughter (classmate Su Li) and fill "half a sky" with children ^noteSix kids, a "full sky" being twelve of something.. This leads to confusion when he asks Mr. Weasley if he knew how to change diapers before having Bill.
• In Vinyl and Octavia in 'Dial D for Detectives' Vinyl is talking to a pegasus who implies that he's the murderer, before the bartender tells her and Octavia to leave for their own good. Although it appears that he's doing so to protect them from the pegasus, it's really because the pegasus is a detective who knows information about the murderer, and the bartender works for said murderer.
• This My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic gif. Luna admits to having "slept with" the entire main cast while staying overnight at Twilight's castle. The problem is that Celestia assumes that it's an innuendo, while Luna meant it literally. The resulting conversation is one long Sustained Misunderstanding.
• In Little Deceptions, Master of Disguise Blank Slate is the perfect thief, able to flawlessly change identities at the drop of a hat to the point where the narrative calls him by his newly adopted persona. Everything goes according to plan until Princess Celestia shows up, sits down next to him, and addresses him by his real name, a name he hasn't used in 15 years. She talks about how unfortunate it was that a thief was robbing people for fun, but how there was always a second chance available to ponies like that, if only they turned their talents towards good. She then bids him good luck in guarding the vault for the rest of the evening, but states that he won't need it, as with a vigilant guard like him on duty, there won't be any problems. Blank Slate gets the message, and spends the rest of the evening guarding the vault himself before turning himself in in the morning so he can turn over a new leaf. It's revealed in the epilogue that Princess Celestia had no idea that he was the thief at all, having actually mistaken him for a new guard. She only knew his name due to a Namedar spell, and was just talking with him to try and make him feel warm and special on the inside, as well as to have the chance to vocalize some of her own worries about what was going on. She can't even remember his name without the spell, though she did make a mental note to check up on him sometime, as he seemed a bit flustered for some reason.
• In Harry Potter, Unexpected Animagus Remus tries to tactfully inform Harry that he inherited a bit more than his looks from his father by referring to the latter's oversized penis as the Sword of Gryffindor, not knowing that Harry used the actual sword to kill the basilisk in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. This leads to a double entendre filled conversation in the Great Hall.
• The Hunger Games fanfic "Loyalty" features a brief example when Johanna sends Katniss a sponsorship gift of chocolate croissants (a reference to how the two shared chocolate croissants on Katniss's birthday before the Games). When Katniss responds to the croissants with the assurance that "I love them more than anything", most of Panem will assume Katniss is just expressing gratitude for the gift, but Johanna understands that Katniss is assuring Johanna that she still loves her (particularly when she subsequently tells Peeta that she doesn't love "the croissants" more than Prim but does love them more than Peeta).
• The Angel series "Another Hero" begins with Cordelia using her dying moments to go back in time and save Doyle's life, also giving him a generalised 'download' of the major events of the future so that Doyle will be able to stop the gang falling as far as they did originally. However, although aware of the risks of some parts of the future taking place, Doyle actively tries to ensure Connor's birth in "Season Two" even when this leads to him staying with Angel after Cordelia quits. At one point Lorne asks Doyle about "the baby", which Doyle assumes is a reference to Connor, unaware that Lorne's actually talking about his child with Cordelia (who ends up suffering a miscarriage before Doyle learns what Lorne was really talking about).
• Pops up from time to time in Eroninja due to Naruto's polyamorous relationship being kept secret^note Because they're trying to create world peace and if it ever got out someone manipulated the various countries into it, war would break out again. One such instance includes Kushina reassuring Mebuki that while she does hate missing so much of Naruto's life, she's determined to make up for it repeatedly and vigorously.
• In a The Big Bang Theory alternate universe Shamy story, Sheldon and Amy are talking about faking a relationship. Sheldon thinks they're talking about faking to the point of even having sex, Amy thinks they're talking about his acting ability. She asks him to practice with Penny, he's aghast.
• I Am NOT Going Through Puberty Again!: After seeing his daughter come home worried, Hiashi decided to have an incredibly awkward heart-to-heart with Naruto. Hiashi thought they were talking about Naruto and Hinata's more unconventional romantic practices, while Naruto (more specifically the Naruto from the beginning of the series inside his adult body) thought they were talking about the fact that he woke up in bed naked next to Hinata.
• Towards the Sun: when Iroh takes the throne from Zuko and tries to talk to Zuko about it in the aftermath, he promises Zuko things that Zuko takes for something else entirely. Iroh promises to abdicate the throne once Zuko turns eighteen and feels like he's ready (Meaning if Iroh deems him ready). Zuko can take as much responsibility as he's comfortable (Iroh will decide what Zuko can and can't do). Zuko is welcomed to every meeting (which Iroh will run). Zuko's free to speak his opinions (unless they don't match Iroh's). Iroh believes he's being generous by making Zuko his heir and giving free reign to decide if he wants to take responsibility or not. Zuko feels that he's getting rubbed in his face that Iroh is calling all the shots.
  • At the end of his epic Calling the Old Man Out speech during his Crown Prince coronation, Zuko caps the speech by saying that he has sick relatives to visit. Zuko is being completely literal as he plans to visit Azula in the mental asylum Iroh locked her away in and break her out. What everyone else hears is the figurative meaning of visiting sick relatives: Zuko is leaving the capital because he fears Iroh will kill him if he stays for disagreeing with Iroh's regime. Since Zuko was loved by the public for being the only nice Fire Lord within living memory, he's unintentionally telling the public to not trust Iroh. Which kicks off a civil war.
• In Time and Again, Naruto and Sakura have a conversation over lunch where Sakura privately decides to ask Naruto a question about an issue he might not want to talk about. Naruto assumes she's worked out he's the host of the Kyuubi, and is baffled when Sakura expresses that she thinks it's great. Sakura, for her part, thinks it's wonderful that Naruto has fallen in love with Hinata. The conversation briefly becomes even more muddled when Naruto explains that he can't think of Hinata like that because it'd be wrong, which Sakura says explains some things.
• There's More Magic Out There: The day after the events of "Anasui" and Alya letting it slip to Nino that she knows he was Carapace (saying "I know what you're like"), she gets a text that he needs to tell her something, and she thinks he's going to tell her about being Carapace. It turns out the secret Nino wanted to tell was that he's actually a gargoyle as he thought that was the secret Alya figured out.
• In Too Many Champions Harry and the fake Alastor Moody have a conversation where fake!Moody thinks that Harry secretly supports the Dark Side and Harry thinks that fake!Moody is a closeted homosexual.
  Fake!Moody: So, you really do support our cause?
  Harry: You mean to build a society in which you can publicly reveal who you really are and people will support you?
  Fake!Moody: Well, that's one way to put it.
  Harry: Sure, I'm all for it. The way any kind of minorities, non-human species or Muggle-born are treated really ought to change.
• In The Godfather of Soho and its sequels, Aziraphale is oblivious to how both The Irish Mob and the police think that he's a mob boss (and that the mob bosses think he's one of the Fair Folk).
  • Crowley likes to hang around the bookshop in snake form, leading to a rumor that Aziraphale feeds enemies to his gigantic pet snake. When a cop investigates under the pretense of a social call, he asks what Aziraphale feeds the snake. Since Aziraphale can't say that the 'snake' is a demon who eats human food, he awkwardly says that he feeds him lots of things, but mostly meat. The cop panics, thinking that the rumor was true.
  • In a sequel, Crowley tells the retired mob bosses that he was Aziraphale's after he told him his name. He means that he fell in love from their first conversation, but since the bosses already think Aziraphale is a powerful fae, it sounds like Crowley was enthralled after giving Aziraphale his name.
• Naru-Hina Chronicles: Sasuke wonders what else Sakura could be planning for their first anniversary of dating, only to quickly realize before Naruto does that it might be sex, leading to the following conversation:
  Sasuke: [shocked while having a minor nosebleed] Wait. You don't think she...?
  Naruto: It's probably gonna be what Hinata did for me on our anniversary date.
  Sasuke: Wait you and Hinata?! I didn't know you two..? Well... How was it? Was it... good?
  Naruto: Great! But then Hinata's had a lot of practice. She gives treats like that all the time!
  Sasuke: [even more shocked] SHE WHAT?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU TWO...
  Naruto: [drooling while having stars in his eyes] I can still taste those Hinata-shaped cookies.
  Sasuke: WAIT?! COOKIES?!
  Naruto: Yeah. Cookies. Hinata made us cookies. I had ones shaped like her, and she had ones shaped like me. What were you talking about?
• United in Death starts with a vague conversation in which Nico thinks he's talking to another demigod and Harry thinks he's talking to another wizard.

Films — Animated

• Beavis And Butthead Do America:
  • The main plot comes when criminal Muddy Grimes believes he's hired Beavis and Butt-Head to kill his wife. Unfortunately, he told them to "do" her, and, well, it's Beavis and Butt-Head, so the result is that they believe they're traveling across the country to meet Muddy's hot wife, Dallas, and get it on.
  • This also happens for much of the movie with a kindly old woman Beavis keeps meeting on public transit. She thinks they're talking about gambling in Vegas. He thinks they're talking about sex.
    Old Woman: Are you two heading for Las Vegas?
    Beavis: Yeah, we're gonna score.
    Old Woman: Oh. Well I hope to score big there myself. I'm mostly gonna be doing the slots.
    Beavis: Yeah, yeah, I'm hoping to do some sluts too. Yeah, heh. Do they have a lot of sluts in Las Vegas?
    Old Woman: Oh! There's so many slots, you won't know where to begin!
    Beavis: Whoa!
• Beavis And Butthead Do The Universe: The main plot kicks off when the boys use a docking simulator to make crude sexual gestures and astronaut Serena Ryan asks them "how would you like to do that in space?" Of course, Poor Communication Kills and the boys think they're being hired to score. It doesn't help matters when Serena tells Beavis that "256 men, 49 women, a Russian dog, and a chimpanzee have done what you're about to do" and he interprets it to mean that she Really Gets Around, and then some.
• The Rescuers Down Under: Bernard tries to propose to Bianca, but misplaces the ring. While he looks for it, Bianca receives word of the mission to Australia and wants to inform Bernard about it. The waiter volunteers to tell Bernard about the case, but Bernard is too focused on his proposal to listen and he dismissively blows the waiter off. When Bernard returns to the table and tries to propose again, Bianca thinks he's talking about the mission and accepts. He is delighted, but is perplexed that she wants to do it now, and that she only needs to wear khaki shorts and hiking boots.
  Ms. Bianca: Bernard, did you talk to Francois?
  Bernard: Ah, yes, but uh.. there's... there's something I want—
  Ms. Bianca: I know exactly what you're going to say. Francois told me all about it.
  Bernard: He did? How, how... how did he-
  Ms. Bianca: Oh, it doesn't matter, I think it's a marvelous idea.
  Bernard: You do? I mean, you... you really want to?
  Ms. Bianca: I don't think it's a matter of wanting. It's a matter of duty.
  Bernard: D-duty? I... I never thought of it, well, umm... all right.... all right. How does... how does next ah-April sound to you?
  Ms. Bianca: Heavens, no! We must act immediately tonight!
  Bernard:: Tonight? But, but, ah.. wait! [cuts to them walking down into the Rescue Aid Society headquarters] Uh, Bianca, this is so sudden! I mean, don't you at least need a gown or something?
  Ms. Bianca: No, just a pair of khaki shorts, and some hiking boots.
  Bernard: Hiking boots?
• How to Train Your Dragon (2010): Hiccup thinks his father has found out about Toothless, his father is actually trying to congratulate him on doing well in dragon training. Things get awkward.
• One happens in Shrek, when Shrek overhears Donkey's conversation with Fiona about her turning into an ogre at night. Because he hears only part of the conversation, when she says, "Who could love such a hideous, ugly beast? Princess and ugly don't go together.", he thinks she's referring to him. The confrontation he has with her the next day is two different conversations:
  Fiona: You heard what I said?
  Shrek: Every word!
  Fiona: But I thought you'd understand!
  Shrek: Oh, I understand! Like you said, "who could love such an ugly beast"?
  Fiona: [stricken] ...But I thought that wouldn't matter to you.
  Shrek: Yeah, well, it does!
  • The subtext makes sense from either viewpoint, but Shrek's viewpoint makes Fiona's responses sound offensive, and vice versa. This results in a huge misunderstanding, and it takes Donkey's unwanted return to the swamp to set things straight:
    Donkey: You're so wrapped in layers, onion boy, you're afraid of your own feelings!
    Shrek: (hiding from him) Go away!
    Donkey: See? There you are, doing it again! Just like you did to Fiona! All she ever did was like you, maybe even love you!
    Shrek: Love me?! She said I was ugly! A hideous creature! I heard the two of you talking.
    Donkey: She wasn't talking about you, she was talking about... somebody else.
    Shrek: (coming out from hiding) She wasn't talking about me?
• Peter Pan: When Smee tells Captain Hook that Peter Pan had banished Tinker Bell for trying to get Wendy killed, Hook gets the idea to use the pixie for a plan to do away with Peter. Throughout their conversation, however, Smee believes that Hook has made up his mind to leave Neverland, and he prepares to chart a course until Hook makes his true plans clear.
• The Little Mermaid (1989): King Triton figures that Ariel is in love and calls Sebastian to discuss the matter. Sebastian believes that he knows the whole truth, that Ariel is in love with a human, leading to an Accidental Public Confession.
  Triton: Let's see, now... Oh, who could the lucky merman be? (notices Sebastian just outside the door) Uh, come in, Sebastian.
  Sebastian: [inhales deeply] I mustn't overreact. I must remain calm. (slowly walks over to Triton's throne; squeaky voice) Yes? [clears throat] Uh, yes, Your Majesty?
  Triton Sebastian, I'm concerned about Ariel. Have you noticed she's been acting peculiar lately?
  Sebastian: Peculiar?
  Triton: You know, moaning about, daydreaming, singing to herself... You haven't noticed, hmm?
  Sebastian: W-well, I-I-I—
  Triton: Sebastian...
  Sebastian: Hmm? (Triton gestures for Sebastian to come closer; the crab nervously obeys)
  Triton: I know you've been keeping something from me...
  Sebastian: (Big Gulp) Keeping... something?
  Triton: About Ariel?
  Sebastian: [trembling] Ariel?
  Triton: In love?
  Sebastian: I TRIED TO STOP HER, SIR! SHE WOULDN'T LISTEN! I told her to stay away from humans! They are bad! They are trouble! They are...
  Triton: Humans? WHAT ABOUT HUMANS?!
  Sebastian: Humans? [chuckles nervously] Who said anything about humans?
• The film Coco features a more subtle example of this trope. Throughout the film, Miguel is under the impression that Ernesto de la Cruz is his great-great grandfather. We don't learn until late in the film that it's actually Héctor. Upon a rewatch, several conversations are seen in a new light, most notably are the exchanges between Miguel and Imelda. Neither of them are aware that they're talking about two different people.
• Pinocchio: While Pinocchio and Geppetto are in the belly of the Monstro the whale and it seems there's no chance of escaping, Geppetto invites Pinocchio to help him start a fire to cook some of the tuna he caught. This inspires Pinocchio to build a fire to make Monstro sneeze them out, but Gepetto initially thinks he's just really hungry for fish.
  Geppetto: It's hopeless, Pinocchio. Come, we'll make a nice fire and we'll cook some of the fish.
  Pinocchio: A fire! That's it!
  Geppetto: Yes, and then we'll all eat again.
  Pinocchio: A great, big fire! Lots of smoke!
  Geppetto: Smoke? Oh, yes, sure. Smoked fish will taste good.
  Pinocchio: Quick, some wood! (hands his father some firewood and grabs a chair)
  Geppetto: Pinocchio, not the chair!
  Pinocchio: (smashes the chair) Hurry, Father, more wood!
  Geppetto: Oh! W-What will we sit on if we...?
  Pinocchio: We won't need it! We're getting out! (throws a lantern onto the wood, setting it ablaze)
  Geppetto: Getting out? But how?
  Pinocchio: We'll make him sneeze!
  Geppetto: Make him sneeze?! Ohh, that will make him mad...
• The Nightmare Before Christmas:
  • When Jack has Santa Claus in front of him, Jack thinks he has made Halloween Town merry and is recreating Christmas his own way so Santa Claus can take a break from working this year. However, on Santa Claus's end, he has been suddenly kidnapped and brought out to see a town full of monsters, saying they are taking over his holiday and he is taking a vacation in a less innocent way. Seeing Jack's perspective first, the audience can understand that Jack means no harm but one can see why Santa is more alarmed and his interpretation may appear more accurate.
  • There is Sally and Jack's conversation after Sally has her vision and Jack is too swept up in his plans for Christmas.
    Jack: Sally, I need your help more than anyone's.
    Sally: You certainly do, Jack; I had the most terrible vision.
    Jack: That's splendid!
    Sally: It was about your Christmas! There was smoke and fire—
    Jack: That's not my Christmas; my Christmas is filled with laughter and joy, and this! [Jack shows Sally a sketch of his "Sandy Claws" outfit] My Sandy Claws outfit. I want you to make it.
    Sally: Jack, please listen to me, it's going to be a disaster!
    Jack: How could it be? Just follow the pattern. This part's red, the trim is white.
    Sally: It's a mistake, Jack!
    Jack: Now, don't be modest. Who else is clever enough to make my Sandy Claws outfit?
• Monsters, Inc.: While Sulley is getting beat up by an invisible Randall, Mike shows up to apologize for their falling-out earlier and misinterprets his friend's pleas for help as a reaction to his speech.
  Sulley: Mike?
  Mike: Look, it's not that I don't care about the kid.
  Sulley: Mike, you don't understand—!
  Mike: Yes, I do. I was just mad, that's all. I needed some time to think. But you shouldn't have left me out there!
  Sulley: (gets pinned to the wall) I-I'm being attacked!
  Mike: No, I'm not attacking you. I-I'm trying to be honest. Just hear me out! Look, you and I are a team. Nothing is more important than our friendship. (Boo tries to get his attention) I-I-I know, kid. H-He's too sensitive.
  (Randall starts strangling Sulley, who gasps wheezily)
  Mike: Come on, pal. If you start crying, I'm gonna cry, and I'll never get through this. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. But I am now. (beat) Hey, Sulley, I am bearing my soul here! The least you could do is pay attention!
  (Mike angrily throws a snowball at Sulley and hits Randall; Sulley can now see him and knocks him cold with a backhand)
  Mike: Hey, look at that. It's Randall. It's... (realization dawns) Ohhhhh...

Films — Live-Action

• Air Force One: After being cornered by a terrorist aboard Air Force One, the president starts boasting about the plane's defensive capabilities. Unbeknownst to said terrorist, he's also using a sat-phone hidden in his back pocket to tell the plane's escorts to invoke said defenses.
  General: He's asking us to [fire at] Air Force One?
  Bennett: He isn't asking. Your commander in chief has issued a direct order. DO IT!
• Happens in American Psycho during Patrick's date with Jean. During the whole date Patrick is going back and forth if he should kill Jean, ultimately he uses an unexpected phone call from his fiancé Evelyn as an excuse to send Jean on her way. He tells Jean that he can't control himself and that he might hurt Jean. Jean thinks he's talking about them having sex and him hurting her emotionally by returning to Evelyn. To the audience it's clear he will kill her if she stays.
• The Bill Murray movie The Man Who Knew Too Little is ninety-four solid minutes of this trope. Bill Murray plays a naive American tourist in London who gets mixed up in a real-life espionage plot- all the while believing that everything going on around him is some kind of hip, experimental, audience-participation theater event.
• Catch Me If You Can: Frank tells Brenda's father he isn't a doctor or lawyer but just a kid in love with his daughter. Brenda's father assumes Frank's being sentimental.
• Happens twice in Deep Impact. First, This occurs early in the film when Jenny is asking Allen Rittenhause about "Ellie" in connection with his resigning as U.S. Treasury Secretary. She assumes the name is a woman he was having an affair and he assumes that she knows that "Ellie" is really "ELE" (Extinction Level Event)—information on the upcoming comet impact. He thinks she is asking him about his discussions with the President about the comet and she thinks he is just talking about an extramarital affair.
  Jenny: [to herself after finishing the interview]: "Biggest story in history"? What an ego!
  • Then, Jenny is brought to a private meeting with the President, who spells out ELE. Jenny realizes something is off but smartly acts like she knows more than she really does and the President thinks she's figured it out. Thus, the President figures that if she "knows," it's only a matter of time before others do and agrees to have Jenny be the first person he calls on at the press conference announcing all this.
• Moulin Rouge!: When Christian and Satine are talking in the Elephant, he's trying to read his poetry to her, but she thinks he's talking about sex.
  Satine: A little supper? Maybe some champagne?
  Christian: I'd rather just, um.... get it over and done with.
  Satine: Oh! Very well. Then why don't you... (lies on the bed) come down here. Let's get it over and done with.
  Christian: I prefer to do it standing.
  Satine: Oh!
  Christian: You don't have to stand, I mean... It's sometimes... it's quite long. And I'd like you to be comfortable. It's quite modern what I do and it may feel a little strange at first, bu.. but I think if you're open, then... then you might enjoy it.
  Satine: I'm sure I will.
• In Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Alex's boyfriend starts complaining about Charlie, causing the distraught father to think that Charlie is some kind of pimp. It doesn't get any better when Alex takes over:
  "I am so relieved! It's been killing me, you not knowing all these years. I- Daddy... Natalie, Dylan and I are a team. And we just took on 12 sailors. You can't even imagine the positions we get ourselves into. Daddy, I wish you could watch us work. You'd be so proud. I'm gonna take a shower because I am covered in- Well, you can only imagine what. And then when I get back, I am gonna give you... a full blow-by-blow."
• Happens twice in My Cousin Vinny: The first case is a Mistaken Confession, second is a pure instance of this trope. Vinny is introducing himself to his cousin's friend and preparing to represent him in court, but he thinks Vinny is a prisoner preparing to rape him.
• Can't Buy Me Love - A heartbreaking one on the night Cindy starts to fall for Ron, a detail of which he's utterly oblivious. She's talking about making love, he's talking about their impending fake breakup...
  Ron: Um, there's something really important we need to discuss.
  Cindy: I was wondering when you'd bring this up!
  Ron: I'm new at all this. I'm going to have to rely on your experience.
  Cindy: Well, let's just do it naturally, you know, with no planning.
• Carry On loved doing these.
  • In Carry On Henry, King Henry meets Bettina, who's just returned from her family trip to Spain. They both discuss dancing customs over there as they dance:
    Bettina: You see, there's these two things...
    King Henry: Yes. I'd noticed those.
    Bettina: They call them "castanets".
    King Henry: Oh, that's a new name for 'em!
    Bettina: And all the time you're dancing, they keep knocking together.
    King Henry: Yes, I'd noticed that too.
  • In Carry On Camping, Peter Potter visits a farmer to collect some milk, stating that he'd met his (now-pregnant) daughter on his last visit to the area:
    Peter: I came here once before, you know.
    Farmer: Oh, you did, eh?
    Peter: Yes, but you weren't here, though. Just a young lady, and she gave me a bit.
    Farmer: Oh, she did, did she?!
    Peter: Yes. And it was very nice too. That's why I've come back for some more.
    Farmer: By gum, you've got a nerve!
    Peter: Oh, don't misunderstand me, please. I-I'm quite willing to pay for it this time.
• In the Get Smart movie, Max attempts to drop hints in the bakery that he is trying to find the secret base hidden underneath. The lady he's speaking to, however, believes she is being hit on and responds that she has a boyfriend, but could make an exception, and the flour sacks in the back are very comfortable.
  Max: I don't think we're quite on the same page...
• A lot of Fight Club is like this (though it's impossible to tell without knowing the big plot twist near the end).
• There's Something About Mary: Ted thinks he's being questioned about picking up a hitchhiker when a detective asks about his "friend in the car"; it's actually the dead body said hitchhiker left in his trunk:
  Detective Krevoy: Well, uh, can you tell us his name?
  Ted: Jeez, I didn't catch it.
  Detective Stabler: So he was a stranger? It was totally random?
  Ted: He was the first hitcher I saw, what can I tell you? Now cut to the chase, how much trouble am I in?
  Detective Stabler: First tell us why you did it.
  Ted: Why I did it? I don't know. Boredom? I thought I was doing the guy a favor.
  Detective Krevoy: This wasn't your first time, was it, Ted? How many we talking?
  Ted: Hitchhikers? I don't know - fifty... a hundred maybe - who keeps track? Hey, I know this is the Bible Belt, but where I come from this is not that big a deal.
• Played straight in Fiddler on the Roof when Lazar Wolf wants to ask Tevye for permission to marry his daughter, but since Lazar is a butcher, Tevye assumes he wants to buy Tevye's milk cow. See the entry under Theater.
• Done in a totally non-comedic fashion in Shutter Island when Teddy Daniels finds George Noyce. Noyce actually gives away the entire, cruel Twist Ending: that Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis (who Teddy believes is responsible for his wife's death... and he's right), that he's an inmate of the asylum, and that the entire "investigation" is just a game for Teddy's benefit. Teddy, however, is so wrapped up in his delusions that he can't understand anything Noyce is saying (except for the bit about experiments in the lighthouse, which, ironically, are Noyce's delusions), and the audience is so trusting of Teddy's subjective point of view that they can't appreciate Noyce's words until the movie's over.
• In Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Jesse's foster brother Elvis lies to their foster parents and says he saw Jesse kissing a girl. Leads to a hilariously awkward conversation in which Glen is trying to give Jesse The Talk while Jesse, unaware of Elvis' lie, thinks he's warning him about the actually dangerous thing he was doing (swimming with Orcas) and responds accordingly, which just leads to greater confusion for both of them. Only when Glen says "it" can lead to sex does Jesse figure out they're not on the same page.
• Applied liberally in Roberto Begnini's Johnny Stecchino, where many, many people converse with Dante on the actions of his Identical Stranger, the titular mob informant which he is unwittingly playing Body Double for, while Dante himself is talking about something much more innocent, like the banana he stole.
• A heartwarming example in Life Is Beautiful: For the second half of the movie Guido, along with his wife Doris and son Giosuè, are sent to a concentration camp. Guido goes to great lengths to prevent his son from developing trauma from this by preventing him from finding out that they're there to work to death, instead making him believe these jobs are all part of a game, and the prize for winning is a tank. At the end of the film, the Nazis have fled the camp after killing anyone they can find, and the Jews all leave, until only Giosuè remains, his father convincing him to hide. Just as Giosuè leaves his hiding space, an American tank rolls in to camp, and the drivers take him with them until they find his mother. Giosuè still believes what his father told him, and believes that the tank was theirs, so as he is reunited with his mother, he happily cries out that they won, while his mother says the same thing, only she is referring to the fact that they survived.
• Les Grossman's infamous exchange with Flaming Dragon in Tropic Thunder. They're a group of warlords trying to ransom a hostage, and he thinks they're a rival talent agency trying to sign his biggest star. Possibly subverted in that Grossman's approach probably wouldn't have been any different had he known they were warlords.
  Grossman: "Take a step back and literally FUCK YOUR OWN FACE! I don't know what kind of Pan-Pacific bullshit power play you're trying to pull on me, but Asia, Jack, is my territory. So whatever you're thinking, you better think again! Otherwise I'm gonna have to head down there and I will rain down an ungodly fucking firestorm upon you! You're gonna have to call the fucking United Nations and get a fucking binding resolution to keep me from fucking destroying you. I'm talking about scorched earth motherfucker! I will massacre you! I WILL FUCK YOU UP!"
• In Touch Of Pink, Alim and Giles discuss a man who's played an important role in their lives. Giles talks about the guy he's been sleeping with, Alim talks about his imaginary friend, and both are surprised that the other already knows.
• In Being There (both movie and source novella), the vast majority of the conversations Chance the Gardener has with other characters turn out as this due to their preconceived notions about him — because he looks and sounds like a cultured businessman, that's what he's assumed to be, rather than the mentally-challenged gardener he actually is.
• In Billy Wilder's The Emperor's Waltz, the Emperor is suggesting the breeding of two poodles. The general he is talking to believes they are discussing an Arranged Marriage for his daughter.
• In Enemy of the State, Dean weaponizes this trope. Early in the movie some Chekhov's Gunmen Mafiosi confronted him about a tape being used as evidence in a legal case he was on. In the main plot of the movie an acquaintance had slipped Dean a tape with evidence of murder by an NSA agent. When Dean has finally figured out the plot but got captured by the NSA, he tells the NSA agents that the Mafiosi have the tape they want. A meeting is arranged and the NSA and Mafia play out this trope. They end up murdering each other rather thoroughly, never realizing that they were talking about two completely different tapes.
• A very unusual musical version is done in the little-seen French film Les jolies choses (Pretty Things) (2001): towards the the end, Lucie who is really Marie pretending to be her famous sister, as Lucie committed suicide performs in a concert and sings the title song, the lyrics of which include her addressing someone named "Lucie" angrily ("tu peux partir, je ne t'aime pas"—you can leave, I don't love you) and then eventually saying "mais toi, c'est moi" (but you are me) and ending on a bittersweet loving note: "les jolies choses, c'est la mort...maintenant Lucie dort, maintenant, Lucie, dors" (the pretty things are death; now Lucie is sleeping, now, Lucie, sleep). The audience is cheering and singing along, thinking it's just a hypothetical song referring to herself and employing poetic license, entirely missing the Lyrical Dissonance and not realizing she's really talking about her twin's suicide, first expressing anger at her selfishness and then realizing her love for her and forgiving her and finally wishing her peace. It's actually really powerful.
• Used repeatedly, between varying people, in Ruthless People, to glorious effect. A Gold Digger thinks she send her boyfriend a blackmail tape with him murdering his wife, but it's a man having loud sex with a prostitute. So the boyfriend calls the girlfriend thanking her for sending him the tape and promising to do the same thing to her. This makes the girlfriend fear for her safety and send the tape to the chief of police... who turns out be the man in the tape, and while she thinks she's just helping him with his investigation, he thinks she's blackmailing him with the tape to arrest her boyfriend.
• In Oscar, Snaps browbeats Anthony into marrying Lisa by convincing him that his tailors, the Finuccis, are really hired killers. When they later brag about their success (a photo of a murdered gangster wearing one of their suits) and offer to make him a suit, Anthony thinks they're the ones who killed him and are threatening to do the same to him.
• In Bernie, Bernie tries to confess to one of his friends that he'd killed an old lady. He uses such elliptical terms that she thinks he's admitting that he's gay, and assures him that everybody loves him, just the way he is.
• In Clue the other guests trick the cop who happens by into believing that he's accidentally crashed an impromptu party, rather than stumbled into a potential crime-in-progress, but Wadsworth is unaware, as he's taking a phone call from J. Edgar Hoover. When he believes the jig is up, he tries to explain, only for the trope to come into play.
  Cop: It's a free country, don't you know that?
  Wadsworth: I didn't know it was that free!
• In Woman of the Year, Tess tries to tell Sam that she's adopted Chris, a Greek refugee child; Sam thinks she's trying to tell him that she's pregnant.
• In The Gay Divorcee, Mimi and Guy discuss Guy's profession a couple of times. He's a professional dancer, but Mimi thinks he's a gigolo.
  Mimi: Don't think you fooled me for a moment. I knew what you were all along. I knew how you made your living.
  Guy: Oh, I'll admit I'm not proud of it, but I hope to do better someday. And in the meantime it does bring me in a decent income.
  Mimi: Some people will do anything for money.
  Guy: It's not as bad as all that. After all, I bring pleasure to thousands of people.
  Mimi: Thousands?
  Guy: Yes, tens of thousands. I bring romance to tens of thousands of shop girls, servant girls, stenographers...
• Monte Carlo: Paul is Helene's hairdresser, but Rudolph thinks he is her kept lover. Paul rhapsodizes about how beautiful Helene looks in her negligee and mentions that he switched hotels at her request—"Well, you know what one will do to please a woman!" His only complaint is that she has no money...
• The Force Awakens: Towards the end between Kylo Ren and his father Han Solo. Han is talking about bring his son home, while Kylo (aka Ben) is talking about killing Han.
  Kylo Ren: It's too late.
  Han Solo: No, it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you.
  Kylo Ren: I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?
  Han Solo: Yes. Anything.
  • Another, slightly less traumatic example toward the beginning when Kylo is talking to Lor San Tekka—particularly the line "You cannot deny the truth of your family" and the reply "You're so right." Lor San Tekka is referring to the fact that Kylo's parents are Han and Leia and his uncle is Luke Skywalker, while Kylo is thinking more of his grandfather Darth Vader. Though in this case, both were likely aware they were referring to different people.
• Free and Easy: After getting hired as a comedy star at MGM, Elmer tries to confess his feelings to Elvira, but since he Cannot Spit It Out he resorts to awkward circumlocutions—"What would you say if a certain movie star proposed to you?"—and Elvira thinks that Elmer is being The Matchmaker on behalf of Larry Mitchell, a movie star. As a result, Elmer does not get the girl.
• Home Alone: The Holiday Heist: When Finn asks for advice on how to handle the villains, his web friend thinks he's talking about a new game.
• In The Help, at the charity event, a slightly drunk Celia genuinely attempts to congratulate Hilly for winning the chocolate pie at the auction. Hilly misinterprets this as Celia knowing about Minnie's prank and mocking Hilly publicly about it. Hilly proceeds to react viciously.
• EuroTrip: Jamie is receiving a blowjob from a sexy clerk behind a camera store in Amsterdam when a mugger approaches him from behind to demand his wallet at knifepoint. Since the girl is concealed by a dumpster from the mugger's line of sight, he's rather weirded out when Jamie doesn't care, gives him his wallet, then makes various suggestive comments like "Yeah, you take all of it, you dirty girl!"
• Happens with disastrous consequences in Don't Breathe: when the robbery begins, Money confronts the Blind Man and is asked what the robbers want. Money says that they know what’s in the basement and aren’t leaving without it, referring to the money they think is stored there. The Blind Man promptly flips out and begins trying to murder the robbers because he doesn’t have money in his basement; he has a kidnapped woman imprisoned there and thinks the robbers know too much.
• Occurs quite frequently in the British crime comedy The Baker. A Hitman with a Heart has a hit put out on him when he tries to retire from the life, forcing him to go into hiding. The place his friend finds to hide him out turns out to have been an old bakery in a small village, meaning the hitman has to pose as a baker in order to keep undercover. Through a tangled web of miscommunications, the villagers come to believe that he is a hitman posing as a baker, and so keep entering his shop ordering "cakes" for their various enemies — but the hitman, thinking they just think he's a baker, keeps thinking that they're genuinely ordering baked goods, and so starts learning to bake in order to keep up the charade. And, of course, the more baking he does, the more he begins to enjoy the life of a baker...
• In one scene of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Borat speaks to a pregnancy-center pastor, asking him to "remove a baby from his daughter" after Borat had "put the baby in her while giving her pleasure behind a dumpster". This causes the pastor to think that he wants an abortion caused by an incestuous pregnancy, but actually, Tutar simply accidentally swallowed a baby figurine that was on a cupcake. She ate it behind a dumpster because in (the movie version of) Kazakhstan, it's illegal for women to have treats.
• Buck Privates: At the beginning, Slicker and Herbie try to hide from the cops in a movie theater, unaware that it's been converted into a draft board, and they inadvertently enlist the Army. They probably would have found out sooner had their conversations with the staff not made them think they were seeing a movie and signing up for Bank Night.
  Herbie: Hey, usher! Hey, you! What picture's playing in here?
  Guard: You're in the Army now.
  Herbie: Good, I never saw that picture.
  (the two enter the draft board)
  Voice on P.A.: Calling Dr. Coldwater! Calling Dr. Coldwater!
  Slicker: What's this "Calling Dr. Coldwater"?
  Herbie: Must be a double feature.
  Slicker: Ah, yes.
  Corporal: (approaches them) Draftee?
  Herbie: No, not a bit. Do you feel it?
  Slicker: No.
  Herbie: I feel very comfortable in here.
  Corporal: (chuckles) Right over there.
  Slicker: Hey, come on! Let's register before the drawing starts.
  Herbie: (to a another recruit) You think you're gonna win, eh?
  Sergeant: Step right up, boys! Sign right here, please.
  Herbie: "Please"? Boy, what polite ushers.
  Slicker: Quiet! (signs his paper)
  Sergeant: And, uh, let me have your signature right there, please.
  Herbie: I'd be delighted. (signs) And I hope I win!
  Sergeant: Well, congratulations, men! We're glad to have you in the Army.
  Both: Thanks! (beat) WHAT?!
• From Four Lions comes an exceptionally dark example - Omar is a suicide bomber, who has hidden his explosives under a bulky novelty charity costume as part of a marathon-running cover story, enabling the following exchange:
  Marathon supervisor: You're going to die in that suit!
  Omar: Probably, but it's for a good cause.
• Played for drama in Glass Onion. Andi comes across Whiskey crying about something involving her boyfriend Duke and, thinking that they broke up, assures Whiskey that Duke was a bad person who deserved what he got. Unfortunately, Duke has just been murdered, and Andi's well-meaning but blunt comments give Whiskey reason to assume that she's the one who killed him.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: Waymond finds the divorce papers on the floor and asks Evelyn if she knows about them. Evelyn assumes he's talking about the instructions Alpha Waymond wrote on the back and the two of them have a rather confusing conversation and it isn't until after Evelyn punches Diedre that she realizes Waymond was talking about divorce and knows nothing about alternate universes.
• Mutiny on the Buses: When Jack messes with the radio control system, Blakey's attempts to reach him and Stan causes him to end up on the same signal as two policemen. When one of the policemen talks about tarts they have been eating, Blakey assumes it is Stan and Jack talking about tarts they've picked up.
• Up the Front: After entering Monique's (a brothel) believing it to be the Medical Officer's residence, Lurk tries asking for her to help his cut finger, while Madame Monique believes he is trying to pull her.

Folklore

• There's a Jewish folktale about a silent debate between a Jew and the Pope that works this way.
  • All four of the silent debates featured there are like that.
• There's another one in which the uneducated deaf-mute of Chelm defeats a Cossack who had gone to the University of Krakow. It is also silent, but it has a completely different set of misunderstandings.^note  See "The Jar of Fools" for more.
• The Grimm fairy tale "Dr. Know-All" features a somewhat similar setup, in that while one character either talks to someone else entirely or to himself, he's misinterpreted as speaking to someone else entirely and far more intelligently.

Literature

• The Apothecary Diaries: Jinshi discovers that Maomao has been slated to be fired due to being distantly connected to a criminal. Jinshi can destroy the evidence and let Maomao stay, but he doesn't want to force her to stay if she'd rather leave and knows she'd stay if he in some way ordered her to do so. Maomao herself would prefer to stay as the job lets her pay off her debt that could be used to sell her off, but also doesn't want to be seen as too desperate. When Jinshi asks Maomao what she wants to do, she states she will do any job that is "ordered" with the implication that she wants to say. However, Jinshi believes she was just following his "orders" and wants to be laid off, so he allows her to be fired.
• Ben Safford Mysteries: In Unexpected Developments, a member of a court-martial board that adjudicated the aftermath of a plane crash is found dead with an envelope with a Saudi embassy postmark (the dead pilot is a Saudi trainee) and a lot of money inside. Safford has a brief, cryptic conversation with the Saudi ambassador about the envelope. Later, it turns out the Saudis never bribed the officer and that their previous conversation was filled with misunderstandings due to the prickly nature of the affair, making both men too careful with their words. The Saudi ambassador thought he was being used as a scapegoat and was agreeing to help the American government save face in exchange for future concessions. Safford thought that the ambassador was admitting to the whole affair and saying that the American government couldn't afford to make a big fuss about it.
• In the German best-seller Er Ist Wieder Da (Look Who's Back), Hitler wakes up in 21st century Berlin and struggles to get back on his feet in spite of modern society. From that point on, this trope is in full effect, as everyone sees the guy as a brilliant Hitler-themed method actor and satirist who never breaks character, while Hitler at the same time is convinced that he is experiencing a glorious comeback from obscurity, because nobody ever bothers to tell him what a hilariously bad reputation he has in modern-day Germany, thinking that went without saying and he is just taking Refuge in Audacity.
  TV Exec: One more thing, Mr. "Hitler". The topic "Jews" is not funny.
  Hitler: I couldn't agree more! Finally I meet someone who fully shares my sentiment!
• Carrot and Angua's discussion of affirmative action hiring practices in Men at Arms. Carrot admits Angua was probably accepted to the Watch, and Vimes probably isn't happy about this, because she's a w... and Angua interrupts in outrage. Carrot (and, at this point, the reader) thinks Angua was hired because she's a woman; Angua, thinking (correctly) that it's more likely she was hired because she's a werewolf, assumes Carrot knows this. The resulting conversation makes sense both ways.
  • They have a conversation at the end of Feet of Clay where she thinks he's asking her to stay with him and stay in the city, but he's actually asking her if she'd like to volunteer at a museum with him. Her feelings are briefly hurt when he says he just assumed she'd say yes but it's all the same to him if she doesn't and she shouldn't think he'll lose sleep over it, before she realizes that they're having two different conversations.
• Harlequin novel Christmas In Cold Creek has two daughters of a con artist (for the younger one's safety from her real mother, the older one claims to be her mother) settling in Idaho. The older one, Becca, thinks the attractive local police officer has found out her "daughter" isn't really hers. Instead, he's concerned about the little girl's "illness" which turns out to be a con job.
• This pops up in Jane Austen's works:
  • In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs. Jennings watches a conversation between Colonel Brandon and Elinor and assumes he is proposing to her, and afterwards offers the younger woman her sincere congratulations. The Colonel had actually been offering a job as his estate's resident clergyman to Elinor's friend Edward, and asking Elinor to act as go-between in the offer because the two men have never met. Elinor and Mrs. Jennings don't realise they're on different pages until their second conversation about it. They both have a good laugh once it's cleared up.
  • In Emma, Emma and Harriet discuss the man with whom Harriet has fallen in love after he gallantly came to her rescue, but each is thinking of a different man. Harriet is talking of Mr. Knightley, who asked her to dance after she was snubbed, but Emma thinks they are talking of Frank Churchill, who rescued Harriet from a band of gypsies.
• Harry Potter:
  • Prisoner of Azkaban has pretty much everything the title character, Sirius Black, says leading up to The Reveal near the climax. In the backstory, after betraying Harry's family to Voldemort (who meant to kill baby Harry but only managed to off the kid's parents) and killing his other former friend Peter Pettigrew (in an explosion that also killed a dozen Muggles), all Sirius did was laugh. Before inexplicably escaping Azkaban, he was repeatedly heard saying "He's at Hogwarts" in his sleep. When Harry and company finally meet him, Sirius says "There'll be only one murder here tonight" with a grin when Ron warns that Sirius will have to go through him and Hermione to get to Harry. Then he says "I don't deny it" when Harry mentions that Sirius killed Harry's parents, and "I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for" after revealing that Peter is still alive. But as it turns out, Sirius intends to avenge Harry's parents by killing Peter, the real traitor. In truth, though Sirius had started out as the Potters' appointed Secret-Keeper (meaning that nobody could find the Potters unless he revealed their location), he later convinced them to make Peter the Secret-Keeper instead, under the assumption that nobody would suspect Peter. After Peter betrayed the Potters, Sirius blamed himself for their death (hence "I don't deny it") and hunted the traitor down for retribution. When found, Peter loudly accused Sirius of betraying the Potters, then faked his own death by creating the aforementioned explosion and leaving his severed finger at the scene of the crime before fleeing in the form of a rat. This also explains Sirius's unhinged laughter when he was apprehended: he was distraught to the point of incoherence at Peter's betrayal and the Potters' murder.
  • Goblet of Fire: Snape accuses Harry of stealing Polyjuice ingredients from his office, but words it in such a way that Harry thinks he's talking about the time Hermione stole those ingredients two years ago for the Polyjuice Potion in Chamber of Secrets. In fact, Snape is talking about a much more recent (and plot relevant) theft, but Harry (and therefore the reader) doesn't learn this until the end of the book. The confusion is helped by the fact that Harry is innocent of the more recent theft, so he doesn't have the necessary frame of reference to realize what Snape really means.
  • Half-Blood Prince: A short-lived one occurs when Ron accidentally eats a candy laced with love potion by Romilda Vane (originally meant for Harry, but Harry was wise enough not to eat it.) Ron then starts going on about how amazing "she" is, and Harry assumes he's talking about his current girlfriend, Lavender, until Ron lets slip that "she doesn't even know who I am".
• A sinister example in the Ruth Rendell novel, The Lake of Darkness. One character is trying to do a good deed with a pool win, and is offering to buy a house for another character and his mother in the country. The other character thinks he's being hired as a hitman.
• Pritkin and Cassie have a brief one in Hunt the Moon. Cassie believes they're talking about how Mircea considers Pritkin a danger to her physical well-being, while Pritkin believes she's speaking of Mircea's distrust of Pritkin as a potential romantic rival.
• The Monk: Don Christoval is just trying to be nice. Leonella swears he wants her.
• Played for Drama in The Traitor Game. What cements Michael's suspicion that Francis had betrayed their secret is Francis, noticing that he is acting strange, asking "is it because you found out about...?". Michael thinks that Francis is talking about Evgard, and nods. Francis thinks that Michael found out that he is gay.
• How to Survive a Horror Movie describes this sort of conversation as a common symptom of being Dead All Along and recommends that people who find themselves having strangely vague conversations try asking trivia questions.
• In the third book from The Legend of Sun Knight, Knight-Captain Hell goes to see his vice captain Tyler, who has been acting captain since Hell was sent on a mission years ago, and with whom Hell has never met before. Tyler thinks that they are arguing over who should rightfully be leading Hell's squadron, as Hell has been gone and Tyler is the one who has completed all of his duties for a number of years. Hell is only trying to confirm that he's talking to the right person, and then confess that he's not the person who was actually appointed as Hell Knight, but rather was tricked by Sun into filling in for the position after the real Hell Knight quit. Tyler mistakes the confession for Hell agreeing that he shouldn't be able to return after years of absence and claim command of the squadron.
• The Way of Kings (2010): Played for Drama in The Reveal at the end of the book. Throughout the book, Dalinar has been having visions in which he thinks he's having Cryptic Conversations with God. After a disaster caused by following what he thought was advice, he demands a direct answer in the next vision, and completely fails to get it. It turns out that the visions aren't conversations at all, they're a magical recording, an Apocalyptic Log. God can't talk to him because God Is Dead and the end of the world is about to commence.
• In The Lunar Chronicles, the conversation between the titular character and Prince Kai during their dance at the ball was this. Cinder thinks he's talking about her being a cyborg, but he was actually talking about Cinder's stepsister's recent death.
• A hilarious conversation between Elinor and Carlyon at the start of the The Reluctant Widow by Georgette Heyer. Carlyon thinks Elinor has answered his advertisement for a woman to marry his cousin, while she thinks he's discussing a governess position.
• In Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle, Krulcifer deliberately lets her butler Alterize think that she and Lux are having sex. Alterize goes to Lux to ask the truth, but without explicitly using any words relating to sex. The thing is, Lux has been receiving private tutoring from Krulcifer every night, and thinks that's what the conversation is about. He therefore not only confirms that they're doing "it", but says that Krulcifer is very good (at teaching) and that they're doing "it" all over the school.
• Dave Barry recounted a friend of his picking up his wife from the hairdresser's but getting caught in a traffic jam. Seeing his impatient irritation, she asks if he likes it (her new haircut), and the husband naturally thinks she's talking about the traffic jam, responds "Not at all."
• In the short story, Story Of A Curse, while stopping by a Planet of the Week, a starship captain has sex with a Girl of the Week after exchanging what he thinks are sweet nothings. When she objects to his leaving her with their child, he reminds her that she had been as eager as he was in their liaison, that he had never seen anyone freer. However, this was because what, to him, were sweet nothings were actually wedding vows in her culture, and the woman is understandably devastated to find that he never had any intention of honoring them.
• In Born A Crime, Trevor Noah recounts an episode in his native South Africa where his dance team was performing at a Jewish school. Their star dancer was named "Hitler". None of the dancers understood the emotional significance of that name in Jewish culture. When one of the teachers raged at them, Noah thought she was offended by their dance moves, and nothing they said cleared up the confusion.
  Teacher: We've stopped people like you before, and we'll stop you again!
  Trevor: Lady, you can never stop us!
• In the Ciaphas Cain ^note  Hero of the Imperium! novel The Emperor's Finest, Cain's Girl of the Week Mira is the Planetary Governor's daughter who wants to marry him for a political maneuver. Cain fails to realize her intentions until he accidentally agrees to it, to a truly ludicrous extent.
  • When receiving orders that interrupt their private time together, Mira assures him that one day, he'll be powerful enough to refuse them. Cain appreciates the optimistic outlook on his career.
  • Upon boarding a Space Marine battleship, Mira tells Cain that she intends to be married soon. Cain concludes that she's looking for a Space Marine husband. Incidentally, Space Marines are sterile.
  • Even their breakup conversation has shades of this. Cain tells Mira that as much as he wants to stay with her, he can't. His narration reveals that he would like to leave the soldier's life because he's less likely to be killed in action, but as a Commissar, he can be executed for desertion.
• Ranger's Apprentice: During Horace's wedding to Cassandra/Evenlyn, Horace and Will are standing at the altar when Cassandra enters to walk down the aisle with her chief bridesmaid (and Will's own girlfriend) Alyss walking close behind her. Mesmerized by the sight of his wife-to-be walking his way in her wedding day finery, Horace soon says 'She's so beautiful' in reference to Cassandra. Will subsequently responds, "Yes she is" in seeming agreement with Horace...except he's already been revealed to the reader not too long before this response to at that moment only have eyes for Alyss and thus is thinking about how beautiful she is when he responds to Horace's comment.
• The conversations between Willow and Terter Abhao in Always Coming Home often come out as that, due to their different views on both property and behavior (plus Terter’s poor grasp of the Kesh language).
• The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman has an early scene where Galva, a knight who doesn't natively speak the language and is Literal-Minded and mostly chaste besides, is staying at a bathhouse when a maid offers her "company". She fails to get the innuendo so thoroughly that the maid thinks she's just not interested in women and suggests a "stablehand" instead, meaning a male courtesan. Galva's from a culture that loves horses, and since they've gone nearly extinct in this world, she eagerly agrees to see the stablehand. There follows a long, awkward conversation about "mares" and "stallions"...
• The Impossible Us: A very short example, as Bee interprets "Don't wait" as encouragement to pursue love but Magda later reveals that, if she said it at all, it was advice on taking out the recycling.

Live-Action TV

• 30 Rock:
  • In an episode where Liz is having trouble with her boyfriend and Jenna is thinking of getting an Important Haircut. More a jab at Jenna's self-centeredness than anything:
    Jenna: Liz, you seem really stressed out. You want to talk about what's going on?
    Liz: I just hope it's not a mistake.
    Jenna: Well maybe it is, but you have to listen to your heart.
    Liz: Why meddle with something that was great?
    Jenna: Oh, Liz, it'll grow back.
    Liz: What?
    Jenna: We're talking about my hair, right?
  • One episode revealed Tracy had never heard of the Google search engine and had been using "google" as an Unusual Euphemism for something else. Cue flashback:
    Tracy: Liz Lemon, you mind if I google myself in your office?
    Liz: Sure, Tracy!
    Tracy: Can I use your computer?
    Liz: How else are you going to do it?
• 3rd Rock from the Sun often uses this trope.
  • A memorable example occurred when Harry realized Tommy had grown taller than him. So they went to an enlargement clinic, not realizing, of course, that it was a penis enlargement clinic. Hilarity Ensues.
    Tommy: So he used to be bigger than me, but then my aunt realized that I'm the bigger one now. He can't stand it. He makes me measure him like five times a day.
  • In another episode, Harry's pet from the Home Planet came to Earth as a human and destroyed one of Sally's shoes. Meanwhile, Don thinks that Sally is pregnant.
    Dick: [on the phone about Sally's shoes] Well, it's my sister's problem, why don't you talk to her! [hangs up] So Don, what brings you here?
    Don: Sally's... "problem".
    Dick: Oh, it's no big deal. It's just going to cost me a lot of money, that's all.
    Don: Do you know who's responsible?
    Dick: Of course. Harry watched the whole thing happen. His best friend did it.
  • In another episode, Harry and Nina started dating after he took her to the dentist to get her wisdom teeth out. Meanwhile, Harry hears about the tooth fairy and decides to leave Nina some money under her pillow for the removed wisdom teeth. Nina finds it just as they're about to have sex:
    Nina: What's this?
    Harry: Oh, you weren't supposed to find that 'til tomorrow morning!
    Nina: You left me twenty bucks?
    Harry: Well, that's the going rate, isn't it?
    Nina: GOING RATE?!
    Harry: Well, yeah! Five bucks a pop! That seems pretty reasonable to me!
  • In the episode "Proud Dick," Harry loses his memory. He freaks out when he discovers that the other members of his family are aliens, not realizing that he's an alien as well.
    Sally: Ah, dinner! Let's eat, Harry.
    Harry: Did you just say, "let's eat Harry"?
    Sally: Yeah, we're hungry, so it's time to eat, Harry.
    Harry: Eat Harry. I see. Could I just have a moment please?
    Sally: Whatever.
    Tommy: Would you hurry it up? I'm starving!
• Abbott Elementary: Two instances in the Valentine's Day Episode:
  • Janine asks Melissa for advice about a student who has a crush on her. Jacob overhears part of the conversation, assumes Janine knows their coworker Gregory has feelings for her, and jumps in. Back-and-forth between Jacob and Janine continues until Jacob says Gregory's name, forcing Janine to clarify that she meant her student Donnie, and to contend with how Gregory apparently likes her.
  • Gregory comes to Janine's classroom to ask for advice. When he mentions that Jacob must have already told her, she assumes he is talking about his feelings for her and replies that it's complicated. He responds that it shouldn't be complicated. It takes a while for her to realize that he's talking about Legos he got his girlfriend for Valentine's.
• A frequent occurrence in 'Allo 'Allo!. One notable example is when a group of Nazi generals (poorly) disguised as French peasants are having a secret meeting to invade England at the protagonist's bar... at the same time as a group of downed English pilots disguised as French peasants are to have a meeting with the resistance at that bar on how to escape from occupied France.
  English Pilot: Ah, chaps! Soon we'll be in England!
• Angel
  • In "Disharmony", Harmony comes to visit Cordelia in LA. Cordelia hasn't seen Harmony since graduation, and doesn't know she's a vampire. So when she wakes up to Harmony lurking in her bedroom, and Harmony apologizes for her "urges," well... Cordelia thinks she's saying she's a lesbian, while Harmony is apologizing for nearly killing Cordelia.
  • Happens in a more comedic way in "Carpe Noctem", in which a man pulls Grand Theft Me on Angel himself - Cordelia tells him to talk to Fred about her crush on him, and because of her gender blender nickname, he assumes Angel is gay, and later mistakes Wesley for the "Fred" she spoke of. He also initially gets the wrong idea when Cordelia says they're going to "the hotel" together.
• Arrested Development:
  • A staple of the series. Sometimes the narrator likes to rub it in:
    Narrator: At no point were Michael and Maeby talking about the same person. And there were only four people in their group.
  • In another example, George-Michael develops a crush on his teacher. His Aunt Lindsey, however, completely misreads his feelings and assumes that he wants said teacher to fill the void left by his mother's death. In what she thinks is one of her best speeches, she offers to be what he wants his teacher to be, leaving him with a look of squick on his face.
• Barney Miller: In the episode, "You Dirty Rat," Sgt. Fish (just diagnosed with a kidney stone) is speaking with an exterminator called in to deal with a marijuana-eating rat:
  Exterminator: They could run up and down these walls for years, and you'd never know it. . . there goes two of 'em now.
  Fish: (getting up in pain) Oh boy! (continues to the restroom)
  Exterminator: Did you hear something?
  Fish: No, they don't make any noise.
  Exterminator: Sometimes they don't. . . . Sometimes, they can go in and out so fast, you never even know they been there.
  Fish: If they're very small.
  Exterminator: Right! If they're big, they'll tear you to pieces.
  Fish: (long pause) Oh, my God!
• The Big Bang Theory: Sheldon and Amy have just had their theory confirmed, but the others think they just had sex:
  Amy: You guys will never believe what just happened.
  Raj: Yeah, we heard. You did it.
  Sheldon: We did do it.
  Amy: And we didn't even know we did it!
  Howard: Wait, what?
  Sheldon: Two physicists in Chicago had to tell us.
  Leonard: Wait, what?
  Sheldon: Their experiment on kaon decay supported our predictions on the higher order corrections pertaining to super-asymmetry.
  Penny: Wait, what?
• The A Bit of Fry and Laurie sketch "My Dear Boy". It's actually a subversion; the punch line of the sketch is that they were talking about the same thing all along.
• A dark, *dark* variant in the last episode of Blake's 7, and a literal example of Poor Communication Kills. Blake assumes he's explaining the situation. His second in command, Avon, assumes he's confessing to a betrayal. It doesn't help that his behaviour towards Avon's fellow crewman Tarrant has been equally open to misinterpretation. The conversation goes something like this:
  Avon: Stand still! Have you betrayed us? Have you betrayed *me*?
  Blake: Tarrant doesn't understand.
  Avon: Neither do I!
  Blake: I set all this up! (What he means is that he's set up an anti-Federation network and wants Avon to join. The paranoid Avon thinks it means that Blake has set him up.)
  Avon: Yes...
  Blake: Avon, I was waiting for you...Before he finishes, Avon shoots him.
• This happened in an episode of Blossom in which Joey's dad has a (very indirect) talk with him about some drugs he found in his room. Joey knows nothing about the drugs and thinks his dad found condoms in his room. Hilarity Ensues.
• Boardwalk Empire:
  • Frankie Yale will often claim he was "visiting a friend" as a euphemism for an assassination.
  • In "Two Boats and a Lifeguard", Nucky Thompson takes Owen Sleater aside to question Owen about what he was doing when Nucky got shot, at a time when he was supposed to be on duty. Owen says that he was visiting an old friend and lost track of the time. Nucky pointedly asks him if, by any chance, that friend was from Ireland. A look of worry crosses Owen's face, because he actually encountered two people from Ireland that day: that afternoon, he met and killed Del Grogan, an old acquaintance of his. Then that evening, he had sex with Margaret, Nucky's mistress. He worries that Nucky has found out about the latter incident, and is going to have him killed for it. Owen breathes a sigh of relief when Nucky clarifies that he's referring to the assassination, and uses this to segue into asking Owen to arrange a meeting with the IRA for a business deal.
• Bones: There is an episode where they find the remains of a female victim. They get info that she was seen in an apartment often in the company of overweight men. Booth and Sweets interview her husband. He tells how proud he was of her and that she was so good he was able to quit his job. He tells how she could unhinge her jaw and had no gag reflex. He even saw her once make "a foot-long wiener disappear". Booth and Sweets are shocked until they learn she was a competitive eater, NOT a prostitute.
• In Bottom, Eddie gives Richie his birthday present; a slip of paper with the words "Madame Swish, 3.30" written on it. It's a horse that Eddie's received a good tip on and is planning to put money on. Richie thinks it's referring to... something else. The conversation gets... confused.
• On Boy Meets World Cory and Eric have one of these where Cory thinks Topanga told Eric that she is pregnant and Eric thinks that Cory is talking about Topanga's diet, which is what she actually told Eric about.
• The Brady Bunch: In the episode "Mail-Order Hero," Bobby lies to his friends that he knows Joe Namath, and when they don't believe him, he and Cindy send Namath a letter claiming that Bobby is very sick so he'll come to visit. When Namath does visit, Bobby plays sick in bed, and then Namath goes downstairs and meets Mike and Carol, who know nothing about Bobby's feigned illness. In the ensuing conversation, Namath thinks Mike and Carol are talking about their son's illness, while Mike and Carol think he's talking about Bobby's real dilemma of having lied to his friends, and Namath thinks the parents are disturbingly cavalier about their possibly dying child. ("Well, when you have six kids, something like this is bound to happen to one of them.")
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • Done for rare dramatic effect. Buffy and Xander go to talk to Spike, who seems distracted and occasionally says things that don't make sense. Since he's been a bit nuts since getting his soul back, we don't think anything of it. Then we see that Willow is also there, having unconsciously cast a spell that prevents her and the other Scoobies from sensing each other at all.
  • Likewise when Buffy discovers her little sister Dawn isn't what she appears to be. To Buffy it sounds like Dawn is making an Implied Death Threat, whereas she's just snarking at her big sister as usual.
  • In the Season 2 episode "Phases", Xander confronts Larry the bully about his secret, which Xander can understand because he's been there before. Xander's talking about being a werewolf. Larry's talking about being a closeted homosexual. Later on in the episode, Buffy and Xander chat about the day's events, and Xander says he'll have trouble ever looking at him the same way again. Buffy's talking about the werewolf, Oz, but Xander's talking about Larry.
  • When Willow starts discussing Buffy's secret affair with Angel in Season 3, Xander immediately deflects the discussion to their sordid tryst. This proves to be consistent behavior between Willow and Xander throughout the season; the stress of being caught cheating is so overwhelming, they keep blurting out psuedo-confessions to anyone in sight.
• In an episode of Castle, Beckett asks the victim's therapist what problems led him to see her. She said he had battled depression, which led to an eating disorder: "His diet was horrible. Scraps from the garbage... dead birds, even his own feces." After a beat, Castle realizes she was actually talking about the victim's dog.
• An early episode of Cheers has this conversation between Diane (talking about meditation) and Rick (talking about sex):
  Diane: Wait a minute. Don't say that it's not the answer until you've tried it.
  Sam: Diane...
  Diane: Excuse me. My name is Diane and I have done this for years. I'll tell you I would be happy to teach you how to do it.
  Rick: Well, Diane, this is very kind of you but I don't think...
  Diane: No, no no. Please do me the favor of trying it with me.
  Rick: (To Sam) Is she serious?
  Sam: Oh yes. She's serious. She does it all the time. She just said so.
  Diane: That's right.
  Rick: (pointing to Sam and Diane) Do you...?
  Diane: Are you kidding? Him? He would just make jokes.
  Rick: Well, okay then. Okay! What time is good for you?
  Diane: Well, personally I like to get at least half an hour of it in before breakfast. But look, anytime is all right with me.
  Rick: Golly, I like you.
  Diane: You know there is something so beautiful about experiencing it outdoors.
  Rick: Don't people stare at you?
  Diane: Yes, sometimes, but they end up learning something. Sometimes people even join in. You know, all this talk had gotten me so excited. Hell, let's do it now!
  Rick: Outside?
  Diane: Oh, oh no, it's a little cold and I prefer to take my shoes off. Um, Sam, could we use your office?
  Sam: Wait a minute. I'm sorry, I let this go too far.
  Diane: (while walking with Rick to the office) No, no, we don't need to hear from Mr. Skeptic. Rick here is after something and I can show him where it is.
  (They enter Sam's office. Beat. Slap!)
• Dear God, all the time on Coupling. The show frequently structured entire episodes around such miscommunications, often showing the same conversation two or three times over from different perspectives.
  • Notable examples include: Sally thinking Patrick's girlfriend is stepping out on him with Jeff, while Patrick's girlfriend (who's bisexual and in favor of an open relationship) thinks Sally is hitting on her; Patrick flirting with Jane's therapist, with each one believing the other is gay; and the telephone mess involving a phony bar full of Australians and "Giselle, the French bitch" that leads to Susan and Steve's break-up.
  • One favorite is when the guys are having a conversation with Sally's date. He's a butcher, but Sally told everyone he's a surgeon, so they are all shocked when he explains that she's one of his regulars and even more shocked when he states, "Well, you know how it goes. Just a few good cuts and you have the woman of your dreams."
  • The episode The Girl with Two Breasts showed Jeff's attempt to flirt with a beautiful Israeli woman. Despite the language barrier (Jeff only speaking English, her only Hebrew) it appears to go well. The story then rewinds to show it from the woman's perspective (her speaking fluent English, him a gibberish faux language). The word he assumed to be her name is revealed to be Hebrew for "breasts". It only goes downhill from there.
  • 9 1/2 Minutes shows the same short period of time from three different perspectives, with almost every conversation in the episode falling under this trope. The new character of Oliver runs a comic shop. Other characters mistakenly believe him to be a gynaecologist, which makes many of his statements (the shop name "Hellmouth"; John Hurt's chest-bursting scene in Alien being "the reason I got into this business") inadvertently horrifying.
• Daredevil: In an early episode of season 1, Matt shows up to the office sporting a nasty bruise over his right eye from a fight with the Russians. Foggy and Karen ask him what happened and Matt shrugs, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I wasn't paying attention last night. It was my fault." Matt is talking about how the Russians had lured him into a trap that he narrowly got out of alive, while Foggy and Karen are led to assume that he accidentally tripped or walked into a door, and Foggy suggests he get a seeing eye dog.
• Death in Paradise: In "Murder on the Honoré Express", Florence's new boyfriend stops by the station to meet her colleagues. The only one there is J.P., who thinks Patrice is Dwayne's replacement. He asks Patrice if he is the "new guy", and Patrice replies "I suppose him". J.P. then goes to say that he hads big shoes to fill, how much Florence misses the last guy, and how he needs to "keep things warm" till Dwayne gets back.
• Desperate Housewives:
  • In the season 5 episode "What More Do I Need?", Lynette thinks that Tom is using the warehouse where his garage band rehearses to have sex with another woman and confronts him. It actually happens that their son Porter is using said warehouse for that. When Lynette confronts Tom, Tom thinks that she's speaking about Porter's affair. Once Lynette realizes what Tom's referring to does she realize in horror that Porter is having sex with the mother of one of his best friends (much to Tom's shock, as well).
    Lynette: Liar.
    Tom: What?
    Lynette: I always knew things could change between us, Tom, but no matter what, the one thing I always thought I'd get is your respect.
    Tom: Lynette, what's going on?
    Lynette: I followed you to the warehouse. I know everything.
    Tom: [laughs] Oh, boy.
    Lynette: Yeah, at this point, I think I'm gonna need a little bit more than that.
    Tom: You're right. I shouldn't have kept this from you. And... you know, for what it's worth, I wanted to bring you in on it.
    Lynette: Huh?
    Tom: But I was afraid you'd overreact.
    Lynette: That's what you were afraid of?
    Tom: Hey, I'm upset, too. But let's face it. Boys will be boys.
    Lynette: I think I have to sit down now.
    Tom: Lynette, are you really surprised? It's not the first time this has happened. And it definitely won't be the last.
    Lynette: You know what? I have to kill you now.
    Tom: Well, he's your son, too!
    Lynette: Who?
    Tom: Porter!
    Lynette: What are you talking about?
    Tom: I found out Porter's been hooking up with some girl at our warehouse! What are you talking about?
  • In the season 6 episode "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues", Carlos notices that Lynette's breasts have gotten bigger. This is because she's pregnant with twins and hiding that from him so as not to jeopardize the promotion he just gave her. In the ensuing conversation he has with her, she's led to believe that he's found out the truth...and breathes a sigh of relief once she realizes Carlos merely thinks she got breast implants.
    Carlos: Sorry, Lynette. I just... [sighs] I know.
    Lynette: You know what?
    Carlos: Your little secret.
    Lynette: Oh, god, you know about the twins?
    Carlos: Well, I mean, yeah. I have eyes.
    Lynette: Okay, first of all, this was not planned.
    Carlos: It wasn't?
    Lynette: God, no! Tom and I went out to dinner, he got me drunk, and the next thing I knew...
    Carlos: Ah. So Tom's responsible for all this.
    Lynette: Well... who else?
    Carlos: God, you are such a good wife. I wish you'd talk to Gaby, get her to jump on the bandwagon.
    Lynette: Doesn't Gaby already have her hands full with the two she's got?
    Carlos: Mnh, they're okay. I always thought we could do better.
    Lynette: What?!
    Carlos: You know, Gaby really looks up to you. If she knew you got a boob job, she might consider it.
    Lynette: Boob job?
    Carlos: Sorry. Breast enhancement. Just give her the name of your doctor. He did great work.
• Dexter: At one point, Dexter is presented with some of his blood slides. He thinks he's been found out, but he doesn't know that the slides were found in Doakes' car, so everyone actually thinks he's the Butcher. The conversation proceeds with Dexter thinking he's confessing, but he is thought to be giving his professional opinion of what the slides are. He learns just in time what's really happening, and avoids revealing the truth.
• Dharma & Greg. Shortly before Dharma and Greg's "official" wedding, Dharma and Jane are planning to install a shower into the apartment's bathroom. Kitty calls:
  Dharma: You know what, I'd love to, but my maid of honor and I are just out the door trying to get stuff for a shower.
  Kitty: You're having a shower?
  Dharma: Yeah.
  Kitty: When?
  Dharma: Well, we're hoping today.
  Kitty: Today? Well, you just can't do it like that! I mean, how are people supposed to know about it?
  Dharma: I just figured they'd just open the door and - bam! - there'd it be!
  Kitty: Oh, you... unusual girl. Is your mother going to help you?
  Dharma: Yeah, she read up on it in one of those Time-Life Books.
  Kitty: Oh my god!
• In The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Now Now, Anthony Stone", Sally has a new boyfriend, but Rob and Buddy feel she's hiding something about him from them. Laura talks to Sally, who reveals that her beau's a mortician, and she's reluctant to tell her friends because she's worried they'll make fun of her. At the same time, Rob and Buddy discover the guy is married, leading to an amusing conversation between Rob and Laura:
  Rob: Wait'll I tell you what I found out!
  Laura: I found out, too.
  Rob: You did? How?
  Laura: Sally told me.
  Rob: Sally told ya?!
  Laura: Well, of course, Darling, don't you remember? That was the point of the whole luncheon.
  Rob: You mean Sally knows?
  Laura: Well, naturally.
  Rob: Well, she doesn't care?
  Laura: Oh, not too much.
  Rob: Well, I can't' believe that!
  Laura: Well, see, what's she really afraid of is that people will kid her about it and make jokes.
  Rob: Jokes?! Honey, I don't see that that's anything to joke about!
  Laura: Gee Rob, you must be one of her square friends.
  Rob: Square?! Is that what you call it? You call it square?!
  Laura: You're really making an awful lot out of nothing.
  Rob: WHAT?!
  Laura: Well Rob, darling, just because she's dating a mortician, it's really-
  Rob: A what?
  Laura: I thought you said that you found out?
  Rob: He's a mortician too?
• Family Matters: In "Paradise Bluff", Harriette was complaining about her husband Carl's bland barbecue technique, so she left him a magazine article on barbecue recipes. Carl thought she wanted him to read the "Rate Your Mate" article a few pages over. The scenario climaxed in a hilarious conversation packed to the brim with double entendres where Harriette was talking about barbecue, but Carl thought she was talking about their sex life:
  Carl: I read your magazine article. And if you had a problem, why didn't you just come to me?
  Harriette: Oh, Carl. I'm sorry. I was just trying to be helpful. I thought it might be fun to try something different.
  Carl: Oh, so you're saying that I'm boring.
  Harriette: Not you, just your technique.
  Carl: Harriette!
  Harriette: Well, what's the big deal? I talked it over with Laura, and she agrees!
  Carl: You talked it over with Laura?!
  Harriette: Sure, she's part of the family! Carl, it's just that you do the same thing over and over, all summer long, every single Saturday.
  Carl: Well, excuse me, but I think once a week is pretty darn good considering my back problem! And besides, you can help, you know.
  Harriette: Well, I would, but you always want to be in control! I thought if you got your act together, we could invite the neighbors over!
  Carl: Invite the neighbors over?!
  Harriette: Well, why not? It's not like it's a big secret! They know what we're doing! They're doing the same thing, only better!
  Carl: Just how do you know that?
  Harriette: Because Marge gave Ted the article and he's cooking up a storm. You should taste his burgers!
  Carl: What's that supposed to mean?
  Harriette: What I said. You should taste his burgers when he barbecues.
  Carl: (pause) Barbecue? We're talking about barbecue here?
  Harriette: Yeah. What did you think we were talking about?
• Fawlty Towers:
  • In episode "The Psychiatrist", Dr. Abbott, the titular psychiatrist asks Basil about holidays. He thinks Abbott is asking about sex (because that's what psychiatrists are "all obsessed with").
    Dr. Abbott: We were just speculating how people in your profession arrange their holidays. How often you can get away. (Basil isn't listening)
    Basil: Hm?
    Dr. Abbott: How often do you manage it?
    Basil: Pardon?
    Dr. Abbott: How often can you and your wife manage it? You don't mind my asking?
    Basil: Not at all. Not at all. About average, since you asked.
    Mrs. Abbott: Average?
    Basil: Mm-hmm.
    Dr. Abbott: What would be average?
    Basil: Well, you tell me.
    Mrs. Abbott: Well, um, couple of times a year?
    Basil: What?
    Dr. Abbott: Once a year? Well, we knew it must be difficult. My wife didn't see how you could manage it at all.
    Basil: Well, as you've asked, two or three times a week, actually.
    Dr. Abbott: A week?
    Basil: Yes. Pretty normal, isn't it? We're quite normal down here in Torquay, you know?
  • In "Basil the Rat", the Major sees the titular rat in the hotel bar and brings a shotgun to shoot it.
    Basil: Do you need any help, Major?
    Major: Don't move! Vermin.
    Basil: (rolls his eyes) We haven't got any, this week, Major.
    Major: Hmm?
    Basil: No Germans staying this week, Major. May I have that? (reaches for the gun)
    Major: Goin' to shoot him, Fawlty.
    Basil: Yes, Major?
    Major: Hmm?
    Basil: Not- not legal actually, any more, murder.
    Major: But they're animals, Fawlty!
    Basil: Oh, yes, yes. Still, forgive and forget, eh?
    Major: Forgive 'em?
    Basil: Well, pretend we do.
    Major: But they spread disease, Fawlty. He was sitting there, on that table, eating the nuts, if you please.
    Basil: He's really gone this time...
• The Flash (2014) has this throughout Season 3 whenever Barry talks to Savitar. Whenever he is asked who he is, Savitar responds with "I am the future, Flash." Although Barry takes this as a boast from Savitar about how powerful and influential he is in the future, he eventually realizes that the actual quote is "I am the Future Flash." Savitar is really a future version, or more specifically a time remnant, of Barry and that he's been giving away his identity for months.
• Frasier does the equivalent of moving from Newtonian Physics to Quantum Mechanics to this trope. About a third of the episodes from later seasons are built on this.
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: In "You'd Better Shop Around," the Banks family is playing a game as a bonding thing. Ashley speaks of a scenario in which she describes a teenage girl not enjoying the forced activity. Philip, taking it to mean how Ashley feels and getting insulted, responds by angrily telling her to leave until Vivian points out that Ashley was reading from the card.
• Friends:
  • Chandler ends up thinking that Monica intends to get breast enlargement surgery, while Monica thinks Chandler is freaking out about her becoming pregnant. As a result, Chandler barges in and asks that Monica not change at all - she responds that not only her breasts will swell (as a result of pregnancy) but also her hands and feet as well. They talk for a bit, getting more and more confused, until eventually Rachel mentions the baby and they realize what the other was talking about.
  • On another episode, Rachel reads a book about female empowerment that refers to women's power as their "wind", which is constantly stolen by men. Ross asks her if she's ready to go to the movies and she says no, she will not let him steal her wind. Ross hasn't read the book and has no clue what she's talking about.
    Ross: Excuse me, your, uh, your wind?
    Rachel: Yes, my wind. How do you expect me to grow if you won't let me blow?
    Ross: (nervous) Y-you know I don't... I don't have a problem with that.
  • There was also a variation when Joey accidentally proposed to Rachel when he found Ross's engagement ring. Rachel tells Phoebe about Joey's proposal, while Phoebe thinks Ross was the one who proposed.
    Rachel: I think I just got engaged.
    Phoebe: So he finally asked you.
    Rachel: Wait, you knew he was going to ask me?
    Phoebe: Are you kidding? I'm the one who talked him into it.
    Rachel: But is it a good idea?
    Phoebe: Of course. Everyone thinks you're perfect for each other.
    Rachel: Really? Even Ross?
    Phobe: Especially Ross.
• In one episode of Full House, the family, believing that Rebecca had told him she was pregnant, congratulated Jessie on having a baby. Jesse, however, thought they were talking about a big upcoming gig he had gotten. It got really hilarious when Jesse said that it resulted from natural talent and him constantly practicing in garages, living rooms, etc. (causing Danny to cover D.J and Stephanie's ears), followed by him wanting them to be there cheering for him all the way.
• Game of Thrones: Stannis talks to Shireen about having to make a difficult choice and needing her help. She assumes that he needs a pep-talk and supports him, but he tells her that she has no idea what he's actually talking about. He's apologizing for his intent to sacrifice her to R'hllor.
• The Good Life: Barbara has a conversation with a window cleaner in which she offers to pay for his services in kind (meaning vegetables or milk) but he thinks she's suggesting something else entirely.
• The Green Green Grass: Boycie is talking to the local MP. Boycie thinks it's about him getting a knighthood for a charity donation. The MP thinks it's about gay sex...
• Grounded for Life: Uncle Eddie is confronting Lily's boyfriend because he thinks he got her pregnant. It turns out they just got tattoos together.
• In the Hannah Montana episode "No Sugar, Sugar", Miley and Lily think Oliver has a crush on the school nurse when they see him give her a box of chocolates, when in fact he's diabetic and the nurse was confiscating the chocolates for his health. They go to the nurse's office to talk about Oliver, but the nurse thinks they're here because Oliver told them about his diabetes and grosses them out with her poor choice of words.
• Played with, as a technique, in House. The characters will often hold two conversations simultaneously, seamlessly seguing from Conversation A to Conversation B, replying, and then seguing back to Conversation A. Lather, rinse, and repeat. However, every time, everyone knows what the other person is talking about, as Conversation A is about the medical case, and Conversation B is usually the cast social dynamics.
• How I Met Your Mother:
  • In "Sorry, Bro", Marshall needed a new pair of pants and Lily brought them to the workplace, only to run into Barney. Barney being Barney assumed she was there to give Marshall something else. Their conversation ends with Barney thinking that Lily wanted him to give Marshall that "something else."
  • Also in "Mary the Paralegal", when Ted and Mary are retiring to their hotel room. Mary, who really is a paralegal, has no idea that Ted thinks she's a prostitute hired by Barney:
    Ted: I feel kinda like Richard Gere.
    Mary: Not shy about your looks, are you?
    Ted: You know, Mary, I've never, ah, done this before.
    Mary: Done what?
    Ted: You know... been "on a date".
    Mary: Right... wait, you're kidding, right?
    Ted: No. Why, is that so odd?
    Mary: Well, Ted, I've been going on dates since I was fifteen.
    Ted: [appalled] God, you were just a kid! Well, look, let's just... have a few drinks... we'll relax...
    Mary: Yeah, that sounds great. I had clients riding me all day long.
    Ted: Must be tough.
    Mary: Yeah, I mean, this one guy just wouldn't leave me alone. I mean, talk about anal!
    [Ted is horrified]
  • And again in "I'm Not That Guy", when an interviewer from an adult magazine mistakenly calls Ted instead of the porn star who shares Ted's name. Ted thinks he's being interviewed for an architecture magazine:
    Ted: Wow, I've been reading your magazine since I was a little kid!
    Interviewer: Oh. ...That's a bummer. Anyway, I'm calling to interview you about your latest project.
    Ted: Well, I don't want to say it's my project—I'll be working with at least three partners.
    Interviewer: Oh. Group scene. Always fun.
    Ted: Yeah, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I mean, I know they're gonna ride me pretty hard, but they're great guys...
    Interviewer: Guys? Whoa, there's a scoop!
    [cut to Ted at the bar later, having realized his mistake]
    Ted: That interview went on for twenty more minutes.
    Lily: [reading from the interview] "This project was so demanding, I can't tell you how many nights I spent bent over a table."
• iCarly: In iEnrage Gibby, when Carly is talking to Mr. Klemish, she thinks they're talking about a bad review of Spencer's sculptures, while Mr. Klemish thinks they're talking about Spencer's fake death.
• An episode of the Russian medical sitcom Interns has two of Bykov's interns: Lobanov and Romanenko, get together for a drink. Why? Lobanov overheard Bykov and Kisegach (Romanenko's mother and the hospital administrator) discussing her pregnancy with Bykov's child, which Romanenko doesn't know about. Meanwhile, Romanenko is asked by Lobanov's ex-wife Olga to tell Lobanov that she's pregnant from the one night when they got back together. They start talking about kids and how great they are, trying to lead up to the big news. Romanenko ends up dropping the bomb first. Lobanov is too shocked to do the same and leaves. Later, he calls Romanenko on the phone and tells him.
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia:
  • This type of conversation happens between Charlie and Mac in the season 3 episode "Mac is a Serial Killer." Charlie thinks they are talking about Mac's murderous activities and Mac thinks they are talking about the person he is dating.
  • In the tenth season episode "The Gang Spies like U.S.," Frank and Charlie look at Mac and Dennis's search history and find searches for "Asian cream pies." Charlie then confronts Mac and Dennis about it, thinking they're trying to go into the pastry business with the Chinese fish factory across the street. It takes them a while to figure out the miscommunication.
• On one episode of Just Shoot Me!, Maya gets Elliot a game system for his birthday, while Recurring Character Persky got him sex toys as a gag. Unbeknownst to either of them, Dennis has switched the two gifts. Thus, Elliot interprets Maya's invitation to play a few games as her wanting to engage in S&M (saying that she's going to beat him and make him cry certainly doesn't clear things up any), while Persky thinks Elliot wants to do the same.
• One skit done by Key & Peele has Key and Peele texting each other, with Key mistaking Peele's text for rude and apathetic, when Peele mistakes Key's texts for calm and casual. As this escalates, Key begins thinking they're starting a fight, while Peele believes they're going to the bar.
  Key: [angrily] You wanna go—
  Peele: "—Right now"? Hmm. Guess I could do that.
• In one episode of Last Man Standing, Mike and Ed have a discussion about a ring Mike found in Kyle's pocket, with Mike thinking that Kyle wants to propose to Mandy and Ed thinking it's about his plan to propose to his girlfriend.
• An episode of Leverage, "The Three Nights of the Hunter Job", has a very brief example. The mark for the episode, a journalist, has been steered towards a politician to ask about an alleged government project called "Destiny". The Destiny that he thinks she means is his favourite stripper.
• Mako Mermaids: An H₂O Adventure: Sirena's first phone conversation is one, as she's confused by the box on the wall ringing, then talking to her after she presses the glowing button.
  Sirena: Wow, you sound like a real boy!
  David: That's because I am a real boy.
  Sirena: (frowns) You don't look like one.
  David: Gee, thanks. You sound familiar.
  Sirena: Really? I've never spoken to you before.
  David: Yes, you have. Is that Sirena?
  Sirena: How did you know?!
  David: It's David, at the café!
  Sirena: (examines the phone more frantically) How did you get in there?!
  David: ...Through the door like always?
• Matador has a rather amusing example. The Varnæs family is talking about Hitler's death, when Misse steps in a mentions a death. The Varnæses assume she's talking about Hitler too, but it turns out that she's talking about her husband, Professor Andersen.
• In an episode of The Middle, Brad asked for Mike's advice on whether or not he should reveal a certain unspecified secret to Sue. Mike responded under the assumption that he was talking about coming out of the closet, and didn't find out until later that he was talking about something else entirely.
• Mimpi Metropolitan: One morning, Mami Bibir realize that Melani is the only one who can influence Alexi, so she congratulates Melani on her "new life". Melani thinks Mami Bibir has found out about her secret relationship with Bambang and asks her to keep the "new life" a secret. It's only at the end of the scene that Melani realize that Mami Bibir is giving her a job as Alexi's advisor.
• Modern Family:
  • Claire tries to encourage Haley to break up with her dim boyfriend Dylan, using an analogous couple in the soap opera they're watching. Haley thinks Claire's talking about her own marriage, which happened to start out the same way.
  • Also happened when Luke read Haley's diary on the computer, but Claire thought he had stumbled across pornographic pictures.
  • And again, when Gloria is trying to apologize to Claire for accidentally sending a rude email, and Claire is talking about the kids walking in on her and Phil having sex. By the end of it, they think Gloria is offering a threesome with them.
  • After Jay accidentally insults a pair of vacation acquaintances, Gloria tells them he's going senile. Then they try to talk to Manny about it, beginning with "We hear he's a little off his game," which gets Manny thinking they're talking about Jay's golf skills ("He does swear a lot. The worst is when he goes in the woods.").
  • And again, after Phil sticks an advertisement for his business (selling houses) on his van, that makes his wife and Haley look like hookers, and gets a lot of phone calls as a result: "Well, I think the carpeting matches the drapes; I haven't checked in a while. Both of them? Wow. But I guess that makes sense if you're planning to flip one."
  • In another, Phil invites a guy at the gym over to watch a football game while his family is out of town. He doesn't realise that the gym is mostly frequented by gay men, and the other guy spends the whole evening thinking they are about to hook up.
• My Name Is Earl:
  • Earl and Joy had sex right before Joy and Darnell's wedding rehearsal. Earl wants to tell Darnell the truth, but Joy convinces Earl to let her tell Darnell. She lies and says that Earl slept with Darnell's mother. Darnell attacks Earl, and Earl's attempts to calm him down just make Darnell angrier. The kicker being when Earl says "I didn't get mad when you slept with her!"
  • Earl is expressing concern about Randy, who has run off to prove he can make it on his own. Catalina is expressing concern about Mr. Turtle, who has gotten lost after Joy accidentally drives to the Crab Shack without him. Hilarity Ensues as Earl thinks Catalina is talking about Randy, too.
  • In the arc where Earl is in a coma, and fantasizing that his life is a perfect Dom Com from The '50s, Earl and Randy do some Out-of-Context Eavesdropping on Billie and Joy. They come to the conclusion that Billie is talking to Joy about a gigolo that she's hired...when in actuality, she's referring to an obstetrician.
• My Wife and Kids: Michael listens to his daughter and her boyfriend talk about mini-golf. He thinks they're talking about sex, much to his horror.
• The Nanny:
  • In "The Playwright", Brighton comes home from the first day of Junior High never wanting to go back. Fran asks him why, and he says that he noticed in the gym locker room that he's smaller than everybody. Fran thinks he's referring to penis size. It's revealed later in the episode he's talking about his height, when he begins to talk about his friends that are 5 feet and one that is 6 feet. Awkwardness ensues when Fran tells Maxwell, who then has an "little talk" with him — well not little because the talk may grow later.
  • In "The Nose Knows", Fran stops seeing her therapist Dr. Miller after she notices him picking his nose. However, Maxwell is led to think that Dr. Miller sexually harrassed her.
    Maxwell: Ah, Sylvia. If you're looking for your daughter, she's on her way to therapy.
    Sylvia: No, she's upstairs. She's not going to that doctor anymore.
    Maxwell: Oh, why? What happened?
    Sylvia: Well, he did something very inappropriate. She doesn't want me to tell you. She's afraid you'll overreact.
    Maxwell: Well, what did he do?
    Sylvia: Let's just say he put his hand some place he shouldn't have.
    Maxwell: Oh, my God! And nobody's gonna do anything about it?!
    Sylvia: What're you gonna do, call the police? They would have to arrest every man on the subway.
• In New Girl, Jess finds out Cece has a crush on someone and through Out-of-Context Eavesdropping is lead to believe it's Nick. Nick is frustrated because Cece keeps asking him to buy a popcorn machine for the bar. Jess confronts Nick about Cece, but he thinks it's about the popcorn machine.
  Nick: You got to really get in there and scrub it out. It's disgusting. You know, 'cause of the daily wear and tear and... oil and grease just cooking in there... It's enough to make a man barf thinking about it. I mean, they get really hot.
  Jess: I know what temperature it gets.
  Nick: Hot.. But if I'm being honest, you know... And I haven't talked to her about this... but... I do have good memories associated with the smell. Ball games, the circus, hanging with my dad.
  Jess: Listen here, you idiot. I've known Cece a very long time, and I can promise you the smell will not be a problem.
  Nick: That's really easy for you to say 'cause you're not the one who's gonna have to remind her to clean it all the time.
• The Office (US):
  • In the episode "Andy's Ancestry," Darryl and Nellie watch (but can't hear) Pam and Jim having a serious discussion on the other side of a glass wall. Darryl knows that they're talking about a potential new business opportunity that Jim had been keeping a secret from Pam, but Nellie assumes Jim is having an affair:
    Nellie: You know what this is all about.
    Darryl: Yeah. You too, huh?
    Nellie: Yeah. [watching Jim] Go on, spill it. Tell her all the gory details, you snake!
    Darryl: Hey! He deserves this. And he said I could get in on it too. Yeah.
    Nellie: Ohhh, Pam, nooo! Oh, I can't bear to watch this.
  • In the episode "Stress Relief", Jim and Pam watch a romantic comedy with Andy in the break room. Pam's parents are taking a break from each other, and her Dad is currently living with them. She appears distracted and upset. While Andy watches the film, Jim tries talking to her about it. Andy presumes they're discussing the film.
    Jim: [to Pam] He was pretty talkative at breakfast.
    Andy: Yeah… but… eh… breakfast? You mean when they were eating soup? I don’t think that was breakfast. Unless soup, does soup symbolize breakfast?
    Pam: So he doesn’t share it with his daughter but he shares it with his daughter’s fiance?
    Andy: You guys, they’re making out.
• Psychopath Diary: In-woo tells Dong-sik he knows what he's doing and he can't deal with Ji-hoon on his own. Dong-sik is planning to kill Ji-hoon and thinks his plan has been discovered. In-woo actually means the anonymous post Dong-sik made about Ji-hoon.
• Queer as Folk (US):
  • Subverted between Brian and Justin in an episode. They are both aware of the fact that their discussion concerns two different things at once (namely, whether Brian should accept Justin back on his firm, and whether they should resume their relationship).
  • In another episode, Brian and Michael are very upset about the night before; Brian because Babylon was closed down and Michael because he found out that Melanie and Lindsey had broken up months ago without telling anyone. Hilarity Ensues:
    Brian: How could you eat after what happened last night?
    Michael: You're telling me! Steam's still coming out of my ears.
    Brian: My heart's broken. My soul - crushed.
    Michael: How do you think I feel?
    Brian: The insensitivity. You know, it's amoral, that's what it is.
    Michael: You're telling me.
    Brian: How could they do this?
    Michael: You were right. Never trust munchers.
    Brian: Munchers?
    Michael: Mel and Linds!
    Brian: What the hell have they got to do with it?
    Michael: Who do you think's responsible?
    Brian: For closing Babylon?
• Radio Enfer: Jocelyne and Giroux have a discussion before taking part in a stage show. The former is talking about her relationship with her husband Gilbert, while the latter is talking about having difficulties concerning the one line he's supposed to say during the stage show. By the end of it, Jocelyne is under the impression that Giroux agreed to go on a date with her in order to make Gilbert jealous.
• Played for drama between Dov and Chris in the second season of Rookie Blue where they open and honestly promise to compete for everything. Chris merely thinks the conversation is about promotions and so forth. Dov on the other hand, is in love with Chris's girlfriend.
• Sanford and Son: In "Have Gun, Will Sell", Fred and Lamont scare away an attempted burglar and after noticing that he'd left his gun behind, they try to sell it at the local pawn shop, but the owner thinks they're trying to rob him.
• The Scrubs episode "My Own Private Practice Guy". JD thinks Dr Cox is jealous of the time he's spending with Dr Fischer - he actually hates Fischer for having an affair with Jordan.
  Dr Fischer: But you've gotta know, I never made the first move.
  JD: That's a lie! You bought me a latte!
• During the episode "Imperfect Harmony" of Selfie, Henry is trying to decide between exploring his feelings for Eliza or staying with his girlfriend Julia, while Raj is trying to decide on a song for karaoke night.
  Raj: Have you decided what you're going to do?
  Henry: No. The truth is I have never felt more conflicted in my life. On there one hand there's this... complicated, beautiful but let's be honest, slightly dangerous option.
  Raj: "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani.
  Henry: Exactly. And I don't know if I can pull that one off. And then there's this warm, safe familiar option that feels very non-threatening and *looks at a picture of Julia*... easy.
  Raj: "Uptown Girl", by Billy Joel?
  Henry: The thing is, Raj, I've been doing "Uptown Girl" my entire life. And a part of me, a big part of me wants to try something different, something out of my range. I like Hollaback Girl more than I should.
  Raj: Its a great song.
  Henry: I may have even grown to love it. And even though it's scary, and uncertain and several people in this office have performed it on other occasions...
  Raj: I'm told two different people did it at last year's party.
  Henry Two...? Still, I would never forgive myself if I didn't try. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna go for it, thank you Raj.
• One episode of Sister, Sister had a genes/jeans confusion. They're Korean.
• Spaced: Marsha has seen Tim kissing his girlfriend, believing him to already in a relationship with Daisy. When she confronts him about this, however, Tim —unaware of this — believes her to be talking about a birthday cake he's arranged for Daisy's birthday. Misunderstandings ensue:
  Marsha: If you don't tell her... I will.
  Tim: But... you'll spoil the surprise.
  Marsha: [Appalled] You bastard!
• The Spin City episode "The Great Pretender" has Mike being named sexiest man in New York City and finding himself unable to perform after a mistimed comment from the Mayor about not being able to get away from the public eye. He finally asks the Mayor if he had any "problems" when running for office, and he tells him about the time he took his wife on a romantic getaway... only to have his golf game run out the window. Mike ends up running with it and ends up getting great advice, though the Mayor remains oblivious throughout the conversation.
  Mayor: You a golfer, Flaherty?
  Mike: Ah, used to be. Haven't, ah, played much in a while. I'm, ah, thinking of taking it up again.
  Mayor: Well, you should. Best six hours of your life.
  Mike: *beat* I think that might be a little optimistic, sir.
• In Strangers with Candy, when Jerri and Noblet discuss Jellineck's car accident, about which they both feel guilty. Talking about "the person responsible", Jerri thinks Noblet knows she was the one driving the car and Noblet thinks Jerri knows he was there and ran off. They realize when Noblet refers to "the person" as "he".
• Twice in The Thin Blue Line, both involving Goody. The first is when Fowler accidentally gets the gift of lingerie he'd meant for Habib, and the second is when he tries to decide whether or not to go to an illegal lock-in.
• The Two Ronnies:
  • In the sketch Crossed Lines", the two people are actually having separate conversations on different phones, but you'd be easily forgiven for thinking they were talking to each other most of the time. Can be watched here.
  • Another, similar sketch has two people having separate conversations on a train, whose remarks (one about his wife, the other about his garden) begin to dovetail. Eventually they find themselves talking to each other.
• In Walker, Texas Ranger Trevet and Syd wonder if Gage would like Salsa (the dance). After he comes in he claims he loves Salsa, especially on chips.
• WandaVision: At the start of the first episode, both Wanda and Vision refuse to admit they can't remember why they've marked today with a heart on their calendar.^note In actuality, the heart is a manifestation of a heart that Vision drew on the deed to a plot of land he'd bought in Westview for him and Wanda to build a house on before he was murdered in Avengers: Infinity War. Wanda thinks it's the anniversary... of something. Vision is thrown when he goes to work and realizes that the heart is an abbreviation to note that they're scheduled to host a dinner party for Vision's boss Mr. Hart and his wife. He quickly calls Wanda, letting her know about the dinner party and stressing how important it is that the Harts are satisfied. At the time, Wanda is in the midst of discussing romantic gestures and seduction techniques she could use on Vision, and his choice of words lead her to think he's saying their marriage may collapse if they don't have a romantic evening together.
  Wanda: Vision residence.
  Vision: Wanda, darling.
  Wanda: Vision, sweetheart.
  Vision: Listen, about tonight…
  Wanda: Don't worry, dear. I have everything under control.
  Vision: Oh, well, that is a relief. I must confess, I'm really rather nervous.
  Wanda: Nervous? Whatever for?
  Vision: Well, you know, darling, I still get a little tongue-tied.
  Wanda: [smiles] Vizh! After all this time…
  Vision: There's an awful lot riding on this one, Wanda. If tonight doesn't go just so, I think this could be the end.
  Wanda: Well, it's just one night! There's no need to get dramatic.
  Vision: Look, I think the best course of action is to impress the wife.
  Wanda: And I think the best course of action is to impress the husband. [winks at Agnes]
  Vision: Well, wonderful! Glad to know we're both on the same page. Until tonight, then, my, darling.
  Wanda: Until tonight.
• Warrior Nun has an example played for dead-serious drama. In the first season finale, as the nuns are fighting to retrieve the angel Adriel's bones from their hiding place in the Vatican catacombs in order to expose Cardinal Duretti's conspiracy, Mother Superion goes to confront him directly. The two get into an argument over his actions, culminating in her accusing him of killing Sister Shannon to hide that he was after the bones, at which point the baffled Duretti asks "What bones?". It turns out that all his heavy-handed actions to secure his authority over the Order of the Cruciform Sword, which he was admitting to, were all just to ensure he was elected Pope, and had nothing to do with some Evil Plan. When he demands to know who accused him of such, Superion has an Oh, Crap! reaction as she realizes that Father Vincent was the one always pushing that conspiracy theory.
• The final episode of The West Wing features an intentional example on the part of one of the participants. On the last day of both the Bartlet administration and her working in the White House, C.J Cregg leaves the front gate for the final time only to be pigeonholed by a tourist and his daughter, who see her leave and curiously ask if she works in the building. When C.J replies in the negative, it clearly sinks in for her that a chapter of her life is ended, and while the tourist is just innocently conversing with someone who he thinks must just have had some business there, C.J's responses, while honest, are loaded with wistfulness and significance that he obviously can't pick up on.
  Tourist: We thought we saw you come out of the gate. Do you work at the White House?
  C.J: No. [A pause as it clearly sinks in] No. I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't.
  Tourist: Must be somethin', huh?
  C.J: [Wistfully] Yes. Something. [She turns and walks away]
• This trope is the basis of the Whose Line Is It Anyway? game "Press Conference", where one of the players plays a certain person holding a press conference, but has no clue who he is or what he's done, whereas everyone else playing reporters does, and must try to clue him in on it.
• The Wire: Cheese's dog is badly wounded during an underground dog fight, and he subsequently puts the dog out of its misery. Shortly thereafter, the Major Crimes Unit overhears Cheese on the wire talking about the incident and feeling bad about it. The unit is ecstatic that Cheese is so openly talking about murdering a human being, after having exercised caution for such a long period of time. Bunk and McNulty end up interrogating Cheese, thinking that 'Dawg' is someone's nickname. They show him photos of dead bodies and ask him which one is 'Dawg'. Cheese eventually tells them where he left 'Dawg' behind and says he's still there, that is, unless the SPCA has gotten there first. This earns a Flat "What" from McNulty. We cut to Cedric Daniels and Rhonda Pearlman watching, thinking that they've gotten Cheese to crack, until Bunk and McNulty step out and crush their hopes.
  Cedric Daniels: Tell me something good.
  Bunk Moreland: We're charging him.
  Jimmy McNulty: Improper disposal of an animal. Discharging a firearm in city limits.
  Bunk Moreland: Animal cruelty if you wanna run wild with it....
• Wynonna Earp: In the episode "Bury Me with my Guns On", Nicole runs into Waverly outside the police station. Nicole is talking about the crazy supernatural stuff happening in town, while Waverly is talking about her growing feelings for Nicole:
  Nicole: I'm not... I'm not crazy, right? There's something going on here.
  Waverly: No. You're not crazy. OK. I'm not sure I'm really ready to... get into it.
  Nicole: Why?
  Waverly: Because it's different for me, right? And it's... it's really personal.
  Nicole: But it's personal for everybody, right? I mean, they must know. People must whisper about it.
  Waverly: My God, I hope not! No, I... I kind of only just discovered it. When I met you.
  Nicole: Me?
  Waverly: Yeah. You're kinda special.
  Nicole: OK, uh... Maybe a little bit more open-minded, but it's not like I have some mystical gift or something.
  Waverly: No, I get it. You're a lesbian, not a unicorn, right?
  Nicole: What?
  Waverly: What?
• Yes, Minister: Thanks to Sir Humphrey's Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness and overall Obstructive Bureaucrat demeanour, a lot of the conversations he has with Jim Hacker fall here, but one particularly notable example concerns the time he attempted to inform the Minister that he was leaving the department because he'd received a promotion, only to manage to convince Hacker through his pompous inability to clearly express himself that he was dying.

Music

• Madness' "House of Fun". The teenage protagonist wants to buy some condoms from a chemist. However, for whatever reason he's incapable of actually using the word 'condom' and instead refers to them by a series of increasingly bizarre euphemisms that confuses the chemist into thinking he wants to buy some party supplies.
• Several conversations on Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy are so surreal that people sometimes seem to be talking about the same topic, but one line later appear to be going on about something totally unrelated.
• "We're A Happy Family" by The Ramones from the album Rocket to Russia have various family members chatter about about topics that don't tie in with each other.
• "The Murder Mystery" on The Velvet Underground's album The Velvet Underground (1969) featured all four band members' voices. During the verses, Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison each recited different verses of poetry simultaneously, with each track panned strictly to the left and right. For the choruses, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule sang different lyrics and melodies at the same time, also separated left and right.

Radio

• Die tauben DJs ("the deaf DJs") had a variation of this as its formula; the characters misunderstood each other acoustically, so it involved rhymes rather than puns. For example, one of them asks about the "Lampe" (lamp), and his colleague, thinking they're talking about consuming too much alcohol, understands "Wampe" (potbelly).
• In The Men from the Ministry Sir Gregory is being interviewed on Ministry's Hospitality budgets on the TV-program Panorama. However, due to a mistake caused by the General Assistance Department, the Interviewer Robin Gay thinks he is interviewing Sir Gregory about sex in the civil service. The result is as hilarious as you think:
  Sir Gregory: In next month I'm expecting a foreign delegation. I'd like to put a show for them. Let them see what we British can do.
  Robin Gay: S-sir Gregory I must ask you to be a lot less strict...
  Sir Gregory: And I may say that Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition will be involved.
  Robin Gay: Sir Gregory please!
  Sir Gregory: May I explain what their position will be?

Stand Up Comedy

• Australian comedian Carl Barron tells of a conversation based around the two meanings of the word 'thongs' (either footwear or underpants).
  Carl: I always wear thongs.
  Others: When?
  Carl: When I feel hot. I don't see the big deal. My mum wears thongs. My dad wears thongs. When we get to the beach we take them off, put them on our hands and run down to the water.
  Others: Are we talking about the same thing?
  Carl: I don't think so.
  • British comic Jasper Carrott describes a similar conversation with some American friends, concerning his getting aroused by suspenders (either stocking supports or trouser braces. Just to be clear, he does mean the former).
• Swedish comedian Adde Malmberg once talked about how he had been on a train and heard how two people who didn't appear to have ever met before were talking to each other. One of them told the other that he was a scientist who for the moment did research about "skator" (magpies, that is), but because of his peculiar dialect, the other thought he said he did research about "scouter" (scouts, as in members of the scout movement). Apparently, they had a very long conversation about it, until the scientist started talking about how they like to steal things, and the other person got a bit confused.
• Dave Allen did a routine about two different meanings of the word 'shit'
• Trevor Noah talks about how he once ordered tacos from a truck and the cook asked him if he wanted a napkin, which in South Africa means a diaper, it was an...interesting conversation.
  Trevor: Why the hell would I want a napkin?
  Cook: Hey, man! For the mess, afterwards!
  Trevor: For the mess? Is it that instant that I'm gonna need a napkin?
  Cook: You never know with tacos, man! One minute you think you got it, then is coming out!

Tabletop Games

• Dungeons & Dragons: The famous Eric and the Dread Gazebo story consists of one of these, with the player (Eric) trying to take down an apparently invulnerable monster, while his DM is confused about why one of his players is attempting to attack a small garden structure. The DM eventually loses patience after Eric tries to flee from the gazebo and declares that "it's too late. You have awakened the gazebo. It catches you and eats you." Immediately afterwards, the amused players restored some semblance of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo was.

Theater

• Most of the Alan Ayckbourn play Relatively Speaking.
• In another Ayckbourn play, How the Other Half Loves, a boss mistakenly thinks that his philandering employee is having an affair with another employee's wife, and tries to tell the supposedly cheated-on man. The boss does this in the presence of his own wife, whom he does not know has actually had an affair with the philandering employee; because the lady's name is not mentioned, the boss' wife thinks her husband has discovered her cheating and that he is sordidly airing her dirty laundry to a third party. This results in a conversation of misunderstandings between them, with despondent reproach on her part and puzzlement on his, before he unwittingly sets her straight right at the moment when she is about to confess.
• Fiddler on the Roof: Tevye and Lazar Wolf meet up in a bar in one scene. Lazar Wolf wants to talk about potentially marrying Tevye's daughter Tzeitel. However, as Golde never told Tevye what Lazar Wolf wanted to speak to him about, he drew his own (incorrect) conclusion that Lazar Wolf wants to buy one of his cows. Cue an awkward conversation between the two (adapted from the same scene in Sholem Aleichem's original short story) where Double Entendres and innuendos abound.
• In an relatively old Norwegian theater piece, Rett i Lomma ("Right in the Pocket", referring to money easily obtained through fraud), the Villain Protagonist (Erik) has spent the last two years making up fake personalities to cash in on their various "illnesses" and subsequent state support money. Then a tax inspector shows up and wants some signatures on a few papers in order to confirm the next payment to "Mr. Thomasen". Erik promptly says he is Thomasen and signs the paper, but the inspector also needs Erik's signature. He asks his friend Normann to do this, but the attempt is thwarted as Normann is forced to take on another role as the inspector mentions other people and Erik begins lying about them too. This leads to him and Normann having to play various fake roles in order to cover up the fraud as more and more oblivious people arrive at the scene and begin asking questions. Hilarity Ensues as they take on more and more ridiculous personality traits and come up with more and more complex excuses. Most conversations are then misunderstood as the roles become too complex to keep track of. Several scenes have not double, but multi-layered conversations.
• In Molière's play The Miser, Harpagon and his steward Valere are talking about the supposed thievery Valere has done. Harpagon is talking about his stolen money box, while Valere is talking of Harpagon's daughter whom he's in love with. Harpagon is so fixated on the stolen money that he takes unusually long to realize what's up, even when Valere begins talking of the "fair eyes", "modesty," and "purity" of the daughter.
• The H.M.S. Pinafore song "Never Mind The Whys And Wherefores" is about Captain Corcoran and Sir Porter telling Josephine that rank is no barrier when it comes to love. They think they're saying this in the context of the middle class Josephine marrying the upper class Sir Porter, while she's interpreting it as permission to marry the lower class Ralph Rackstraw.
• Next to Normal manages to do this with the very same dialogue during "How Could I Ever Forget". Diana, who has lost her memory from electroshock therapy, has suddenly remembered the day that her son died. Singing the title of the song, she wonders how she could have forgotten such a thing. Dan, who remembers it clearly since it was the day he lost both his son and Diana (in a sense) sings the title asking how he could possibly forget it.
  Dan and Diana Goodman: How could I ever forget? This was the moment my life was set. The day that I lost you is as clear as the day we met.

Video Games

• In the opening video for Story Mode Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Jake vaguely responds to what Rachel is saying, when it turns out he's just singing along with his music.
• In one of her events towards the end of Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, Token Mini-Moe Lucille approaches the much more mature Threia to ask her about how she can get "bigger," meaning "taller." Threia, however, misunderstands and believes that Lucille is asking her about breast size. They talk for a fair while about stuff like drinking lots of milk until finally Threia says something that obviously has nothing to do with getting taller and Lucille, shocked, realizes what she is talking about.
• In Baldur's Gate III there is an encounter with a Gur named Gandrel who is hunting Astarion. Should Astarion be in the party, the conversation becomes a double between the Gur and the PC and Astarion and the PC. The Gur is talking about hunting Astarion, how he's extremely dangerous and should be dealt with. Astarion agrees - the Gur is extremely dangerous and should be dealt with.
  PC: Only a spawn? Pity. Not like it's a real vampire.
  Astarion: I don't know. I'm sure a vampire spawn could still rip your throat out if he felt like it.
  Gandrel: He is right, unfortunately ... During the day, we have the advantage. But at night, when they hunt? You will not find a more deadly quarry.
  PC: Yes, I'm sure they can creep right up on you.
  Astarion: We've all survived so far. Let's focus on that.
  Gandrel: It would still be wise to post guards at night. The threat is real.
  Astarion: Indeed it is. We should do something about this threat.
• In Batman: Arkham Origins The Joker is sent to prison after his life is saved by Batman and is interviewed by the prison psychiatrist, Harlene Quinzel. He monologues about how he feels a budding obsession with Batman, but Harlene assumes he's talking about her and forms an attachment. Worse, he seems to pick up on her misunderstanding and starts manipulating her.
• Dragon Age likes to have fun with the companions in this way.
  • There are a few party banter conversations like this in Dragon Age: Origins. Most of them involve Oghren, who does it on purpose. Notable examples include Oghren announcing that he caught Alistair practicing "pike-twirling" in the woods, and that he likes "polishing his weapon" in public to relieve tension. In both cases he's not being euphemistic, but makes it sound extremely dirty.
  • In Dragon Age II, Varric and Isabela have a conversation in which they talk about length, grip, and other dirty-sounding traits, including the fact that Isabela has "had hundreds of them in my hands." Hawke finally asks what they're talking about, and Varric replies, "Knives. Well, daggers, more specifically. Why, what did you think we were talking about?"
• In God of War (PS4), a stranger appears on Kratos' doorstep and taunts him, saying that "I know who you are, more importantly I know what you are", followed by mocking him for being "a long way from home" and for his people's belief in their own enlightenment. Kratos, believing the stranger is someone from his past as the Ghost of Sparta (Greeks really did think themselves more enlightened than "barbarians", and Sparta is a long way from Midgard), warns him away since he's not interested in a fight for once and doesn't want his son Atreus to learn of his Dark and Troubled Past. It later turns out that all the allusions to Kratos's backstory were complete coincidences; he thought Kratos was his wife Faye, who was actually the frost giant Laufey. The stranger didn't realize that she was a)a woman, and b) dead. Kratos's rebuffs were taken as "I refuse to take the diplomatic route" instead of "I'm retired, go away." Upon rewatch, it's clear that they're speaking about two entirely different people. "Thought you'd be bigger" indeed...
• Larry's final conversation with Annette Boning in Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail! features Larry trying desperately to prevent Annette from thinking he's gay, while Annette is trying desperately to stop Larry from blackmailing her about her husband's assassination.
• In Arc 2 of Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, because Promised Blood is out for vengeance against the former Magius, Rena becomes suspicious when she detects two unfamiliar Magical Girls near the hospital where one of the Magius is being treated. She challenges the girls and asks if they’re here for someone they have a grudge against. When Nayuta Satomi, who is here to see her estranged uncle who runs the hospital, responds in the affirmative while wondering how Rena knew this, Rena takes this as confirmation that Nayuta is affiliated with Promised Blood and attacks.
• In Octopath Traveler II, this happens a couple times in travel banters between Castti and Throné.
  • During Castti's Chapter 2 - Sai Route, Castti talks about "cleaning up" Sai's makeshift hospital. She literally means cleaning up, but Throné has a much different idea of "cleaning," since she was raised in a thieves' and assassins' guild. Her mention of "filth" is taken by Castti to mean "germs" or "actual dirt," and it isn't until Throné says "targets" instead of "patients" that Castti realizes what's going on.
    Castti: ...Have we been having two completely separate conversations?
    Thronéé: It... seems that way, yes.
  • Later, in Castti's final chapter, they discuss the king of Timberain's apparent fondness for rare gemstones. At first, Castti thinks that they would just look at the king's collection. However, Throné then mentions how they could split the haul 50-50, revealing that she actually wanted to steal them.
• In Shadowrun: Hong Kong one optional run revolves around infiltrating Is0bel through the staff area of a tech con with her disguised as a hotel staffer. Unfortunately, this involves some fast talking and Is0bel isn't too good even with regular conversations, so the player character has to walk her through these conversations over the comms with a shaky connection. Eventually, Is0bel gets cornered by a manager as a con goer accosts the player, wanting into the booth they were using for communication. A smart player can pick responses that match both conversations, which Is0bel will parrot, and resolve everything smoothly. This gains some extra loot and a bonus scene at the end.
• Only Will and Moses of Tales of Legendia share enthusiasm about finding a Gaet's fossil remains, but as the other party members listen and hear their conversation, they note they're invoking this trope; Will wants to study more about them while Moses wants to fight one.
• In Tales of Monkey Island, you have to do this deliberately. Guybrush has to exchange insults with a pirate, while simultaneously cheering up Morgan.
• In The Stinger for Spider-Man (PS4), Miles talks to Peter about some "changes" that he's been going through. Peter naturally assumes that Miles is talking about puberty (despite the fact that Miles is 16) and tries to beg off with the normal platitudes, until Miles gets fed up and jumps...and sticks to the ceiling. Turns out he was trying to tell Peter that he's developed spider powers. Peter gets over his shock pretty quickly and joins Miles on the ceiling.

Visual Novels

• CLANNAD: Tomoya is an expert at arranging this kind of situation for his own amusement. In one case, Nagisa wants to ask for Ryou's help in establishing the theater club, so Tomoya has Sunohara tell Ryou that someone wants to ask her out on the rooftop. When they arrive, Tomoya introduces Nagisa as the girl who wanted to "talk to her", and a beautiful confession scene unfolds until Nagisa finally mentions the club itself^note As a bonus, Ryou said yes, before she realized what the question was.
• Da Capo: As Junichi and Nemu set off for school, they start talking about who should get married first, and Junichi decides that they should get married at the same time. Nemu immediately assumes he means to each other, and the practical-thinking Junichi doesn't understand why Nemu's getting so flustered. And just a moment later as Nemu threatens to deliver a Megaton Punch, Sakura suddenly admonishes them that they can't do "that", because they're brother and sister. Both siblings take it the wrong way and start realizing their feelings for each other, until Sakura finishes her sentence—that siblings shouldn't hit each other. Oops. That said, it's strongly implied to be a subversion given later plot events involving the three of them.
• The infamous elevator scene from Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. The elevator seemingly can go down to a part of the ship that is flooded. Naturally, June is worried she might get wet "down there." Subverted, given The Reveal that June is telepathic and has spent much of the game reading Junpei's thoughts.
  June: Your body will force you to swallow some of it, eventually...
  Junpei: Wh-What are you trying to do to me...?
  June: Nothing... I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm just saying that that's what happens. It's a psychological reaction to what you're experiencing...
  Was...was that really how it happened? It occurred to Junpei that perhaps that was how it worked... Perhaps he'd been mistaken all these years. Had he misunderstood life so gravely? The thought terrified him. June seemed to be entirely oblivious to Junpei's mounting confusion and terror.

Webcomics

• In Bleach: Happy to Serve You, during a scene set in the past, Isshin winds up in Hueco Mundo and meets Nel. He assumes she's a Shinigami, and she thinks he's an arrancar. Their talk about his captain's haori winds up making Nel think that he's a bloodthirsty monster who killed a Shinigami Captain and wants to go right back to kill more. Nel only finds out otherwise when he corrects her that he was nominated, and that Kenpachi is the only one who got his job through Klingon Promotion.
• Out There has a rather subtle one. Keep in mind that Clayton's serious, and Sherry's just bantering:
  Clayton: I can't believe someone as unconfident as you won't at least consider giving someone as unchallenging as me a shot.
  Sherry: Another in a series of life's paradoxes. [1]
• xkcd has this but it's one sided.
  • Also, Cueball is fascinated by locks.
• This Penny Arcade strip ... maybe. According to the News Post the strip itself became a real life example: the real Tycho thought it was about miscommunication, while the real Gabe thought it was exactly what it sounded like.
• The Order of the Stick:
  • The comic does this exploiting the several meanings of the word "level". Roy's talking about exploring the next floor of the dungeon, Haley's talking about the group becoming more powerful. Lampshaded by Belkar at the end of the strip.
  • An extremely literal variation happens in one strip. Due to the panel layout, it looks like Haley and Elan are having a discussion about their Relationship Upgrade. That's just a gag, though - they were having two separate conversations entirely, Elan with his Banjo the Puppet and Haley with her pile of gold.
• In Bob and George, discussing the motive.
• In Go Get a Roomie!, when Roomie is talking to Ramona and Richard about what they will do during their estrangement from their parents, and Lillian is dreaming.
• In Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures , While attending a diplomatic and business meeting, Mehlata wants to ''kill'' Kria. the other guy isn't aware of her homicidal intent.
• Forest Hill: This happens twice to Flora. When she and Benni run into Mr. Verost, who is a paedophile in an incestuous relationship with his daughter, he assumes that she is in on the secret, and she doesn't realize what he is talking about. Later when she is talking with Benni, she does not immediately realize that Benni is actually talking about having sex with Mr. Verost and Talitha due to him using an Unusual Euphemism, until he makes it very obvious that he thinks Flora and Colin were having sex with Colin's daughter. This makes Flora suspicious of Benni's pedophilic relationship with all the men he knows, leading to Benni confessing Benni and Talitha's abuse by Mr. Verost, and from his own father, but also hints at a wider conspiracy.
• Lies, Sisters and Wives: Due to various characters having different understandings of the facts, often they will have conversations that they interpret in wildly differing ways.
  • Arthur, who thinks that Jessica is Matilda's sister, asks Matilda about her sister and comments that she and Jessica look nothing alike. Matilda tells him about her actual sister and is confused why she and Jessica would look alike.
  • Elisabeth says to Agatha that Arthur wants to be married to Agatha's sister, the call girl. She thinks that Jessica is both Agatha's sister and Arthur's wife, so from her perspective she is simply pointing out that Arthur is not bothered by his wife's profession. To Agatha, who is Arthur's actual wife, Elisabeth is telling her to her face that her husband would rather be with her sister.
  • Fredrik, who thinks that Jessica is Arthur's wife, says to Agatha (Arthur's actual wife) that Arthur is attracted to Jessica. Agatha, who thinks that Jessica is Fredrik's daughter and Jim's wife, is outraged.
  • Elisabeth thinks that Jessica is a call girl, while Fredrik thinks she's a psychologist. Elisabeth calls her job terrible, while Fredrik defends it and suggests that both Elisabeth and her brother could benefit from sessions with Jessica. Elisabeth storms out.
  • Elisabeth talks to Arthur about his wife's job, calling it a disgrace; she thinks he's married to Jessica and that Jessica is a call girl. Arthur's actual wife is a psychologist, and Arthur thinks that Jessica is a veterinarian. Arthur says his wife's clients think she's good, and mentions Jessica sticking her hands up (animal) bottoms and working with horses. This results in Elisabeth thinking that "Arthur's wife Jessica" openly sleeps around with other men, anally fists people, and has sex with horses.
  • Arthur tells Fredrik that Jessica sometimes euthanizes her clients without their knowledge. Arthur, who thinks she's a veterinarian, is talking about animals. Fredrik, who thinks she's a psychologist, thinks he's saying she kills people.
• Like Wind On A Dry Branch: Played for Drama in "The Wounded Beast" arc, when Killian and Rieta argue over Killian's decision to release a captured she-wolf over her cub. While at first glance, their argument concerns captured animals, they are actually talking about Rieta's value as an individual: having lost her young daughter to a plague, Rieta is all for sacrificing a mother to save her child, whereas Killian, who lost his own mother to a demonic curse (and is quite enamored with Rieta), insists on saving the mother (whether the she-wolf or Rieta herself), even if it means causing pain to her and to the child.
• In one Questionable Content strip, Hannerlore has been watching Marigold play World of Warcraft, and her enthusiastic description of it could be interpreted as something sexual. Will deliberately encourages her to continue while pretending he's just interested. Mar figures it out and is not amused, but Hanners remains clueless.

Web Original

• LoadingReadyRun has a three-way version with cell phones, though it's not actually a "dialogue" as none of the three are actually talking to each other. Kathleen is breaking up with a boyfriend, Graham is making a business deal, and Matt is talking to a friend about returning a defective product to the store. It's just the 3 halves of the conversations that we hear match up perfectly.
• An Abridged Series of Puella Magi Madoka Magica has a conversation in which Homura thinks they're discussing Mami's weapons, while Madoka thinks they're talking about her...built-in chest armor.
  Madoka: They were so... awesome... Subtitle: Referring to Mami's boobs
  Homura: I've never seen another magical girl with ones quite like that. Subtitle: Referring to Mami's rifles
  Madoka: If only I could have held them... Just once... Subtitle: (Boobs)
  Homura: You... like them that much? Sorry to disappoint you by not having any. Subtitle: (Rifles)
• In a scene of Noob, Sparadrap and Ivy run into each other after both having a confrontation with another female character that they don't like very much. Sparadrap starts telling Ivy of all the nasty things he's like to see happen to the woman he hates while only using female pronouns. Ivy replies that it's the minimum she deserves, quite obviously thinking of the person she just got wronged by, who happens to be somebody Sparadrap knows also.
• Flander's Company: When Caleb is asking Mr. Trueman if he can engage an assistant (who ends up being Igor), the boss seems to be responding positively, but he is in fact talking on the phone (with an earpiece hidden by his hair) and has no idea what Caleb wanted.
• The short comedy sketch Citizen Kane opens with two film fans talking enthusiastically about Orson Welles and his most famous film. In an ending that changes everything, it is revealed that one of the pair was instead talking about Brendan Fraser and the somewhat less-acclaimed Bedazzled (2000), turning most of her seemingly-innocent lines into jokes on second viewing.
• In Dimension 20, in the first season of The Unsleeping City, friendly doctor Kingston Brown has an intimate heart-to-heart with magic initiate Pete the Plug where he explains that magic is real, and that he will help take care of him.
  Pete: Is this like a full-time job, or do I still have my life?
  —>Kingston: Ah—you can still have a life, but Imma tell you, it's gonna be a wild one.
  We then cut to Sofia, who also is only just being introduced to magic, having an almost identical conversation with Kugrash, a talking rat that lives in the sewers.
  Sofia: Is this like a full-time job?
  —>Kugrash: Ehh, ya know, it's gonna be a wild one!
• Seinfeld - "The Twin Towers": George Steinbrenner chastises George for lying to him. George thinks he's finally been caught in his lie, but Steinbrenner clarifies that he meant how George is being a Humble Hero.
• ColeyDoesThings: "omegaverse vs. alpha bro" has the two titular fans meet and carry on a conversation about their respective interests. Despite the alpha bro's hypermasculine aggression, it takes quite a while before they figure out the fan is actually talking about smutty fanfic.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time:
  • Played with in "Crystals Are Powerful"; Jake has a flashback of accidentally hurting his brother during a friendly boxing match, after which his father laughs and tells him that he'll "hurt everyone," causing Jake to try to become an Actual Pacifist at the least opportune moment. It takes a vision of his father clarifying that he meant to say that Jake will "hurt everyone who's evil" and that Jake should really let a guy finish next time to snap Jake out of his funk. It is unclear what prevented Jake's father from finishing his sentence or why he didn't clarify his intention at some point in the years since.
  • In "Burning Low", Princess Bubblegum learns that Finn wants to kiss Flame Princess, so she explains to Jake why they can't be together, but he doesn't pay attention and assumes she's just jealous of them. Later, Bubblegum, who thinks Jake explained everything she told him to Finn, comes to congratulate him for his "decision", Finn thinks she's declaring her love for him, gets offended and lets out some pent-up anger toward her.
    Bubblegum: Oh, well, speaking of Jake, did he explain everything to you?
    Finn: ...Yeah?
    Bubblegum: And you understand?
    Finn: (resentful) Yeah, I understand.
    Bubblegum: Finn, sometimes, you want someone and you want... to kiss them, and be with them. But you can't, because responsibility demands sacrifice.
    Finn: (getting angry) What are you trying to say?!
    Bubblegum: I'm trying to say that you're a hero, Finn. You're my hero. So, I'm glad you understand why you can't be with Flame Princess.
    Finn: UGH! BUBBLEGUM, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!
    Bubblegum: What?
    Finn: Now you like me?!
    Bubblegum: Finn, what are you talking about?
    Finn: What am I talking about?! P.B., I was... (struggles) I was in love with you, okay?! ...And you didn't love me back! Now, I'm ready to move on, and it's like... you're gonna build me up all over again! Well, I'm done! ...I'm done.
• American Dad!: In one episode, Francine sees Stan's body double making out with Hayley. When she confronts Stan, he thinks she's talking about his stealing cookie dough from the fridge. Video is here.
  Francine: STAN SMITH! You Bastard! How could you?!
  Stan: Okay, you caught me. But can ya blame me? It's just so sweet and tempting!
  Francine: [Gasp] You're sick! You should be in jail!
  Stan: Oh, come on, you're overreacting. Roger does it too!
  Roger: Yeah, I've stuck my fingers in there.
  [Francine vomits into Roger's popcorn bowl]
• Archer:
  • Episode "Diversity Hire":
    Lana: But, a non-circumcised Jewish guy? That's... not weird to you?
    Archer: No, why would... I mean, I'm not Jewish and I am circumcised, so it can happen the other...
    Lana: It doesn't work like that!
    Archer: Lana, come on, I think we both know it works fine.
    Lana: Aw come on! Not your dick, dumbass!
  • Episode "White Nights":
    Lana: I'm not having sex with Barry!
    Malory: You did once!
    Lana: By accident! Mostly.
    Malory: And you were about to when you thought it would get you my job.
    Lana: That was for work. And this is just for... Archer.
    Malory: His life may very well depend on it.
    Lana: Oh... but he's such a douchebag!
    Malory: I know, dear. But he's also my son.
    Lana: Not Archer. Well, also very much Archer, but I'm talking about Barry.
  • Episode "The Limited":
    Lana: Too late. He's gone, thanks to Cyril.
    Archer: Well, he's not gonna jump off a train goin' at 80 miles an hour, so...
    Lana: So yeah, we'll sweep car by car, moving front to back.
    Archer: Good, you guys do that. I'll get a big raw steak from the kitchen.
    Lana: <Sigh> Are you talking about the ocelot?
    Archer: Are you not?
    Lana: I'm talking about the prisoner!
• In an early episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang eavesdrops on his a fortune his crush, Katara, gets telling her that she’s going to marry a powerful bender. Aang decides it’s time to make a move and goes to her brother, Sokka, for advice. Sokka thinks he’s talking about another girl and Aang, who’s been worried about My Sister Is Off-Limits, thinks Sokka is giving him his blessing. After Sokka gives him vague advice about being aloof because girls like that in a boy, the girl Sokka thinks Aang has a crush on shows up to talk to him and Aang completely blows her off to talk to Katara, prompting Sokka to comment that Aang is good at this aloof thing.
• Beavis And Butthead: Virtually every conversation Beavis and Butt-Head have with anyone other than each other amounts to this. They have absolutely no interest in what others have to say to them, nor do they have the attention spans needed to process it. In most cases, they'll either ignore what the other person is saying outside of any words or phrases that could be interpreted as innuendo or completely misconstrue what is being said to be relevant to whatever their own current goal is (which is usually scoring).
• In the episode of Bojack Horseman "The New Client", Todd is at a meeting with an executive and he explains he had to cancel the previous meetings because he had to help with "Untitled Princess Carolyn Project". Not knowing this refers to her baby, they start getting excited thinking it is about a literal project she has in line, and only asking minimum questions which Todd just take as they asking about the baby.
• In one episode of The Cleveland Show, Cleveland is trying to find a friend for his son, Cleveland Jr. He walks up to one boy and asks him if wants to play with Cleveland Jr. The predictable reaction ensues and the boy turns out to be an undercover agent.
  Cleveland: You know, after reading a transcript of what I said, I can understand why the officer might have thought I was talking about something else.
• The Danny Phantom episode "Prisoners of Love" has Maddie angry at her husband Jack for forgetting their anniversary and is overheard by her children Danny and Jazz when she states that she's going to see her sister and says something about a "divorce", which concerns the Fenton children with the possibility that their parents will split up. After Danny retrieves the apology present Jack got to make up for forgetting his and Maddie's anniversary, it turns out that the the divorce Maddie mentioned was referring to her sister's and that she and Jack had arranged a surprise party for the anniversary of Maddie's sister's divorce.
• Family Guy:
  • Meg develops an obsessive crush on Brian, and at one point gives him some pie with her hair baked into it. When discussing the situation with Lois (who's already mad because she thinks he took advantage of Meg), Brian makes the mistake of saying "She made me eat her hair pie", which earns him a punch in the nose. His follow-up "It's okay, Stewie had some too!" only made things worse.
  • In another episode, Stewie hears Meg's new "boyfriend", Kent, reveal that he is gay and has a crush on Meg's brother. Stewie is convinced that it's him he's talking about, though really it's Chris. Later, he and Brian, the latter of whom knowing the truth, have a conversation regarding the topic, and both think the other talker is referring to a different brother.
• The Flintstones: In "The Tycoon", millionaire J. L. Gotrocks runs off to have a little fun, and his associates hire Fred to replace him due to his strong resemblance to him. Meanwhile, Wilma and the Rubbles hear of Fred allegedly going around town with lots of cash, leading to a confrontation where Barney calls out "Fred" for acting like a rude, stuck-up jerk, while Gotrocks thinks he's one of his associates come to take him back to the office.
  Barney: You oughta be ashamed of yourself!
  Gotrocks: Who, me?
  Barney: Yeah, you! Worrying your poor wife like that? Shame on you!
  Gotrocks: Hah! That battle-axe wouldn't worry about anything.
  Barney: Battle-axe?
  Gotrocks: Yes, and for the first time in my life, I'm enjoying myself. No nagging, no phone calls, no decisions to make. I am never going back!
  Barney: But how about Wilma?
  Gotrocks: Who's Wilma? And for that matter, who are you?
  Barney: Who am I? Why, I'm your best friend, Barney Rubble!
  Gotrocks: Never heard of you.
  Barney: Ho-ho, you're kiddin', Fred.
  Gotrocks: The name's not Fred! Now, why don't you just run along like a good guy?
  Barney: Nothing doing, Fred! You're coming home with me!
• Goof Troop
  • "E=MC Goof": Goofy accidentally submits Max's well-written report on Albert Einstein as an application to NASA (and accidentally pasting his photo over Max's A+ grade), after which NASA's officials are under the impression that Goofy is a genius and want him to help with their rocket and training their chimp. Goofy, on the other hand, thinks he is working as a janitor and the chimp is training him. Neither party catches wise to the other's beliefs, even when Goofy wins the Nobel Prize.
  • "Counterfeit Goof": Goofy gets mixed up with his Criminal Doppelgänger and is asked to "paper the town", as in replace all the real money with counterfeit money. Unfortunately, Goofy has been putting up wallpaper and assumes the counterfeit money is a budget for him setting up wallpaper in the whole town.
  • "Date with Destiny": Pete tricks Goofy and a contractor named Gilda so that Gilda believes she's giving Goofy an estimate for home repair, while Goofy believes they're on a date. Gilda is actually fairly clear on her end, but Goofy is too stupid to notice.
• Justice League: In the penultimate episode of Unlimited, Lex Luthor (who's trying to revive Brainiac) and Metron have a short conversation, with Metron warning him against continuing. Lex thinks that Metron is trying to give him the standard Last-Second Chance/Being Evil Sucks speech, and refuses to listen because he knows exactly what he wants. Metron is actually saying that the plan is very likely to backfire horribly by reviving Darkseid instead, which is something that Lex doesn't want, but also doesn't know is a possibility because he wasn't there in Twilight, and as such didn't know that Darkseid had died on the same space station as Brainiac.
• King of the Hill: In "My Own Private Rodeo", Dale's Camp Gay father is attempting to come out to him; when he tells Dale that he's been "living a secret life" and that a younger man who lives with him is his "partner", Dale is disgusted and kicks his dad out of the house. In the next scene, we discover the reason for Dale's reaction: he thinks his father was confessing to being a government agent.
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: In "Where, Oh Where Has My Piglet Gone?", Piglet comes to Pooh's house to sing for him around the same time Rabbit comes to berate him for always misplacing the things he borrows. As a result, Pooh begins to reflect on his vice and ignores Piglet's words, leading to this:
  Piglet: Would you like to hear me sing, Pooh?
  Pooh: It bothers the others very much, Piglet. It makes them rather angry, you know.
  Piglet: B-B-B-But I haven't even started yet!
• The Patrick Star Show:
  • Happens in "Nitwit Neighborhood News" before SpongeBob's first driving lesson. Annoyed by Patrick's stupidity, Mrs. Puff asks, "Would you please just go?" SpongeBob thinks she's talking to him and starts driving the boat.
  • In "Patrick's Prison Pals", Patrick sees the prisoners escaping with spoons, leading to this:
    Patrick: (gasp) Guys, how could you? ...Not tell me the prison is made of food!? Oh, can I have a spoonful, pretty please, pretty please?
    Prisoner #1: Sure thing, pal.
    Prisoner #2: (gives Patrick a spoon) Yeah, go nuts.
    Patrick: There's nuts in this too!? (starts eating)
• The Simpsons
  • In "Last Exit to Springfield", Homer becomes a labor union boss, and eventually facing a bribe attempt from Mr. Burns. The offer's made with a great deal of Innocent Innuendo, however, and Homer mistakenly assumes that Burns is coming on to him, leading to the following refusal (which Burns simply takes as Homer being above bribery and getting righteously indignant at the attempt):
    Homer: Sorry, Mr. Burns, but I don't go in for these backdoor shenanigans! Sure, I'm flattered — maybe even a little curious — but the answer is no!
  • In "They Saved Lisa's Brain", Springfield's MENSA members go to Mayor Quimby's office wanting gazebo reservation laws reformed. However, Quimby mistakenly thinks they're about to expose some terrible corruption involving him, prompting him to flee town.
  • In the LEGO episode "Brick Like Me", LEGO Homer sees his 2D-animated counterpart in the Brick-E-Mart window and tells him to "go back where he came from". Apu watches him from inside and believes it to be a racist remark.
• Sit Down, Shut Up:
  • In one episode, a character named Happy is excited about singing the national anthem and writes a note about it that is mistaken for a terrorist threat (Happy is Pakistani). A comedy of errors ensures in which Ennis and Stuart have conversations with him not understanding his motives
  • In another episode, Happy accidentally dumps a trailer serving special education students into the Atlantic Coast thinking that it's a trailer filled with asbestos. He attempts a conversation with Ennis to confirm that he's dumping the right trailer but Ennis isn't very sharp. For instance, he asks him if the trailer is "asbestos" and Ennis says "yes, they're doing as best as they can."
  • In an episode, Willard thinks that newscasters (and his fellow teachers in the room repeating the newscast) are mocking him when they talk about a hurricane named after him.
• South Park:
  • In the episode "Wing", the boys think they're talking to rival talent agents when they were really talking to the mob. They managed to convince them to give up their life of crime despite the difference.
  • The main plot of "Jared has Aides", the joke being that Jared actually means "aides", as in a dietitian and a personal trainer, and not "AIDS", the disease. Jared thinks that everyone is angry because he didn't actually lose his weight solely by eating Subway, when, well, why do you think people might be upset when Jared goes around saying that he "wants to give everyone in the world aides"?
  • A similar gag appears in "Simpsons Already Did It" when the boys think that Sea-People and Semen (a.k.a. Sea-Men) are interchangeable. This leads to one of these conversations with Chef, whose initial reaction is to push the couch (with the boys on it) outside his house and close the door.
    Stan: We think we killed our teacher, and they found our Sea-Men in her stomach!
    Chef: Oh, children, that's a problem we all have to face at one time or another. Here, let me sing you a little song that might cheer you up: ♪Sometimes you kill your teacher / And they find your semen in her stomach / And then you—♪ Wait, what the— WHAT?!
• SpongeBob SquarePants: In the episode "Ditchin'", as she's getting arrested, Mrs. Puff tells SpongeBob about her stunt of ditching jury duty, but SpongeBob thinks she's referring to his stunt of ditching boating school.
  Mrs. Puff: Let this be a lesson to you, son... never ditch!
  SpongeBob: Okay, Mrs. Puff. I'll never ditch again!
  Mrs. Puff: That's a good boy, SpongeBob. Good... "Again"?! What do you mean, "again"?!
• Star Wars Rebels: A subtle example in "Twin Suns" — during their conversation, Ezra's talking about the key to destroying the Sith, while Obi-Wan's talking about the Chosen One, neither realizing they're talking about two different people.
• Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi: In one episode, Bail Organa speaks to a patrol that found him in a restricted area. He uses this trope to secretly finish his conversation with an out-of-sight Ahsoka Tano, much to the soldiers' confusion.
• Static Shock: In a scene where Virgil visits the doctor, his description of his superpowers is at first mistaken for referring to puberty, later mistaken for referring to sex.
• In one Tiny Toon Adventures episode, specifically one of Elmyra's A Day in the Limelight episodes with her family, she was heartbroken over the death of one of her hamsters, "Jan Brady", which coincidentally happened around the same time her grandmother went on vacation. When she fainted from grief in class, she was sent to the school nurse, where she babbled a bit about her hamster (but in incomplete sentences) and ended by saying "Grandma went bye-bye." The nurse then promptly spread word that Elmyra's grandmother passed, leading to a bunch of people arriving at the Duff household for an impromptu wake. Nearly every conversation with the Duff family regarding the deceased falls into this for the rest of the episode.

Real Life

• An Australian news show in the 1980s had a reporter investigating a newspaper ad from a man in Adelaide selling his house, where the ad ended with "No Asians, thank you." It lead to a rather interesting exchange. The reporter questioned the seller repeatedly about why he would not work with Asians and insisted this was discriminatory. The seller pushed back, saying that they were all crooks and he didn’t want to work with them. Eventually, after multiple questions, the seller said that the only thing "Asians" want is "just to put the sign up." At this point, it dawned on the reporter that he was saying agents, not Asians, and that the newspaper and the reporter had both misunderstood him due to his heavy accent.

---