Basic Trope: What seems like Foreshadowing isn't.
- Straight: Alice and Bob are a newly-married couple. One day, they argue about whether Bob should leave his shoes in the middle of the floor. Alice says, "A small child could trip over them!". When Bob points out that there are no small children around, Alice says, "Not yet." This causes fans to speculate that Alice might be pregnant, but instead the shoes get stolen.
- Exaggerated: In addition to this, there's hints that Charles could be Alice's father, Bob might be psychic, and that Diane might die. Neither of these things happen.
- Downplayed: Alice and Bob talk about the possibility of having babies. While Alice herself isn't pregnant, their next-door neighbor Delilah is.
- Justified: Alice still thought that she and Bob might have kids even though she's not pregnant.
- Inverted: Alice turns out to be the reincarnation of Jesus, and this wasn't even foreshadowed.
- Subverted: It turns out that Alice really is pregnant.
- Double Subverted: It turns out to be a prank; Alice just got a bit fatter.
- Parodied: Alice explicitly says she will be revealed to be pregnant tomorrow. The next day, when Bob asks her about this, she acts as if she never said the comment, and any question regarding her pregnancy is immediately forgotten.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice says, "Not yet" when told there are no little kids, but she isn't pregnant. Then, later, she is, but she wasn't pregnant or didn't know it when she said, "Not yet." Then, we get a hint that Charles is Alice's father and later we find out he is, but Bob is hinted to be psychic and that's never resolved.
- Averted: Alice does get pregnant.
- Enforced:
- The creators originally wanted Alice to be pregnant, but eventually, they changed their mind.
- The creators had negotiated a license with DC Comics for an upcoming crossover, but DC's Board of Directors changed its policies on licensing in the interim and revoked it… leaving the possibility of Clark Kent being Alice's baby as the only legal remnant.
- Lampshaded: "Does that mean you're pregnant? Because I don't think I've lost my virginity yet."
- Invoked: Alice is a jokester and pranks Bob into thinking she's pregnant by giving out minor hints.
- Exploited: Bob, who wants a baby, constantly talks to Alice about her mention of a "small child" in an attempt to get her pregnant.
- Defied: Alice is aware she's fictional tries to avoid sounding like she's foreshadowing in an attempt to not mess with the audience.
- Discussed: "I can see through the windows that Bob's left his shoes in the middle of the floor again. And if Alice's 'small child' reasoning is coming again I'm going to bet she's pregnant." "Don't just assume! You know these TV shows where they make some hints of something happening but it doesn't happen at all?"
- Conversed: "Could Alice be pregnant? Maybe, but those lines aren't always important."
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