Basic Trope: A character asks for money using slang and ends up getting something else that's the literal meaning of the slang.
- Straight: Alice asks a genie, Bob, for a million bucks. Bob gives her a million deer.
- Exaggerated: All three of Alice's wishes for money are twisted and taken at face value by Bob.
- Downplayed: Alice asks for a "bunch" of money. Bob gives her a clump of dollar bills, which will be just fine once she separates them, which will take a while.
- Justified:
- Bob is trying to teach Alice how to phrase things carefully.
- Bob doesn't understand slang/metaphors.
- Bob is a Jackass Genie.
- Inverted: Alice asks Bob for a million bucks, meaning deer. Bob gives her a million dollars.
- Subverted: Then Bob says, "Just joking!" and gives her a million dollars.
- Double Subverted: But the dollars turn into deer whenever she tries to spend them.
- Parodied: Bob is trying to teach Alice to always use proper English. Whenever she uses slang or incorrect grammar in her wishes, he punishes her for it.
- Zig Zagged: (cont. from Double Subverted) Half of the money stays money, the other half turns into deer.
- Averted:
- Bob gives Alice her money.
- Alice does not ask for money.
- Enforced: Having Alice actually become rich would break the status quo too much.
- Lampshaded: "Don't get me wrong, Alice. I like you, but you used the wrong word, so enjoy your deer! Bye!"
- Invoked: Eleanor doesn't want Alice to have a million dollars, so she lies and tells Alice that she has to use the word "bucks". Bob gives her deer.
- Exploited: Alice sells the deer on the market, getting rich.
- Defied: Eleanor warns Alice to say "dollars", because Bob will take her words at face value.
- Discussed: "No genie would actually do that. It just makes them look like an idiot- everyone knows that bucks means dollars."
- Conversed: "Genies in fiction never get slang, especially when it comes to money."
- Deconstructed: Alice realizes her mistake after the deer show up, asks for a million DOLLARS, and rubs her intelligence in Bob's face.
- Reconstructed: Alice receives a deed for a deer farm. She sells it and gets more money then if she asked for cash.
- Implied: Alice shows Clara her million deer, then says, "That's the last time I ever ask a genie for money."
- Played for Laughs: An entire episode is dedicated to the deer wreaking havoc in Alice's house. They drink out of the toilet, wreck her chandelier, and ruin everything in a funny fashion.
- Played for Drama: Alice is very poor and her son, Damien, is seriously ill. In a moment of desperation, she asks for money from Bob, but Bob only gives her deer. Because she doesn't have money, Damien dies, and Alice sinks into grief and becomes homeless.
- Played for Horror: The deer are zombie deer that murder their victims in a gruesome way.
Back to Literal Money Metaphor.
