Basic Trope: A character (usually male) is seen crying, but immediately denies it.
- Straight: Alice catches Bob crying, but Bob insists that something is in his eye.
- Exaggerated: Alice catches Bob pounding his fist on the floor, intensely wailing, torrents of tears running from his eyes, and Bob still insists that something's in his eye.
- Downplayed: Bob only gets a little teary, so it's plausible deniability when he claims he has something in his eye.
- Justified:
- Bob doesn't want to be seen crying because Men Don't Cry or he feels he's too old to be crying.
- Alternatively, there's a grain of sand literally in Bob's eyes.
- Inverted:
- Bob is embarrassed that he got sand in his eye by accident, and tries to cover it up by saying that he's crying.
- Bob's eyes are watering, and Alice asks, unironically, "Sand in your eye?"
- Bob pretends to "feel a little tickle" rather than admitting he finds Alice's jokes funny.
- Subverted:
- Bob tries to make up an excuse, but Alice tells him that it's OK to cry.
- There actually is something in his eye.
- Doubly Subverted:
- Even though he appears to accept crying as OK; he still rubs his eyes and insists that there is sand in his eyes.
- There was something in his eye, but he starts crying because of the pain after it's gone and doesn't want to admit it, so he lies that it's still there.
- Parodied:
- Bob is seen crying, and denies it by saying that something is in his eye. As it turns out, there really was something in his eye.
- Upon being asked what Bob "caught" in his eyes, Bob responds with "Tears!"
- Zig Zagged:
- There is sand in Bob's eyes, and it's so painful, Bob cried.
- Alice and Bob are attending a funeral at a desert, so it's unclear whether Bob is crying or he actually has sand in his eyes.
- Averted: Bob flat out admits that he's crying.
- Enforced: "If people see this character crying, they'll think he's weak." "Have him say that something's in his eye."
- Lampshaded: "Lemme guess... there's something in your eye, isn't there?"
- Invoked: Alice throws sand in Bob's eyes to make it look like he was crying.
- Exploited:
- Claris, who made Bob cry in the first place, continued to torment him knowing he can't tell anyone about it.
- Bob is actually crying Crocodile Tears, using denial to sell the lie.
- Defied: Alice, understanding Bob's situation, comforted Bob and told him it's alright.
- Discussed: "Why is it that they always say that something's in their eye? Can't they just admit that they're crying?"
- Conversed: "I don't see why TV characters bother saying something is in their eye when they're clearly crying."
- Deconstructed: There really is sand in his eyes; he's not actually sad about anything.
- Reconstructed: When he starts to cry, he clandestinely throws sand in his eyes.
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