Basic Trope: A character describes something accurately but to a lesser magnitude of what actually happened.
- Straight: While Alice talks on the phone with Bob, he says that his dinner came out "a little overdone". Cut to Bob in his kitchen preparing to use a fire extinguisher on his oven which is engulfed in flames.
- Exaggerated: Bob tells Alice over the phone that his dinner came out "slightly burned". Cut to him standing in front of his house on fire.
- Downplayed: Bob tells Alice over the phone that his dinner came out "a little toasty". Cut to him standing over his dinner which is burned to a crisp.
- Justified:
- Bob has a thin grasp on reality.
- Bob didn't want Alice to worry about his situation.
- Bob is British and quite well versed in his home country's brand of humour, thank you very much. note
- Bob's profession requires making impartial reports* , and he has trouble turning that off.
- Inverted: Bob tells Alice over the phone that his dinner came out "burned to a crisp". Cut to him standing over a meal that's just a little overdone.
- Subverted: Bob tells Alice over the phone that his dinner came out slightly burned. Cut to him standing over a pizza that's slightly browner than it should be.
- Double Subverted: Then Bob grabs his wallet, walks past the burned out remains of his oven, and pays the delivery boy from the pizza place.
- Parodied: The reality of what happened is such a higher magnitude than Bob's statement that when Alice finds out the truth, she says "Calling that an understatement would be an understatement."
- Zig-Zagged: Bob describes several things to Alice over the course of the work. Sometimes he describes the situation to a lesser degree of what actually happened, sometimes to a greater degree of what happened, and sometimes exactly how it happened.
- Averted: When Bob tells Alice what happens, he always tells her exactly what degree it happened at.
- Enforced: "We need a simple joke to put in the trailer to show off the hilarity." "Ooh, I've got it. How about we have Bob tell Alice something seemingly minor, then cut to the reveal that it was bigger than he let on?" "An understatement? I like it."
- Lampshaded: "Remember when I said I burned dinner? What I meant was that I set the house on fire." "Well, that was an understatement."
- Invoked: Alice asks Bob if he overcooked his dinner before he can tell her he started a fire in his oven. He decides Sure, Let's Go with That.
- Exploited: Alice takes Bob's understatement as truth and Charlie offers to help cover up the incident...for a price.
- Defied: Knowing that Bob has a knack for understatement, Alice asks him about his dinner and tells him to be perfectly honest with her. Bob decides to tell her exactly how badly his dinner came out.
- Discussed: "How do I keep Alice from worrying now that I've set fire to the oven? Oh, I know. I can tell her that dinner came out slightly overdone. It's what happened and doesn't betray the whole truth."
- Conversed: "What would you do if you wanted to explain something in a humorous way?" "Understatement. You know, saying something technically truthful but to a lesser degree of what really happened."
Back to Understatement
