Strange Minds Think Alike

"Real buttercream icing! Nobody makes this from scratch anymore! There's only one explanation: Turner must have ignored Tootie's multiple birthday invitations, thus ruining her birthday. Feeling guilty, he impulsively loans her his FAIRY GODPARENTS!"

—Mr. Crocker, The Fairly OddParents, getting it right as usual

Bob makes a totally random, out-of-the-blue statement. Later on, Alice, who never heard him make the original statement, repeats it or makes reference to it. How did she know it? Apparently they somehow managed to follow the same, bizarre line of "logic".

Compare: Ironic Echo, Ironic Echo Cut, Brick Joke, Phrase Catcher.

Not quite related to Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?.

Examples of Strange Minds Think Alike include:

Advertising

• Microsoft's ads for Windows 7 had people talking about how it was "their idea," showing them coming up with an idea Microsoft had incorporated (the same idea which Microsoft had independently came up with). When the people have an Imagine Spot coming up with "their idea", they're played by supermodels and are impeccably handsome.
• In a This is Sports Center commercial, Tim Lincecum tries to record his voicemail greeting, starting by calling himself several nicknames, including "Big Time Timmy Jim"...which he immediately rejects, saying "Who even calls me that?" His last try just has him saying his own name...and then Karl Ravech ruins it by calling him "Big Time Timmy Jim."

Anime and Manga

• A Certain Magical Index: When Touma returns home with Misaka Imouto in tow, carrying a slew of cans, Index gets more than a bit jealous. Aisa Himegami suggests, "Perhaps that is his fate. He raises flags with other people and goes down their story routes." Later, after saving Misaka Imouto from the insane psychic known as Accelerator, Touma wakes up with his hand on her chest:

Touma: "Why am I experiencing such a happy event? I don't remember raising any flags like this at all."

• Azumanga Daioh: Yukari-sensei's 2nd-year students are discussing what to do for the Culture Fest, and Osaka suggests that they do a haunted house that's like a café, inverting an idea expressed earlier. Shortly, Kagura arrives and suggests the same thing, thinking it would be a "killer idea".

Osaka: Ooh, the same wavelength!
Kagura: Errr, same as what?

• • Also, Sakaki and Osaka manage to independently imagine Chiyo's father in the exact same way. (As a giant, floating orange cat thing.)
    • This is, of course, assuming that they are imagining him...
    • Note, too, Osaka doesn't have her "Chiyo's dad" dream until after Chiyo's 11th birthday, when Osaka gave her a (stuffed) "orange cat thing," which Sakaki immediately identified as Chiyo's father (having seen him in her New Year's dream a few weeks or months prior).
  • At one point in the manga, Yukari stops in the middle of a lesson to muse about a tongue twister (in the English version, it's "She sells seashells"). Everyone looks confused... except Osaka, who nods knowingly.
• Death Note—during their tennis match, Light and L have almost identical internal monologues, without communicating.
• In one episode of Widget Series Ippatsu Kiki Musume, Kunyan wakes up with her hair caught in the drain of a bathtub filled with water, unable to free herself and facing imminent drowning. She "realizes" that since people take in air through their mouths and release it through their butts, she should be able to reverse the process (of course it doesn't work). Her friend Linda enters, realizes what's happening and...attempts CPR on Kunyan's butt, having come to the same conclusion. Soon after, their friend Naja enters and, you guessed it, comes to the exact same conclusion, running off to get an enema in order to help save Kunyan.
• Toradora! has, at the start of an episode, Ryuji having a Catapult Nightmare in which Taiga agrees to marry him. However, because Taiga refers to him as "her dog" much of the time, the dream features him getting a dog house, while his mother (dressed as a dog) shows off all of Taiga's puppies. Taiga, also dressed as a dog, tells Ryuji they're his, which is when he wakes up. Moments later, Taiga tells Ryuji "I had an unpleasant dream. You were a dog, and the dog was my husband. Anyway, it was the worst dream ever."
  • Of course, they had just been up late the previous night watching the horror movie, I Gave Birth to Puppies.
• In one chapter of Medaka Box, Nabeshima is fighting Myouga Unzen, a character who can only speak and understand a numbers-based language. At one point, Nabeshima comments that Myouga is going to "pull a Dragon Ball" and get a speed boost by dropping her weights. Myouga picks out the word "dragonball" and guesses that Nabeshima thinks she's going to get a speed boost.
  • Later in the chapter, Nabeshima manages to get the upperhand (while twisting one of Myouga's taunts), and Myouga exclaims "You damn cheater!" One of Nabeshima's classmates asks Medaka (who learned how to translate Myouga's language) if Myouga just said "You cheater!", simply because everyone who fights Nabeshima says that at some point.
• In all of Full Metal Panic!, the only person who actually seems to think alike and see eye-to-eye with Sousuke seems to be Atsunobu Hayashimizu, the president of the Student Council. The guy agrees with Sousuke's weird, outlandish conclusions, and supports his violent, destructive ways.
• During the climax of the fourth Detective Conan movie, "Captured In Her Eyes", when a (currently amnesiac) Ran asks Conan why he's protecting her, he proclaims that he "loves her, more than any other person on this Earth." Once her memory returns, Ran came to the conclusion that Conan was intentionally mimicking how they'd been told Ran's father proposed to her mother. Conan is just a little disgusted with himself to realize it was, in fact, this trope.
  • In the series proper, the fact that Kogoro and Eri actually are more alike then they're willing to admit (both preferring the same food, liking the same color, remembering their first date by dressing up in the clothes they wore etc) is used to show Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other.
• At the beginning of one episode of Di Gi Charat, Dejiko is plotting to make a naughty doujinshi using two of the store's customers (both named Takuro. Gema, seeing the look on her face, tells her that if she's thinking of making a naughty doujinshi featuring those two, she'd better not. Dejiko is thoroughly pissed that he was able to read her thoughts so exactly.
• One example occurs in One Piece where Luffy manages to smuggle Princess Shirahoshi out of the castle, having hid her in her pet shark's mouth. Brook argues that since he only saw Luffy and Megalo leave the castle, Luffy couldn't have kidnapped her. King Nepture immediately suggests that he might have hid Shirahoshi in Megalo's mouth. Everyone in his court bursts out laughing at the incredulity of the thought.
  • From the same story arc, Luffy explains why he doesn't want to be a Hero by claiming that, if there was a huge piece of meat, a hero would share it and a pirate would eat it, and Luffy wants to eat meat! Near the end of the arc, Zoro applies the exact same logic, only substituting booze for meat.

Comic Books

• At the start of Grant Morrison's run on Batman, Commissioner Gordon was hit with a dose of The Joker's laughing gas. It wasn't fatal, but he had to spend some time in a hospital. One morning has him reading in the paper about a fat guy who got beheaded in Iraq, laughing about how they could have found his neck. Batman later pays him a visit, and makes the same comment. That actually scares Gordon.
• In the first issue of the second volume of Runaways, with supervillains starting to appear in Los Angeles after the death of the Pride, a friend of Victor Mancha's comments on how there are usually never any superhumans around there, adding, "Except Wonder Man, but he don't count." Later, supervillain team The Wrecking Crew are robbing a bank. Their leader, Piledriver, tells the rest of the crew that with the Pride gone, the city is ripe for the taking, since there had never previously been any superheroes with the Pride driving supervillains away -- "Except Wonder Man, but he don't count."
• In Cable & Deadpool, everyone who meets suave superthief the Cat immediately asks if they can see the tattoo on his stomach. How, exactly, any of them even knows that he has one is never really explained.
  • Also, in the finale, Deadpool decides it should be symbiont instead of symbiote. Bob, on the other end of the city, decides the same thing.
• In the first arc of Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol, an imaginary world has taken over this dimension. Professor Caulder persuades the philosopher who created it to tell him the way to shut the world down: By confronting its leaders with a paradox that will prove they don't exist. Meanwhile, Rebis, who is trapped in the imaginary world with no outside contact, looks around and decides the only way to stop it from existing is to confront its leaders with that paradox.
• In Marvel Adventures: The Avengers A.I.M.'s secret base were in the sewer, because that was the most secret place that existed. And the Leader also had a secret base, in the sewer, right next to A.I.M. Thank you Karl!
• In She Hulk, She-Hulk and four other female superheroines suddenly find themselves trapped in an alternate dimension by a mysterious entity:

Thundra: SHOW YOURSELF, COWARD! FACE THE UNFETTERED FISTS OF THUNDRA!
She-Hulk: Too bad her name isn't "Fundra", because that would have sounded cool.
Sue Richards: I was just thinking that ... which scares me a little bit.

• Everyone who meets Batman comments on his height, it seems, usually to the effect of "I thought you'd be taller." (for the record, he's 6'2") This even extends to other members of the Bat-family, although it's often at least somewhat justified (Dick Grayson is a good four inches shorter than Bruce Wayne, so when he takes on the role of Batman it's obvious to anyone familiar with Batman that it's a different person; Tim Drake has his height remarked on in Young Justice, but he's only about 14 and hasn't reached his full height yet). At this point, it's gone far beyond merely Strange Minds Think Alike to full-blown Running Gag territory.
  • Depending on the Writer, this applies to Batman and Superman. in a issue of No Man's Land they have a short talk, before they see something they have to deal with, saying that they will come back soon, going to opposite sides at the same time and coming back at the same time apologizing for making the other wait.
• In Asterix in Corsica, a young Roman soldier eager for his career prospects volunteers for duty in Corsica - which has "good chances for promotion" due to most of the Romans there being hopeless cases sent to Corsica as punishment, is compared to Salamix, a Corsican who hit his head and was never quite right again by some old Corsicans discussing things. Later, when trying to capture the heroes, he orders his men to "search the Maquis", leading one of them to say "He's as crazy as that nut Salamix!"

Film

• Grosse Pointe Blank:

"I'm in love with your daughter and I have a newfound respect for life."
cut to other car
"That punk is either in love with that guy's daughter, or he has a newfound respect for life."

• Spaceballs: Upon discovering that the combination to the air shield is "1, 2, 3, 4, 5", Dark Helmet says "That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!" President Skroob enters and, after he is told the combination, he says "That's amazing! I've got the same combination on my luggage!"
  • Various computer-security studies consistently show that the most common password for computers is '123456' with '12345' being 2nd.
• Repo Man: Just about every line. Either Lampshaded or Justified, depending on how coherent you find Miller's ramblings.
• Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai does this (not always for comedy) with Ghost Dog and Remy—neither speak the other's language, but they are always talking about the same thing.
• Used in Love Actually to show that the couple who don't speak the same language are well matched. After a book manuscript flies into the lake they are both swimming to collect the paper and he says "I hope there aren't any eels, I hate eels," and she says, "Don't splash too much, you'll disturb the eels". When they get out, she suggests he should name a character after her and give her 50% of the profits, while he suggests that he should name a character after her and give her 5% of the profits.

"It's the happiest part of my day, driving you."
"It's the saddest part of my day, leaving you."

• Juno: When Paulie first is told about Juno's pregnancy, he at one point awkwardly sputters out a description of having a baby as something that happens "to our moms and teachers when they get pregnant". Later on, when a fellow jogger comes up to Paulie to talk to him about Juno's pregnancy, the other jogger also refers to her pregnant status as "like our moms and teachers".
  • In the same film, there's the reiterated comment that having sex certainly wasn't Paulie's idea.
• In Mallrats, Shannon remarks to Brodie that he only acts like a nice guy to girls so that they'll let their guard down and allow him to "screw [them] in a very uncomfortable place". Brodie, not getting the euphemism, remarks "What, like in the back of a Volkswagen?" Apparently, no one else gets it either, with everyone reaching the same conclusion as Brodie.
  • Kevin Smith loves this trope. In Clerks 2, Jason Lee has a cameo as a character Randal refers to as "Picklefucker" due to an unfortunate incident in high school. Lee's character claims Randal "must be the only one who still remembers that". Lee's character then gives his food to Jay, who responds with, "Thanks, Picklefucker!" The audience thinks this is a subversion, until Jay then runs outside screaming, "Hey Lunchbox! Some picklefucker just gave us free eats!" indicating that he had absolutely no idea who the character was. Word of God confirms this is intentional in the commentary.
• Perhaps the best known film example is "You'll shoot your eye out" from A Christmas Story. First said by Ralphie's mother; then written on his school report (convincing Ralphie that mom and the teacher were in cahoots); and, to add insult to injury, spoken by Santa himself! "Was there no end to the conspiracy of irrational prejudice against Red Ryder and his peacemaker?"
  • Arguably Justified, since the story was told from Ralphie's perspective.
  • And then Ralphie says it himself, at the end of the film

Oh my god, I shot my eye out!

• In The Ipcress File, secret agent Harry Palmer is being sent away on attachment to Major Dalby's unit by his dour boss Colonel Ross. Before he goes Ross warns "Be careful with Major Dalby. He doesn't have my sense of humour". When he arrives, Major Dalby warns "Be careful with me. I don't have Colonel Ross's sense of humour".
• In Heathers, the psychotic J.D. plants a bottle of mineral water next to the two Jerk Jocks he just murdered to suggest that they died in a gay suicide pact. Veronica thinks the idea is completely stupid. Three guesses what the cops say when they find the bottle.
• In Back to The Future, the orange down vest that Marty is wearing shortly after arriving in 1955 is mistaken for a life preserver (which means he must be a sailor) by Doc, one of Biff's lackeys, the soda parlour guy, and Lorraine's mom.
• Invoked rather violently in The Departed: Billy's in a bar trying to get in with the mob. He orders a cranberry juice, whereupon the guy sitting next to him says its a diuretic and asks if he's on his period. Billy smashes his mug against the guy's head and is about to beat the crap out of him before mob lieutenant Mr. French separates them. He asks what's he's drinking: "What, is it your period?"
  • Given that French observed the entire exchange, it seems more likely that his repeating the same line that triggered Billy's initial outburst is intended both to emphasize French's authority and to give Billy a chance to demonstrate his acceptance of that authority.
• Die Hard With a Vengeance has McClane and Samuel L. Jackson successfully disarm a puzzle-bomb, after which they elect to hand it over to the authorities, to prevent some kid from picking it up. Unfortunately the Big Bad has fake cops stationed all over the place, and our heroes unknowingly hand the bomb over to them. Then the fake cops switch to their native German and agree to hold on to the bomb... because some kid might pick it up.
• In The Santa Clause, Tim Allen's character reads his son "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and the boy mishears "arose such a clatter" as "a Rose Suchack ladder". Shortly thereafter they hear a noise and run outside to find a ladder leaning against the house, a sign hanging off one rung that reads "Rose Suchack Ladder Co."
• In Babe, the narrator highlighted this conversation between Fly and the sheep.

Narrator: Fly decided to speak very slowly for it was a cold fact of nature that sheep were stupid and no one would ever persuade her otherwise.

• • A few seconds later:

Narrator: The sheep spoke very slowly for it was a cold fact of nature that wolves were ignorant and nothing would convince them otherwise.

• During one of the linking segments of The Ten, Gretchen is incredulous when Jeff refers to weightlifting as "juicing my pecs". Much later, there's a scene that involves one prisoner asking another to spot him as he lifts weights, which he also calls juicing his pecs. Of course, Jeff is supposed to be the one telling the stories that make up most of the movie...
• About 90% of the jokes in Hot Fuzz are this.

Literature

• In To Say Nothing of the Dog, one character, prone to malapropisms, writes about a "firugeal urn". At another point, Ned makes reference to the same object, also calling it a "firugeal urn". All well and good, except that Ned thought the phrase instead of saying it, and he said it first. Casual readers assume that he was referring back to the letter, but that's impossible unless he were actually a time-traveling agent from further in the future, with deliberately implanted false memories.
• In "Something Rotten", Jasper Fforde's fourth book in the Thursday Next series, this is anti-Troped with Thursday bending over at the front door and narrowly escaping a high-powered bullet which impacts on the door frame. She later goes inside and her mother asks what the noise was, which she explains as a car backfiring. Her mother says "I could have sworn it was a high-velocity bullet striking wood," and makes no more mention of it.
• In The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe, Hex instructs Rincewind and Ponder Stibbons to disguise the Librarian (an ape) with a dress while standing on the Luggage (a chest) when going to Elizabethan England, because the English will think that he is a Spanish lady. When they find the wizards that had gotten stuck in England, the first question they ask is "Who is the Spanish lady?".
• Terry Pratchett uses this trope again in Johnny and The Dead. When asked who invented the telephone, Bigmac replies "Sir Humphrey Telephone?" Completely unrelated, the Dead discuss the telephone, and one of them mentions thinking it was invented by Sir Humphrey Telephone.
• In Unseen Academicals, the non-too-bright Trev wants to ask Juliet out, and he plans to do so by sending her a letter saying, "I think you're really fit. I really fancy you. How about a date? No hanky-panky, I promise." His more literate friend Nutt suggests that something more might be needed, and helpfully composes a long love poem for Trev to give to Juliet. However, Juliet - who isn't all too clever either - can't understand a word of Nutt's overly articulate poem, and so asks her more literate friend, Glenda, to explain it to her. Glenda reads the poem, thinks for a bit, and then translates it as, "he thinks you're really fit, he really fancies you, how about a date, no hanky-panky, he promises." (she later admits that it wasn't that hard to figure out - one way or another, that's what every love poem is trying to say)
• In Starclimber, the first time James Sanderson is mentioned, Matt says "Let me guess: the heir to the Sanderson fortune." Throughout the book, nearly every time Sanderson is mentioned, a different character will refer to him as "the heir to the Sanderson fortune".
• At several points in the Friday the 13th (film) novelization characters think something along the lines of "And then I won't be the only one not getting laid".
• In The Little Prince, the narrator recalls trying to draw a giant boa constrictor that had swallowed an elephant as a child, and all the adults mistaking it for a hat. When he reproduces the drawing for the titular Little Prince, the Prince manages to recognize what it's supposed to be without being told.
• In the Amelia Peabody mystery book The Deeds of the Disturber, Emerson examines a threatening note and proclaims (in a very Sherlock Holmes-esque way) that he can tell from the handwriting it was written 'by a man of education with a pen that needed mending'. Amelia understandably writes this off as complete nonsense. Enter their son Ramses...who then proceeds to make exactly the same comment, much to Amelia's annoyance.

Live-Action TV

• 3rd Rock from the Sun was also quite fond of this. In one example, Tommy's PE teacher told him to climb a rope and Tommy asked what was at the top of the rope. Later on, the teacher complained about this to Tommy's father Dick, who replied by asking the same question.
  • When told that the punishment for not climbing the rope was to sit with the girls, both also failed to see how this qualified as punishment, and questioned the sexuality of the gym teacher.
  • Justified by the fact that Tommy and Dick are both secretly aliens studying humanity, so if one of them misunderstands Earth logic, there's a good chance the other would be similarly confused.
  • Tommy, Sally, and Harry's plans to rob a bank involved distracting a teller by bringing one of the bank's pens up to her and telling her it's out of ink. They fail when they discover the pens are chained down. When they later tell Dick they tried to rob a bank, he says, "You can't do that- their pens are chained down."
• In an episode of ALF, ALF thinks the Tanners' neighbor, Mr Ochmonek, killed his wife. Naturally, the Tanners don't believe him, and say, "Remember the time you thought Mr. Litvak down the street was building an atomic bomb in his basement?" (It was actually a pool heater.) After a series of misunderstandings, the episode culminates with a police officer arriving and Mrs. Ochmonek being alive and well. A few clarifications later, as the policeman leaves, Mr. Ochmonek says, "By the way, as long as you're here, officer, there's something I want to report. There's this guy down the street called Litvak... I think he's building an A-bomb in his basement."
  • Yet another ALF example: in one episode, ALF develops chronic ennui and, inspired by the Tanner's psychiatrist friend Larry praising the advice he gave regarding some of the family's issues, decides to study psychiatry as well. This ends up greatly annoying the Tanners, due to ALF suddenly spouting psycho babble at random intervals and at one point, bursting into Willie and Kate's bedroom shouting "Carl Jung was a big weenie head!" and claiming he has proved that Jung's theories are bogus. Eventually, the Tanners with the help of Larry manage to make him realize what he's been doing, and ALF shows this by claiming to now understand a Carl Jung quote relevant to the situation at hand. At which point, Larry says, "Huh. And I always thought Carl Jung was a big weenie head."
• In the 38th season finale of Sesame Street, when Oscar visits María's bathroom as a reporter for Grouch News Network, he remarks that the only way to get the elephant out of her bathtub is to offer him peanuts. Seconds later, Bob shows up (in his only new appearance that season) with a sack of peanuts.
• Arrested Development lives and breathes this trope. Sometimes it even stretches out the connected references several episodes or even seasons apart. Often you have to go back and re-watch old episodes to even realize that this trope is being used; Characters often say the exact same thing independently ("I've made a huge mistake", referring to sex as "pop-pop") or say things that are absurdly prophetic ("You won't be hand-fed any more!").
• Happens all the time in The Middleman, and we do mean all the time. Lacey calling Wendy "Dub-Dub" and the Middleman giving her the nickname "Dubbie," "My plan is sheer elegance in its simplicity", "the icy waters of the North Atlantic", and of course:

"The pirate-themed sports bar with the scantily clad waitresses?"
Arrr.

• In the Swedish show Kvarteret Skatan, two guys accidentally killed another guy. When they're trying to conceal the body, one of them comments: "Nobody's gonna believe this," to which the other responds, "Perhaps they'll think it's a dead badger." Later on, the guys and their girlfriends passes the body in a car, and one of the women says: "Oh, look there! It looks like a dead badger."
• In an episode of Angel, Fred has made an ominous-looking machine that Wesley says looks "like a spring-loaded decapitation device," which Cordelia counters with, "Or it makes toast." When Wesley later speculates about the contraption to Fred's parents, Fred's father adds, "Or it makes toast." By the way... it is a spring-loaded decapitation device.
  • Though this does not really indicate that Cordelia and Mr. Burkle have strange minds so much as it indicates that they are both very familiar with Fred's strange mind.
  • Also: the device does seem to have a spatula attached to it, and several other bits and pieces that do at least suggest the idea of toast.
• In a season two episode of News Radio, Beth tries to invent and popularize the phrase "bitchcakes". Later, when walking into a chaotic situation, Jimmy James claims, "Everyone's going totally bitchcakes today!"
  • Another Beth/Jimmy example has Jimmy offering "Swiss cheese" as an example of an oxymoron, which completely baffles Dave. Later, Beth says that something is ironic, "like rain on your wedding day." Jimmy: "No, no, that's an oxymoron." Beth: "Oh, like Swiss cheese?" Jimmy: "Exactly."
• In Seinfeld, resident Wacky Guy Kramer justifies his "reverse peep hole" with the fear of someone ambushing him from inside his apartment with a sock full of pennies. Cue the end of the episode, when Jerry discovers his and Kramer's Italian landlord has ambushed Joe Mayo in his apartment with... a sock full of pennies.
• One episode of The Young Ones has multiple clones of Neil popping out of the ground, one of them says "Wow, anyone who saw that must have thought it was a multiple reality inversion". Cut to two random bystanders: "Wow, that looked just like a multiple reality inversion."
• Occurs frequently on How I Met Your Mother. One of the best examples is how all of the main characters seem to be buddies with a Korean Elvis impersonator, aptly named "Korean Elvis".
  • The best example has to be the episode where a goat takes a dump on Ted's floor. Later, both Robin and Marshall are able to identify the droppings as coming from a goat. "How does everyone know it's a goat turd!?"
• Occurs half a dozen times per episode on The West Wing. In one notable example, Sam spends an entire episode going around asking if people have heard about an Alabama town which just voted to replace all its laws with the Ten Commandments. Everybody he talks to wants to know how they're going to tell if you're coveting your neighbor's wife.
  • Another episode has Donna compare economic theory to the problems of deciding which diet plan to follow by saying you should take a bit from each theory, much to the amusement of Josh. Only a short while later, the President makes the exact same point to Josh (minus the diet analogy).
• On Will and Grace, in the episode "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, World", Grace's coffee has "Patrice" written on it- she claims it's her Coffee Name. Then Will says "Tyler" is his "my getting-out-of-going-to-your-parent's-house name". A few minutes later Jack enters, saying "Hey, Tyler. Hey, Patrice."
• Men Behaving Badly: While Gary is having a one night stand and Tony is trying (as ever) to get laid, Dorothy phones them to ask how things are while she's gone. Tony panickedly tries to think up something that isn't the truth. After the phone call, Debbie asks her if something's wrong.

Dorothy: Well, either he's passed out on the sofa, or he's sleeping with another woman.

• • Later in the episode, Dorothy finally comes back after the other girl has left. Dorothy asks him how the night went.

Gary: Oh, Tony was sleeping with a girl he picked up and I was passed out on the sofa.

• In an episode of Home Improvement, Wilson's house is broken into. The thing he's most upset about losing is his African mucus cup, much to Tim's bewilderment. When Tim later tells Al about the break-in, Al's first response is "Oh, no. Did they take his mucus cup?"
  • That's more a case of Al knowing that Wilson prized the mucus cup, so it would be the worst thing for him to lose.
• Red Dwarf, "Back to Reality". Kryten discovers that he's actually Cybernautics Division cop Jake Bullet.

Kryten: "Jake Bullet: Cybernautic Detective." I like that! That sounds like the kind of hard-living flatfoot who gets the job done by cutting corners and bucking authority, and if those pen pushers up at City Hall don't like it, well, they can park their overpaid fat asses on this mid digit and swivel -- swivel 'til they squeal like pigs on a honeymoon!"
Rimmer: "On the other hand, 'Mr. Bullet', perhaps the Cybernautics division is in charge of traffic control, and you just happen to have a rather silly macho name."
(Later, when they encounter a murderous secret policeman)
Kryten (whips out his badge): "Bullet, Cybernautics!"

Secret Policeman: "That's traffic control."

—However the whole "Back to Reality" scenario is a collective hallucination of the Dwarfers caused by the despair squid, so it's really Kryten who's calling himself a traffic warden rather than a cowboy cop

• • In "Back To Earth", the sci-fi shop owner is unphazed to have fictional characters walk into his shop, because reality incursions are very common this time of year (Rimmer: "Oh good, he's a nutter"). He phones the head of the Red Dwarf Fan Club for them and says "Yeah, reality incursion ... Yeah, that's what I said..."
• Thirty Rock does this continually. In the episode "SeinfeldVision", Liz defends wearing a wedding dress saying "I don't need society's permission to buy a white dress. Who says this is a wedding dress anyway? In Korea they wear white to funerals." Later on, Tracy sees her in the dress and says "Oh, no! Did a Korean person die?"
  • Justified in one episode, after Kenneth and Liz both independently mention The Pelican Brief as an example of dirty dealing:

Jack: Why is everyone talking about that movie?
Liz: It's been playing on Showtime.

• • And used as an episode-spanning Brick Joke effect with "mind grapes."
  • Apparently all celebrities are familiar with the rule of threes, and recognise the same obscure people as celebrities.
  • In "Christmas Attack Zone", while sharing their couple's costume idea for the New Queers' Eve party:

Paul/Jenna: (in unison)I/you [referring to Paul] dress as Natalie Portman from the movie Black Swan. And I/you [referring to Jenna] dress as former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann. We're Two Black Swans!

• • And in the season 4 premiere. Jenna finds out that TGS is auditioning new cast members, and with typical self-centered rage she cries "If it's a blonde woman I will kill myself!" Later, when Tracy hears the same news he immediately has the same response.
  • And twice in another fourth season episode: When Jack and Danny need a name for their prank crew, they both simultaneously pick the "most handsome animal on Earth: The Silver Panthers." Jenna and Tracy simultaneously decide to deal with their Kenneth nightmares: "We have to Elm Street this. We have to go to sleep and kill Kenneth in our dreams!"
• In the Police Squad!! episode "Rendezvous at Big Gulch (Terror in the Neighborhood)", Detective Drebin asks Dr. Olsen if he can trace a rock that was thrown through a window, and Dr. Olsen proceeds to give a geology lesson. Drebin later confronts the criminals who threw the rock, asking them, "Oh yeah, where did this come from?" They start to give exactly the same geology spiel.
• In an episode of Scrubs, Dr. Cox is irritated by Molly's relentlessly optimistic worldview. After she expresses it with an increasingly strained metaphor comparing people to chocolates, he responds that people are actually "bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling." Later, Dr. Cox mentions Molly's attitudes to Dr. Kelso; he doesn't bring up the chocolate metaphor, but Kelso still responds that "people are bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling."
• This happened frequently on Green Acres, with Lisa spouting some nonsense early on in the episode (often involving a Perfectly Cromulent Word), and another character referencing it again later on, to Oliver's alarm. Just another typical day in Cloudcuckooland, but even Mr. Drucker, the only sane native, was known to get in on this one.
• In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "The Zeppo", Xander makes a sarcastic remark about feeling like Jimmy Olsen to Giles. Later, Cordelia mocks him by saying that, with everyone he knows having superpowers, he must feel like...Jimmy Olsen. Xander starts lampshading this, but then cuts himself off with "Mind your own business!"
• In the Amazing Stories episode "The Family Dog", Ms. Lestrange promises to turn the dog into "a quivering, snarling, white-hot ball of canine terror." Later, when the dog attacks burglars, one exclaims, "He's turned into a quivering, snarling, white-hot ball of canine terror!"
• From Bottom, when Richie and Eddie attempt to rub together their one brain cell each by solving a crossword puzzle.

Eddie: Erm... all right, two down... "Fish", four letters, now begins with "X".
Richie: "X"? --Xylophone, xylophone fish. (Beat)
Both simultaneously: Nah, it'd sink, wouldn't it.

• From the first season of Blackadder, a messenger arrives with dire news:

KING RICHARD: What?! Have the Swiss and French made sudden peace with each other at the mountain pass rendezvous, then forged a clandestine alliance with Spain, thus leaving us without friends in Europe unless, by chance, we make an immediate pact with Hungary?
Messenger: (checks the message) Yes.
KING RICHARD: As I thought!

• • In Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Blackadder, General Melchet and Field Marshall Haig all have the same idea to feign insanity: Put your underpants on your head and stick a pencil up each nostril.
    • Justified in that each one of them picked it up first hand after seeing people try it in Sudan. However, Haig and Edmund only saw their attempts - General Melchet knew that each man who tried it was shot for attempting desertion.
• The Office (US version): Ryan sees Todd Packer's vanity license plate-WLHUNG. "So, are you a big William Hung fan?" "Why the hell do people keep asking me that? Who is that guy?"
• When Blair on Gossip Girl realises that the liqour license she managed to get her boyfriend for his big club opening was a fake she decides that the best way of getting back into his good graces would be to... call the cops and have them raid the place. Which, it turns out, he had already done already, prompting Blair to conclude that they belong together. I'm inclined to agree...
  • In another episode when they're not dating, during a sting, Blair remarks "I have a plan." Chuck says he's already had it and they go straight away to enact, without even discussing it or checking it's the same idea. And it is.
• A strange double example occurred on an episode of Psych. Both times, someone makes reference to a character named Polexia. Both times, someone thinks that person is talking about Anna Paquin's character in Almost Famous. Both times, someone asks "Anna Paquin was in Almost Famous?"
  • Another episode had Shawn worried about his dad (normally a man's man) suddenly showing interest in feminine hobbies and bubble baths. Dad defends himself, saying "John Wayne took bubble baths." When Shawn tries to explain his concern to Gus, Gus also repeats the John Wayne factoid in defense of the bubble baths.
• In an episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Zack and Cody are trying to catch some jewel thieves, and Zack has set up a net in London's suite and covered it with leaves:

Cody: Why would there be leaves in a hotel suite?
Zack: ... I'll open up the window so they'll think it blew in from the park across the street!
Cody: That'll never work!

[Later, when the jewel thieves enter the suite]

Thief 1: ... Why are there leaves on the floor?
Thief 2: (looks at window) It must've blown in from the park across the street.
Zack: (to Cody) Told you!

• On CSI, Grissom gave Catherine a present for her daughter for her birthday, a chemistry kit. A few minutes later, Nick showed up with another present and it was the exact same kit.
  • Grissom comments he got one of those when he was nine, and that he "nearly blew up the house." Nick comes in, saying as he did that he'd gotten one of them when he was nine and "nearly blew up the house."
  • In one episode, a victim had built a volcano for his child's science fair. It turns out both Nick and Catherine have reason to resent Grissom...

Catherine: I built one of these when I was in fourth grade. First place should've been mine. Ended up losing to a kid with some lame red ant farm. ... (looks at Grissom) That was you!
Grissom: Something I learned, insects always win.
[A couple of scenes later]
Nick: I built one of those once. First place should've been mine...
Grissom: Gotta let it go, Nick.

• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia uses this a few times. In the episode "The Gang Gets Extreme: Home Makeover Edition," Charlie, in his quest to make a girl a taco-themed bed for which he already has all the supplies for, asks Dennis "What does a little Mexican girl love more than anything in the world?" Dennis immediately responds "Tacos."
  • In "Mac and Charlie Write a Movie," it is common knowledge that the most underrated actor is Dolph Lundgren.
• This seems to have become a trend on Family Feud ever since Steve Harvey became host in 2010. A contestant gives a slightly off-kilter answer to a question (e.g. "Name something that gets passed around." "A joint."), Steve lays into the contestant with a "What the Hell, Player?" attiude, then is taken aback when said answer is on the board.
  • This happens throughout the show's run. Richard Dawson responded to one by saying "If that answer's up there, I'm quitting." When it was, he threw up his hands and started off the stage.
  • From the British version, Family Fortunes: the question was to name a way of toasting someone. One woman said "over a fire", to which the host replied he'd give her the money himself if it was up there. It turned out twelve people said "grill".
• From Community"
  • Both Abed and Jeff independently tell Britta she looks like Elizabeth Shue (which she totally does).
  • In "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux", Abed justifies his documentary by claiming that the documentary Hearts of Darkness was way better than the source material Apocalypse Now. When Special Guest Luis Guzman shows up later, he also says "Hearts of Darkness was way better than Apocalypse Now".
• In one episode of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, two of the heroes infiltrate an enemy ship by dressing up in really terrible Mook costumes. When they get caught and everything looks bad, the other three come to the rescue in the exact same kind of outfits.
• On Burn Notice, Mike and Fiona are in the garage working on Mike's car when Maddie comes in and mentions that Barry's brother is there to see Mike for a job. Fiona looks startled at Mike; "There's two of them?". Later, when Fiona tells Sam about Barry's brother, he says the same thing.
• Corner Gas does this on occasion. In the episode where Lacey's ex-fiance comes to visit, Hank is suspicious of him and tries thinking of ways to get rid of him.

Hank: Look, I was just gonna suggest a good old fashioned beating. Or we put on cloaks and pretend to sacrifice him for the crops. You know, scare him off.
Later, when Oscar and Emma stop by Corner Gas
Hank: I just wanted to beat this Steven guy up.
Oscar: See? Now that's a plan. Or maybe get cloaks and sacrifice him for the crops.

• In the Boy Meets World episode "Train of Fools", Cory sends away the last cab in the city because he thinks the driver was an imposter and says, "For all I know, he was gonna take us to some warehouse, and cut out our livers!". At the end of the episode, Mr. Feeny returns from vacation in that same cab and also becomes suspicious of the driver and doesn't want to stay in the cab and "risk his liver".
• If you really think about it, the only explanation for why the 1960's TV version of Batman was so reliably able to decipher The Riddler's riddles.

Machinima

• Red vs. Blue has an example where Grif and the Blue team independently decide that the Warthog vehicle "looks like a puma".
  • In another episode, Sarge makes fun of Grif for giving him mouth-to-mouth to cure a shot to the head. "What would you do if I got shot in the foot, rub Aloe Vera on my neck?" In a later episode, Doc treats Caboose, who was shot in the foot, by rubbing Aloe Vera on his neck.
  • In the final episodes of Reconstruction, Washington explains that he's going to activate an EMP device to kill the Meta, but the Reds correct him, calling it an "emp," much to Washington's annoyance. When he does activate it, the machine says something to the effect of "Activating emp." Washington's last words are pure indignation.

Radio

• Used, and severely abused, in You'll Have Had Your Tea?: The Doings Of Hamish And Dougal. In "The Shooting Party" Dougal tells Hamish (in a whisper) what the strange buzzing thing he mistook for a novelty thermos was, and Hamish mishears it as "pie-grater". Shortly thereafter the Laird appears.

Laird: What are you doing with my Christmas present to Mrs Naughtie?
Dougal: No, it's a novelty thermos.
Laird: Pity. I've a pie here that badly needs grating.

• • Later still, Mrs Naughtie herself serves up grated pie at a picnic.
  • In "Inverurie Jones and the Thimble of Doom", Hamish sarcastically says "Brad bloody Pitt!" when Dougal asks who's at the door. For the rest of the episode, everyone mistakes Hamish for Brad Pitt, for no reason at all.
• Lampshaded in a famous episode of the old Abbott and Costello show, vis-a-vis "the Feller that pitches for the Cleveland Indians."

Theatre

• Taken Up to Eleven in Andrew Bovell's Speaking in Tongues. The first scene depicts Leon and Jane having an affair, at the same time as Leon's wife Sonja and Jane's husband Pete almost hook up, backing out at the last moment. 90% of the dialogue overlaps. This is continued into the second scene, in which Sonja/Pete confesses her/his near-affair only to find out about Leon/Jane's affair. Toned down in the second and third acts.

Videogames

• In the third Ace Attorney game, Gumshoe makes a comment likening the witness' seeing the murder to him (hypothetically) watching Edgeworth stab Phoenix in the middle of the courtroom. The Judge later uses a near-identical comparison involving Franziska killing Edgeworth with her whip, and Edgeworth notes the similarity.
• In a part if Ace Attorney: Investigations, Edgeworth examines a specific item and thinks about it in his inner monologue. Each time he finishes a thought, Gumshoe will say the same thing aloud, only in simpler words. Eventually Edgeworth is creeped out.

Edgeworth: Detective Gumshoe, please be quiet for a moment. You're frightening me.

• • Also, the ladder/step-ladder argument shows up in I-5, between Miles and Kay, and again in I2-3 between Gregory Edgeworth and Tyrell Badd.
    • The same conversation appears in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney between Apollo and Trucy, but it's justified here because Trucy is Phoenix's adopted daughter and he's apparently taught her the difference.
• Fate/stay night - In the prologue, when Rin reveals that she doesn't want have a wish for the Holy Grail (all she wants to do is win the war), Archer, shocked, fills in possibilities that she could try, like taking over the world. Later, in the Fate Route, when Shirou finds out what Saber's wish is, he's relieved that it's not something like what he expects Rin to try, like taking over the world. This is justifiable, as Archer is a Future Badass version of Shirou.
• A variation occurs in one of the Telltale Sam and Max games. (Season 2, episode 4 in fact.) Sam, Max, and Flint are looking for the missing Bosco and theorize he may have hidden in his bunker. Sam finds the keypad to open the bunker and Max says "Ooh, let's make it say 'BOOBIES'!" Shortly, Sam finds the code and it turns out to be 5318008...or 'BOOBIES' upside-down. Sam even comments on the similarity.
• This is an almost-constant part of the humor in the Mother series (MOTHER, EarthBound, and Mother3). For example, an item will be described by every character in the game by the same highly-specific description ("Here's a jar of Yummy Pickles, be careful, it's easy to drop and easy to roll". "We dropped the jar of Yummy Pickles! Well, I guess that's what happens with something that's easy to drop and easy to roll." "What's that? It looks easy to drop and easy to roll.") or puzzles will be solved via a highly specific item someone has lying around that another character happens to desperately want (like a machine that makes trout-flavored yogurt.). All played for laughs, of course; this is the Mother series, after all.
• In Psychonauts when Raz first tells Lili that Dogen's brain has been stolen, she replies "No, he's just like that." Later Raz tells Milla and gets the same response. Though really, this is more a case of normal minds thinking alike about someone strange...
• This a bit of a running gag in Clannad. Tomoya continues to insist that there is no way a normal person could look at Fuuko's carvings and believe they are anything but a star. Unfortunately, he doesn't know any normal people so everyone apparently recognizes that the carvings are actually starfish. Except Sunohara, who think that they're shurikens.
• Guild Wars Nightfall has to do this a couple of times are mission splits, to bring the plot back together.
  • After the player completes Rihlon Refuge, the Master of Whispers reveals a secret passage to Vabbi behind the waterworks. Its complementary mission in Poghan Passage, after which Margrid reveals the Corsairs also know about the passage.
  • After both the Nundu Bay and Jennur's horde missions, which take place in two regions of the world, the player character gets a suggestion from one of two different people to find a way to cross the Desolation.
• In Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, both Eoleo and Obaba, in their respective intro scenes, immediately notice that Kraden hasn't aged a day in the last thirty years. Once Kraden's immortality is explained, both immediately follow up by saying how much it must suck that he'll be seventy-plus forever. Apparently Eoleo learned a lot from his great-grandma.
• In Tales of the Abyss, Jade is able to spot a small stone that the group needs being carried by a monster. When one character remarks on Jade's luck in spotting it, Jade responds, "Heaven smiles upon me because of my good deeds." The other five members of the team immediately have the exact same thought.

Luke, Tear, Guy, Anise, and Natalia: "(That can't possibly be true...)"

• In Custom Robo: Battle Revolution random people repeatedly mistake the Steel Hearts "Bounty Hunters" (バウンティハンター) for "Bottom Feeders" (バカンティハンター) much to Harry's annoyance.

Visual Novels

• In A Profile when confronted with the declaration that there's no way Masayuki is ever going to marry his little sister Rizu, Rizu and her mother Riko both react with the exact same sequence of nonsense syllables. For Masayuki's sake, let us pray that Rizu does not grow up to be like Riko in her endings.

Web Animation

• Homestar Runner lives and breathes this trope across the entire series of cartoons. One specific example:

Homestar: (Wearing a pair of shades covered in yellow paint) Oh, hello, Dripping Yellow Madness!
Strong Sad: What? I'm Strong Sad! Dripping Yellow Madness moved away after fifth grade!
later
Homestar:The sales representative I dealt with gave them to me... free of charge. I believe... his name was Stan.
Bubs: Stan?! I fired that guy after the fifth grade!
yet later
Strong Bad: Hey, The Cheat. We catch anything in the Death Hole today?
The Cheat: * The Cheat noises*
Strong Bad:What? There's no way he could've been in there. He moved away after fifth grade!

• • The usage of "DNA Evidence" started out like this, but eventually became Arc Words.
  • "Car Trip" and Homestar's usage of the phrase "jumbo/LARGE".
  • "Strong Bad is a Bad Guy" has this relatively ordinary example:

Homestar: (walks up to Strong Bad, Strong Mad and The Cheat, who were previously talking about tattoos) Hey guys! H'whatcha teekenbot?
Strong Bad: We're talking about something cool and interesting. You wouldn't understand.
Homestar: Oh, tattoos, huh?

• • • That same cartoon started with Strong Mad saying his tattoo of choice would be "a glowy box". This is also one of Homestar's ideas once he joins in.

Webcomics

• 8-Bit Theater. Used straight frequently, and played with in the case of the "Cold Fusion Reactor". Set up here and here, with the punchline occurring here
  • And then it's continued here and here
  • Then, the gross misuse of geometry, starting with the hypercube (a sphere of some sort), moving on to summoning circles (squares), and to the datasphere (a cube)... finally reaches its conclusion with the Stube.
• Penny Arcade teaches us about Claw Shrimp.
• Least I Could Do has Rayne attempting to popularize the word "vagoo" as a more casual synonym for the vagina. When a co-worker uses it in a later storyline, he says "I knew that term would catch on."
  • Note that the term originated in a Fate/stay night doujin that censored "penis" to "ponos" and "vagina" to "vagooo". Image Boards latched onto it.
• In A Modest Destiny, Gustav and Lucille agree that the same-sex marriage between Maureen and Lucille (which exists only to avoid a curse on Lucille; Maureen does not, at this point, identify as a lesbian) lacks mayonnaise, to Maureen's bewilderment. Maureen is frustrated when Fluffy repeats the same line later independently.
  • There's also a Running Gag in which various characters suggest brightening up dismal rooms (such as prison cells) with throw pillows.
• In WIGU, some church folk accuse Wigu of being a wizard, after which a policeman shows up to arrest him and have him buried up to the neck in the town square, due to a law that's been on the books since 1695. When Wigu's mother finds out her son has been arrested, her response is, "Charged with being a wizard? What is this, 1695?".
• In El Goonish Shive, Tedd wonders why he's creeped out thinking about Grace becoming a guy at her Gender Bender-themed birthday party when he was fine with seeing her in his form before. He concludes that it's because he's either a narcissist or just that girly. Later, at the birthday party after everyone has changed gender, Grace asks Susan and Sarah why Tedd seems uncomfortable with her in male form when he's already seen her as himself. Susan theorizes that Tedd's a narcissist, and Sarah adds the "Or he's just that girly" comment.
  • Later Grace reassures Tedd that it's okay for him to be more weirded out by a male version of her than by her transforming into him because "It feels different to be with one's own self ... and couples switching bodies is number thirty-seven on your list of weird things you like. It's also possible that you're just that girly, but I don't think you're a narcissist."
  • Also, toward the beginning of the "Night Out" arc, Nanase uses her fairy doll spell to talk to Ellen. When she first uses it, Elliot says to Justin, "Do you want to be the one to make a wise-crack about them inventing telephones when she snaps out of this, or shall I?" A few comics later, while Nanase is hanging out of Ellen's bra, Ellen informs Nanase that there is a lovely new invention called the telephone.
    • On the other hand, what would you say to someone who decides to communicate with you via a friggin miniature magic avatar for a casual conversation?
    • Possibly justified as Ellen is a distaff duplicate of Elliot.
    • Also, both Ellen and Elliot have had a scene where they told Nanase in her fairy form that normally they would hug her but don't want to crush her.
• In User Friendly, a guy with what appears to be punk hair applies for a job here and says the hair was due to an accident with a soldering iron and a ceiling fan. Later, two of the techs say that this was their first assumption.
• In The Wotch: Cheer!, there are the recurring set of Noodle Implements: Two geese, a roll of duct tape, 23 toothpicks, and some sodium benzoate. First used by Tamara, then later by Jo and Agent 32.
• In Sluggy Freelance, when Queen Valerie asks Torg his name, thinking he's a random peasant, he goes for the really lame Line-of-Sight Name Pheasant the Peasant. A short while later Zoe is about to be eaten by the demon K'Z'K, and in wild desperation she claims she's not Zoe but "her twin sister...um...Pheasant".
• A Dominic Deegan comic has Donovan, whose Orkcsh translations are all of My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels quality, say something about doing taxes in autumn, followed by the orc he's talking to saying "Close enough. Let's get moving." Meanwhile, an orc who's not too good with the Callanian language translates Dominic's rant as being something about taxes in autumn... prompting the same response. It turns out that Donovan and the orc had the same phrasebook.
  • Also, near the beginning of the comic's run, Sigfried meets both Lady Tavoria and Dominic. Both are hung up on his name, and ask him if they can just call him "Siggy."
• In Yahtzee Takes on the World, multiple characters independently base their decisions on consulting magic 8-balls. When one asks about Yahtzee's odd behaviour, the ball answers "He's the Anti-Yahtzee, dumbass," so maybe they know something we don't.
• "Randall, get out of my head!" is a frequently posted statement on the Xkcd forums.
  • And, of course, this (possibly NSFW).
• This may be a Real Life example, but once Order of the Stick and Erfworld (which then shared the same website) both included a joke about the restaurant Subways on the same day (which seems even odder since both comics take place in medieval fantasy worlds, albeit ones with Anachronism Stew and little or No Fourth Wall). Order of the Stick author Rich Burlew insisted it wasn't intentional, though he took it as a sign about what he should have for lunch that day.
  • Another Order of the Stick example: Haley says that Thanh has been "dominated" by Tsukiko, and both Belkar and a random cleric assume she is referring to consensual bondage rather than a Mind Control spell.
• This strip of Blip. K, just before acting out her role as a pre-arranged third wheel, thinks to herself, "All right... Time to bust out my Cate Blanchett skills..." When K proceeds to over-act the part, Hester thinks to herself, "Fail, Ms. Blanchett... Fail."
• Holy Bibble used to have a bit of this. Anyone baking anything tended to add "a few pastries for variety", despite being centuries and often miles apart. It's unknown if this will show up in the current reboot, though.
• This strip of Wondermark.
• The Schlock Mercenary arc "Massively Parallel" is full of moments like this, since it's an extended storyline with several separated groups of characters and various repeated jokes cropping up. Of note are at least four characters asking What Would Schlock Do? in unrelated circumstances, and one group of characters saying It's not rocket science while performing impromptu brain surgery, and later another group saying "It's not brain surgery" while performing rocket science.
  • Also, when communications were disrupted, Trevor was asked where he thinks their lost team is and what he would do in their place. He has no clue, the only idea he can think of when seeing 4-km high buildings is that the place is great for base jumping. Cut to the team...
  • "Sergeant Schlock had the same idea".
• Bad Machinery: This page.

Shauna's interior monologue: Oh my God, nuff cutlery. Do I just use the ones I like the look of best?
Mr. Corky: Oh, just use the ones you like the look of best, Shauna.

• Girl Genius occasionally have such things happen. Count Wolkerstorfer was musing as to whether Krosp is Moldovian Puff, and later a Corbettite monk mentioned he was told they're "a particularly heathenish breed".
  • A deliberate version with Agatha and the Mucosapedalian Guard-Slime's creator. The difference is that by this time she knows better.

Web Originals

• In the blog novel Fartago, Farta's wife Balchane tells him to stop looking at Tago's "porn" because it is "demeaning to females." Later, when Tago shows his porn to Artiste, Artiste says, "Eet ees poop. ... And eet demeaning to females."
• Cass Cult has a number of mentions of Thor's severe hatred of trees. The authors swear they've never read Order of the Stick.
  • This one might actually be subconscious Fridge Brilliance at work: Thor is the god of, among other things, lightning. So he must be aiming for all those trees.
• In A Very Potter Musical, when Dumbledore is totally outed, he states that he would suck the snake-poison out of Snape, even it it was in his wiener. Later, after Dumbledore dies, Bellatrix casts an "attach-snake-to-wiener" spell on Snape, who comments that he wishes that Dumbledore was there.
• Used in Avatar: The Abridged Series to explain the Human Popsicle.

Sokka: In ancient times, people would put giant pieces of chocolate shaped like people in giant blocks of ice. And then, you'd take a funny stick and break it open, and eat the chocolate people like chocolate cannibals.
(...)
Aang: That's strange, how'd I end up in an iceberg pinata?
(...)
Zuko: That light! It can only be... someone opening an iceberg pinata, and not sharing it with me!

• Hellsing Ultimate Abridged has this:

Alucard (referring to leprechauns): D'you think if I shot one in the head, Lucky Charms would explode everywhere?
Anderson (later, also referring to leprechauns): I've never actually caught one, but do you think if I cut one open with my knife it'd spew out Lucky Charms?

• Shows up in Gantz Abridged; upon seeing Kishimoto's bloody wrists, Kurono quickly brushes away the idea of her committing suicide and comes to the conclusion that she must've choked on a piece of hamburger while in the bathtub. Much later on, when Hojo asks Kishimoto how she died, she responds by saying that she did actually choke on a hamburger in the bathtub.
• Dragon Ball Abridged does this as well. When Krillin calls Nail "Big Green", Nail threatens to break his neck if he says it again...only for Guru to start calling him that.
  • "I was gonna say, "Come and get me, Freeza," but that works too!"

Freeza: You see, I recently acquired what you people refer to as Dragon Balls, but I've been having trouble getting them to do what I want.
Nail: Did you try working the shaft?
Freeza: Classy.
Super Kami Guru: Nail! What does he want?
Nail: He's asking how to use the Dragon Balls.
Super Kami Guru: Did you tell him to work the shaft?
Nail: Yes, Lord Guru.
Super Kami Guru: Good work, Nail.

• Subverted in Pokémon the Abridged Series. When Brock takes too long to find Ash and Misty when they are trapped in a net, Ash concludes that Brock Must've been kidnapped by pirates. When Brock rescues them, he starts to tell them he was abducted by pirates, then says he was just kidding.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series has a few examples. In episode 53, Noah challenges Kaiba to really prove that he loves Mokuba by daring him to sing the theme song to Mokuba's favorite cartoon. Kaiba improvises wildly with, "Spongepants... Squarebob... He's a friendly little guy..." ("Is that it am I close?" "No." "Dammit."). Later, Joey tries to cheer up his friends with a singalong, opening up with the lyrics "Spongepants Squarebob, he's a friendly little guy!"
• Damn You Autocorrect has examples thanks to autocorrect dictionaries and sheer numbers. Seriously, slutpies?

Western Animation

• In the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers pilot, Monty takes them to meet with Gadget (actually to meet with Gadget's father) and they encounter a series of deadly booby-traps. Monty assures them (rather weakly) that they're not intended for him ("He couldn't still be holding a grudge, could he?") and are probably for something else. "Maybe he has a thing about door-to-door salesmen." When they actually meet with Gadget her first response (with pencil crossbow to their heads), "You're not door-to-door salesmen, are you? That's why I set up all these traps in the first place."
• When trying to shoo away a gaggle of tiny nuns following him, Grim of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy describes himself as "The exact opposite of a nun." Later, once he's decided to live with the nuns, and Billy and Mandy come looking for him, Billy says that Grim's "The exact opposite of a nun."
• In one South Park episode, the CIA makes an unpleasant discovery:

Agent Thompson: We have reason to believe that Mrs. Clinton may have a nuclear device up her snatch. ...A snatch. It's the technical term for vagina.
Agent Waters: It's a suitcase nuke, designed to fit in a woman's snizz. It's called a snuke.
Later, Cartman is contacted.
Mr. Thompson: Well, we've just arrived in your town.
Cartman: Why? Did you find something?
Mr. Thompson: Yes. There's a suitcase nuke in Ms. Clinton's snizz.
Cartman: (beat) A snuke?

• • In "It Hits the Fan", Cartman gets upset that the word "shit" is no longer offensive, and starts using "meekrob" as a swear word. Later on, Cartman sees a list of all of the "cursed words", and one of them actually is "meekrob".
  • And then there's "Pinkeye", where Stan and Wendy planned to come to school on Halloween both dressed as Raggedy Anne and Andy (which was apparently supposed to be romantic somehow), but Wendy decided it was lame and changed her costume to Chewbacca without telling him. When Stan gets to school, he is disgusted to find that everyone else in the class except two of his friends and Mr. Garrison came dressed as Chewbacca. I'm surprised that the local costume shop actually had that many Chewbacca masks.
  • Or the episode where the town is set upon by rich people (who just so happen to be black), and the rank-and-file residents try to get rid of them. Mr. Garrison proposes two plans that look terribly racist: burning "lower-case Ts", for "Time to leave", on their lawns, and dressing up like ghosts (that look like Klansmen). In both cases, the rich people see these displays as exactly what Garrison intended them to be.
• In the Chowder episode "Brain Grub", Chowder stops paying attention at one point while Mung is lecturing him and has a daydream about filling the kitchen with chocolate pudding and swimming around in it. After Mung snaps him out of his fantasy and asks him to repeat what he was telling him about, Chowder pitches the idea to Mung, who responds with "...lucky guess."
• In the Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy episode "Dueling Eds", Eddy accidentally offends Rolf, and while Edd tries to convince Eddy to apologize, Ed randomly suggests "Why don't you bake cupcakes?" Later, Eddy further provokes Rolf, to the point that Rolf challenges him to a fish-slapping duel, and after getting slapped around a bit Eddy finally admits he's sorry, to which Rolf responds "If this is true, have you brought the Cupcakes of Sorriness?"
• In the Simpsons episode "The Cartridge Family", this happens with references to the King of England:

Homer: But I have to have a gun. It's in the Constitution.
Lisa: Dad, the 2nd Amendment is just a remnant from revolutionary days. It has no meaning today.
Homer: You couldn't be more wrong, Lisa. If I didn't have this gun, the King of England could just walk in here any time he wants and start shoving you around. <shoving her repeatedly> Do you want that? Huh? Do ya!?
Later on, at the NRA meeting:
Krusty: Guns aren't toys! They're for family protection, hunting dangerous or delicious animals, and keeping the King of England out of your face!

• • Made even funnier when you realise England hasn't had a king since the 50s.
  • In "Deep Space Homer", when a military general searching for 'normal Joes' to become astronauts, he asks perpetual drunk Barney Gumble if he'd like be higher than he's ever been before. Barney replies, "Become an astronaut? You bet!"
  • And of course, this little gem:

Homer: * after being questioned that he likes ballet* Please. I enjoy all the meats of our cultural stew.
Homer's Mind: * pictures a scene at the circus, where a bear is driving a tiny car*
At the nuclear plant...
Homer: * angrily* Can't, guys. Marge is taking me to the ballet.
Carl: Ah, going to see the bear in the car, huh?

• • In the episode parodying the Beatles, Barney gets a weird Japanese girlfriend. This exchange occurs:

Moe: Hey, Barney! What'll it be?
Barney: I'd like a beer, Moe!
Yoko: I'd like a single plum floating in perfume served in a man's hat.
Moe, immediately pulling both out from under the counter: Here you go.

• • When Homer asks Professor Frink for invention ideas, Frink explains that he can find a new use for an existing item. Homer suggests hamburger earmuffs with Frink humoring the idea. After Homer leaves, Frink then pulls that invention out and says he will have it in stores first.
  • In "Simpson and Delilah", Lenny convinces Homer to use his medical insurance to pay for hair tonic, sarcastically saying that Mr. Burns wouldn't miss the money since for him it would just mean "one less ivory backscratcher". When Mr. Burns later finds out about the charges, he's furious because he was planning on buying an ivory backscratcher.
  • In the episode where Homer gets a new assistant who turns on him and takes his job, he uses a secret Flanders told him to turn the tables. When asked where he learnt the secret, he declines to say, but states the initials are S.F. She immediately recognizes this as Stupid Flanders.
  • While Halloween episodes aren't canon, there's this exchange from when the school cafeteria suddenly starts serving delicious food:

Principal Skinner: Mmm, well perhaps I ought to let you folks in on a secret! Do you remember me telling Jimbo Jones that I would "make something of him" one day?
Mrs. Krabappel: (gasps) Are you saying you killed Jimbo, processed his carcass and served him for lunch?!
(Skinner points at his nose)
Mrs. Krabappel: Ha!
(Everyone continues eating)

• In the Clerks animated series, Randal is afraid a monkey is going to spread a fatal disease, and threatens it. The monkey's response is to start masturbating, which Randal claims is out of fear. Shortly after, someone walks in and says "Oh my, someone has frightened that monkey!"
  • In that same episode, Dante tries to convince two different people that the Motaba virus was just a figment of Randal's imagination. He says the rumors are coming from "a pop culture junkie loudmouth... with too much free time." Both people he says this to respond with "You mean Quentin Tarantino?"
• In an episode of The Boondocks, Granddad has gotten inadvertently beaten by a blind man. Riley jokingly comments that he could rent Granddad out for Mexican birthday parties, under the name "Señor Pinata". Later, when Granddad is watching the news, shocked to find out that the blind man (Cl. Stinkmeaner) beating him has managed to become a news story, a Spanish-language news station covering the story dubs him "Señor Pinata".
• In the Halloween episode of Invader Zim, Zim can only watch in frustration as the nightmare version of Membrane hauls Dib back to headquarters. "Oh, come on! I break free and now I have to go back to rescue that little rat that left Zim to rot? Why must it be?" Later after doing just that, Dib remarks at the angry expression on Zim's face: "Oh, come on! You're not mad about the whole 'leaving you to rot' thing, are you?"
• Happens occasionally in Kim Possible with Kim with Ron and Shego with Drakken:

Shego: I don't get it. If you're such an evil genius, shouldn't you invent your own stuff? I mean, what's up with the stealing?
Drakken: It's called outsourcing, Shego. Besides, why reinvent the wheel? Or in this case... The electron magneto accelerator! With this, I can increase the power of any electrical device to evil proportions!
[Enter Kim and Ron]
Kim: Stealing again, Drakken?
Ron: Whatever happened to inventing your own stuff?
Drakken: It's called outsour... Oh, just get on with it.

• • In another episode:

Kim: Wait... You have cable? Your dad finally gave in?
Ron: I thought it was just a fad? So many channels.
[Later]
Shego: Dr. D, I can't believe you're just now getting cable. Eh! Ah.
Drakken: I thought it was just a fad.

• In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode Dying for pie, this exchange takes place concerning the fact that Spongebob has eaten an immensely powerful bomb (shaped like a pie).

Squidward: We've got to do something!
Mr. Krabs: It won't do any good; I've seen this before. When that bomb goes out- I mean, hits his lower intestine, BOOM.
Squidward: You've seen this before!?
Mr. Krabs: Eleven times as a matter of fact.

• Squidward rushes off screen to a telephone*
  

Squidward: Yes, hello? Doctor? Hospital? ...Won't do any good!? ...Eleven times!?

• • From the same episode, Squidward asks the pirates what flavor pie it is, and three different pirates say "cherry" "apple" and "raspberry". Later, when the "pie" reaches Spongebob's lower intestine, Spongebob says "Something just hit my lower intestine. Tastes like...cherry...no maybe grape...blueberry?". Though possibly subverted in that he never ate the pie bomb at all.
  • Also done in the episode where Spongebob runs rampant with Mermaid Man's shrink ray.

Patrick: You had it set to M for Mini, [turns the M upside-down], when it should be set to W for Wumbo!
Spongebob: Patrick, I don't think Wumbo is a real word...
Patrick: Come on... you know! I wumbo. You wumbo. He- she- me... wumbo. Wumbo; Wumboing; We'll have the wumbo; Wumborama; Wumbology: the study of Wumbo. It's first grade, Spongebob!
Squidward: (In between Patrick's rant) I wonder if a fall from this height will be enough to kill me.
Spongebob: Patrick, I'm sorry I doubted you.

• Later, Spongebob asks Mermaidman*
  

Mermaid Man: Did you try setting it to wumbo?

• Done constantly in The Fairly OddParents, especially by Timmy's Dad.
• There was an episode of Animaniacs where Dr. Scratchansnif is on a date at the movies when Yakko, Wakko, and Dot end up tagging along. Scratchansnif is sent to buy popcorn, and the guy at the counter asks "Would you like fries with that?" The doctor's response is to boggle at this question because no one orders french fries with popcorn. Of course, the Warners and Scratchansnif's date all ask if he got fries with the popcorn.
• Many times on Phineas and Ferb, where everyone seems in on the Running Gag.
• In Darkstalkers several characters see Rikuo the merman and say "You're strangely attractive for a fishman" or some permutation thereof.
• In Finding Nemo, the fish eagerly watch the dentist drilling a patient's tooth and try to figure out what drill is being used. When they finally determine the brand, they note that he's been favoring that kind recently. Later, when a pelican shows up to tell Nemo his dad is coming to save him, he is momentarily distracted by hearing what sort of drill is being used and comments that the dentist has been favoring it as of late.
• Bolt: At Hollywood, two pigeons pitch Bolt the idea of putting aliens on his show. At the end of the movie, Penny and Bolt are abducted by aliens in the show. Bear in mind that, as a dog, Bolt has no say on how his show is ran, and besides, this was after both Penny and Bolt quit and were replaced.
• In an episode of Total Drama Action, Duncan, who didn't get any sleep, wishes that this week's theme was "Guy in a Coma" movies. Later on in the confessional, Chris said that it was either Animal Buddy movies or "Guy in a Coma" movies (Chris picked the first one.)
• In "The Penguins of Madagascar in a Christmas Caper," after Private runs off, Skipper tells his men to think about the Penguin Credo. Kowalski thinks that he is referring to "Never bathe in hot oil and bisquick." Later, when the penguins find Private again, Skipper tells him to remember the Penguin Credo, and he replies "What does swimming in bisquick have to do with anything?"
• Two examples in Codename KND. The first one, which plays it straight, starts when Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 2 suspect Bras to be deadly weapons named Battle Ready Armor, which Cree and Numbuh 5 deny. Later in the episode, it turns out to be exactly what Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 2 thought it would be. Now, the second example is a LITERAL example - the DCFDTL literally think alike.
• Archer:
  • In the pilot, Malory is lecturing Sterling on his irresponsible use of company expense accounts:

Malory: ISIS isn't your personal travel agency! It doesn't exist just so you can jet off to...Whore Island!
Archer: That's...not really a place.
(In "Job Offer", eight episodes later)
Malory: Did you freeze all his accounts?
Cheryl: Yes, including the one in the Isle of Man. Ohmygod, is that like Whore Island but for women?
Pam: No.

• • Further proving how much Archer loves its Call Back and Brick Joke humor, later in the pilot, Malory hits Archer over the head with her purse, and he exclaims "What do you keep in there, buckles?" In Season 2, Episode 11 Gilette disguises himself as Malory as part of a plan. He ends up knocking someone unconscious with her purse and says, "What does she keep in here, buckles?"
  • Also in "Jeu Monegasque," Gilette and Archer are talking about how Archer doesn't generally gamble. Archer mentions he had a bad experience...cut to Archer at about eight years old, playing blackjack with Malory for Halloween candy and losing. He's dressed as Charlie Chaplin, but when it cuts back to the present Archer mutters, "...why was I dressed as Hitler?" Later, Lana and Malory show up and Lana mentions that she's never seen Archer "drunk drunk," to which Malory replies that she has and remembers the same Halloween (Archer is throwing up because he can't hold his liquor). Malory then wonders "...why was he dressed as Hitler?"
  • Everyone on the show is equally concerned with the danger of getting ants in the office.
  • In one mission, Archer's cell phone (complete with obnoxious ringtone) goes off in the middle of a mission, risking alerting the guards. But it turns out it's ok because one of the guards has the exact same ringtone and just answers his own phone without realizing anything is amiss.
• In an episode of Jimmy Two-Shoes, when a ghost wakes Beezy up, he mutters "I've got to stop falling asleep to Ghoul FM." Later, his father is woken up the same manner, and he mutters the same line.
  • In another, when Beezy dresses up in a chicken suit, Lucius complains that he's not causing misery like he told him. Beezy replies "Misery? You told me to cause anguish." "Anguish? That's barely worse than worry". Later, when Grandpa Heinous is unfrozen, he complains about how his son isn't causing any real misery. Lucius points out the anguish on his worker's faces, but Grandpa replies with "Anguish? That's barely worse than worry!".
• American Dad: In one episode, Stan is offered a helicopter as a reward for completing a mission. Bullock mentions offhandedly that Leonardo Da Vinci, in his early diagrams referred to his hypothetical device as an "aerial screw." Later, Stan is talking to Roger and shows him a picture of his helicopter, to which Roger says, "An aerial screw?"
  • In another episode, Stan gets past the security checkpoint on the Fox studio lot by claiming to be Kristen Johnson. Later, when he breaks into the set of Francine's sitcom, the director asks who he is and Roger responds "I dunno, Kristen Johnson."
  • In "A Smith in the Hand," Francine goes to get plastic surgery done. The surgeon offers a number of weird procedures, including one where he would combine both of her breasts into a single huge one. When she refuses, he sighs and says no one goes for "The Superboob." Later when she goes home with Botox injections, Klaus says "Why didn't you tell me you were getting work done? I'd gladly have gone halfsies on the Superboob!"
  • In "Camp Refoogee", Francine is growing a garden. Klaus says she should plant some...whatever they're called in English...Hitlermelons? Later, Stan is in a refugee camp (which he is trying to treat as a summer camp)

Villager: Is it food?
Stan: Better.
Villager: Malaria pills?
Stan: Better. (opens a box of tetherbals)
Villager: They look like fruit.
Woman: Are they Hitlermelons?

• • In "Black Mystery Month", Stan tells Steve that when little boys don't get enough sleep, their groins emit a sweet berry scent that attracts pedophiles. Later, Steve runs into a security guard who sniffs the air and says "Mmm, sweet berries...hey champ, did you get enough sleep last night?"
• Used frequently in Squirrel Boy, including Rodney and Andy coming with the analogy regarding three people having fun:

"When "three" sees "fun" walking down the street, three grabs fun's face and—"

• Subverted in Family Guy:

Peter: Well, Richard my family seems to think "money" is the way to go, so I'm going to go with "The flute Captain Picard played first in his imagination and then in real life in the episode 'The Inner Light' from Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Lois: What?!? You idiot!
Richard: Show me Picard's flute!
("Picard's Flute" appears on the board)
Lois: Peter, how did you...
Peter: I was in the survey.

• • Invoked in another episode: Peter has taken over his father-in-law's company and refuses to give it back. When Lois and her father plot to oust him, she says "To beat an idiot, you have to think like an idiot!" They both conclude that they need to scare him with a swamp monster costume. Not only does it work perfectly, but Dr. House had the exact same idea.
  • There's also the episode where Lois drags the family into spring cleaning, which brings simultaneous remarks of annoyance from Peter, Brian, Chris, and Meg where they repeatedly say the exact same thing. Up to and including "Ruth Bader Ginsberg!"
• In Mulan, both Mulan's father and the Emperor call her "the rarest and most beautiful flower of all."
  • Justified somewhat in that Mulan's name means "wood orchid", a type of flower.
• In Dan Vs. "Elise's Parents," Dan tries to get Elise's parents arrested by editing a conversation with them to make it sound like they're in the mafia, ending with Don threatening to "cupcake" the local crime syndicate. Dan explains to the cops that "cupcake" is mafia slang for "kill." Later in the episode, Dan overhears the actual mafia boss use the term in exactly that way.
• In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, in the episode "The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 2", Michelangelo says to the Foot Elite ninjas "Nice hats!". Seconds later, Donatello says the same thing. Then another minute later, Raphael shows up and says the same thing.

Raph: [to the ninjas] Nice hats.
Mikey: Yeah. We thought so too.

• In an episode of Futurama, Fry inadvertently brings back the common cold, which, due to people losing their immunity, creates a plague throughout New New York. At a meeting with President Nixon, Zapp Brannigan suggests Protocol 62, which Nixon shoots down, saying "Impossible, we don't have nearly enough piranhas!". Brannigan then decides on Protocol 63 instead. Later all of Manhattan is sealed in a dome, pulled it off the planet, and launched towards the sun. When he realises what's happening, Zoidberg remarks "They must have been outta piranhas!"
• In the Arthur episode "The Chips are Down", after DW ate a green potato chip which Arthur and Buster were sorting out, the two trick her out by saying the green chip is poisonous hoping she will confess. Later, DW asks Timmy and Tommy what they know about green potato chips, they respond, "you mean the poison ones?" She faints before knowing Binky ate one too.
  • This is based in truth, however. The green spots on a potato contain solanine and chaconine, both glycoalkanloid toxins. Deep frying tends to leach these toxins out of the potato, and it would take fairly excessive number of green chips to make one ill.
• In an episode of The Critic, during a Scrabble Babble moment, Duke invents the word "Quzybuk" (meaning, "a big problem") which he pays Webster to add that word in the dictionary. Later, a research scientist uses that newly invented word.
• In the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "Party of One", Pinkie invites the others to Gummy's after-Birthday party that afternoon. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity all have the same response: "This afternoon? As in, 'This afternoon' this afternoon?" Pinkie lampshades it for Applejack and Rarity ("It's so strange. Everypony keep saying that.") and interrupts Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, saying "Yes! As in 'This afternoon,' this afternoon!"
• In an early episode of King of the Hill, Bobby accidentally hits Willie Nelson in the head with a golf club. When Hank asks if he's okay, Nelson says "Am I bleeding from the ears?"; when Hank says no, he responds "Then I'm probably alright". In the next scene, Hank is telling Peggy about the incident and the first thing she says is "Was he bleeding from the ears? Well he must be okay then."
• In The Looney Tunes Show episode "Eligible Bachelor", Daffy and Lola both think "literacy" has something to do with litter.
• In an episode of Spliced, when Peri and Entree are sent flying in the air and are about to fall. Peri points out that Entree has chicken wings, to which Entree objects "but chickens live underwater!" Then, at the end of the episode:

Peri: He'll be fine. He's got chicken wings.
Mr. Smarty Smarts: But don't chickens live underwater?

• This is used a lot in Hey Arnold!. For example, in the episode "Downtown as Fruits", Arnold and Gerald say "Boy, people downtown sure are friendly." when they receive a bag full of cash. They later give the rest to a family stranded with a broken-down car, who then say the same thing.

Real Life

• Completely independently of each other, Europe and China formulated the idea of giant winged fire breathing ageless reptiles in the form of dragons.
  • For varying definitions of 'dragon' that is. China didn't have wings or firebreathing so much. Also, Greece, Persia...
  • But the thunderbird and the phoenix are a different story. It actually happens a lot, and Carl Jung had a field day with the phenomenon.
  • Perhaps it has something to do with the giant bird/lizard bones found all over.
    • The Cinderella fairy tale also seems pretty widespread.
    • A myth about an otherworldly shapeshifter woman who transforms from her natural form to that of a beautiful maiden through the use of her garment exists. A young male passerby spies her bathing and (eventually or immediately) steals her garment, hiding it away and forcing her to marry him and bear his children. After many years, she discovers her garment (sometimes herself, sometimes because her husband permits her to see it, and sometimes because of her unknowning child finding it) and, taking it, departs forever, leaving husband and children. Now, am I describing the Orkney and Shetland selkie, the Japanese Tennyo, the Swedish Swan Maiden, the German Three Swans, or one of several other similar stories together classified as AaTh400?
• An apparent real-life example is documented here at Overheard.
  • My guess: George and Martha.
• The authors of both The Adventures of Dr. McNinja and Captain Britain and MI 13 deciding, apparently independently, that Dracula should have a moon base. On the moon.
• Newton and Leibniz both independently came up with modern calculus (and, in fact, other mathematicians were toying with the idea as well), resulting in Newton accusing Leibniz of plagiarizing his work.
  • Though they did arrive on the theory from opposite directions (Newton started with derivatives and Leibniz started with integrals), so today we give them both credit.
• These Google search suggestions show that some very odd questions have run through the minds of presumably thousands of people.
  • At least one of those is not so odd- "Do Virgins Taste Better (Than Those Who Are Not)" is the name of a Bawdy Song, the lyrics to which they were apparently looking up.
    • That's not weird in anyway, if you look at it from a non-cannibalistic way.
  • And the idea that masturbation causes blindness is a very old and sadly, still widespread old wives tale. But yes, some of those are pretty strange!
  • Also, Jesus does have a tattoo. On his thigh.
  • Those are nothing. For a while, typing "what are" gave as the top result "what are these strawberries doing on my nipples i need them for the fruit salad". Although apparently, this is the title of a book.
  • Also, one of the examples on the link, "Is God A Mathematician", is the name of a book.
• Directors Alex Proyas and Darren Aronofsky both independently thought up the almost identical striking image of Jennifer Connelly standing at the edge of a pier for their respective movies Dark City (1998) and Requiem for a Dream (2000). House of Sand and Fog (2003) did it too only a few years later, by which time you might start to suspect that Connelly puts a "pier clause" in her movie contracts.
• When Yahtzee couldn't decide if Infamous or Prototype is the better game, he challenged both developers to draw the rival game's main character "wearing women's lingerie;" the win would go to the better picture. The artists responsible for each company's entry both individually decided, for some reason, that their nominated picture should also include a rainbow, a unicorn, and creative applications of the character's powers.
  • Y'know, if they think this much alike, it explains why they made Dueling Games (released too close together for Follow the Leader to be a plausible explanation) in the first place.
• Pyramids. Unless you believe the Ancient Astronauts theory.
  • Not so strange if you realize that pyramids are among the most stable shapes when you haven't invented rebar yet. (same principle as an arch: inward pressure holds them up.)
• Malekith the Witch King, cursed ruler of the Dark Elves and Malekith the Accursed, witch and king of the Dark Elves. At least, there's no acknowledged connection between the two, and they debuted about a decade apart in different countries.
• The letters section of Car And Driver's December 2010 features two letters about the demise of Ford's Mercury division. Both letters lament that there will never be a trim level of the Marquis called the de Sade.
  • That's been a running joke for years. Bit unusual to have two letters like that in an issue however.
• Might fit better under mythology, but a lot of the Creation myths involve the world getting flooded at some point, with very few people left to repopulate. Take that as you will.
  • Lots of ancient cultures liked to settle near fresh water sources and heavy seasonal rains repeatedly killed off a lot of them, leaving just a few survivors to repopulate?
  • Archaeological evidence exists for a catastrophic overflow of the Black Sea circa 5600 BCE, although the speed at which it occurred is still debated. There are also other candidates which may or may not have inspired the myth.
• Hank Ketcham and David Law, on the same day, an ocean apart, began publishing comics of a trouble-making kid named Dennis.