History Main / FellOffTheBackOfATruck

* Occurs a lot in ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses''.

* Arona Daal from ''VideoGame/{{Startopia}}'' uses this line when selling you medical supplies in the second mission, claiming "it fell off the back of a [hospital] trolley."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Timmy cannot tell anyone about Cosmo and Wanda, but he gets all this great stuff from them. So when people (like his parents or friends) ask him where he got XYZ, he responds, "[[WildCardExcuse Uh...Internet?]]" This is usually sufficient (only because Timmy's parents and friends are rather dim-witted). Except at one point, when his father asks: "And where did you get the internet?" Later, trying to restore his parents' faith on him, Timmy brought a lie detector to prove he didn't steal the stuff he got from "Internet". It backfired when Timmy's Dad asked where Timmy got the lie detector.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Timmy cannot tell anyone about Cosmo and Wanda, but he gets all this great stuff from them. So when people (like his parents or friends) ask him where he got XYZ, he responds, "Uh... Internet?" This is usually sufficient (only because Timmy's parents and friends are rather dim-witted). Except at one point, when his father asks: "And where did you get the internet?" Later, trying to restore his parents' faith on him, Timmy brought a lie detector to prove he didn't steal the stuff he got from "Internet". It backfired when Timmy's Dad asked where Timmy got the lie detector.
** [[RunningGag "Uh... the Internet!"]]

* From one of the Darvo Deals from ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': "''I found this great merchandise after it fell off the back of a Corpus shuttle. Actually, to be more precise, the entire back of the shuttle fell off after it took a direct hit from a Formorian. So, not such a lucky day for those guys, heh. But good for you right?!''". Considering the Corpus and Grineer are actually pulling guns on each other more often than they are pulling guns on the [[PlayerCharacter Tennos]], Darvo probably wasn't lying about the origins of the goods.

* Used on an episode of Series/NaturallySadie. There's a tie that makes the holder incredibly lucky. One of the characters is holding it when a delivery truck passes by- and a box of cute shoes in her size falls off right at her feet. Though no one asks her where she got them so she never has to drop the trope name.

* In ''Radio/TheSpaceGypsyAdventures'' many of Gemma and Damien's suppliers claim "it fell off the back of a transport", followed by an explanation of tye phrase for the audience.

* In the British comic ''Whizzer and Chips'', the character Sweet Tooth is once offered some cheap sweets that had "fallen off the back of a lorry".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', the crate carrying Blu really does fall off the back of a truck, and is found by Linda.

* The Grimestreet Smuggler card in ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}'''s line when summoned is "What, it fell off the truck."

** This trope is zanily parodied, as is usual in the show. When Homer is asked how he acquired a ''truck'', he answers, "It fell off a truck-truck." It is immediately used again in the same scene, where Bart drives a ''truck-truck'' and is asked where he got it. He answers, "It fell off a truck-truck... -truck." Maggie then drives onto the scene with a truck-truck-truck.

what Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods possession of stolen goods]] (or equivalent in your country, such as [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handling_stolen_goods handling stolen goods]] in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland), while the seller is known as a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_(criminal) fence]].

what Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods possession of stolen goods]] (or equivalent in your country), while the seller is known as a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_(criminal) fence]].

what TheOtherWiki calls [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods possession of stolen goods]] (or equivalent in your country), while the seller is known as a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fence_(criminal) fence]].

what TheOtherWiki calls [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possession_of_stolen_goods possession of stolen goods]] (or equivalent in your country).

* The Grimestreet Smuggler card in ''VideoGame/Hearthstone'''s line when summoned is "What, it fell off the truck."

* This also appears at least once in the ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games, where a supply of ordinarily legal eqipment can be bought for a suspiciously lower price than normal. The equipment is heavily implied to have been acquired by illicit means, while the seller in turn claims it fell out of a DropShip. This is a particularly poor excuse since Dropships are hermetically sealed against space before takeoff and during transit.

* The Grimestreet Smuggler card in ''VideoGame/Hearthstone'''s line when summoned is "What, it fell off the truck."

Standard method of explaining the [[HowDidYouGetIt acquisition of illegitimate goods]], usually by HonestJohn or [[TheMafia Major Opportunity Businesses]]. Used so much in RealLife and fiction alike that it has become completely synonymous with "I acquired it illegitimately." If you really intend to lie about something's origin, then you'll have to come up with another excuse. That is, unless your friends or [[MafiaPrincess spouse]] are dumb enough to fall for it. Legally, this principle is part of just about every stolen property statute around the world; the law invariably assumes that something being sold or given in a suspicious manner would make any reasonable person assume that the items were stolen or otherwise acquired illegitimately, and anyone who willingly purchases items that a layperson would have good reason to believe were stolen can and will be faced with criminal charges.

* From one of the Darvo Deals from ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}: ''I found this great merchandise after it fell off the back of a Corpus shuttle. Actually, to be more precise, the entire back of the shuttle fell off after it took a direct hit from a Formorian. So, not such a lucky day for those guys, heh. But good for you right?!''. Considering the Corpus and Grineer are actually pulling guns on each other more often than they are pulling guns on the [[PlayerCharacter Tennos]], Darvo probably wasn't lying about the origins of the goods.

->'''Rodney''': Come on, Sandra, you don't care about the little things that fall off the backs of trucks, do ya?
->'''Sandra''': No, Rodney. What I'm interested in is who pushed them and who picked them up.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In the British comic ''Whizzer and Chips'', the character Sweet Tooth was once offered some cheap sweets that had "fallen off the back of a lorry".
-->'''Sweet Tooth''': You mean they're stolen?
-->'''Salesman''': No, they fell off the back of a lorry. And the cars behind drove over them. That's why they're so cheap.

[[folder:Film]]

--> '''Alan:''' What, you're telling me that, in all the time you've run deliveries, nothing has ever just... fallen off the back of the truck?
--> '''Joe:''' Hey, I don't like your tone.
--> '''Alan:''' S-sorry.
--> '''Joe:''' ''leans closer'' It's too loud.

* In ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', a literal example occurs when Miss Piggy is trying to reach the Mallory Gallery to help Kermit and the others. The truck she's driving breaks down, and in despair, she wonders what she'll do...[[DeusExMachina and then a truck advertising motorcycle tricks drives by, and the motorcycle in question (as well as the spangly outfit that goes with it) literally falls out of the back of the truck and lands right next to her.]] She even lampshades it by remarking "What an unbelievable coincidence!"
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', the crate carrying Blu really does fall off the back of a truck, and is found by Linda.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

-->Here comes Christmas Bob
-->Selling cheap prezzies in the pub
-->If you've got the cash, then you're in luck
-->Get a VCR off the back of a truck.

[[folder: New Media ]]
* In Transformation stories, this is typically how the main character gets hold of the body-warping device.
* ''OverheardInNewYork'', [[http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/023706.html here]], with a dash of literal mindedness.

[[folder:Pinball]]
* One of the objectives in ''Pinball/TheSopranos'' is "Truck Heist", which plays this trope straight. Completing the heist awards suits, DVD players, and plasma [=TVs=].
* Creator/{{Capcom}}'s unreleased ''Pinball/{{Kingpin}}'' has "Deliver the Goods," which features large crates falling off the back of a flatbed truck.

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]
* During their stint on WCW, the bad boy tag team [[Wrestling/{{TPE}} the Public Enemy]] would show up in WCW merchandise promos by saying, "You won't believe what fell off the truck this week!"

[[folder: Radio]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

--> '''Rincewind:''' What's under your coat?
-->'''Sleazy Guy:''' ''(after a dramatic pause)'' Hourglasses! [[CoatFullOfContraband Care to buy an hourglass]]?
-->'''Rincewind:''' Where did you get all of those?
-->'''Sleazy Guy:''' Fell off a [[RunningGag donkey cart]], sir!
* In the Shadow Raid heist in ''VideoGame/{{PAYDAY 2}}'', Bain tells the crew that Gage acquires his merchandise this way and the crew will be picking it up for him from a Murkywater warehouse.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

-->'''[[FBIAgent Simon]]:''' Gosh, [[CodeName Specs]], those wouldn't be ''illegal'' explosives, would they?
-->'''[[FBIAgent Nate]]:''' Oh, no, never in a million years. I hear they fell off the back of a truck.
-->'''Simon:''' [[SarcasmMode Which is truly the hallmark of legality]].

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

-->'''Jimmy:''' Did it fall out of a truck?
-->'''Sarah:''' That's how my brother was born!

* ''AmericaTheBook'' claims that this type of good is a major benefit of supporting organized labor in its section on lobbyists.
* In ''Film/WhiteOleander'', Rina's boyfriend Sergei offers Astrid a necklace that he found "lying in the street." She isn't fooled. [[spoiler:But she has sex with him anyway.]]
* In ''TheSilverCrown'', many of the objects in Otto's mother's house really did fall off the back of a truck, as there's a sharp turn nearby that often leads to trucks driving into a ditch. Of course, if someone wasn't covering up the warning sign, it probably wouldn't happen nearly as often...

* ''TheNamelessMod'': Winquman, the [=PDX=] quartermaster, is told by his supplier that the PHAT Rifle he got fell off the back of a truck. The World Corp storyline reveals it DID come off the back of a truck -- it was stolen from it.

* The ''MechCommander 2'' manual (which is referred to in-universe as a "Tactical Data Display") was obtained by Sgt. Cash from his usual suppliers. Lt. Diaz tells you to say it "fell off the back of an armored personnel carrier" if anyone asks.

* In ''SecondEmpire'', a webcomic starring the [[Series/DoctorWho Daleks]] in one of their interminable internal wars, one of the characters notes the head scientist got excellent prices for some stuff that happened to "fall off the back of a cargo ship".
* That's how Lothar in ''ExterminatusNow'' acquired a VTOL battle aircraft of the Inquisition's model, at least [[http://exterminatusnow.co.uk/2011-05-02/comic/the-cesspool/maintaining-a-reputation/ according to himself]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': This trope is zanily parodied, as is usual in the show. When Homer is asked how he acquired a ''truck'', he answers, "It fell off a truck-truck." It is immediately used again in the same scene, where Bart drives a ''truck-truck'' and is asked where he got it. He answers, "It fell off a truck-truck... -truck." Maggie then drives onto the scene with a truck-truck-truck.

* ''ClassOf3000'': "Where did you get that rocket?" "It fell off the back of a truck!"