History Main / InventionPretension

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*** Worth taking these claims with a grain of salt, though - [[UnreliableNarrator western media often spreads verifiably false or too good-to-be-true stories about]] [[AcceptableTargets the North Korean regime]].

* In an early episode of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'', we meet, for the first time, Shawn's father Chet, who makes a pathetic attempt to hide what a bum he is by making a number of audacious claims, including claiming to have invented Creator/{{CNN}}.

* In a bizarre [[LifeImitatesArt reflection of the 1984 example]], [[UsefulNotes/NorthKorea the DRPK]] is known for making absurd claims like this in its official propaganda - such as saying that the [[UsefulNotes/TheRulersOfNorthKorea ruling Kims invented burritos and hamburgers.]]

Likely to be a DiscreditedTrope now (at least in works set in the present day), since two minutes on Wiki/TheOtherWiki is usually sufficient to debunk such a claim.

* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', The Party claim credit for all inventions since an actual period of time [[OrwellianEditor that keep getting older]] [[FutureImperfect as time progresses]]. Winston remembers when they said they invented helicopters, then added airplanes, and expects they'll eventually say the same about the steam engine.

* From the album ''Another MontyPython Record'', "Stake Your Claim" is a panel show that features a man who claims to have built the Taj Mahal. He bails after the first guest has his claim refuted (to the presenter: "I can see I won't last a minute with you").
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-->'''Mrs. Krabappel:''' And who can tell me where thunder and lightning come from? Yes, Bart?\\

* In the first ''Film/{{Austin Powers|International Man of Mystery}}'' movie, Dr. Evil noted in a therapy session that his father had a penchant for making audacious claims, eg: that he invented the question mark.
** In one of the sequels, Dr. Evil himself claimed he wrote the song "What if God was One of Us" when in the 1960s, though in this case nobody was skeptical of the claim because, well, it was the 1960s.

Likely to be a DiscreditedTrope now (at least in works set in the present day), since two minutes on TheOtherWiki is usually sufficient to debunk such a claim.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "Hocus-Pocus And Frisby". Frisby claims (among other things) that he invented the rear-engine automobile for Henry Ford.

* In the remake of ''TheItalianJob'', Seth Green's character claims to have invented Napster and that his room-mate stole it from him while he was sleeping (hence the name).

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* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', The Party claim credit for all inventions since an actual period of time [[OrwellianEditor that keep getting older]] [[FutureImperfect as time progresses]]. Winston remembers when they said they invented helicopters, then added airplanes, and expects they'll eventually say the same about the steam engine.

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-->-- '''Dr. Evil''', ''[[AustinPowers Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery]]''

* In the first ''AustinPowers'' movie, Dr. Evil noted in a therapy session that his father had a penchant for making audacious claims, eg: that he invented the question mark.

* Time travelling bigamist Gary Sparrow, the 'hero' of ''Series/GoodnightSweetheart'', claims authorship of large chunks of the post-war era's popular music while on his visits to London during World War Two. He even has the audacity to make money from it.

* In the {{Mockumentary}} about TheRutles, ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a New Orleans bluesman by the name of Ruttling Orange Peel claims to have come up with all of The Rutles' music. Someone else who is close to him, however, calls him a liar and insists that just last week he also claims to have started Music/TheEverlyBrothers, Music/FrankSinatra, and Lawrence Welk (all while Ruttling repeatedly insists "I did!")

-->'''George Costanza ''(gravely)'':''' ''"Elaine, I once told a woman that I coined the phrase.... "Pardon my french"."''

* In ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]'', The Party invented everything, even airplanes.

* In an early episode of ''BoyMeetsWorld'', we meet, for the first time, Shawn's father Chet, who makes a pathetic attempt to hide what a bum he is by making a number of audacious claims, including claiming to have invented Creator/{{CNN}}.
* In ''CaliforniaDreams'', there was an Asian girl who mentioned that her ancestor invented chopsticks. When asked about it she said it wasn't the eating utensil, but the song.

* In one episode of ''{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry and George are trying to convince Elaine of the lengths men will go to to get a woman to date them:

* N. Brio in ''CrashMindOverMutant'' continuously claims he's invented pretty much everything due to Cortex stealing credit for his Evolv-O-Ray several games ago.

* In the British sitcom ''The Bounder,'' the protagonist (played by Peter Bowles) impresses a woman by reciting his poem, "So We'll Go No More A-Roving" (actually written in the 19th century by Byron). At the end of the episode, [[spoiler: the woman he's really attracted to finds out he's been claiming to write it, and says: "You wrote that? You phony!" In the next episode, she says Byron's dead, and he asks, "Yes, but has anyone seen the grave?"]]

* In ''Film/ReignOfFire'', Quinn and a friend are reenacting the climax of Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack for the children (who were all born after the disaster and so never saw the actual film). After they finish, a starry eyed little boy asks Quinn if he wrote it. Quinn thinks for a moment, and then says "[[SureWhyNot of course I did.]]"