History Main / OhWaitThisIsMyGroceryList

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicians2016'': Inverted in "[[Recap/TheMagicians2016S04E07TheSideEffect The Side Effect]]". When Kady assumed the apartment from Marina, she found a list on the fridge she assumed was some sort of weird grocery list. It's actually the rent Marina owes Bailey/Baba Yaga.

--> Pirate mook: Sorry captain, that's from my dancing course!

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'', etc. (Common in "WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon" set of cartoons.)
** One specific example -- In one ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' episode, Goofy was obsessed with writing poetry, and all his poems were spectacularly bad. When he picked a poem at random, it later turned out to be his grocery list... and it won. To be fair, it rhymed.
** The villain in ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'''s "[[Recap/DarkwingDuckS1E48InLikeBlunt In Like Blunt]]" is beaten when he tries to auction off a list of spy information but Darkwing manages to swap it with a chocolate chip cookie recipe. The supervillain audience is ''not'' amused.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''
** [[https://dilbert.com/strip/2000-01-09 One strip]] had [[TheDitz Ted]] trying to push a stupid plan because the pros outnumbered the cons. Dilbert read the list and found out that everything in the pros column was part of his grocery list. Having been caught out, Ted claims that the fault is trying to quantize pros vs cons, rather than that the plan is stupid.
** In [[https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-07-12 Wally Took Notes]], [[TheSlacker Wally's]] notes from the last meeting are insults about his co-workers and a list of snacks.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2020/05/29 this comic]], Jon mixes up a poem he wrote for Liz with his grocery list.
* ''ComicStrip/PricklyCity'': Winslow's final comments on the budget: 1. Milk. 2. Carrots 3. Toilet paper. Except that no one notices.
[[/folder]]

%% Zero Context Example entries are NOT allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* Inverted in ''Webcomic/VGCats'', where [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the title character]] of ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' accidentally grabs one of the [[RoomFullOfCrazy crazy]] [[NightmareFuelColoringBook notes]] people keep leaving around his forest ''instead'' of [[VillainsOutShopping his grocery list]], which Aeris and Leo find tacked to a tree.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' [[https://explosm.net/comics/3611/ here]]. A doctor informs someone that he has an STD, and suggests to make a list of his past sexual partners. When the man shows the doctor such a list, the doctor points out that it's a grocery list. The man's response? "I like food."
* Inverted in one My Little Pony fanart. Vinyl Scratch came home with a bunch of food for a party: Berry Punch, Lemon Drops, Bon Bons, etc. Octavia asked what all this was for. It turns out it wasn't a grocery list, but the guest list.

* It can help to check which piece of paper went where, as [[https://notalwaysright.com/a-gross-grocery-error-2/78610/ one woman]] discovered at the pharmacy while trying to figure out why another household member was taking so long getting groceries.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse''
%%* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'': Subverted through overuse -- When Jay Sherman's Iraqi captor intends to hand him anti-American propaganda to read on live television, he ends up giving Jay a letter to the Urkel fan club, a personal ad, and an invitation to a kegger.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Francine and the Brain are fighting, so Arthur and Buster write fake apology letters to try to get them to make up. When Arthur delivers his to the Brain, the Brain reads it and yells "This isn't an apology, it's a list of demands!" as the letter is just a list of toys and dolls preceded by "I want." Arthur quickly realizes that he wrote the letter on the back of his little sister's Christmas list.

* An example shows up in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' when Major Monogram is relating to Agent P a list of suspicious items that Doofenshmirtz has purchased. As soon as he reads off "blood sausage", he cites this trope word for word.
** Made more amusing by the fact that, given some of Doof's prior schemes, blood sausage wouldn't have been outside the realm of possibilities.
** The hybrid list idea is done with "big laundry".
** This trope was also partly responsible for thwarting one of Doofenshmirtz' schemes. While using an -inator that moves objects to a random horrible location, he mixes up his "horrible location" wheel with a "dry cleaning wheel" [[InventionalWisdom which exists for]]... [[FridgeLogic reasons he can't recall]], and zaps [[StealthPun a party into his pants]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** Subverted in the episode "Brothers and Sisters", where {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Mayor Creator/AdamWest is getting married to Lois' sister, Carol, and they're saying their own vows:
--->'''Adam West:''' Milk, butter, cat food, those new potato chips in the snack aisle, beer, deodorant, garbage bags, toothpaste...
--->'''Carol:''' Adam, I think that's your shopping list.
--->'''Adam West:''' No, these are my vows. They're all the reasons why I'll always love you.
** Inverted in the episode "Amish Guy". Quagmire reads what is implied to be a list of women he has slept with, thinking it is his food journal.
--->'''Quagmire:''' Today I ate Peaches, Honey, Candy, Ginger, Olive ... you know what? This is the wrong list.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freefonix}}'': In "Back by Unpopular Demand", BCD are recording a new song. One of the takes is ruined when TheDitz accidentally starts singing a Chinese take-out menu rather than the lyrics of the song.
* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'', the OnceAnEpisode reading of the exploding mission document was completely thrown off the rails by Chief Quimby accidentally handing Gadget his grocery list. [[ForegoneConclusion The assignment still did explode after Gadget read it, of course.]]
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode, "Sonic's Song", when Robotnik gives Scratch and Grounder the coordinates to where they're supposed to attack;
-->'''Grounder:''' ''(Reading from paper)'' "Single, 700-pound villain looking for suitable companion..."
-->'''Robotnik:''' ''(Embarassed)'' Whoops, uh, wrong paper, give me that. ''(Snatches paper back)''
** In the ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' episode, "Spacemageddonocalypse", instead of giving Knuckles instructions on how to operate his Solar Convergence Device (with pictures), Tails accidentally gives him his shopping list, leading to this line;
-->'''Knuckles:''' Milk, tomatoes, tail conditioner? These instructions are more complicated than I thought!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheKidsFromRoom402'': Freddy once accidentally brought his mom's grocery list to school, rather than his homework, and didn't realize his mistake untill Miss Graves started to read it out loud in front of the class.
* In "Yes Monkey" on ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'', the Mayor does this when he pulls out the wrong note card for a prepared speech in presenting yet another key to the city to [=WordGirl=] and Captain Huggyface.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': Timmy's Dad has a bucket list he keeps inside [[LiteralMinded an actual bucket]]. When he first tried to read it to Timmy, he instead picked up the bucket's receipt.
* On the Australian claymation series ''WesternAnimation/{{Plasmo}}'', at one point one of the alien bounty hunters who teamed up with the protagonists successfully talks the TeamPet through disabling a malfunctioning system on their spaceship, only to realise after success that he was actually reading the instructions to their new toasted sandwich maker.
* In "The Balance" of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', Hermes comes to deliver a message from the Gods that Franchise/WonderWoman has to go to Hell and free Hades from Felix Faust. However, the scroll he hands her is actually a personal ad; "I think I have a shot. It's her cell number."

* The ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "The Aliens Are Coming" has Colonel K reading the wrong side of a message received from outer space: "Two pints, please, and small cream."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Episode "Party Down", when Leni bounces for Lori's party, Lincoln points out that her "guest list" is actually a grocery list. [[TheDitz Leni being Leni]], she immediately laments that this means feta cheese isn’t coming.

* In "Pig Puts on a Show" from ''Literature/IfYouGiveAMouseACookie'', Moose is made the director of a play of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs''. After assigning who will play the pigs, he pulls out a piece of paper and declares "And TheBigBadWolf will be played by... Tomato!"
-->'''Moose''': Oh, sorry, that's my shopping list.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRocketeer'': In "Sitti's Visit", Cast-Iron Chef steals a list of ingredients Kit's Mom bought for the Bulldog Cafe and mistakes it for a recipe. He's called out for believing a recipe would use such a big amount of yeast.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'', Shinra finds out that he gave Celty his shopping list rather than the license plate of the van she was supposed to chase after when he checked it at the supermarket. Later, it turns out that she didn't need to do anything anyway since Kyohei AKA [[EmbarrassingNickname Dotachin's]] group was chasing after it, albeit for other reasons.

* In ''Franchise/TheMuppets KingArthur'', a group of planted protestors are reading cue-cards provided by Sir Sam of Eagle. One of them shouts out "Bread, milk, cheese, armour polish..." before Sam gives him the right card.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'' comic book version of "The Astro Smurf", Harmony (or Drummer) makes an announcement that Astro Smurf's invention is ready to be unveiled, but the first thing he reads off is a recipe Greedy Smurf had given him.

* In ''Film/DartagnansDaughter'', a series of mix-ups and misunderstandings by the heroes and the villains have both looking for (and finding) coded messages in a laundry list and a really bad love poem. Neither contain any coded messages and are, in fact, a laundry list and a really bad love poem.
* Used by a hero in ''Film/MysteryMen'', where Lance Hunt (alter-ego of Captain Amazing) feigns reading a letter sent by Captain Amazing -- but the piece of paper he's supposedly reading from is just his grocery list.

* The trope also appears in the Creator/JamesThurber children's book ''Many Moons'', where the king's three advisors carry lists of all of the matters they have been consulted on. As each one reads out his list, all have added grocery items their wives wanted the advisors to pick up that day.
* A cartoon in the ''Literature/HorribleHistories'' book of the 20th Century parodies the infamous "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry_sauce cranberry sauce]]" lyric of "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Fields_Forever Strawberry Fields Forever]]", with Music/JohnLennon reading "Cranberry sauce, strawberry jam, milk and a packet of biscuits. Wait, these aren't my lines...".
* In ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'', [[spoiler:the main characters construct an elaborate conspiracy theory around a document that is eventually revealed to be a laundry list]].

* In Jane Austen's ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', Catherine finds some papers just before the light goes out. Having read far too many Gothic novels, she is horrified with the possibilities. And morning reveals it was a laundry list. At the end of the novel, to escape the problems of a ParentalMarriageVeto, Austen has the hero's sister marry a nobleman, and the hero's father is so pleased that he approves the hero's marriage. She then asserts that the nobleman was the one who left the laundry list, and therefore she wasn't introducing a new character at the end to act as a DeusExMachina.
* Happens to the Prime Minister in ''Minidoka: 937th Earl of One Mile Series M'' by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs. Having written his speech on the back of his wife's recipe book, he drops his notes. When he picks them up, he accidentally begins reading the recipe rather than his speech.
* Used as a bluff in ''Literature/WitchAndWizard'':
-->'''Whit:''' "But you gave them the map."
-->'''Sasha:''' "It wasn't a map, it was just a list of things I had to do once I got back to base."

* In ''Series/SpinCity'', vice mayor Charlie's friends at the office come to do an intervention to make him stop betting money on football games. Paul starts reading from a list of arguments, which turns out to be a chili recipe. "Charlie, I want you to know how much you mean to me. 'One pound of ground meat....'"

* Frankie Boyle on ''Series/MockTheWeek'':
** "Eggs, Tea, Bread, Rich Tea biscuits.. Are you sure this is the right list Mr. Schindler?"
** Hugh Dennis: "Milk! Bread! Germoloids! I believe...I have been reading from the wrong piece of paper."
* Variation in an episode of ''Series/That70sShow'' where stoner Leo falls in love with Kitty and sends her a bouqet of flowers with a note reading "Roses are red, Violets are blue [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny eggs, milk, butter]]"

* The second episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' featured Shawn reading things to the spelling bee contestants from the original announcer's shopping list. Things like "banana" and "onion".
* Inverted in an episode of ''Series/TheNanny'' in which Fran picks up an old piece of paper from Maxwell's desk: it's from an original Shakespeare manuscript, specifically "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". Fran's reaction is "If he wants Danish ham, why can't he just say so?" and she goes shopping with the MS page as her list. [[spoiler:And gets mugged.]]

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' gives us the following example:
-->'''Marshall:''' [looking for his password] Jelly beans, fluffernutter, gummi bears, ginger snaps-- this is a grocery list.
-->'''Robin:''' For who, a witch building a house in the forest?
-->'''Marshall:''' Sugar helps me study.
-->'''Barney:''' This is the kind of shopping a ten-year-old does when he's alone for the weekend.
-->'''Lily:''' Who leaves a 10 year old alone for the weekend?
-->'''Barney''' [Sarcastically]: Oh, and your mom was perfect.
* An episode of ''Series/WelcomeBackKotter'' had Mr. Kotter accused of sexually harassing a student. (Actually, she fainted due to a fat diet she had been on and Mr. Kotter was just trying to help her get up.) The Sweathogs wanted the girl in question to sign a confession stating that Kotter hadn't done anything. Horshach wrote the confession on the back of a grocery list and read that to her at first.
* At the beginning of one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Blake asks Radar to read a list of everything the camp is running low on because their supply line got cut. After Radar finishes the list, Blake tells him to brief the other officers on what areas of rationing they'll be in charge of, and he starts reading the first list again. Then he stops, flips the top page of his clipboard out of the way, and reads the real second list.
** In another episode, Colonel Blake is directing Trapper out of a minefield using what he thought was a map of the mines -- but actually turns out to be a map of WWII Germany. Cue an OhCrap moment when they realize that Trapper is inches away from stepping on a mine.
* In the episode of ''Series/TheSlammer'' where the Governor loses his memory, he introduces the next act as "a pint of milk, a bag of bin liners and three scratch cards". His nephew then tells him to turn the card over.
* In ''Series/KenanAndKel'' when the Hammer escaped prison and wanted revenge on Kenan.
-->'''Police''': We found this list in his cell.
-->'''Kenan''': ''(Reading the list)'' Number one: Get out of Jail. Number two: go to the laundry. Number three: get Kenan.
* On ''Series/TeenWolf'', Scott, Stiles and Allison need to find the [[MonsterCompendium bestiary]] that Allison's family keeps of everything they've ever hunted, without getting caught by her parents or grandfather, but at first they don't know where it is or what it looks like. [[BadassBookworm Stiles]] thinks it's probably an old book, and Allison remembers that she's seen her grandfather with a book like that. They go to great lengths to get ahold of it, only to discover that it is, in fact, a cookbook. The real bestiary turns out to be on a flash drive.
-->'''Scott:''' ''(leafing through the book)'' Salmon. Moutarde. Creme ''Fraiche''. What ''is'' this?\\
'''Allison:''' ''(sighs)'' A recipe. It's a cookbook.
* Subverted in ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' when Andy Dwyer reads a note that sounds like a misplaced grocery list, but delivers an alternate punchline: it's a list of band names for Mouserat.
* ''Series/{{Utopia 2014}}'': In "Clause for Concern", Tony and Jim end drafting an amendment to a contract on the back of a piece of cardboard given to them by a homeless person (ItMakesSenseInContext). The next day, Jim brings the cardboard back to Tony for him to check. He starts reading "I am down on my luck and homeless..." before realising and turning the cardboard over.
* ''Series/DeathInParadise'': Done deliberately in "Death in the Clinic". Poole is convinced that the surgeon's eyesight is failing and hands him a piece of paper which he claims contains the name of a personal injury lawyer one his patients had engaged. Poole asks him if he has ever heard the name. The surgeon glances at the list and says he's never heard of him. Poole replies:
-->"I'd be amazed if you had. That's my shopping list. It says 'bananas and sunblock'."
* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': Done (apparently as a spur-of-the-moment gag) on "Too Many Cooks". When Creator/JonPertwee is collecting the cards from the panelists, he takes Anouska Hempel's and starts to read "Take two teaspoons of sugar...? This is a recipe!" and playfully baffs her on the back of the head with it. A giggling Anouska then hands him the card with her real guess on it.
* In ''Series/TheCrystalMaze'': Auntie Sabrina starts reading out a shopping list, instead of the question she is supposed to ask the contestant.

* When Music/{{Rush}} was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Alex Lifeson's speech consisted of the following: "Uh-oh...three dozen eggs, um, two liters of milk, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick a hundred and fifty Valiums]]. That's kinda what it's been like. Thanks very much."

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* "Baxter's Book" from ''Series/{{Bookaboo}}'' opens with Growler telling Bookaboo he's going to read him a story from a great book. He reads "Six sausages, one onion, basil, rosemary, browned all over. Put into an oven, a hot oven for one hour. Garnish with fresh parsley." Bookaboo is at first confused, then interprets Basil and "Rose Marie" as characters in the story, before realizing that Growler is reading him a recipe from a cookbook.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Theatre/TheMusicalComedyOfMurdersOf1940'', Elsa von Grossenkenueten talks about her grandfather's great achievements in the Kaiser's secret police. She asks her houseguests if they've heard of various historical espionage documents. She begins with the Dreyfus Papers, lists a few more to the complete incomprehension of the others in the room and ends with "[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the von Emmett Shopping List]]!?!?

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Season 2'' where you actually have to replace a list of swear words with a grocery list to solve one puzzle. Which results in [[FormerChildStar the Soda Poppers]] being referred to as the *bleep* Poppers for the rest of the game.

* In An early lost episode of ''WebAnimation/{{Eddsworld}}'' called Punch'd, when they are trying to find out stuff about Peter Andre Matt says "Right, so what we know about Peter is that he enjoys walks on the beach and meals for two-- hey wait a minute! Oh right that's his dating advert. So what we know about Peter is that he is a socially retarded solo artist who tried to revive his career with a crappy song"

* Not quite, but almost: In [[http://scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20021206 this installment]] of ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound'', the Devil makes an appearance. He's evidently looking at the right note; just misreads it: "Excuse me. Ryan Beckwith? I believe you owe me your soup. Oh, wait, no, can't read my own writing. ''Soul.'' You owe me your soul."
* Happened in [[http://thenoobcomic.com/comic/310/ this]] ''Webcomic/TheNoob'' page.
* Particularly odd example in [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=827#comic this]] ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'', and another one [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=1350#comic here]].

* Played with in [[http://wondermark.com/106/ this]] ''Webcomic/{{Wondermark}}''.
* Used in [[http://www.littledee.net/archive/?week=199 this]] ''Webcomic/LittleDee'' strip.

* In the Punyverse arc of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', one of the pilots of that dimension's ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' expy is kidnapped, and the replacement pilot is [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20010729 given a note card to read her vehicle's transformation catchphrase:]]
--> '''Secret Cranky Office Temp:''' Gallon of milk, tube of hemorrhoi...\\
'''Secret Leader Weatherman:''' ''Wrong note-card''.

* Inverted in ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' 630 (1996), story "Scandal on the Epoch Express." DonaldDuck, porter on a train, reads what appears to be a grocery list of all the freight items the train should have picked up, but segues halfway through into the Witches' Chant from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. (That's the one that goes "Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog...")

* In ''TheSmurfs'' comic book version of "The Astro Smurf", Harmony (or Drummer) makes an announcement that Astro Smurf's invention is ready to be unveiled, but the first thing he reads off is a recipe Greedy Smurf had given him.

** This trope was also partly responsible for thwarting one of Doofenshmirtz' schemes. While using an -inator that moves objects to a random horrible location, he mixes up his "horrible location" wheel with a "dry cleaning wheel" [[InventionalWisdom which exists for]]... [[FridgeLogic reasons he can't recall]], and zaps [[StealthPun a party]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar into his pants]].

Old comedic trope that [[DeadHorseTrope isn't used too]][[TechnologyMarchesOn much any more.]]

Old comedic trope that [[DeadHorseTrope isn't used too much any more.]]

* Happened in [[http://www.clichequest.com/index.php?pos=310 this]] ''Webcomic/TheNoob'' page.

* One ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip had a man trying to push a stupid plan because the pros outnumbered the cons. Dilbert read the list and found out that everything in the pros column was part of his grocery list. Having been caught out, the man claims that the fault is trying to quantize pros vs cons, rather than that the plan is stupid, and goes ahead anyway.

* A "Graham and the Colonel" sketch on ''Radio/TheDGeneration'' breakfast show (later included on ''The Breakfast Tapes'' album) featured the Colonel reading a list of ingredients for a recipe: "Milk, eggs, bread, dish washing liquid, squegee... Oh wait a minute, this is my shopping list".