History Main / SockItToThem

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Drunk man uses sock full of pool balls as weapon]]]]

* Referenced in ''Series/TheOfficeUS''. Dwight saves Jim's life by incapacitating Jim's attacker with pepper spray, but when asked what happened, [[Cloudcuckoolander Creed]] expounds a story about a sock full of nickels.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' mentions a sock filled with nickels in a play being put on by the warden.

* A sock full of coins is used as a ''murder weapon'' in ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. And in another, it's a sock full of ''aquarium rocks''.

** Given a CallBack in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. When it looks like a wizard fight is about to break out, Ponder (who wasn't around for the events of ''Sourcery'', but knows about them) notices Rincewind taking off his sock and thinks "It was probably the same sock."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Lice Capades", Kenny is accused of having lice. The kids all gather bars of soap and socks and all signs point to them throwing a traditional blanket party on him...[[SubvertedTrope but]] it turns out the plan was to "[[CoolAndUnusualPunishment wash him with the soap, and dry him off with the socks]]."

* A variant occurs in ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpa2'' where the students have to solve a murder mystery within a murder mystery involving a missing school swimsuit, a broken fish tank and a victim with a bashed-in skull. At Mioda's offhanded suggestion, TheHero figures that the culprit wrapped the tank's gravel in the swimsuit and tied it into a knot so that they could disguise the swimsuit's going missing as a random pervert sneaking onto the campus (also a convenient RedHerring to lead the police off their trail).

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[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* The AEW team of Santana and Ortiz use a loaded sock as their signature weapon.

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* ''Film/HeavenlyCreatures'' ends with a murder committed with a brick in a nylon stocking.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* In ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', Rincewind attempts to fight the Sourcerer with a half-brick in a sock. He later fills his other sock with sand in the Dungeon Dimensions.
-->'''Coin:''' You're going to fight [[EldritchAbomination them]] with a sock full of sand?
-->'''Rincewind:''' No, I'm going to [[LovableCoward run away]]. The sock full of sand is for when they follow me.

** Given a CallBack in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. When it looks like a wizard fight is about to break out, Ponder (who wasn't around for the events of Sourcery, but knows about them) notices Rincewind taking off his sock and thinks "It was probably the same sock."
* Referenced in the first ''Literature/{{Starfist}}'' novel: as a child from a lower-class background sent to an elite school, Joseph Dean decided to take matters into his own hands when tormented by a bully over his EmbarrassingMiddleName. He calmly and efficiently laid the bully's head open with "a field-expedient cosh made from a gym sock and a chunk of broken concrete," which got him kicked out of the school but also flagged as a potential recruit for military service.

* Creator/AgathaChristie:
** ''Literature/ParkerPyneInvestigates'': In "The Gate of Baghdad", the killer attempts to make it look like the murder victim had been coshed with a sock full of sand by planting damp sand in the spare socks carried by one of the other passengers.
** ''[[Literature/HerculePoirot Hickory Dickory Dock]]'': The final murder of the book is committed with a paperweight in a sock.
* In ''Literature/MrMercedes'' and following works in that trilogy, Hodges has the "Happy Slapper", which is a sock that has the foot part filled with ball bearings.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' mentions a sock filled with nickels in a play being put on by the warden.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': A drunk woman challenges Liz to a fight, and tells her she has two minutes to fill a sock up and meet her outside.
* One ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode featured a padlock in a sock as the murder weapon. Wielded by a PsychoLesbian, no less.
* This is the signature weapon of ''Series/InLivingColor'''s Homey D. Clown, an ex-convict clown with a chip on his shoulder. He mostly uses it to [[DopeSlap punish dimwits]].
* Referenced several times in ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. In one case, when discussing an article for a prison newsletter on how to deal with a bunkmate stealing things, Piper suggests purchasing a sturdy lock down at the commissary, while Flaca has her own ideas on how to use the lock.
-->'''Flaca:''' That's what I'm saying. Buy a lock, stick it in a sock, and slock the bitch down.

[[AC:{{Professional Wrestling}}]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]

* ''VideoGame/TheEscapists'': Combining a soap with a sock creates a sock mace, a mid-tier weapon. Combining a sock with a battery creates a "super" sock mace... that is "super" in name only, since it has the exact same attack power as the regular sock mace.
* The "Rock in a sock" in ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}''. Truly a weapon of desperation, especially since more reliable weapons can be crafted from smashed furniture most of the time.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]

[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* In the WesternAnimation/SouthPark episode "Lice Capades", Kenny is accused of having lice. The kids all gather bars of soap and socks and all signs point to them throwing a traditional blanket party on him...[[SubvertedTrope but]] it turns out the plan was to "[[CoolAndUnusualPunishment wash him with the soap, and dry him off with the socks]]."
* A variation is used in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short ''Hare Trimmed''. In response to being hit with a glove by Yosemite Sam, Bugs Bunny takes his own glove, puts a brick in it, and hits Sam with it. When he empties the bag, the brick is completely crumbled.
-->'''Bugs Bunny:''' HA! YOU HAVE INSULTED ZE GREAT LOVER, THE MARQUIS OF QUEENSBURY RULES! TAKE ZIS!!! ''(slaps Yosemite Sam with a glove)''

[[AC:RealLife]]

[[caption-width-right:350:ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Drunk man uses sock full of pool balls as weapon]]]]

* In ''Discworld/{{Sourcery}}'', Rincewind attempts to fight the Sourcerer with a half-brick in a sock. He later fills his other sock with sand in the Dungeon Dimensions.

** Given a CallBack in ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals''. When it looks like a wizard fight is about to break out, Ponder (who wasn't around for the events of Sourcery, but knows about them) notices Rincewind taking off his sock and thinks "It was probably the same sock."

[[AC: Professional Wrestling]]

* In ''Film/DeathWish'', Paul Kersey attacks a mugger with a sock filled with quarters.

* ''Film/{{Scum}}'' had an infamous scene where Carlin (RayWinstone) assaults Richards (the lackey of Banks, the "daddy" of the Borstal) with two snooker balls in a sock.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Kramer and Newman reverse their peepholes "so they can tell if somebody is hiding in their apartments with a sock filled with pennies". Later in the episode, an acquaintance is attacked by their superintendent (under the belief that he was sleeping with his wife) [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike with a sock of pennies]].

* ''Literature/ParkerPyneInvestigates'': In "The Gate of Baghdad", the killer attempts to make it look like the murder victim had been coshed with a sock full of sand by planting damp sand in the spare socks carried by one of the other passengers.

* ''Literature/ParkerPyneInvestigaes'': In "The Gate of Baghdad", the killer attempts to make it look like the murder victim had been coshed with a sock full of sand by planting damp sand in the spare socks carried by one of the other passengers.

* There's a rumor/urban legend that BingCrosby beat his children with a sack filled with oranges, because that would cause serious pain but no visible bruises or internal injury. ''The Grifters'' claims the opposite effect (nasty looking bruises if done correctly; internal injury if not).