History Main / YouKnowWhatYouDid

* On ''Series/BetterOffTed'', Lem and Phil decide to get back at Linda by bringing her bagels and coffee every morning for two weeks and then suddenly stopping. When they tell this plan to Ted, he says, "Hey, you stopped bringing me bagels and coffee last week!" "YouKnowWhatYouDid."

* ''VideoGame/GravityRush'': This is the reason why Raven spends most of the first game as a HeroAntagonist. She is incredibly hostile towards Kat because [[spoiler:mayoral candidate D'nelica promised that he will send a search team to rescue the children down in Boutoume if she kept the missing parts of the city in the rifts]], and Kat bringing back these lost neighborhoods and fixing the city undermines this. However, she assumes that Kat knows ''any'' of these details, and treats Kat's confusion towards her seemingly random accusations as Kat feigning ignorance. Kat does eventually learn about [[spoiler:the missing kids]] by pure happenstance and helps solve that issue, but even then, it isn't until the woman finally apologizes for her behavior and explains everything that Kat learns why Raven hated her so much.

* ''VideoGame/GravityRush'': This is the reason why Raven spends most of the first game as a HeroAntagonist. She is incredibly hostile towards Kat because [[spoiler:mayoral candidate D'nelica promised that he will send a search team to rescue the children down in Boutoume if she kept the missing parts of the city in the rifts]], and Kat bringing back these lost neighborhoods and fixing the city undermines this. However, she assumes that Kat knows ''any'' of these details, and treats Kat's confusion towards Raven telling her who should be mayor and accusing her of hating kids during their fights as her feigning ignorance. Kat does eventually learn about [[spoiler:the missing kids]] by pure happenstance and helps solve that issue, but even then, Kat is unable to see how this connected with Raven's antagonism until the woman finally apologizes for her behavior and explains everything.

* PlayedWith in ''Series/{{Castle}}''. The morning after Castle broke the rules and privately met with a murder suspect that he had previously dated, Beckett confronts him about something he's done, but doesn't actually specify what she's upset about. [[OneDialogueTwoConversations He thinks she knows that he kissed the suspect. It turns out she's actually scolding him for messing with her chair.]] [[spoiler:It later turns out she already knew about both things, and was using this trope to mess with him.]]

->'''Lauren:''' You know what you did!

* Thomas Riker uses this to his advantage in the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Defiant". Surprised by Chief O'Brien's presence aboard the titular ship, Riker cuts O'Brien's greeting off with a hard glare and "I have nothing to say to you, Chief, and I think you know why." This is because [[CloningBlues Thomas]] is impersonating William Riker at the time, and knows that a close friend like O'Brien would be able to tell the difference. So, by pretending to be mad at O'Brien over some past incident, Tom gets an excuse to avoid him, while at the same time confusing him enough that he won't press the issue.

Subtrope of PoorCommunicationKills because if the characters actually talked out the problem, there wouldn't be one. Also a subtrope to BewilderingPunishment because the character getting "punished" is "in the doghouse" until they can convince the other character (who probably isn't listening) to forgive them. In some cases, it may overlap with MadAtADream, in that the person can't know what they did if it only occurred in a nightmare. A common ([[PetPeeveTrope and maddening]]) form of IdiotBall. It may also overlap with CannotSpitItOut, in cases where the accuser and sometimes even the accused ''are'' aware of "what they did", but circumstances (internal or external) actively prevent them from coming clean.

* In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'', Kyosuke Munakata went through several traumatic and character breaking moments turning him into a paranoid and half-crazed KnightTemplar. This cumulates in him [[spoiler:fatally stabbing his best friend, Juzo Sakakura,]] and delivering this line. [[spoiler:He does this believing that Juzo had turned to the side of despair, after being told by Kazuo Tengan that everybody was the traitor ([[RightForTheWrongReasons which was technically true but for a different reason]]).]]

* Subverted in the movie ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty''. Lucy tells Matt a nasty lie about Jenna to get rid of him. Later we find out that while he has indeed been avoiding Jenna, it's been for other reasons.

* Subverted nicely in the Will Smith film ''Film/{{Hitch}}'', where the object of his affections took the word of a known SmugSnake, with every reason to lie, and proceeded to break up with Hitch without explanation, then trash him in her gossip column, before confronting him at a restaurant one night. Hitch, after pausing for shock, calls her out on this and corrects her loudly in front of everyone, leaving her looking quite the fool. Then the film follows up with having her apologize and him not accept it, thus making the true climax him publicly apologizing for not accepting her apology, and begging her to come back to him.
* ''Film/WhiteChristmas''. A busybody hears part of a story that makes her think the male leads are planning to exploit their old friend. She tells everyone, including the female romantic interests, who almost leave the men over it without letting the latter know why they're upset.

* ''Literature/TheTrial'': Josef K never learns what he's being put on trial for, or even gets to observe the Trial itself, and is executed for it.

* More than one Social Media site or message board Moderator will suspend accounts and punish people while refusing to state what caused the punishment. Ironically, this can make things even more toxic when the people eventually return, because they now "know" that the people who run the site can and will ban people "for no reason", so now all sins are equal. (There's a reason sites like Wikipedia engage in "warnings" first, and go out of their way to refer to specific events when banning.)

* There's a refreshing and awesome subversion on ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', exactly the type of show which would (and does) play it straight. Lynette thinks that Tom is having an affair with the mother of Porter's friend; Tom knows that it's actually Porter who's having the affair, but doesn't know the identity of the "girl" in question. Lynette confronts Tom about it, he's relieved that she knows which just makes her even angrier, it all seems like it's going to lead straight into an example of this trope, ''until''... Tom, still oblivious to the fact that she's mad at ''him'', manages to get in enough words that Lynette is able to piece together the truth. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Cue Porter walking in, Lynette demanding "You're having sex with your best friend's mother?!" and an epic WTF face from Tom.]]

* Subverted in the movie ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty''. Lucy tells Matt a nasty lie about Jenna to get rid of him. Later we find out that while he has indeed been avoiding her, it's been for other reasons. ("It doesn't matter what Lucy said. I stopped trusting her after she stole my Pop Rocks in the third grade.").

* Subverted in the movie ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty''. The AlphaBitch character tells Jennifer Garner's love interest played by Mark Ruffalo a nasty lie about her to get rid of him. Later we find out that while he has indeed been avoiding her, it's been for other reasons. ("It doesn't matter what Lucy said. I stopped trusting her after she stole my poprocks in the third grade.").

* ''Anime/TwinPrincessOfWonderPlanet'', ep 24 has bird people being teed off at the Windmill Kingdom and setting up barricades, and all one particular messenger will say is: "Why did we take such actions? King Randa (of the Windmill Kingdom) should know the reason." Naturally, King Randa is quite clueless. [=Al1701=] says in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmb9H3GLVws#t=4m17 his review]]: "What adult would accuse another adult of doing something, then refuse to say what they did?" [[spoiler: Turns out King Randa is planning to build an amusement park in their area, or at least that's what the henchmen of the Moon Kingdom are saying. [=Al1701=] says, of the bird people simply believing them over the King, "This is a horse pill of a plot contrivance this episode's asking me to swallow."]]

* When contracting in the United States, if the company lets you go or doesn't extend your contract (as opposed to firing you), it's not uncommon for them to not explain why. This is logical, since it invariably deals with company information, and you're not part of the company anymore, but this doesn't make it any less frustrating.

* ''Manga/TokyoTribe 2'' has this with the reason why Mera wants to kill Kai. For the first several episodes, we don't know what it is, with Mera and Skunk hitting Kai with these lines early on, in flashback and in present time. As it turns out in episode 12, what Kai did was actually [[spoiler: a lie Skunk told Mera to break up his and Kai's friendship. The lie? That Kai pushed Fujio, Mera's girlfriend, in front of an incoming train. The truth? She committed suicide for unknown reasons, and Kai thought that she was accidentally pushed out of the crowd onto the tracks.]]
* The third movie of ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] this in a brutal fashion -- Asuka, Misato and Ritsuko are treating Shinji like crap and won't explain why, so Shinji has no idea for most of the movie that he, by complete accident, [[spoiler: ''[[ApocalypseWow nearly destroyed the world]]'']]. When he finds out what he did, [[TheAtoner he's desperate to fix it]]... but the animosity between Shinji and Asuka prevents them from finding out that [[spoiler: if Shinji tries to undo the Near Third Impact, he'll actually finish the job]].
** It goes about as badly as possible in BOTH ways. By being kept out of the loop initially Shinji doesn't find out [[spoiler: NERV is the enemy and the Rei calling him is not the one he knew and he defects as a result]]. He's later actually told but hearing the full truth only [[spoiler: causes his guilt to spiral out of control until he can't be talked out of it at all and he inadvertently follows Gendo's plan again.]]
* In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'', Kyosuke Munakata went through several traumatic and character breaking moments turning him into a paranoid and half-crazed KnightTemplar. This cumulates in him [[spoiler: fatally stabbing his best friend, Juzo Sakakura,]] and delivering this line. [[spoiler:He does this believing that Juzo had turned to the side of despair, after being told by Kazuo Tengan that everybody was the traitor ([[RightForTheWrongReasons which was technically true but for a different reason]])]].

* In ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook'', Miss Piggy believes Kermit is seeing someone else, based on a [[CrypticConversation cryptic]] and [[PhonyPsychic entirely fraudulent]] prophecy.
-->'''Piggy:''' If you don't know why I'm mad, there's no point in me telling you, is there?\\
'''Kermit:''' That doesn't make any kind of sense!

* In ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'', one article demonstrates the various ways parents do not follow the Constitution. When it gets to the sixth amendment's requirement that the accused be informed of what they're being charged with (see Real Life), a boy who's in trouble asks why his father is mad at him, and the father says "You know what you did! I don't have to tell you!"

* In one recursive fanfic of ''Fanfic/{{Brainbent}}'' (about patient Vriska's backstory), ''no one'' will tell the POV male character what offense everyone is suddenly shunning him for. It takes a lot of pleading ''to his own mother'' before she finally tells him he's accused of raping his PsychoExGirlfriend Vriska.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' fanfic ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6737573/1/Another-Cartoon-Romance-Gone-Wrong Another Cartoon Romance Gone Wrong]]'', Beach Head jokes to Duke that he should be careful about Scarlet and Snake Eyes getting together, only for Duke to get up and leave in despair. To Beach Head's further confusion, everyone starts yelling at him for acting like an insensitive jerk for joking about something that he has no idea about, especially since it was two years ago that day. It's not until Low Light remembers that Beach Head was away at that time that the others realize he has no idea Duke and Scarlet broke up while Scarlet went back to Snake Eyes.

* ''Film/FreebieAndTheBean'': While interrogating his wife about her supposed affair, Bean demands to know why "the thing" is missing from the bathroom closet. When she points out that she keeps many things in the closet, he snaps, "You know exactly what I'm talking about!" It turns out he means her douchebag.

* There's a old British joke playing on this trope that runs, more or less, as follows: A satirist sends every Member of Parliament an anonymous telegram reading "[[ParanoiaFuel ALL IS KNOWN: FLY AT ONCE]]." The next day, half of Parliament fails to show up for work. According to legend, Creator/MarkTwain once did this [[WithFriendsLikeThese to his friends]].

* ''Literature/TheTrial:'' Josef K never learns what he's being put on trial for, or even gets to observe the Trial itself, and is executed for it.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'':
** In the episode "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage", a police sergeant tells Captain Stottlemeyer that he's having an affair with Stottlemeyer's wife, and the captain is suspicious enough to have his wife followed, despite her protestations of innocence. And then he's ''surprised'' when she asks for a divorce. Though it also works the other way: Stottlemeyer's wife was planning to divorce him before any of that even happened, and flat-out refused to explain why when he asked. Given that the audience saw virtually nothing over the series to back her up, it made her look like quite a bitch.
** Stottlemeyer explains it himself to Monk in a later episode, the one where Monk gets shot. He's acting like a tremendous {{Jerkass}} to Natalie because he blames her for his injury, and she accepts it because she blames herself, and so due to essentially working round the clock taking care of Monk, wheeling him around in a wheelchair, etc., she is very nearly broken down. Stottlemeyer takes Monk aside, warns him that if he keeps acting like that Natalie will leave, then proceeds to state that he knows this because Monk is acting like Stottlemeyer himself and that that was why his wife left him.

* Averted in ''Series/ChinesePaladin 3''. When the heroine, who usually has some justification for her suspicions, angrily confronts the hero with this trope, he very sensibly replies "No, what did I do?" and explains what was going on. It's almost beautiful.
* Played with in ''Series/{{Castle}}''. The morning after Castle broke the rules and privately met with a murder suspect that he had previously dated, Beckett confronts him about something he's done, but doesn't actually specify what she's upset about. [[OneDialogueTwoConversations He thinks she knows that he kissed the suspect. It turns out she's actually scolding him for messing with her chair.]] [[spoiler:It later turns out she already knew about both things, and was using this trope to mess with him.]]
* On ''Series/HappyDays'', Richie is drugged at a party and goes on a wild bit, insulting friends, acting crazy and driving Fonz's motorcycle. The next morning, Richie wakes up a bit hung over, but no memory of any of this. So he's not sure why everyone at the diner is pissed at him. When Foz shows up and asks for an instant explanation, Richie asks, "for what?" and Fonzie tells everyone, "you all saw it, I gave him a chance," and prepares to pound Richie. Richie openly asks what he did, but no one will answer. He finally accepts that it must have been bad enough to warrant a beatdown and is ready for it. Thankfully, his confusion is enough to convince Fonzie Richie has no clue what's happening and hunts down the guy who drugged him. Interestingly, Richie doesn't come clean to everyone about what happened but trusts them to give him another chance, which they do.
* Sketch comedy show ''Series/AlmostLive'' addresses this in a sketch about a game show called "What The Hell Have I Done Now?" wherein a confused husband tries to figure out why his wife is mad at him.
* Season 4 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' episode "The Yoko Factor". Spike goes around telling Willow, Giles and Xander in turn that the others, including Buffy, have been saying various derogatory things behind their backs. What he says or implies is different for each character, but all hit at their personal vulnerabilities and they all believe him without question. This starts a massive three-way fight until Buffy walks in and is immediately attacked on all sides, only she has no clue what the others are angry about.
* Joseph in season 6 of ''Series/HellsKitchen'' tries to simply say "They know who they are" when asked by Ramsay for his elimination nominees. When Ramsay chews him out for not giving a straight answer, Joseph gets violent and is immediately kicked off the show.
* ''Series/LostInAusten'' does this ''twice'': It turns out that Wickham's a little more honourable than Darcy says he is. [[spoiler:It turns out that Georgiana lied to Darcy, and Wickham went along with it to avoid ruining Darcy's good name.]]
* On ''Series/BetterOffTed'', Lem and Phil decide to get back at Linda by bringing her bagels and coffee every morning for two weeks and then suddenly stopping. When they tell this plan to Ted, he says, "Hey, you stopped bringing me bagels and coffee last week!" "YouKnowWhatYouDid."
* There's a refreshing and awesome subversion on ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', exactly the type of show which would (and does) play it straight. Lynette thinks that Tom is having an affair with the mother of Porter's friend; Tom knows that it's actually Porter who's having the affair, but doesn't know the identity of the "girl" in question. Lynette confronts Tom about it, he's relieved that she knows which just makes her even angrier, it all seems like it's going to lead straight into an example of this trope, ''until''... Tom, still oblivious to the fact that she's mad at ''him'', manages to get in enough words that Lynette is able to piece together the truth. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Cue Porter walking in, Lynette demanding "You're having sex with your best friend's mother?!" and an epic WTF face from Tom.]]

* ''Videogame/FallenLondon:'' The poison known as Discriminating Aconite is noted to [[MoralityGuidedAttack kill only those who deserve it]], and has a wide spectrum of hurt to deliver. All bottles seem to be labeled with "You know what you did", and if you get the chance to taste it, you'll get hit with the same phrase as the Aconite itself hits your character like a punch to the gut.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' had Beezy being haunted by a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghost]]. When he tries to figure out why, the ghost simply replies "You know what you did."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheThing'': There was one episode where the bullies framed Ben and, when he asked the teacher why she'd want to talk to him, she said something among the lines of "As if you don't know."

* The infamous episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' where Fred unknowingly switches places with [[IdenticalStranger an identical tycoon]] who acts like a jerk to Wilma, Betty and Barney, and when Fred gets home Barney beats him up and Fred has no idea what prompted it.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** In "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Tolls", Sweetie Belle accuses Rarity of deliberately upstaging her just like she did at her fifth birthday party, but Rarity doesn't know what she's talking about. Later in her dreams, Princess Luna flashes Sweetie Belle back to the party in question and shows her the truth behind what happened that day.
** In the episode "The Hooffields and [=McColts=]", Twilight and Fluttershy are roped into trying to end a feud between two families. When trying to find out how the feud started, both family leaders respond with "They know what they did." [[LampshadeHanging Twilight sees this as a sign that neither of them knows what the other did.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': In "Sappy Anniversary" when Tom doesn't acknowledge that he and Daria have been dating for six months [[note]] something Daria herself didn't notice until Quinn pointed it out [[/note]], Daria starts to feel Tom is taking her for granted. However, instead of telling him how she feels, she starts acting cold towards him until he loses patience and stops calling her. She comes to her senses after she overhears Mr O'Neill playing the same game with Ms. Barch.

** [[CloudCuckooLander Phoebe]] claims this to [[TheChewToy Ross]] in an episode. Subverted in a way in that Phoebe ''dreamed'' what Ross did, and what she dreamed was... weird.

* In that cartoon where an attempt to turn The Thing of the ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFour'' back into human turned him into a ''teenage'' boy, he attended school and there was one episode where the bullies framed him and, when he asked the teacher why she'd want to talk to him, she said something among the lines of "As if you don't know."

* ''Film/WhiteChristmas''. A busybody hears part of a story that makes her think the male leads are planning to exploit their old friend. She tells everyone, including the female romantic interests, who almost leave the men over it.