Self-Interruption / Curse Cut Short

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Anime and Manga

An Unacceptable Person stars Kuuko Suga, a bartender at a bar, as well as one of her regulars, Nana, who comes in with a different woman each time. Kuuko frequently starts to call Nana's behavior "shitty" in her thoughts but stops short and switches to "unacceptable" instead.

Comic Books

The Golden Age: Lance Gallant to the spirit of his brother Michael when he's making a phone call.
"It's my time and my life, so why don't you fu—...h-hello, Paula, it's Lance...Lance Gallant...
Harley & Ivy: The first issue of the miniseries has Harley Quinn prevented from cussing by an abrupt fall.
Harley: We got your weed, so quirt your bi...IIIIEEE!
Jem and the Holograms (IDW): Pizzazz stops herself before she finishes the sentence.
Pizzazz: "Roxy, if you don't stop with the drumming I'm gonna shove those drumsticks—"
Supergirl:
- In Demon Spawn, after putting up with her overbearing, self-serving, mean-spirited rival and co-worker Nasthalthia 'Nasty' Luthor, Linda Danvers -as well known as Kara Zor-El, alias Supergirl- grumbles:
  Supergirl: That lousy 'Nasty'! She's out to get me fired! That rotten, under-handed stupid w...
- In Bizarrogirl, when the ship's alarm system warns about an incoming collision:
  Rocket's A.I.: Blue Alert! Blue Alert! Incoming! Incoming!
  Supergirl: What? Oh, Cra—
X-Men: One of Nightcrawler's standard exclamations is "Ach du lieber..." (frequently misspelled: "Ach du leiber..."), which means "Oh you dear...". He never once finishes it, so we can only guess what word is cut off. "Gott"? "Augustin"? "Herr Gesangsverein"?

Fan Works

The Bolt Chronicles: When Mittens returns from a trip to the mall in "The Makeover," she proudly starts describing the new self-cleaning litter box Penny's mom bought her, saying it will do everything except wipe her bottom. Just before she says the word describing her butt, she sees Bolt in a full-blown and hideous makeup job and stops speaking in shock.
Mittens: So anyway, they got me this new thing to do my business in. It's great, too. Does everything except wipe my…
In Boys do Tankary?, Brent does this at one point.
Brent: I'll give Ian hel...I mean a retraining course.
In Boys und Sensha-dō!, Akio says this to Miho after her mother, whom Akio and his family strongly dislike, disowns her.
Akio: I'm upset that bi- um... bat did that to you.
Downplayed in Calvin & Hobbes: The Series (which imitates a children's show), where the narrator stops short of mentioning a Groin Attack.
The Child of Love: After believing Asuka had died and then hearing her laughter Misato begins saying "What the f...?" before trailing off.
In Children of Time, Beth Lestrade and Sherlock Holmes have an increasingly heated fight, and Holmes insults her pretty badly. Beth slaps him and says, "How dare you, you selfish, inconsiderate—-" The narrative says that she stops herself before she says what she knows she'll regret.
A Crown of Stars: In chapter 49:
Asuka: Gott damn it, Shinji! That wasn’t funny! I’m trying to get rid of her and you almost made me c... Ahem, lose my composure.
A Diplomatic Visit: At one point in chapter 14 of the third story, Diplomacy Through Schooling, Magic starts to say that an alternate Celestia "really sc- er." before apologizing and telling Twilight that she doesn't need to hear that kind of language just yet.
Dungeon Keeper Ami: The "shit" from "flies over shit" said by Baron Leopold in Beryl's Plan when asking about what's drawing Keepers to the Avatar Islands:
"Good. One less Keeper in the world. Have you found out yet what's attracting them to that desolate place? They are over it like flies over-" The Baron fell silent and nodded a greeting as he passed two halberd-wielding guards, causing them to salute.
Enter the Dragon: The Sorting Hat has met Harry before, but only after he had learned to transfigure himself into a human form, and apparently the headmaster never actually mentioned that Harry's natural form is an immense dragon. When the Hat is actually placed on Harry's head for his Sorting, it immediately screams out, "What the fu…" before stopping and mentally hyperventilating.
In Expecting the Unexpected Harry is giving an eight-month-old Teddy Lupin his bottle when the kid spits some out.
Harry: Yeah, I'd spit it out too. This formula stuff tastes like cra- er, not nice.
- In the sequel, Gamma Draconis an adult Harry accidentally runs into the back of a teenage Teddy.
  Harry: Fu- I mean, Merlin, are you OK?
Harry Potter and the Time Travel:
Hermione: Luna, I'm very sorry if I came across like a total bit- idiot.
Happens more than once in It's My Problem whenever a member of the Avengers nearly drops a Precision F-Strike (none of them are used to having Spider-man, or more importantly a fifteen year old, around).
Liberi De Luna:
Fenrir Greyback: Aw, fu - I mean, fudge.
In Kara of Rokyn, heel wrestler Jara barely stops herself from calling her rival Kara a bitch in public.
Jara: This belt is now in the hands of its rightful owner. It never really belonged to that b— to her.
Lost to Dust: When Bazett tells Qrow that Miyu Edelfelt learned how to use Glyphs through training instead of being related to the Schnee family, he says, "That sounds like a load of sh-" but stops himself when he remembers he is in the presence of children.
In Archie Comics story Maybe the Last Archie Story, Veronica stops herself from cursing while talking with Betty.
"I'm asking if you're still my friend, Betty. Because I'll be da— I'll be switched if you quit on me just because of this."
In The Simpsons fanfiction Must Love Ned Flanders, Edna says, "If that son of a... wants to live with his mother all his worthless life, then let him."
Naru-Hina Chronicles:
- When Hinata is complaining to Naruto about how the latter didn't seem to be putting much of a fight when dealing with Nanami:
  Naruto: Aww... N-No... You got it all wrong. I... I was taken by surprise. What did you expect me to do... Hit her?
  Hinata: [turning around to face him and looking angry] YES... YOU SHOULD HAVE. IF SHE WAS STILL HERE, I'D JYUUKEN HER SKINNY LITTLE A...
  [Naruto looks chibified and has Blank White Eyes while having a hard time believing Hinata is really saying that.]
  Hinata: [suddenly blushing and doing her trademark Shy Finger-Twiddling upon realizing what she said] Oh... U-Umm... Sorry Naruto. I guess I got a little angry. F-Forgive me.
- Karin exclaims "No! You crazy son of a... Don't mix them!!" to Evil Sasuke when he decides to drink multiple specialized chemicals at once to become stronger and defeat the real Sasuke.
In Never Fear the Shadows Sirius tries to get a thirteen-year-old Harry out of the shower.
Sirius: Holy sh—Merlin! Do you always enjoy showers in the sub-zero?
In Not So Glamorous Life, Jerrica stops hers after realizing what a jerk she's been recently:
"Don't compare me to that—that no good for nothing son-of-a..."
The Pride's Hatchling:
Ron: You know if you're trying to pull off the pureblood look it's not working, you have made it look like there's dragon shi—droppings beneath your nose!

Seamus: Shi—atsu in a soup!
In The Promise Sirius is hurt while trying to defend an eight-year-old Harry.
Sirius: Yeah...got me good, the little fu- fellow.
In The Rise and Fall of Harry J. Potter Ron's attempt at such in front of Harry's older son is rather amusing.
Ron: The fuc—oh shit, Jamie's here. I mean, oh damn, Jamie's...screw this. Harry, George: what the hell?
In the thirteenth chapter of The Second Try, a police officer begins saying "Ah... shi-", and then he catches himself when he realizes there is a little kid in the room.
Rekindled Anew:
Chase: "It-! It isn't working! W-Wait-! ROCKY YOU LITTLE-! WHEN I FIND YOU, IT'S NOT GONNA BE PRETTY, YOU HEAR ME-?!"
Tangled Up In You has a running gag involving Adrien's inability to swear. At one point, during a game of "Fuck, Marry, Kill", he manages to get the "F" out before amending it to "have sex with Marinette."
True Potential: Roto almost says the F-word to Risho, only to instead say "Shove off Risho." when he notices his mother's look towards him.
In The Wrong Reflection Eleya's mother scolds her for swearing about her wine glass being empty, leading to this line:
"Sorry, Mother. Where's that d"—I catch myself—"springwine bottle?"

Film — Animated

Aladdin:
Iago: [on seeing that Aladdin survived a near-drowning] How in the He– I mean, uh, AWKKK!
In Incredibles 2, When Frozone sees Jack-Jack turn into a demon, he yells "What the...!" as the scene changes.
Lord Shen seems to make one (which could possibly just be a stutter) in Kung Fu Panda 2.
Shen: FIRE! FIRE! Fire, for fu- ...FIRE!
The Lion King combines this trope with a Stealth Pun when Timon attempts to shove Pumbaa's over-large rear end through a narrow gap.
Timon: Geez, why do I always have to save your— [sees a hungry lion bearing down on him] AAAAAAAAH!
Megamind plays with this in a clever way when the titular villain is gloating about his victory over Metro Man and subsequent conquering of Metro City by dancing toward City Hall to the tune of Highway to Hell. It's timed so perfectly that Minion cuts the music right before they drop the H bomb, accidentally cuts to sappy-sounding music, and continues to cut back and forth trying to silence the thing with perfect timing every time to interrupt the word "hell."
In Shrek, the wooden people from Duloc sing this anthem:
Wooden People: Welcome to Duloc such a perfect town. Here was have some rules, let us lay them down. Don't make waves, stay in line and we'll get along fine, Duloc is a perfect place. Please keep off of the grass, shine your shoes, wipe your... face. Duloc is, Duloc is, Duloc is a perfect place! ♪
Steven Universe: The Movie:
- When Greg sees Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl have all been poofed with their gemstones laid out on a table, he's so shocked he almost says "shit" before changing it to "she".
  "Holy sh-h-h-she really got everybody!"
- While approaching Peridot to commend her for stopping the falling debris, Bismuth notices three barrels falling towards them and nearly says "shit".
  "Nice work Peridot- oh sh-h-hucks!"
Batman: The Long Halloween:
Sofia Falcone: Come on you motherfu…(gets drowned out by her shooting off her tommyguns at the villains)

Film — Live-Action

In The Amazing Spider-Man, when Gwen Stacy tells Peter Parker (as Spider-Man) on the phone that she's going to wait in the Oscorp Tower for the antidote to finish "cooking" while The Lizard is on his way, much to Peter's horror, she then hangs up, leading to this:
Peter/Spider-Man: Gwen! Gwen! You mother- Hubbard, are you serious?!
In The Big Lebowski, Walter nearly told Donny to shut the fuck up.
Walter: Donny, shut the f- When do we play?
In Blazing Saddles, Hedley presents the governor with his choice for Rock Ridge's new sheriff, a black man. Shocked, the governor pulls him aside for a private conservation:
Gov. Le Petomane: Have you lost your mind? Can't you see that that man is a ni—
The governor notices that you he has accidentally pulled aside the new sheriff, not Hedley.
- The movie takes the joke even further; even when talking to Hedley, he still says "ni" instead of the full word.
In Bruce Almighty, Bruce almost lets one slip before realizing that it's God in high person he's speaking to.
Bruce: Holy sh- ...cow.
In 1960's The Children's Hour, Joe calls Tilford an "old b-bore".
In Dark Star the computer automatically censors obscenities in Sgt Pinback's diary entries, replacing them with silence and a caption reading "deleted", and in one case a full-screen caption reading "Gesture Deleted".
Deadpool: Wade does this right before passing out, and it is revealed to the audience that he has cancer.
Doctor in Trouble: When trying to explain what fighting on the beaches of Dunkirk was like to Satterjee, Wendover stops himself before he can say "bumholes".
Done twice in Dora and the Lost City of Gold by Dora herself:
Dora: Sh...oot
Dora: Mier...coles^note(doubles as a Bilingual Bonus)
Former kids' show host Joe Carruthers does this in Ernest Saves Christmas on the set of a Christmas-themed horror movie, when pointing a gun at the monster: "Die, you son of a...son of a..." He simply can't swear in front of children. Or, perhaps, at all.
Played with in The Hobbit - Bilbo, accidentally setting off a small but noisy avalanche of treasure while Exploring the Evil Lair, says "Sh...shush" in a manner suggesting he was considering saying something rather different.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York: Buzz does this near the end. "Alright, enough of this gooey sh—" (*sees everyone looking at him*) "show of emotion."
Iron Man 3 - Rhodey and Tony are arguing about Tony's PTSD from The Avengers, only to notice two kids.
Rhodey: I'm not trying to be a dic...tator.
Regina George in Mean Girls:
"MOTHER—" [extended screaming]
Part of the lyrics in My Fair Lady. In this case you know what the word should be by the rhyme scheme.
Eliza: You, dear friend who talk so well,
You can go to ... Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire!
In The Odd Couple, Oscar is watching a baseball game in the press box when he's summoned to the phone. While Felix is telling him not to eat any frankfurters at the ballpark because he's making franks and beans for dinner that night, Oscar misses a triple play. He turns back to the phone:
Oscar: ARE YOU CRAZY?!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!! TAKE YOUR FRANKFURTERS AND...! (*slams receiver down*)
Paranormal Prison: When Shtog is showing the group the death row cells, he states that the guards there didn't like the inmates.
Shtog: The guards weren't very sympathetic to the death row inmates. They really used to fu- (Long Beat) mess with these guys.
Please Turn Over: Two times in Naked Revolt:
- Stella stops herself short of calling Blanche a "little bitch" after she pulls her hair.
- Blanche can't bring herself to call herself a "bastard" after she learns that her father isn't Roger, but actually "Uncle" Willie.
The Producers: Max, looking through his gallery of little old ladies:
Max: "Hold me touch me", where is "hold me touch me"? "Kiss me feel me", "Lick me bite me", "Yank me spank me", "Suck me fu—"... ah! "Hold me touch me"!
Power Rangers (2017): When the Rangers get in their Zords to kick ass, Billy gets halfway through quoting Die Hard before apparently remembering the movie's rating.
"Whoo! Ha ha! Yippie ki-yay, motherf - mother's good. Mo-mother's good."
Spy Kids: "Oh, sh…iitake mushrooms."

Literature

By Author:

German humorist Kurt Tucholsky used this in a poem, talking to a baby girl: "You / will become a great who-"

By Work:

Discworld
- In The Truth, Mr Tulip is often heard to use "—ing". As in "that —ing rubbish". Near the end of the book, you discover that he only says the ing part of whichever curse he may have been thinking. It's also Lampshaded in the book with people bemusedly wondering what is he saying. And near the end Sacharissa tries to start cursing by peppering her sentences with "ing" in appropriate places as well as saying, "'Ing.' I feel so much better for saying that, you know? 'Ing.' 'Inginginginging.' I wonder what it means."
- Captain Carrot can apparently pronounce "d*mn". (But then, Rincewind can say "!")
- Cohen in Interesting Times, claiming the Agatean Empire's bureaucracy requires you to fill out a form if you want to go to the privy. "Can't get married without a chit. Can't leave your village without a chit. Can't even have a ... Ah well, here we are."
- In Reaper Man, for reasons that Make Sense in Context, Ridcully's swear words are turning into unpleasant-looking creatures, and the other wizards are encouraging him to Gosh Dang It to Heck!. The Bursar suggests that Mrs Whitlow says "sugar!", and Ridcully retorts "She may say 'sugar', but she means 'shi'..." before stopping himself.
When Bill talks about tightened security at Gringotts to Harry in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:
Bill: Two days ago Arkie Philpott had a Probity Probe stuck up his... Well, trust me, this way's easier.
In an article about Western B-movies, humorist Patrick McManus comments that all characters in such movies "curse" in this fashion, be they villains or heroes.
In Sheep's Clothing, Wolf Cowrie calls his nemesis a "son of a b—" before remembering that he is in a church and stopping himself. He still gets a disapproving look from the local pastor.
Whateley Universe: In conjunction with Last-Second Word Swap and Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion. For a clapping game in Blood Sister, Blood Brother:
Miss Mary had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell
Miss Mary went to Heaven, the steamboat went to
Hello operator, please give me number Nine
And if you disconnect me, I’ll kick you from
Behind the frigerator, there lies a piece of glass
Miss Mary sat upon it and broke her little
Ask me no more questions, I’ll tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom, a zipping up their
Flies are in the city, the bees are in the park
Miss Mary and her boyfriend are kissing in the D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
D-A-R-K
Dark, Dark, Dark!

Live-Action TV

Arrested Development:
Tobias: [arguing with Lindsay] Oh, great, and now you're mocking me?! You selfish cun- [realizing his daughter is listening] try-music loving lady!
In Babylon 5, Londo stops in mid-thought:
Londo: And you can kiss my plump Centauri a—aah, gentlemen, this is what I've been waiting for.
Boston Legal: In one of his infamous long-winded closings, Alan Shore did this:
"We have mothers, bragging to their friends about being MILFs at their kids' high schools. M-I-L-F, Mother I'd Like to F...orgive me for speaking this way in court."
Buffy the Vampire Slayer working as a high school guidance counselor in "Help":
Buffy: You have to stick up for yourself, Amanda. You need to show this bully that you're not gonna take any more of his sh... guff. Uh, any guff.
In the Mexican Variety Show La Caravana, this is the whole point of the sketch starring Victor Trujillo named El Charro Amarillo, when he sings offensive ranchero songs, but always changes the offensive parts at the last stanza.
In the Chuck episode "Chuck versus the First Date", Chuck's reaction when he first sees the team's new underground spy base known as Castle is:
"What the... HELL-O!"
In Charmed (1998), after Phoebe's Fetus Terrible takes Phoebe over to push Paige out a window, her reaction is:
Paige: But why me? I don't have anything against the little fu— uh, fetus.
Keith Olbermann's "WHAT THE -" segment on Countdown. Usually Keith stops himself, sometimes he's cut off by a commercial break.
Doctor Who: Rose, in "Fear Her":
The Doctor: Come on, you were a kid once.
Rose: Yeah, and I know what kids are like. Right little sh... terrors.
For the People: While Jay and Kate are teamed up to meet with a school principal about their case.
Jay: Do I look like a prosecutor? Y'know, tightly wound, judgemental, huge stick up my—*sees the principal*—Principal Hatcher!
The Good Doctor: In "Two-Ply (or Not Two-Ply)", Shaun scolds roommate Lea for hanging toilet paper with the paper under the roll instead of over it. Lea apologizes, but doesn't think it's a big deal. Shaun can't let this go and later tries to prove his point by texting Lea a picture of the toilet paper dispensers in the restrooms at his workplace, where the paper is hung over the roll. Lea sends a reply while Shaun is explaining the situation with Claire: "IDGAF" ("I don't give a fuck"). Shaun begins to read the response to Claire, but trails off before reading the last letter and instead shows her the message on his phone, as he doesn't know what it stands for. Claire simply tells him that Lea doesn't care. Note that this show airs on broadcast network ABC, where even first letters of profanities are not allowed.
Harrow: Twice in "Sub Silentio" ("In Silence") Harrow says "What the f—", the first he cuts himself off when he wakes up inside the coffin after being buried alive by Francis Chester, the second time he starts to say it when a video call opens with a shot of Detective Nichols but is interrupted by the cell phone camera reversing to show Harrow's daughter Fern walking behind a grinning Francis Chester.
How I Met Your Mother: When Lily finds out that Barney slept with a nanny that she and Marshall wanted to hire, she was about to say, "You son of a bitch", notices that she has her son with her, then slips into Pig Latin for the last word.
Legend of the Seeker, "Princess": Cara has to impersonate a princess to get into a castle, and a local law requires her to speak in rhyming couplets in the presence of the margrave. Later, when she's holding him at knifepoint to get the key to the dungeons:
Cara: Dear Margrave, the sight of your face makes me sick
You decadent, pompous, self-satisfied— (punches him in the face)
In Monk, episode "Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever," when Natalie confronts Monk about mocking her job. In this case, the word is "bimbo":
Adrian Monk: Oh, you are not making them rich! You're not giving them financial advice. You're just reading little numbers off little white ping pong balls! And if it wasn't you, they'd just hire some other bim-[stops himself]
Natalie Teeger: Some other what?! "Bim" what?! [beat]
Adrian Monk: Bimportant person.
Natalie Teeger: Mr. Monk, do-do you think I'm a bimbo?! Look, I know what I do isn't the most bimportant job on the planet, but what do I do for you?! Hand you wipes all day long?! Pick up your laundry?! You know people admire me now, and I admit it, I am enjoying the attention! I guess I needed it!
Adrian Monk: Yeah, uh, I'm sorry, but I can't work like this! So you're going to have to choose. [gestures to himself and Stottlemeyer, then to Natalie's fans]
When Lin-Manuel Miranda hosted Saturday Night Live, he sang his monologue to the tune of "My Shot". At one point, he walked into the hall of previous hosts, and stops in front of the portrait of Donald Trump...
Lin: On this wall, in this hall, and I'm getting a piece of it,
Like Miley, Schumer, Tracy Morgan and THIS PIECE OF-
(stares at Trump picture)
(mumbles/sings) Well, he's never gonna be president now, never gonna be president now..
In the Starsky & Hutch episode "Foxy Lady," a character says of the titular thieving informant, "I think that b- lady is as slick as a greased eel."
A Touch of Frost. DI Frost is insulting his superior (as usual) when the man in question enters the room.
Frost: Well Horn-rimmed Harry can go stick it up his ahhhh hello sir!
From ''The Vicar of Dibley", Episode "The Window & the Weather":
[Hugo appears suddenly, startling Geraldine]
Geraldine: OH FUC-rying out loud, Hugo!

Music

"The Real Sugar Baby" by Stephanie Beard features this:
"And there's a million of us
Just like me, fuss like me
Just don't give a fu-
Oh! I would never say that"
Brook Benton's "Boll Weevil Song":
And the boll weevil said to the farmer,
Said, "Farmer, I'd like to wish you well"
Farmer said to the boll weevil,
"Yeah, and I wish that you were in...

Lookin' for a home
Lookin' for a home
Ahh, you have a home, all right
You have a home
A real hot home..."
Five Finger Death Punch: "Did you know I don't care? You can suck my..."
The Johnny Horton song "The Battle of New Orleans" has the following line: "Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well", then going into the chorus of the song.
While Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is Sir Swears-a-Lot, "Nookie" has the infamous line "Take that cookie and stick it up your (Yeah!)"
The song "If You Wanna Dance" by Nobody's Angel, an early '00s girl group which were heavily promoted by Disney Channel, fuses this with Stop and Go.
All y'all standing on the wall
This is the last call
So get your... (pause) out on the floor
- Later on, there's the line "Like we said before, get your eeze out on the floor!"
Panic! at the Disco:
- In "There's A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered, Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet":
  I bet to them your name is "Cheap", I bet to them you look like shh...
- Another one of their songs, "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies" contains the line "What a shame the poor groom's bride is a whore". Guess which word gets replaced with "Shh!" in the music video!
In Primus' song "The Air Is Getting Slippery", each time it sounds like the singer is going to say "fuck," he cuts himself off and says, "Forgive me if I hesitate." He finally says it at the end, which is obscured by a Sound-Effect Bleep of a loud crash.
"Shaving Cream"; each verse seems like it's going to end in- "shaving cream, so nice and clean!"
Joe South's "Games People Play":
Look around, tell me what you see
What's happening to you and me?
God grant me the serenity
To remember who I am

'Cause you're givin' up your sanity
For your pride and your vanity
Turn your back on humanity
And you don't give a...na, na, na, da, dadadada...
Mostly Played for Laughs in this instance, but during an acoustic performance of Juular in 2015, Devin Townsend gets to the chorus. And then realises he's in London's St. James' Church...
Eye for an eye..! I survived and God--... ''*exaggerated awkward coughing*''
Voltaire's "The Dirtiest Song That Ain't" is practically nothing but this every other line.
Down in Carolina,
I met a girl with a nice *pause*,
So I reached down between us,
And I whipped out my *pause*.
This lyric in "What Kind of Pokémon are You":
Good luck with Muk and his poison gas, make one wrong move and it will kick your... Grass.
The Who's "My Generation" has a classic usage:
Why don't you all f-f-f-f-f-fade away?

Puppet Shows

From the Bear in the Big Blue House episode, "The Tutter Family Reunion":
Tutter: (speaking about his relatives to Bear, Ojo, Treelo, Pip, and Pop) And I don't mind saying, they can be kind of a pain! Yeah, a real pain in the... (turns around and realizes that Grandma Flutter was listening in on his conversation) Grandma!

Radio

In one of the Feghoot rounds on My Word!, Denis Norden is given the phrase "splendour in the grass". Supposedly giving a lecture to the high brass of the British military, he talked about the various tribulations the soldiers in the Trojan Horse would have endured, before concluding that the one thing nobody considers is that the Ancient Greek military uniform is a short leather skirt. Which, coupled with unvarnished wooden seats, meant that their biggest problem would be "splinter in the gentlemen-I-thank-you-for-your-attention".

Theatre

In the song "Honest Man" from the musical Bajour, two characters sing compliments to each other and then immediately echo the last couple of words in a way that makes it sound like an insult. Until they get to the line "I will hold up my end, and I'm sure you're gonna hold up yours"... and both stop themselves from repeating the last two words.

Video Games

In Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Richter starts staying "Son of a…" before cutting himself off while saving Maria from Shaft.
In Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly, Jorji goes, "Holy f-" at Riona's sudden appearance after the first blackout.
In Deltarune Chapter 2, if you defeat Spamton NEO with a full inventory, he chastises you since it's pretty much impossible to do this accidentally, almost dropping an F-bomb but changing it at the last second.
...Kris...? Kris?! KRIS?!?!?! YOU FILLED YOUR [Inventorium] WITH [Half-Pr1ce Sallamy] JUST TO KEEP ME OUT?! WHAT! THE! [F
...ifty Percent Off]?! YOU CAN CARRY LIKE 48 ITEMS!!! [Why] DID YOU DO THIS?! WHY?! [Y]?! [Yellow]?! [Gamma]?! NOT [Cool] KRIS! I'LL BE IN MY [Trailer]!
In the City Elf Origin in Dragon Age: Origins, a guard tries to arrest the PC for either killing or robbing a nobleman (depending on player choice). Duncan steps in and uses his authority to save the PC, leading the guard to say "Son of a tied down... Fine."
In EarthBound (1994), before the fight with the Department Store Spook, he taunts you with "This department store is gonna be your grave! Gwaaagh. You will be gone, and you’ll be burning in… well, you’ll go to heaven!"
At the beginning of the make money for Venus level (Formerly Save The Pandas from WLK) in Katamari Forever, the king needs to rhyme something with rich. So he says, "If you don't have any, what a bi-" Or something along those lines. Then he catches himself.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: During the field study in Chapter 6 where Rean meets up with Claire at a bar, the rest of the group proceed to get on his case about it. Crow and Alisa's responses are funny in their own right, but Machias gets a gold medal for his.
Machias: So while we were enjoying a quiet evening, you were out carousing with a beautiful woman, were you? You lucky son of a- I mean, for shame, Rean. We're here representing the academy on a field study!
In Madagascar for Gamecube. Marty and Mort get Wilbur to fulfill his promise (which turns out to be truly anticlimactic), much to Marty's annoyance. He says: "I oughtta open up a can of Whoopa— BUTT on you, Warthog!!!"
In Mass Effect 3, Jack has taken to censoring herself while in front of her students, leading to her retorting to Joker, "Screw you, f...light lieutenant." Which leads into a "cut to next scene" example...
In Nuclear Throne, in the song that plays in Y.V.'s Mansion, the singer pulls a Last-Second Word Swap during one part:
See 'em, shoot 'em, skin 'em, wear 'em, mount 'em on the wall
If they're completely armor-plated, I'ma shoot 'em in the BALL…lllllin', like a black hole, a vulture flock
In Octopath Traveler, one of Alfyn's voice clips is "Son of a..."
A Youngster trainer you battle in Pokémon X and Y says "Aww sh... shucks!" after you beat him.
In Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney during Espella's trial in London, the witness Johnny Smiles comments that being expected to remember how the light controls for the freighter work as it's security guard is a "right pain in the..." before cutting himself off. He likely did so because he realized he was making himself sound unprofessional, although it could also partly be because he realized he was about to cuss in court.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty has this:
Matt Horner: Holy sh—sir, scanners show the largest zerg biosignature I've ever seen!
Soul Nomad & the World Eaters: Gig is not exactly known for the cleanest language, but he ends up doing this twice in a row during one scene.
Gig: MOTHERFU— GODDA— I told you not to say anything!!
In Warcraft 3:
Prince Kael'thas: Insolent son of a ... Let's get this over with!
- In World of Warcraft, during the Siegecrafter Blackfuse encounter, if you destroy one of the gadgets on the conveyor belt or one of the Automated Shredders, Blackfuse will say "You son of a..." before getting an attack speed bonus for a few seconds.
Warframe:
- Ordis is an artificial intelligence suffering from what is essentially schizophrenia, has his curses cut short when he glitches out. While glitching, he tells a friendly Corpus deserter to "go straight to h-" before immediately apologizing.
- Hok the Ostron bladesmith is forced to eternally suffer his useless apprentice Pedlek, and will sometimes cut off his own tirades when he finally notices the Tenno have been waiting for weapon-crafting services.
  Hok: "Pedlek! Did your mother jump around whilst pregnant? Those aren't pets, they're carnivorous as fff—" (finally noticing the Tenno, who has been observing the entire time) "—far as I know. Hello there! How may Hok serve?"

Visual Novels

Ace Attorney has a few of these. For example, in Turnabout Academy, when talking about how Juniper Woods prepared most of the mock trial herself, Athena stops herself just short. Likely, in-universe, due to her thinking that Juniper wouldn't like her swearing in front of her.
Athena: That sounds like it was a right pain in the—I-I mean, that sounds like it would be a lot of hard work...!
In Virtue's Last Reward, after betraying Tenmyouji in the AB Game Phi tells Tenmyouji that she told Sigma to do it. When Sigma tells Phi she doesn't need to take the blame since it's his fault, she immediately agrees and says he's right.
I tried to think of something to say, but before I could he was gone. I spun around-
Sigma: Phi! What the fu—
But she was gone too.

Webcomics

M9 Girls! : Pato goes "What the—" when she inadvertently realizes she has absorbent powers. There is a more blatant example on the Spanish version of the comic where she says the equivalent of "What the f—" when the other M9 Girls propose a full scale attack against the Big Bad.

Web Original

A comic panel from the depths of 4chan that often ends in a crudely drawn person screaming FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- Not exactly "short," but decidedly unfinished.
- Though this isn't about censorship so much as unrepresentable rage. The Imageboard in question has very little interest in censoring anything.
- Subverted at least once, with the penultimate panel being a screamed "TO-".
Homestar Runner:
- Strong Bad, in the Strong Bad Email "trevor the vampire". In the DVD commentary, Strong Bad claims he was going to say "what the fireplace in the mangic place":
  Strong Bad: "Hi strong bad. This is Trevor from Hampden Maine and I was wondering if you could teach me how to be as awesome as you. I am a vampire and" ...And what? That's it? I'm a vampire and here's a million dollars...or I'm a vampire and here's your own spaceship... I mean what the f- (Beat) Oh no, I get it. THEY GOT HIM! Somebody stuck him with a stake through the heart!
- In "The Homestar Runner Enters the Spooky Woods", Tiny-Handed Strong Bad is surprised that The Homestar Runner isn't scared of an "eyeball-barf bath".
  Tiny-Handed Strong Bad: What the...?
  Narrator Strong Bad: ...Almost-cussed Strong Bad.
Minilife TV: In "Chris and Ian Shamelessly Promote Themselves", when Zach, who is disguised as Ian, tells Conan that he left office as mayor because everyone made fun of his trumpet playing:
Zach: They said my music was so bad that, and I'm quoting here, that I should take my brass instrument and shove it up my...well, I won't finish, but I'll just say it rhymed.
The Spiffing Brit: By We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: For The Sims 4, when still working on a death room for one family of Sims, his Sim (Lord Farquaad) tried making a grilled cheese sandwich:
The Spiffing Brit: Oh, look at Farquaad here, tending to his food at night. Isn't he a happy little man? He just leveled up to Level 3 cooking. (stove catches fire) Oh no, he started a fire! Oh god, okay! (Farquaad catches fire) Oooooooh, sh- (the "Please Stand By" test card appears, with an 8-bit variation of Spanish Flea playing)
StacheBros: In "Mario's Magical Mirror", when an alternate Waluigi tries to sell Mario out to King Toad by catching him trying to sneak 1-UPs past the mirror:
Mario: Drat! I forgot I always carry 1-UPs!
Waluigi: Then I guess you're going to jail, bucker-tucker-rucker-fu...oh, wait...buckaroo!

Western Animation

The trailer in Family Guy for The Passion of the Christ 2: Crucify This has a Chase Scene with Chris Tucker and Jesus.
Chris Tucker: Man you crazy, Jesus! You crazy!
Jesus: That's what my ex-wife said.
Chris Tucker: For the son of God, you sure are the son of a— (car jumps police cars) Whoooaa!
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Phil Ken Sebben taking an eye exam:
  "F-U-C- can't make out that last one…"
- And this variation while digging in his pocket for his keys:
  "Let's see ... gum wrapper, pocket lint, lighter ... oooh! flamethrower! ring of power, dunno what that is, roll of quarters ... wait, that's not a roll of ... A-ha! Here they are!"
- And when he's in his office getting groomed by a busty barber, he puts a new take on an old ditty as she swings his chair so that he's underneath her breasts:
  "Shave and a haircut: Two ti— AH!"
- Using a security camera to spy on the women's bathroom:
  "Good things come to those who wait! Ha-HA! Cu-" *bathroom door opens*
- In one of the early ones (might've been the first one) has a scene where Dr. Quest gets angry at the boys for denting something with a ball.
  Dr. Quest: I have half a mind to come down there and kick your little a-
Kaeloo: In one episode, Stumpy gives Kaeloo a sheet with the lyrics of one of his favorite rap songs on it and gets her to sing it. Despite being initially reluctant, Kaeloo sings, but when she finds out that the song contains a swear word, she stops singing.
From the King of the Hill episode "Escape From Party Island":
Hank: (After a motorist rudely passes him and he reads the bumper) How's my driving? I'll tell you, Mom take this number down: 1-800-E-A-T-S-H-I...uh, never mind.
Looney Tunes
- In the short "The Bashful Buzzard" Beaky Buzzard says to the dragon "Why you shriveled up incontestable piece of sh…shoeleather."
- A subversion happened in a 1938 "blooper reel" film shown at the Warner Bros. Christmas Party that year — along with the usual scenes of actors hilariously flubbing their lines was a short newly-animated sequence of Porky Pig, just after he had whacked his thumb with a hammer. "Son of a b-b-bi— son of a b-b-bi— son of a b-b-b-gun!" He then looks at the camera and says "Heh, heh. You thought I was g-gonna s-say 'son of a bitch', didn't ya?"
The Loud House: Luna Loud does this when her comments about "a highway to-" are interrupted by a computer alert that prompts an intrigued "Hello!" from her.
Happens in DreamWorks' Rocky and Bullwinkle short, when the story is interrupted by a Bullwinkle's Corner segment in which Bullwinkle attempts to recite "Superman".
They call me Superman
Leap tall
Superman ain't savin' sh—WHOA!
Bullwinkle: (long pause; flips through the lyrics and gives a nervous Aside Glance) Oooookay, that is all for today. Next week, the complete works of Mr. Fifty Cents.
The Simpsons:
- Krusty has just shown a lackluster Itchy & Scratchy cartoon where all that happens is Itchy weakly hits Scratchy's head with a mallet three times, then both say to the camera, "Kids, say no to drugs!"
  I coulda pulled a better cartoon outta my a—ha ha ha
- And of course when Homer konks Ned Flanders in the head:
  GOD— bless him.
- Homer's classic "Why, you little––!" directed at Bart, with the ending trailing into Angrish as he strangles him. He finally gets to finish the thought in Season 20's "Wedding For Disaster," which has a "Not Really Married" Plot involving him and Marge and a discussion of Bart's legitimacy in light of the fact.^note
  Homer: Why, you little bastard!
In an episode of Wakfu, Amalia and Yugo get Dragoturkey dung poured over their heads. Amalia proceeds to comment "If they notice, we'll really be deep in... well, even more than now."

Real Life

People who grew up with cartoons and kids' shows that use this trope may find them doing it themselves, saying "What the...?!" with no intention of actually saying anything after 'the'.
It's actually surprisingly more common for people to say just "what the", when they're shocked by something striking then most would imagine. The main reason for cutting short being that the person would realize what caused their shock mid-sentence and therefore cut themselves short in other to say another sentence [such as "What the-JOHN!!" if John just threw a prank on them]. Another reason is because the subject in question is so shocking that a simple "What..." or "What...the. What is this?!" is used because no cuss on Earth could ever describe how shocked they're feeling at that time. This happens mainly when a person isn't shocked out of nowhere, but suddenly sees something shocking, and slowly begins to express their shock. One. Word. At. A. Time.
In the book Star Trek Lives, one of the authors describes her visit to the Star Trek set during the filming of a scene on the bridge. According to her, when William Shatner flubbed a line, he began to say "Oh, shi...", then realized this young lady was standing there watching and finished, "...atner, you've done it again!"

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