Calling Your Nausea

Janine Melnitz: "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Egon Spengler: (under the influence of a love spell) "You're beautiful when you're sick."

Janine Melnitz: "Hey, Egon, knock it off!"

— The Real Ghostbusters, "Janine's Genie"

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Vomits

When someone is nauseous, they sometimes have enough time to warn people of their imminent vomiting — either before they run off to a washroom, or prior to emptying their stomach on the spot. Like its related tropes Calling Your Attacks, Calling Your Bathroom Breaks, and Calling Your Orgasms, it sets up an expectation, then immediately fulfills it.

On other occasions, only the call itself is used. Sometimes this occurs when the creator wants to demonstrate how gross something is. At other times, it can convey the intensity of movements such as head-spinning dizziness, which are enough to induce nausea without vomiting. Often used in place of a Vomit Discretion Shot, to allow a character to become nauseous without showing the aftermath.

Green Around the Gills is the visual signal for imminent vomiting. May occur after getting an answer to I Ate WHAT?!

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Examples:

Comic Books

• Exiles: In Up North and in the Green Part 1, remarking on a bit of Teleportation Sickness possibly not being as bad as usual and therefore possibly not vomiting:
  Morph: That was one of the smoothest planet hops yet! Very low nausea quotient. I might only gag as opposed to doing the full technicolor yawn.
• Superman:
  • In Way of the World, after Supergirl flies Resurrection Man to the hospital at super-speed, the man mutters he feels like throwing up.
  • In Escape from the Phantom Zone, Supergirl falls on her knees and mutters she is going to vomit after being subjected to Psi's psychic attack.

Comic Strips

• In Peanuts, before Linus was old enough to read and write, he would have Charlie Brown take down his letters to Santa Claus, and they were so Sickeningly Sweet (Linus admitted he was trying to butter him up), Charlie Brown had to quit writing, claiming he was getting nauseated.

Fan Works

• In the Teen Titans fanfic Belonging, after Raven learns that the guy she's been dating (and who just drugged and tried to rape her) was actually Adonis in disguise, she tells the rest of the team "A second. I need to throw up" and runs for the toilet.
• Manehattan's Lone Guardian: Leviathan discovers that the Guardians and most likely their blueprints were tampered with to reduce resistance to Omega's eventual return. Once it fully sinks in, she states that she feels like throwing up. On the grounds that "what half-processed Energen looks like is something that no biological being needs to know about", however, she's able to suppress that urge.

Film — Animated

• Finding Nemo: Crush has just rescued Marlin and Dory from the jellyfish.
  Marlin: Oh, my stomach.
  Crush: Oh, man. Hey, no hurling on the shell, dude. I just waxed it.
  • Finding Dory: As Marlin, Nemo and Dory ride with Crush on the East Australian Current.
    Marlin: Tooootally sick!
    Crush: Isn't it great?
    Marlin: No! I'm gonna be totally sick!
• The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part: During Lucy's clash with Sweet Mayhem, Sweet Mayhem uses two spinning stars on a stick as a weapon. When the weapon breaks apart, one of the stars says it feels dizzy and vomits glitter.
• Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted: Mort says "My tummy is speaking to me!" right before throwing up Alex's birthday cake.
• Monsters, Inc.: Mike says, "I'm gonna be sick!" while riding on the door vault, but he never vomits.
• Osmosis Jones: After Ozzy starts talking about his childhood growing up on "the wrong side of the large intestine", Drix moans "Please, you're going to make me vomit!" Ozzy quips that he used to think the families who could afford vomit were fancy.
• Rise of the Guardians: When on a sleigh ride, Bunny (who is motion-sick) says, "I hope you like carrots" (the implication being that he ate some and is going to puke them up), but he doesn't throw up. Interestingly, Real Life rabbits can't vomit.

Film — Live Action

• Bring It On: One nervous competitor in the National Cheerleading Finals mentions that she has "butterflies". Her coach ascribes this to anxiety and tries to perform a calming exercise. The ill girl attempts this, then whoops a goodly mess onto the coach. Supplemental material on the disc release mentions this scene was done with canned clam chowder as the "vomit."
• Car Wash has an Alpha Bitch mother drive her convertible Mercedes-Benz into the car wash because her grade-school son puked on the side door. She wants the stuff washed off before the finish is damaged. The staff obliges and soon has her car in pristine condition. After driving away, the boy says that he needs to hurl; the mother forbids him to ruin her paint job, so the poor kid vomits into her lap instead. Scratch one Halston dress.
• Ghostbusters (1984): Venkman delivers one while the team is climbing the seemingly endless stairs in Dana's apartment building.
  Peter: Alright, when we get to 20, tell me - I'm gonna throw up.
• Mean Girls: When Aaron tells Cady that she's becoming just like Regina, Cady's narration announces that her trademark "word vomit" is coming up. Then Regina walks in and sees Cady and Aaron together, at which point her narration declares "no, wait a minute... actual vomit." Cue the Vomit Discretion Shot.
• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: From Mr. Creosote, who graphically follows up after calling his shot.
  Maître d'hôtel: Ah, good afternoon, sir! And how are we today?
  Creosote: Better ...
  Maître d'hôtel: Better?
  Creosote: Better get a bucket for my throw-up.
• Nanny McPhee: When Nanny McPhee's stick makes the children unable to stop what they're doing, one girl remarks, "I'm going to be sick!" She never throws up, though.
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: Mrs. Teavee, twice, during the boat ride; first when it begins to speed up, and then when hallucinatory visuals get projected on the tunnel walls.

Jokes

• There is a joke combining this with Incoming Ham:
  "It's COMING!"
  "What?"
  "IT!"
  "What 'it'?"
  "The WIENER SCHNITZ—" (vomit)
• In Brazil, there are three ways to jokingly refer to vomiting by calling a man's name (all with an U, as the sound fits the puking), "call Hugo", "call Raul" or "call Juca".

Literature

• Book of the Dead (2021): The sight of Tyron stripping all the flesh from week-old corpses so that they can be raised as skeletons is enough to turn Dove's stomach, even though he doesn't have one.
  Dove: That… was disgusting. When that eyeball popped, with the maggots inside? I thought I was going to chuck, and I don't have a stomach.
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Mrs. Teavee exclaims "I'm going to be sick!" during the factory tour's wild ride on the Great Glass Elevator and "Now I am going to be sick!" when Wonka reveals that if the Oompa-Loompas are using the other elevator they might collide. Wonka holds his top-hat upside down in front of her mouth to avoid a mess, but she doesn't vomit after all.
• A Clockwork Orange: Alex undergoes The Ludovico Technique, which involves injecting him with nausea-inducing drugs and forcing him to watch scenes of violence. When the drugs first start to take effect he shouts "I want to be sick. Please let me be sick. Please bring something for me to be sick into", though he doesn't actually vomit until much later on.

Live-Action Television

• ALF: "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to do the Technicolor yawn."
• Dragnet: Bill Gannon says it's the first time in years on the job, that he's gonna be sick. This comes after seeing the body of an infant who drowned in the bathtub because his parents were in another room in the house getting stoned.
• House of Anubis: After eating gallons of creamed carrot on a bet, Jerome ended up in his room, exhausted and completely sick. When Mara comes in to talk to him, he is initially able to hold a normal conversation. But soon after, Jerome frantically asks Mara to get him a bucket; she does so just seconds before he throws up.
• In the 1980s Ramona Quimby TV series, in the episode "Ramona the Patient", Ramona tries to tell her teacher that she's feeling nauseous... just a little too late.
  Ramona: Mrs. Whaley, I think I'm going to... (throws up)
• Tweenies: Jake in "Jake's Been Sick", after eating a Bramley apple, an especially-sour cooking apple which isn't meant to be eaten raw:
  "I think I'm going to be... (Vomit Discretion Shot)"

Puppet Shows

• Fraggle Rock: Boober, while reluctantly helping Mokey gather radishes at night, was accidentally grabbed by Ma while she was picking ingredients for a soufflé. She screamed and let him go, giving the two Fraggles time to run back to the Rock.
  Boober: Yuck! That Gorg had me right in the palm of her big, hairy hand!
  Mokey: I know, I know!
  Boober: I think I'm gonna be sick!

Toys

• Furbys use an unconventional phrase for this, to indulge in Vulgar Humor, by first saying "Dinner is served!" and then gagging. Given that they don't have stomachs, Furbys can't throw up, so nothing happens afterwards.

Video Games

• Persona 5: This happens after being told I Ate WHAT?! During one of Haru Okumura's Confidant rank ups, she invites the player to try out an expensive blend of coffee at a buffet. After the player takes a sip, she reveals that the coffee beans are fed to elephants, collected from their poop, and processed into coffee. A possible response is "Excuse me while I vomit."
• Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness: Clicking on an orc ship enough time will make a crew mate say he's gonna be sick. Continue to click and you'll hear a vomiting sound.

Web Animation

• ASDF Movie: In one skit a man announces he's going to be car sick... right before vomiting up an entire car that crushes the person next to him.
• Brain POP: In the Fractions video, Tim announces that he has to evacuate his stomach after eating a piece of Moby's cake:
  Tim: Three-quarters of a cup of... motor oil? I have to... go to the... bathroom. [runs off to the bathroom, then makes spitting sounds]
• Minilife TV: In "The Final Match", when Smiley's face gets damaged, Todd (unaware it's actually Commander X in disguise) announces he's going to be sick and eventually barfs when Commander X takes the mask off.
• Homestar Runner: The Strong Bad Email "secret recipes" has Coach Z put his own extra-gross twist on this after Strong Bad tricks him into eating a bowl of sour cream and The Cheat fur.
  Coach Z: I think I'm gonna puke my pants!
  Strong Bad: Ugh! Please don't elaborate on that.
  Coach Z: Naw, it's easy. I do it all the time! Here, lemme show ya's.
  Strong Bad and The Cheat: (run away screaming)
  Coach Z: You take your pants...

Webcomics

• On 8-Bit Theater, once it's revealed what the rat tail was meant to do, Black Mage goes "I'm going to throw up now. On the off chance there is a caring and loving god, I will choke on my vomit. Do not help me". The ensuing vomiting lasts long enough to "puke things I haven't even eaten yet!"
  • Black Mage "ritualistically prepares" Fighter's body, and Red Mage comments "Excuse me, I need to make a Fort ^* Fortitude check to the bathroom." Then Black Mage stabs him.
• Dominic Deegan: Someone doing it for themselves, and someone doing it for someone else:
  • From comic 1775, when Dominic is about to vomit, he asks Luna to conjure a magic jar for it.
  • From comic 1846, Celesto, after showing Dominic a murder, knows that Dominic was going to vomit, and took his leave before then:
    Celesto: I'd rather not be around when you get sick. That sort of thing makes me queasy.

Western Animation

• Animaniacs:
  • In the Slappy Squirrel episode "Bumbie's Mom", Slappy and Skippy are on a plane when Skippy announces he's airsick. When he feels the need to vomit, Slappy advances the episode to the next scene with them on a bus, canceling out his nausea.
  • In the Warner Siblings episode "The Carpool", when Wakko announces "I'm gonna be carsick!", the driver pulls over and everyone hurries out of the car. But then Wakko says he's okay now.
  Driver: You're not gonna throw up in the car?
  Wakko: No.
  Woman: How do you know?
  Wakko: Because I already did.
• Done as wordplay in the Beetlejuice episode "The Big Gross-Out." Lydia hits Beetlejuice with a pillow to get his attention, causing him to drop the beetle he's about to eat:
  Beetlejuice: (testily) You made me lose my lunch!
• Cow and Chicken: In the What A Cartoon! Show pilot "No Smoking", after Chicken finds out Cow's been refilling the same milk carton with her own milk for years, he slumps in his seat and moans "I think I'm gonna toss my cookies..."
• Invader Zim: At the end of "Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars", the Tallest call up Zim to punish him for hijacking the Massive earlier in the episode, only to find him being attacked by his brain-eating parasite. The Tallest stare at the screen, then Purple announces that he's going to be sick before rushing offscreen.
• One of Ralphie's catchphrases on The Magic School Bus is "I think I'm gonna be sick!"
• Recess: Randall does this in the episode "A Genius Among Us":
  Randall: I did it! I did it! I ate ten puddings! I ate ten puddings! I am the pudding king! I... I... I think I'm gonna be sick... (runs out of the cafeteria)
  (Hank the Janitor's pager beeps)
  Hank: I could see that coming. Well, gotta go clean the hall!
• The Ren & Stimpy Show: In "Untamed World", a close-up of a "blind cave Höek" leads Ren (providing narration) to say "I think I'm going to puke!" and dry-heave.
• Rocko's Modern Life: Filburt had "I'm nauseous. I'm nauseous." as something of a Running Gag, though he actually does throw up offscreen at the end of "Sailing the Seven Zzzzzs".
• SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Band Geeks," Mr. Krabs says, "I think I'm gonna be sick!" when he sees a crowd of real-life humans, which the characters think are mutant fish.
• Time Squad: In the episode "A Sandwich By Any Other Name", The Earl is showing off his failed attempts at the sandwich to the Time Squad, the worst one is completely black, covered in mushrooms and leaking unknown fluid. Tuddrussel doesn't see anything wrong with this one and blissfully starts to eat it. Unsurprisingly, after a few minutes of being left with it, he starts grumbling, "I think this thing's makin' me sick..."

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