Basic Trope: A character says or does something which is misinterpreted by another character as a marriage proposal.
- Straight: Bob buys his friend Alice a ring for a birthday present, and she thinks he's asking her to marry him.
- Exaggerated: Bob does something incredibly innocuous and straightforward (like offering Alice a cup of coffee), which Alice nevertheless mistakes for a marriage proposal.
- Downplayed: Bob buys Alice a ring for a birthday present, and while Alice doesn't think he's proposing marriage, she does mistakenly believe he's romantically interested in her.
- Justified: Alice and Bob are from different cultures, and an innocuous gesture in Bob's culture is often used as a marriage proposal in Alice's.
- Inverted: Bob proposes to Alice by offering her an engagement ring - but Alice thinks he just bought her a gift because he's such a good friend.
- Subverted: Bob buys Alice a ring for a birthday present, and she's incredibly surprised and delighted... because she thought he'd forgotten her birthday!
- Double Subverted: ... and as her best friend, he knew it was always her dream to get engaged on her birthday!
- Parodied:
- Whenever Bob mentions the words "marry" or "marriage" (regardless of context), Alice magically shows up right next to him wearing a wedding dress and holding a bouquet of flowers.
- Bob accidentally sends a letter to Alice that he meant to send to Mary. Alice skims through the entire message and reads "Mary" at the bottom, and thinks he's proposing.
- Zig Zagged: Bob ends up accidentally proposing to Alice, who accepts. Except Bob did want to propose to Alice, but he wanted to secure her parents' blessing first. Except it turns out Alice only accepted because she's religiously obliged to accept a man who did what Bob accidentally did, and wants to back out when she hears it was an accident on his part.
- Averted: Bob buys Alice a ring for a birthday present, and she graciously accepts.
- Enforced: The creators had intended Bob to be a gay character, but the executives don't approve and force them to hurriedly throw in the accidental proposal plot with Alice, in order to head off a backlash from the Moral Guardians.
- Lampshaded: "Why are people always jumping to conclusions?! If I'd wanted to marry you I would have just said so!"
- Invoked: Alice is very eager to get out of her Arranged Marriage with Charles; when Bob happens to end up in a suggestive situation with her, Alice purposefully misinterprets it as a proposal to get away from Charles.
- Exploited: Rival Charlie knows Alice will see it as a proposal, so he tricks Bob to remove competition with another Love Interest.
- Defied: Alice walks in on her friend Bob practicing his proposal to his girlfriend Diana. Since Alice isn't dating Bob, they quickly clear up the confusion.
- Discussed: "Why is Alice going on about how romantic Bob's proposal was? I thought Bob was with Diana." "Alice walked in on Bob practicing and misinterpreted what was happening. Bob hasn't had the guts to correct her yet."
- Logical Extreme: Bob accidentally sneezes while holding a tissue, and Alice interprets it as a marriage proposal because she believes in an obscure superstition that sneezing during a certain lunar phase is a sign of an imminent proposal.
- Lampshaded: "Oh no, not again! Every time I say or do something remotely nice, Alice assumes I'm asking her to marry me. I can't catch a break!"
- Conversed: Alice and her friend Claire are discussing relationships when Alice mentions how she always misinterprets gestures as marriage proposals. Claire laughs and shares a similar story about her own misinterpretations.
- Played for Laughs: Bob casually asks Alice if she wants to grab a slice of pizza, and Alice immediately starts planning their wedding, selecting bridesmaids, and discussing honeymoon destinations.
- Played for Drama: Bob, who is deeply in love with Alice, carefully plans a romantic dinner and pours his heart out, but Alice, who is not interested in a romantic relationship, misreads the situation as a proposal and gently rejects him, leading to an emotional and awkward confrontation.
- Played for Horror: Bob, who has a history of stalking Alice, stages an elaborate scenario where he gets down on one knee and presents her with a ring. Alice, terrified and fearing for her safety, tries to escape the situation as quickly as possible.
- Implied: The scene fades out as Bob is about to say something important to Alice, leaving it ambiguous whether he was actually going to propose or not.
- Unparodied: Bob's innocent gesture of offering Alice a cup of tea is mistaken for a proposal, but it turns out that he genuinely wanted to propose and was testing the waters before making a formal declaration.
- Untwisted: The setup seems like Bob is going to propose, but in reality, he's planning a surprise party for Alice and the ring was meant as a gift to thank her for her friendship.
- Deconstructed: Alice constantly misinterprets Bob's actions as proposals, leading to strained relationships and misunderstandings with other potential romantic partners. It highlights her deep longing for love and her desperate need for validation.
- Reconstructed: Alice's tendency to misinterpret proposals eventually leads her to find true love when Bob, her longtime friend, finally gathers the courage to express his romantic feelings, knowing that she will interpret it as a proposal. This unexpected turn of events strengthens their bond and leads to a genuine, heartfelt relationship.
Oh Alice, will you... YES!! ...show me where Accidental Proposal is?
