Basic Trope: A character thinks someone is being sentimental when actually they're not.
- Straight: Alice leans on Bob. He thinks that she's doing it because she's in love with him, but actually, she's just cold.
- Exaggerated: Alice comes over to visit Bob, and he thinks it's a date, but actually she wants to kill him!
- Downplayed: Alice clarifies that she is in love with Bob, but that this particular instance of leaning on him was simply to keep warm.
- Justified:
- Alice does have a habit of leaning on people she likes, so Bob thought this applied here.
- Alice is Bob's girlfriend, so it wouldn't be too unusual for her to hug him; that just wasn't what she was doing in this case.
- Bob has an unrequited crush on Alice, and so is quick to assume her actions are done out of affection.
- Inverted: Alice comes onto Bob by leaning on him. Bob is oblivious to Alice's advances and thinks she's just cold.
- Subverted: As it turns out, Alice lied about being cold to avoid admitting her feelings for Bob.
- Double Subverted:
- Averted: Alice really is in love with Bob, or Bob realises that she's only trying to stay warm.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "Must you assume everything I do is loaded with emotion?"
- Invoked: Charlie encourages Alice to warm up by leaning on Bob, knowing that Bob will get the wrong idea.
- Exploited:
- Defied: Alice is cold, but decides to just brave the cold or put on a sweater, knowing that if she leans on Bob, he might get the wrong idea.
- Discussed: "What do I do if I get too cold? If I start leaning on Bob, he'll think I'm in love with him!"
- Conversed: "My favourite Bob moment has got to be that scene where he thinks Alice has a crush on him when really she was cold! Gets me every time!"
- Implied:
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs:
- Played for Drama: Bob has a hard time dealing with the fact that Alice doesn't love him.
- Played for Horror: Bob mistakenly thinks a possessed Alice is coming onto him.
Back to Bait-and-Switch Sentiment.
