Basic Trope: Device A carries out the function of Device B.
- Straight: Bob flips the light-switch, and the faucet turns on.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob flips the light-switch, and every appliance but the light turns on.
- Bob somehow turns off the sun when he flips the light switch.
- Downplayed:
- Bob flips the light switch, and a light turns on in the next room.
- Bob flips the light switch, and the garbage disposal turns on.
- Justified:
- The faucet is supposed to be turned on and off via a switch on the wall, rather than a conventional tap.
- During some Noodle Incident, Bob managed to mix up the plumbing and the electrical wiring.
- Bob tried to apply mundane plumbing assumptions to Magitek. The lights and faucet are both part of a "circuit" of mana and he didn't know they could interact.
- Justified/Downplayed:
- That's the light switch for the bathroom, that room tends to get a bit too moist to have the switch inside.
- Bob placed the light/garbage switch pair's front panel upside down.
- Inverted: Bob screws in a new light bulb into the socket and the light switch flips.
- Subverted: Bob flips the light-switch, but nothing happens.
- Double Subverted: But Charles next door is perplexed about how his faucet is running when he hasn't touched it.
- Parodied: The problem is caused by someone who should know what they are doing, such as a plumber, or an electrician.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Everything in the house functions normally; the lightswitch turns on the lights, and the tap handle thingy turns on the faucet.
- Enforced:
- Rule of Funny
- The Home and Garden show is educating the audience about the importance of not mixing the gas plumbing with the water plumbing.note
- Lampshaded: "Oh, that's not the light-switch. That's the faucet. The light-switch is over by the sink."
- Invoked: Bob is faced with a plumbing problem and is too proud and/or too cheap to call a plumber. Cue Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Project.
- Exploited: Alice hires Bob to "fix" up Charlie's house because she holds a grudge against Charlie and wants to screw with his head about his own house not working as expected.
- Defied: Bob knows he'll screw the job up badly, so he swallows his pride and calls the plumber.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: That's going to be costly and time-consuming to repair...not to mention possible safety risks.
- Reconstructed:
- The problem is fixed correctly and quickly, or else the household learns to live with it.
- Bob, or someone close to him who is amused enough, is rich enough to have essentially his own play house to rewire and redo as he wants, within safety code. It becomes something of a funhouse.
- Played For Drama:
- Someone gets electrocuted turning on the faucet... Or light-switch.
- The plumbing mix-up gassed the occupants when they turned on the faucet.
So... If the light-switch turns on the faucet, then what does the faucet tap do?
