Basic Trope: A character orders food and specifically asks that an unexpected or unusual ingredient be excluded.
- Straight: Alice says, "I would like a pepperoni pizza. No anchovies, please."
- Exaggerated:
- Alice says, "I would like a plain cheese pizza, and hold the anchovies or I'll cut you."
- Alice says, "I would like a pepperoni pizza. No anchovies, pineapple, green peppers, tomato, sausage, or Canadian bacon, please."
- "I'd like a pepperoni pizza. Don't put chewing gum on it, please."
- Downplayed:
- "I would like a pepperoni pizza. No onions, please."
- "I would like a Marina's Sea Pizza. No anchovies, please." (Marina's Sea Pizza is usually made with anchovies.)
- Justified:
- This pizzeria heavily advertises that they specialize in anchovy pizzas, and the employees tend to assume that anyone who orders a pizza from them will want anchovies.
- Although they don't advertise it, the company typically includes an ingredient you might not expect.
- Alice has a severe allergy and, even though the ingredient is unusual, Alice wants to make sure it's kept well away from her food.
- Inverted:
- Alice says, "I would like an anchovy pizza, make sure you include the tomato sauce."
- Alice says, "I would like a deluxe pizza with no tomato sauce."
- Subverted: Alice says, "I would like a pepperoni pizza. No ... no soda, please."
- Double Subverted: "Oh, yeah, and no anchovies on the pizza."
- Parodied: Alice says, "I would like a pepperoni pizza. No arsenic, plutonium, or sulfuric acid, please."
- Zig-Zagged:Alice: I would like a pepperoni pizza. No anchovies, please.Pizzeria employee: We don't usually put anchovies on pepperoni pizza.Alice: That's good to know.Employee: If you wanted anchovies, you could have asked for the pepperoni-and-anchovy pizza.Alice: You have that?Employee: Yes, and we can give you that at no added charge.Alice: Don't do that. I don't want anchovies.
- Averted: Alice makes no mention of anchovies (or any other pizza topping that she does not want) when calling into a pizzeria.
- Enforced: This happened to the writer at least once.
- Lampshaded: The call taker responds, "Why would we indiscriminately add anchovies to pizzas unless the customer requests them specifically?"
- Invoked: "Would you like anchovies on that pizza?"
- Exploited: A competing pizzeria advertises itself as completely anchovy-free and therefore more efficient than the one where people ask about anchovies.
- Defied:
- The pizzeria requires that anchovies are added to all pizzas.
- Alice says, "No an—" but Bob interrupts her: "Don't even bring up anchovies."
- Discussed: Alice says, "I'm about to order pizza. What would you folks like on it?" Bob responds, "I don't care, as long as they don't put anchovies on it."
- Conversed: Carol says, "I'm so glad that our local pizzeria doesn't actually put anchovies on pizza indiscriminately, contrary to what some shows may have you believe. Especially since I'm allergic to anchovies."
- Implied: An employee at the pizzeria throws away expired anchovies, explaining that nobody wanted them.
- Deconstructed: A pizzeria goes out of business due to complaints from the many customers who got anchovies, even though they never specifically ordered it.
- Reconstructed:
- The pizzeria only puts anchovies on pizzas when asked, but some customers still specifically ask for no anchovies.
- The pizzeria rebrands and makes a point of catering to the niche of people who want anchovies.
- Played for Laughs:
- "I'd like a pizza with blue cheese, spinach, tofu, escargots, turnips, haggis, and goat anus. No anchovies, please."
- Anchovies are a Stock "Yuck!", and Alice's hatred of them is a Running Gag.
- Played for Drama: Alice is triggered by the thought of getting a pizza with anchovies on it, since her Abusive Parents/guardians force-fed them to her when she was younger. Therefore, she must make sure that the pizzeria she orders from will not put anchovies on her pizza.
- Played for Horror: Alice is a homicidal psychopath with a Berserk Button of anchovies. Picking up the smell alone has driven her into various killing sprees, and you really don't want to know what happens whenever someone actually places anchovies on her pizza.
Back to Hold the Unsolicited Ingredient. And no pineapple!
