Basic Trope: Someone uses a metaphor for death, such as "they're not with us anymore", in a literal sense. Someone else believes that it means the person is dead.
- Straight: Charlie is asking where his grandpa, Bob, is. His mom Alice says that he's in a better place now. Charlie believes that Grandpa Bob is dead, but Alice means that Bob is currently on a vacation.
- Exaggerated: Alice uses a variety of metaphors for death to describe what happened to Bob: "He just kicked the bucket, but he's in a better place now, pushing up daisies, and he's joining the invisible choir." Turns out that it was all literal; Bob kicked a bucket, and then decided to retire and move to a better place. He now plants daisies and has joined a group known as the Invisible Choir.
- Downplayed:
- Bob actually is injured, ill, or in harm, but isn't dead, so Alice isn't entirely wrong.
- Bob's old boss Dean brings him up by saying that he "was the best employee we ever had". The use of past tense briefly implies that Bob may have died, but Dean later clarifies that he just means that Bob retired.
- Alice explains that Grandpa Bob is "in a better place now", but quickly realizes That Came Out Wrong and immediately clarifies that he's just on vacation.
- Justified:
- Alice forgot (or didn't know) that the phrase she used was a euphemism for death.
- Charlie is at the age where he learns about death.
- Bob actually was injured/ill earlier, and Charlie was worried about him.
- Inverted: Grandpa Bob dies. Alice tries to break the news to her son Charlie by saying he's in a better place now. When Charlie doesn't understand, Alice has to tell him that Bob died.
- Subverted: Alice says Bob is in a better place, and it cuts to him on his vacation. A few seconds later, Bob dies.
- Double Subverted: But it was only a Disney Death, or he is brought back to life.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: ???
- Averted: Nobody is confused by a metaphor for death.
- Enforced: To subvert some drama.
- Lampshaded: "Oh, phew! I thought you meant he died!"
- Invoked: Alice is trolling Charlie.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice chooses her words carefully; when Charlie asks where Bob is, she decides to outright say "He's on vacation". She claims that Bob kicked "a bucket" rather than "the bucket".
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "How did Alice not realize that she sounded like she said Bob died? "In a better place" is a pretty common euphemism to explain that someone died."
- Implied: Charlie looks concerned when his mom says that Bob is "in a better place", but it's not revealed if it's because he thinks Bob died, if he's wondering what "better place" Bob is in, or if it's something else entirely.
- Deconstructed: Charlie ends up forgetting that metaphors like these are typically used to refer to death. When Bob is Killed Off for Real, and Alice tries to break the news by informing him that he's "no longer with us", Charlie asks "He's on vacation, right?", and is distraught to learn that he's wrong this time.
- Played for Laughs: Charlie falsely thinking Grandpa Bob died is played as a Black Comedy Burst.
- Played for Drama: Alice doesn't tell Charlie right away that Bob is actually just on vacation, and he spends a while believing that Grandpa Bob is actually dead.
The main page is No Longer with Us. It's having a nice vacation in the Bahamas.
