Basic Trope: A character is required to drop money into a jar every time he/she swears.
- Straight: Bob recites a Precision F-Strike and drops a quarter into the jar.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob recites a Cluster F-Bomb and drops several dollars into the jar.
- Bob recites a Cluster F-Bomb and drops his checkbook and several credit cards into the jar.
- Bob recites an Atomic F-Bomb and drops a bag of gold bars into the jar.
- Downplayed:
- Bob has to drop a quarter for every three curse words he says, and the count resets after a certain amount of time.
- Bob doesn't have a jar for swearing, but instead for saying other words that he shouldn't say (such as insults).
- Justified: The swear jar is in place so that Alice and Bob's kids won't be learning cuss words from them.
- Inverted:
- Every time Bob swears, he gets to take money out of the jar.
- If Bob speaks a sentence without swearing, he has to drop money in the jar.
- Bob's pottymouth friends make him pay a fine whenever he minces an oath.
- Subverted:
- Bob swears, and since he doesn't have any money on him, doesn't put money into the jar.
- Alice makes Bob put money in the jar whenever he swears... but it's only because she's weaning him to get him used to her world's swears (which are unfined) to help him keep up appearances.
- Double Subverted:
- But Alice reinforces the rule and demands that Bob pony up later.
- Bob starts using the new swears so well that Alice puts another jar in place to get him to cut down on it.
- Parodied:
- Bob says, "Ah, fudge!" and Alice is holding the jar out.
- There is so much money in the jar by the end of the first week that Alice and Bob can take a tropical vacation.
- The swear jar policy is supported by law, used as tax money.
- Bob swears, and Alice is holding the jar out. Bob swears again in frustration, and Alice demands more money. Bob swears again in frustration...
- The jar in question is chained to Bob's leg.
- Bob is doing a swear-a-thon as a stunt to raise money for charity.
- Zig Zagged: Bob does a Cluster F-Bomb in front of the kids. Thanks to the incident, Alice puts a swear jar. But Bob doesn't pay. Then Alice starts telling Bob to pay up, but he still doesn't. That night, he puts the money in the jar, then he puts the jar in the car, drives to the beach, takes out the jar, and throws the jar into a bonfire.
- Averted:
- The Tropers have no Swear Jar policy in effect in their household.
- Nobody uses such language in that home anyway.
- Enforced: No cussing + Think of the Children!.
- Lampshaded:
- "No money... aw $#%@&!..."
- "If I told you how I feel about that jar, I'd owe you fifty bucks."
- Invoked: Alice is sick of Bob's swearing and worried about its effect on their kids. She puts a swear jar in the kitchen and explains the new rule to her family.
- Exploited: Alice needs money for something secret, and considers Bob to be a good source.
- Defied: Bob stops swearing... at least around his family.
- Discussed: "Oh, I bet Bob'll be filling it up in no time". "No doubt about it".
- Conversed: "This swear jar is a perfect example of why Bob shouldn't be a role model for you kids".
- Implied: A jar full of money with what appear to be the words "Swear Jar" written on it can occasionally be seen in the background at Alice's and Bob's house.
- Deconstructed: Reward-punishment systems take a while to have any appreciable effect, and in some cases may not work.
- Reconstructed: Bob finds that he is losing a lot of money to the swear jar and starts censoring his language.
- Played For Laughs: Bob is shown repeatedly throwing money in, even though the audience stops hearing him actually swear.
Go back to The Swear Jar trope, dammit!
Bob! That's another dollar!
Oh, hell no!
Oh, hell no!
