For YMMV tropes about the Netflix series, see its page.
- Accidental Innuendo: The animated short is popular for YouTube Poop for this very reason. For example:
- "Could you, would you, with a goat?", "I would not, could not, with a goat!"
- "In the dark? Here in the dark? Would you, could you, in the dark?", "I would not, could not in the dark!"
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Is Guy-Am-I reluctant to eat the titular dish based on its appearance/color alone, or is his refusal based on his self-proclaimed dislike of Sam-I-Am and the next desire to not give Sam the satisfaction of having convinced him to do something?
- Is Sam-I-Am just someone who wants to share food? Or is he a stalker who will not relent until he gets his way? Is he persistent? Or is he an example of how not to persuade someone to do something?
- Can't Un-Hear It: Granted, most people reading this wiki are too old to be reading the book again, but if find yourself doing so after having seen the 1970s cartoon version, you will be reading it in Paul Winchell's voices. If you are from the 1990s, however, there is a chance you will have read it in the Living Books adaptation's voices of Brian Lohmann (Sam-I-Am) and Mark "Spoon Man" Petrakis (Sam’s Friend/Guy-Am-I). And if you read it after watching the Netflix series, you will picture Sam sounding like Adam Devine and Guy sounding like Michael Douglas.
- Fan Nickname: Some unofficial sources call the other character "Sam-I'm-Not" and "Joey". He was later named "Guy-Am-I" by the Netflix series.
- Fridge Logic: Guy-Am-I states that he likes both green eggs and ham after only trying the eggs.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Thanks to a certain video game series, we might have gotten the answer to what animal died to give us the titular dish, or at least the ham part. Not to mention, those pigs steal eggs as well.
- Ho Yay:
- Sam is a little too obsessed with getting Guy to try something which seems off-putting at first but which the guy emphatically declares that he loves once he comes to terms with the fact that he does. And plenty of adaptations lean into this.
- The Living Books adaptation even ends with
Guy-Am-I preparing and feeding Sam-I-Am a giant (blue) roast turkey and eventually leading up to them both walking arm-in-arm into the sunset in the The End screen. The prototype demo even featured a clip of Sam striking a... "suggestive" pose while offering his friend a plate of green eggs and ham. - The Netflix series cranks it up to eleven, where Sam is a lot more touchy-feely and he and his companion regularly bicker Like an Old Married Couple (see the show's YMMV page for more).
- Jerkass Woobie: Can you really blame Sam's grumpy neighbor Guy-Am-I for being so standoffish when he is being repeatedly offered green eggs and ham by an annoying little guy who will not take no for an answer?
- Memetic Mutation: The animated adaption is often used in YouTube Poop, with special mention going to the opening sequence where The Cat in the Hat sings about "EGGS! EGGS!! E-DOUBLE-G-S EGGS!!!"
- Rainbow Lens: Think about it: Sam knows that, really, really, deep down inside, Guy likes it and he knows this. The guy resists this doggedly, which Sam interprets as a denial. Several adaptations have run with this interpretation a lot.
- Unintentionally Sympathetic: Guy-Am-I. While he is a stubborn grump, it's hard to blame him for being annoyed at Sam-I-Am's persistence and refusal to leave him be.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Sam-I-Am. While he is intended to be seen as a Nice Guy who just wants to get his neighbor to try new things, he can easily come off as a pest who annoys the heck out of people and will not take "no" for an answer, to the point of bordering on harassment.
- Woolseyism: The Hebrew translation Lo Raev, Lo Ohev (roughly, "Not Hungry, Don't Love [It]") has received praise for managing to keep the simple vocabulary and witty rhyme scheme of Seuss's original in an unrelated language. It also notably tells the story without ever specifying that the meal in question has ham.
