I think it's saying that someone who asks what "Sore wa himitsu desu" means would get the response "It's a secret" and asume that it's a secret phrase, rather then realizing that it means "It's a secret".
"What state is famous for growing potatoes?"
"Idaho."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I said Idaho."
"So you did, but why don't you know the answer?"
"I told you; Idaho."
"Never mind. Here's another question: Juneau is the capital of what state?"
"Alaska."
"Why would you want to ask her? I'm asking you."
Edited by R.G.
The mention of the pub named "The Office" reminded me of a strip club also named "The Office" in Lakewood, WA. (It's no longer in business, though—I suspect a number of angry wives realized what their husbands meant by 'staying late at The Office".)
Sorcerer in training
- The Nut-N-Honey ad had a guy eating the aforementioned cereal as his wife kept yelling, "What are you eating?"
Cue the response, "Nut-n (nothing) honey!"
"You are too eating something! What is it?"
Repeat the previous two lines about ten times.
And there were at least four commercials on the theme, with minor variations at best. Really, really annoying.
Would Piers Anthony's Isle Of View be an example? Said quickly, it sounds like 'I love you', but it's not really played for jokes in universe, even in the book of the name. Anthony does refer to someone possibly saying the title out loud, in an afterword in a later book, when relating a sweet story from a reader about a lost (by her son) and returned copy resulting in the woman remarrying, to the gentleman who returned it. (She had her name and address written inside in case of loss.)
Edited by 69.172.221.6 Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
I think we should rename this Trope. This name just doesn't seem very self-explanatory. "Who's on First?" seems more like a Stock Line than a Trope name. I think a name for this trope that would be easier to recognize is "He Is Mi And I Am Yu", like the quote from Rush Hour 3.
Edited by Bauglir100 Hide / Show Replies
^That is also dialogue. I'll see here.
Take it to the Trope Repair Shop?
Edited by SeptimusHeap "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Don't get this one at all. The phrase doesn't sound like anything to non-Japanese speakers, and it's not a pun in Japanese. How exactly is hilarity ensuing? Or is this just misusing the trope as "someone doesn't understand something someone else says"?
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