Original artwork, not a still
Fool me once, strike one. Fool me twice, strike three.
— The Office (U.S.) · 2005
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Michael takes the proverb about being tricked, swaps in a baseball count, and ends up with a rule that makes no sense and is delivered with total confidence. It is the show's Michael in miniature: a man sure he is being wise while garbling the idiom. Fans quote it as the stock example of a mangled saying and use it as a joke about grudges.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Office (U.S.)Show the scene
In "Traveling Salesmen" (The Office US, season 3, episode 13, first aired 11 January 2007), Michael sends the sales staff out in pairs on cold calls, and Andy spends the day poisoning him against Dwight. When a toll receipt suggests Dwight secretly went to corporate headquarters in New York, Michael takes it as a fresh betrayal, coming after Dwight's earlier attempt to take his job in "The Coup". In a talking-head interview about it, he mangles two proverbs into this threat. Dwight ends the episode by resigning rather than explain where he was.
Sources (3)
- The Office Wiki, Traveling SalesmenInfobox and SynopsisReference checked
- The Office Wiki, Michael's Botched Phrasesentry for Traveling SalesmenReference checked
- Wikiquote, The Office (season 3)Traveling Salesmen [3.13]Reference checked
Context reviewed
