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A kiss from the one you love is a treasure to be cherished.
Bob may have a Precocious Crush on older Alice. Or Alice may have a Celeb Crush on the famous Trope Troperson.
Either way, if the object of desire is particularly pleased, affectionate, or otherwise inclined, sometimes they'll give their admirer a kiss — or simply touch them. And the admirer will so treasure the moment and the memory that they want to keep the spot of the contact untouched forever — and that includes never washing it. The Stock Phrase appears frequently enough to actually be its own trope. And when the "never washing it" declaration is taken to extremes, it almost always results in a Gross Up Close-Up.
Sometimes the person is just saying it in dreamy-eyed appreciation. In other cases, they mean it literally, and will be seen days later, squeaky clean except for the kissed spot. Sometimes some wiseass will remind them that they seldom wash that part of their body anyhow, so it won't make much difference.
Of course this trope is not strictly limited to a spot where someone has been kissed. It can be a touch, or a handshake, or just a spot where the person stood. The kiss is just the most well known iteration.
It's also important to note that the recipient of the kiss usually thinks of the one kissing them is a little out of their league, or that they hold them in such high esteem that a kiss is almost like a divine bestowal than an actual kiss between people on the same romantic level.
Anime and Manga[]
- Oddly invoked in One Piece. Devil Fruit abilities are negated by water. Captain Van Der Dekken, owner of the Mato Mato no Mi (Target Target Fruit) can target any two objects, one per hand, from anywhere. These targets are stored in his ability's memory until the hand is washed. As part of his master plan, he touched the target of his affection around 20 years ago, and hasn't washed his hand since. No mean feat, considering he is the first Fishman to have a Devil Fruit, and lives underwater.
Literature[]
- In the Discworld novel Jingo, Nobby says he'll never wash his hankerchief again, then blows his nose ("It still bends, see?")
Live Action TV[]
- An episode of Full House involved Steph having this reaction to a kiss from her Celeb Crush.
- Mel Sharples reacts this way when a famous person he admires visits his humble greasy spoon. He vows he will never wash the diner floor where his foot trod again. To which waitress Vera quips, "You never wash it now."
Music[]
- The early sixties song "Ain't Gonna Wash For a Week", recorded most notably by Eddie Hodges and by the Brook Brothers.
Western Animation[]
- Doug: After Patty Mayonnaise has held his arm.
- Turned Up to Eleven in Family Guy. After a marriage counselor suggests that Peter and Lois start seeing other people, Peter looks up his old girlfriends, but all of them prove disastrous dates; one of them shows Peter her now rather grotesque hand that she hadn't washed in years after being kissed there, and the Stalker Shrine she built to the same object of obsession (Peter).
- Parodied, as always, by Futurama: After Leela kisses Fry's cheek, he declares, "I'm gonna continue never washing this cheek again."
- Hey Arnold!: Helga, after Arnold hugs her.
- Eugene, after Helga shoves him.
- My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: "The Secret of My Excess" — Spike reacts this way to Rarity kissing him on the cheek...though he has said, "Eh, what does she know?" in response to Twilight warning him that he doesn't have a shot.
- The Simpsons: Bart makes the declaration then proceeds to get the hand filthy.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: Pearl shakes hands with her celebrity crush and swears to never wash the hand. Then Bubble Buddy comes along, shakes it, and the soap on him causes it to be sparkly clean.
- Muppet Babies: Gonzo finally gets a kiss on the nose from a grateful Piggy and says he'll never wash it again. Mercifully, the show ends right there.
- Lydia, disguised as a Femme Fatale (or perhaps a Femme Fatalized, considering), seductively pinches the ear of Beetlejuice. He privately declares, "I'll never wash this ear again — not that I ever did."