History Main / DeadHorseTrope

[[TropeNamer Named for]] "Beating[[note]]or 'Flogging'[[/note]] a Dead Horse" - an old idiom that describes continuing in a course of action which is ''clearly'' pointless. For instance, there's no use in [[TropeNamer whipping your dead horse]] to make it move faster -- [[CaptainObvious that horse is]] ''[[HesDeadJim dead]]''; [[DontExplainTheJoke it's not going anywhere]].

* AsianSpeekeeEngrish has been one for decades due to ValuesDissonance over racism. There ''are'' Asians who have broken English, very much TruthInTelevision, but it's not treated the same way as the AsianSpeekeeEngrish trope, more for drama.

* MotivationalPosters: Barely played straight to begin with, parodied endlessly.

* ScoobyDoobyDoors: Not even its [[ScoobyDoo originator]] uses this seriously anymore.

* SaveThePrincess: had its days as an acceptable ExcusePlot in VideoGames, but those days are pretty much over. [[GrandfatherClause Unless you're]] {{Mario}}.

* SmokingHotSex: sex is still plenty popular, but smoking... not so much.

* Pretty much ''everyone'' has done an ExplodingCalendar gag at some point or another, making the joke a trope of its own.

* NonIronicClown: For some reason, every clown in these days tends to be [[MonsterClown scary]] or [[SadClown sad]]. Portraying a clown as a genuinely friendly cheerful jester seems to be the subversion these days.

* A NaziHunter tracking down someone involved in the Holocaust, as anyone who served in World War II gets too long in the tooth to be anything other than a NaziGrandpa. And the generation that would have been old enough to be movers and shakers in the Nazi party would now be centenarians. Finally, the end of the ColdWar dramatically expanded the choice of stock villains.

!!Examples:

* MattressTagGag: Never played straight -- if, indeed, it ever were.

* TheTalk: Especially considering the proliferation of the internet and other knowledge resources, the subversion has become more often than not TruthInTeleviaion.

* KawaiiKo: Now that we're in the age of salarymen, [[NightmareFuel Japanese sex dolls]] (as mentioned by Justin Lee Collins) and Japanese supermodels like Leah Dizon, this trope is ''very'' much now no longer able to be played straight. British magazine ''Take A Break'' treated it as TheNewRockAndRoll, but they were TwoDecadesBehind - the kawaii fad is [[DeaderThanDisco known for its flaws and is a joke nowadays]].

* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: If a woman endures sex rather than enjoys it, it's either a signal that [[RapeAsBackstory she's had traumatic experiences with sex]] or that her partner [[TheLoinsSleepTonight is inadequate.]]

* DunceCap: Actual schools don't do this much anymore.

* Anything with BritishRoyalGuards in London, or [[DudleyDoRight Royal Canadian Mounties]] - ''except'' in PoliceProcedurals, where they are depicted more realistically.

* The excuse "{{A dog ate my homework}}!" is so prevalent in media that even students know better than to pull this when they don't finish their homework. Nowadays, this is [[EvolvingTrope replaced]] by the more plausible "My printer stopped working!" The logical extension of this trope, "The dog ate my printer!", has yet to catch on.
* [[Creator/LudwigVanBeethoven Duh duh duh DUH!]] translated as "Uh Oh!".

* Pretty much ''everyone'' has done an ExplodingCalendar or SpinningPaper gag at some point or other, making the "ExplodingCalendar joke" and the "SpinningPaper joke" tropes of their own.
* The paperboy calling out "{{Extra Extra|ReadAllAboutIt}}!"

* AllThatGlitters: Don't expect anyone to take this [[AnAesop Aesop]] seriously. More of a SpoofAesop, if it were an aesop.

* The excuse "[[ADogAteMyHomework A dog ate my homework!]]" is so prevalent in media that even students know better than to pull this when they don't finish their homework. Nowadays, this is [[EvolvingTrope replaced]] by the more plausible "My printer stopped working!" The logical extension of this trope, "The dog ate my printer!", has yet to catch on.
* [[LudwigVanBeethoven Duh duh duh DUH!]] translated as "Uh Oh!".

* The "[[ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt Extra Extra]]" Paper boy.

* GloveSlap (It was replaced by straight-up drive-by shootings as soon as automobiles became common.)

** Likewise, most fictional priests nowadays tend to be either [[SinisterMinister evil]] or [[PedophilePriest child molesters]], to the point where a genuine GoodShepherd is almost a subversion.

* GloveSlap

* SmokingHotSex

* [[SternNun Nuns]] beating students at Catholic school. At least in the United States, nuns stopped doing this a long time ago (and also a good many Catholic schoolteachers are lay people), and yet Hollywood and TV shows constantly act like it's still standard procedure, as sitcom parents often threaten their rebellious teen with a transfer to a school run by nuns, implying that they will be beaten.