History Main / Hyperprefixation

[[redirect:{{hyperaffixation}}]] So a character wants to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

The answer: just add a specific prefix/suffix onto words.

In some cases, these characters will create new words with new meanings this way, but more often than not they're just the same word with that prefix/suffix tacked on, and no definition changes. Sometimes, also, other characters may start using these words as well, turning them into, in a manner, {{Borrowed Catchphrase}}s or {{Share Phrase}}s.

The ultimate of this trope is, unsurprisingly, UsefulNotes/McDonalds, who use their 'Mc' prefix on almost everything they sell. In their case, not only have their words made the general vernacular, but also their naming habits, as TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McWords has proved]].

A {{subtrope}} of CatchPhrase. If used often enough, Hyperprefixation may become involuntary, ultimately turning into a VerbalTic.
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!'''Examples:'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* {{Camp}}ier installments of the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' franchise tend to prefix "bat" onto anything having to do with Batman. Examples are the phrase "same bat time, same bat channel", and the [[Film/BatmanAndRobin bat credit card]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' gave some of its doctors nicknames starting with "Mc" (as well as a few parodic ones), most prominently [=McDreamy=] and [=McSteamy=].
* ''Series/HappyDays'': Fonzie sometimes uses the suffix "-amundo" for emphasis: correctamundo, exactamundo, etc. When he was a RogueJuror he even voted "not guiltyamundo."
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Creator/AdamSandler's Opera Man from the early 1990s would sing his commentary in an exaggerated Italian accent by adding "a" or "o" to the end of many of his words. (An example (from {{Wikipedia}}): About the LA Riots - "La Chiefa Policia, no dispatcha gendarme/ morono, no respondo/ no excusa, bagga doucha!")
* ''Series/KenanAndKel'': Throughout most of the first season, and some of the second, Chris had the habit of adding an extra prefix to his preterites, usually a "be" or "buh" sound, such as:
-->"Kel, you be-bruised my bananas!" \\
"How could you buh-lose a lottery ticket?"
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E11Utopia Utopia]]", we meet Chantho, an insectoid alien who begins her every sentence with "chan-" and ends it with "-tho." She ''can'' choose not to do it, but it's implied that it's her race's equivalent of swearing like a sailor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/SnoopDogg attaches '-izzle' to a lot of his words, although a fair bit of those words have half of them removed, e.g. "fo' shizzle" for "for sure".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'': According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with Spiran words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of "iffic" to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".
* ''VideoGame/KingOfFighters'': [[CuteButCacophonic Yuri]] [[BadassAdorable Sakazaki]] has a habit of ending nearly all of her sentences, and certain words, with "-tchi". It was originally a schtick devised by her voice actress, Kaori Horie, [[ThrowItIn which stuck]] and has since become a regular part of her character's [[VerbalTic speech pattern]].
* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' forums, it's fairly common for players to refer to their dwarves as "[[NameMcAdjective Urist Mc(adjective or profession)]]". As in "Urist [=McMiner=]", "Urist [=McSpeardwarf=]", or "Urist [[ArtificialStupidity McCannonfodder]]".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Season 4: Revenge of the Island'' had Lightning, whose big thing was words starting with "Sha-" (including Shazam).
* In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'', Kid Icarus ([[IAmNotShazam who should have been named Pit]]) tended to tack "-icus" on the end of words.
* Due to the fact that he often speaks with a slight SpeechImpediment (like that of a 5-year-old), WesternAnimation/MrBogus will often use the word "mondo" before adding the letter 'o' at the end of a word used after it in his sentences: "Mondo coolo", "Mondo safe-o", etc.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has two, by two different characters:
** Homeric ma-infixation is an interesting application of {{Hyperprefixation}} in that the particle "-ma-" is an infix (it is put in the middle of a word), producing words like saxomaphone and babamabushka. Homer, as you can guess, uses it a lot.
** Ned Flanders also adds "-diddly" to a few of his words.
* Similar to the Homer Simpson example, WesternAnimation/YogiBear frequently calls picnic baskets "pic-a-nic baskets".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* UsefulNotes/McDonalds is the TropeCodifier for this, with their menu of 'Mc' foods. [[ExaggeratedTrope Soon everyone started doing it]] (although it is used to demonstrate [[{{Cliche}} how cheap or quickly-made something is]]), with words like '[=McMansion=]' coming out of the woodwork.
** ''Film/MoscowOnTheHudson'' character Vladimir does this when he works at [=McDonald's=], to the point of making the parting statement to some customers, "Come back [=McSoon=]."
[[/folder]]
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[[redirect:hyperaffixation]] So a character wants to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

[[redirect:hyperaffixation]]So a character wants to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

[[redirect:Hyperaffixation]]So a character wants to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

So a character wants to distinguish himself from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

-->"Kel, you be-bruised my bananas!"
-->"How could you buh-lose a lottery ticket?"

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'': According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with human words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of "iffic" to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".

* In ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' forums, it's fairly common for players to refer to their dwarves as "Urist Mc(adjective or profession)". As in "Urist [=McMiner=]", "Urist [=McSpeardwarf=]", or "Urist [[ArtificialStupidity McCannonfodder]]".

The ultimate of this trope is, unsurprisingly, {{McDonalds}}, who use their 'Mc' prefix on almost everything they sell. In their case, not only have their words made the general vernacular, but also their naming habits, as TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McWords has proved]].

A SubTrope of CatchPhrase. If used often enough, Hyperprefixation may become involuntary, ultimately turning into a VerbalTic.

[[AC:{{Live-Action TV}}]]
* ''GreysAnatomy'' gave some of its doctors nicknames starting with "Mc" (as well as a few parodic ones), most prominently [=McDreamy=] and [=McSteamy=].
* ''HappyDays'': Fonzie sometimes uses the suffix "-amundo" for emphasis: correctamundo, exactamundo, etc. When he was a RogueJuror he even voted "not guiltyamundo."

* ''SaturdayNightLive'': AdamSandler's Opera Man from the early 1990s would sing his commentary in an exaggerated Italian accent by adding "a" or "o" to the end of many of his words. (An example (from {{Wikipedia}}): About the LA Riots - "La Chiefa Policia, no dispatcha gendarme/ morono, no respondo/ no excusa, bagga doucha!")
* ''KenanAndKel'': Throughout most of the first season, and some of the second, Chris had the habit of adding an extra prefix to his preterites, usually a "be" or "buh" sound, such as:

[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* SnoopDogg attaches '-izzle' to a lot of his words, although a fair bit of those words have half of them removed, e.g. "fo' shizzle" for "for sure".

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* [[FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]: According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with human words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of "iffic" to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".
* ''KingOfFighters'': [[CuteButCacophonic Yuri]] [[BadassAdorable Sakazaki]] has a habit of ending nearly all of her sentences, and certain words, with "-tchi". It was originally a schtick devised by her voice actress, Kaori Horie, [[ThrowItIn which stuck]] and has since become a regular part of her character's [[VerbalTic speech pattern]].

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:Other]]
* In ''DwarfFortress'' forums, it's fairly common for players to refer to their dwarves as "Urist Mc(adjective or profession)". As in "Urist [=McMiner=]", "Urist [=McSpeardwarf=]", or "Urist [[ArtificialStupidity McCannonfodder]]".

[[AC:RealLife]]
* {{McDonalds}} is the TropeCodifier for this, with their menu of 'Mc' foods. [[ExaggeratedTrope Soon everyone started doing it]] (although it is used to demonstrate [[{{Cliche}} how cheap or quickly-made something is]]), with words like '[=McMansion=]' coming out of the woodwork.
** ''MoscowOnTheHudson'' character Vladimir does this when he works at [=McDonald's=], to the point of making the parting statement to some customers, "Come back [=McSoon=]."

A SubTrope of CatchPhrase. If used often enough, [=McVocab=] may become involuntary, ultimately turning into a VerbalTic.

** Homeric ma-infixation is an interesting application of [=McVocab=] in that the particle "-ma-" is an infix (it is put in the middle of a word), producing words like saxomaphone and babamabushka. Homer, as you can guess, uses it a lot.

So a character wants to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. {{Catch Phrase}}s are always a good way, since you don't need to see them in order to know who they are. But a single catch phrase is so boring.

In some cases, they'll create new words with new meanings this way, but more often than not they're just the same word with that prefix/suffix tacked on, and no definition changes. Sometimes, also, other characters may start using these words as well, turning them into, in a manner, {{Borrowed Catchphrase}}s or {{Share Phrase}}s.

The ultimate of this trope is, unsurprisingly, {{McDonalds}}, who use their 'Mc' prefix on almost everything they sell. In their case, not only have their words made the general vernacular, but also their naming habits, as TheOtherWiki [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McWords has proven]].

[[AC: {{Live-Action TV}}]]
* ''GreysAnatomy'' gave some of their doctors nicknames starting with Mc (as well as a few parodic ones), most prominently [=McDreamy=] and [=McSteamy=].

* {{Camp}}ier installments of the {{Batman}} franchise tend to prefix "bat" onto anything having to do with Batman. Examples include the phrase "same bat time, same bat channel", and the [[Film/BatmanAndRobin bat credit card]].
* SaturdayNightLive: AdamSandler's Opera Man from the early 90's would sing his commentary in an exaggerated Italian accent by adding "a" or "o" to the end of many of his words. (An example (from {{Wikipedia}}): About the LA Riots - "La Chiefa Policia, no dispatcha gendarme/ morono, no respondo/ no excusa, bagga doucha!")
* ''KenanAndKel'': Throughout most of the first season, and some of the second, Chris had the habit of adding an extra preffix to his preterites, usually a "be" or "buh" sound, such as:

[[AC: {{Music}}]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* [[FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]: According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with human words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of, "iffic", to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".
* ''KingOfFighters'': [[CuteButCacophonic Yuri]] [[BadassAdorable Sakazaki]] has a habit of ending nearly all of her sentences, and certain words, with "-tchi". It was originally a schtick her voice actress, Kaori Horie, came up with, [[ThrowItIn which stuck]] and has since become a regular part of her character's [[VerbalTic speech pattern.]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* Due to the fact that he often speaks with a slight SpeechImpediment (not unlike that of a 5-year-old), ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' will often use the word "mondo" before adding the letter 'o' at the end of a word used after it in his sentences. Examples include "Mondo coolo", "Mondo safe-o", etc.

** Flanders also adds "-diddly" to a few of his words.
* Similar to the Homer Simpson example, ''WesternAnimation/YogiBear'' frequently calls picnic baskets "pic-a-nic baskets".

[[AC: Other]]

[[AC: RealLife]]

** MoscowOnTheHudson character Vladimir does this when he works at {{McDonalds}}, to the point of making the parting statement to some customers, "Come back [=McSoon=]."

* [[FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]: According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with human words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of, "iffic", to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".

[[AC: {{Other}}]]

[[AC:Live Action Television]]

[[AC:Music]]

[[AC:Video Games]]
* [[FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]: According to [[WrenchWench Rikku's]] brother, Brother, she has a habit of doing this with human words, and even chides her for it. Most notably, her inclusion of, "iffic", to the word "disaster"; resulting in "disasteriffic".

[[AC:Western Animation]]

[[AC:Other]]

[[AC:Real Life]]