History Main / NonsenseClassification

* One of the AuthorTract speeches in Chapter 64 of ''Fanfic/PartiallyKissedHero'' makes the claim that ''all'' forms of classification are like this. Unsurprisingly, [[ArtisticLicenseBiology it makes absolutely no sense if you know anything about taxonomy]].

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'' plays this card a few times. For example the column on "food, drink, and cheese", where there are "only so many kinds of foods to write about", namely "abs, polar bear steaks, chili, chili, and polar bear steaks."

* The {{Series/Doctor Who}} episode [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime}} Closing Time]] features a baby named Alfie (aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All) who classifies all humans into four categories. "Mum", "Not Mum" (his father Craig), "Also Not Mum" (the Doctor) and "Peasants". By the end of the episode, he and Craig have grown close enough to allow for a "Dad" classification. His first word is also "Doctor", indicating he may have eliminated the "Also Not Mum" category as well.

* Being an {{expy}} of the above, ''VideoGame/MiniRobotWars'' has the "Robopedia" that describes all the different Minirobots (good guys) and Machines (bad guys) in the game. Unlike the [[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies suburban almanac]], there isn't too much mix-up of the concept of "individual" with the concept of "species", as every single one of them are technically mechanical and very few of the entries show backstories. Some of the Minirobot entries give info on what they do, what they're like, reasons for fighting, and so on. For the Machines, in addition to showing their primary duties, their entries also give some of their extra duties (Jetpackers also write messages in the sky, Cyclers also deliver pizza, Knights' favorite game is chess, etc.) or fun quotes ("Where's the clock?!" for the Time Bomb).
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' divides all creatures into several "something-kin" categories. Much like early RealLife taxonomy, these ''mostly'' make sense, provided you don't look too hard at the edge cases -- perhaps most notably, due to FantasticRacism, the various beast tribes are ''not'' classified as "spoken", despite obviously meeting the qualification of "sapient humanoid". And then there's the one hapless scientist who campaigned to get ducks classified as "spoken", despite the fact that they are clearly "cloudkin" (i.e. birds), on the grounds that their quacks were supposedly "a highly developed language beyond the comprehension of mankind".

* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': According to ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'', the four basic food groups are: pasta; cheeseburger with fries; chocolate cake; and more pasta.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePatrickStarShow'': In "[[Recap/ThePatrickStarShowS1E1LateForBreakfastBummerJobs Late for Breakfast]]", the available flavors of chum are "moist", "soggy", and "pumpkin spice".

** Dr. Nick's recommendation, when Homer wants to gain weight: "You'll want to focus on the neglected food groups such as the whipped group, the congealed group and the chocotastic!" See page illustration above.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nonsense_classification.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: A chocolate ice cream with fudge and whipped cream would fit in all five categories...]]

See also BinomiumRidiculus.

* If we include ministerial divisions,[[note]]governments better sort their responsibilities into categories, since there is too much work for one lone person to understand, and overlaps invariably lead to infighting[[/note]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_the_Southern_Department the Secretary of State for the Southern Department]] from pre-1782 Britain definitely counts (as would the more junior Northern Department). As Wiki/TheOtherWiki says: "The Secretary of State for the Southern Department, the more senior, was responsible for Southern England, Wales, Ireland, the American colonies (until 1768 when the charge was given to the Secretary of State for the Colonies), and relations with the Roman Catholic and Muslim states of Europe. The more junior Secretary of State for the Northern Department was responsible for Northern England, Scotland, and relations with the Protestant states of Northern Europe."

** The Discworld food groups: sugar, starch, grease, and burnt crunchy bits. It says something about the strangeness of the Discworld that on that world, all four of these things can be dug out of the ground.

See also BinomiumRidiculous.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/ZinniaJones'' attributes this trope to Rick Santorum in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7QNYNcThlc "A napkin is not an argument: Deconstructing Santorum."]]
[[/folder]]

* On ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Cookie also has his own take on the four basic food groups: beans, bacon, whiskey and lard. A deleted scene has him name the only three spices he uses: salt, salt, and [[ExpospeakGag sodium chloride]].

* The {{Series/Doctor Who}} episode [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime}} Closing Time]] features a baby named Alfie (aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All) who classifies all humans into four categories. "Mum", "Not Mum" (his father Craig), "Also Not Mum" (the Doctor) and "Peasants". By the end of the episode, he and Craig have grown close enough to allow for a "Dad" classification.

* The {{series/Doctor Who}} episode [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime}} Closing Time]] features a baby named Alfie (aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All) who classifies all humans into four categories. "Mum", "Not Mum" (his father Craig), "Also Not Mum" (the Doctor) and "Peasants". By the end of the episode, he and Craig have grown close enough to allow for a "Dad" classification.