History Theatre / HMSPinafore

** "We sail the ocean blue" is basically a We Are song for the crew.

* InterClassRomance: A double version of this appears. A middle class woman loves a low class man but at the same time a upper class man is in love with her. Also, a lower class woman is in love with a middle class man.

* UnfortunateNames: Dick Deadeye. {{Lampshaded}} in the script:

* OnlySaneMan: Dick Deadeye. He's intelligent, highly opinionated, and his purpose is to state what would happen in reality. Of course, since he's ugly, hunch-backed and [[CaptainObvious named Dick Deadeye]], he always gets shouted down by his crewmates. He even manages to change the crew's minds by agreeing with them at one point.

** W.H. Smith's reputation never really recovered; even UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli was reported to have referred to him privately as "Pinafore Smith" on occasion, and during one public engagement the Band of the Royal Marines even welcomed the hapless First Lord with the strains of "When I was a Lad" in defiance of a direct order to do nothing of the sort. Gilbert himself sarcastically denied any connection whatsoever:

-->'''Sir Joseph''': I grew so rich that I was sent/By a Pocket Borough[[note]]A parliamentary district with so few people, or in some cases ''no people at all'', that a single wealthy patron could simply buy his way in[[/note]] into Parliament./I always voted at my party's call/And I never thought of thinking for myself at all! I thought so little, they rewarded me, and now I am the ruler of the Queen's Navee!

-->'''Sir Joseph''': I grew so rich that I was sent/By a Pocket Borough[[note]]A parliamentary district with so few people, or in some cases ''no people at all'', that a single wealthy patron could simply buy his way in[[/note]] into Parliament./I always voted at my party's call/And I never thought of thinking for myself at all!

The show was insanely popular immediately on release, and is frequently performed to this day. Shortly after release it was showing in eight New York theaters at once; [[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059523/1901-01-06/ed-1/seq-5.pdf Arthur Sullivan reported]] that New York high society instituted a [[SwearJar half-dollar penalty]] for [[FountainOfMemes gratuitously quoting the show]].

* WoodenShipsAndIronMen: Parodied without mercy. For starts, the ship is named after a little girls' outfit, manned by a crew of completely sober sailors, a captain who doesn't swear and a First Sea Lord who insists on micromanaging everything in spite of never having been closer to the ocean than a [[JustForPun partner-ship]] in a law firm.

* PatrioticFervor: "A British Tar" and "He is an Englishman". The latter is in fact a devastating {{satire}} of patriotic jingoism: The InsaneTrollLogic claim is that Ralph deserves ''great credit'' for being an Englishman, because it means he has actively resisted the temptation to be a person of any other nationality. As one might do.

* VehicleTitle: The play is named for ship. Even this is a {{parody}}, as ''Pinafore''-- a type of little girl's outfit-- is a pretty sissy name for a warship.

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: Several of the lyrics put emphasis on the last syllable of "Na''VEE''," to rhyme it with such phrases as "I am the monarch of the ''sea''."

** However it is then played straight with Sir Joseph and Cousin Hebe.

* VehicleTitle

The show was insanely popular immediately on release, and is frequently performed to this day. Shortly after release it was showing in eight New York theaters at once; [[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059523/1901-01-06/ed-1/seq-5.pdf Arthur Sullivan reported]] that New York high society instituted a [[SwearJar half-dollar penalty]] for gratuitously quoting the show.

* PatrioticFervor: "A British Tar" and "He is an Englishman".

* {{Cuckoosnarker}}: Sir Joseph. One moment he's rabbiting on about inanities like how all sailors should dance hornpipes, another moment he's dropping shade like this:

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hmspinafore.jpg]]

* BritsWithBattleships: [[QueenVicky Her Majesty's]] Ship ''Pinafore''.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Ralph's name is pronounced "Rafe" (rhymes with "safe"). This was standard British usage of the time, but has been known to confuse modern audiences, especially in America.

* MayDecemberRomance: If Buttercup's story is true, then [[spoiler:Josephine is literally in love with someone old enough to be her father]]. And her father is in love with someone at least fifteen years older than he is.

* TakeThat: The song, "When I was a lad," is a pointed satire on William Henry Smith, the contemporary head of the Admiralty who actually had no naval or military experience, which was of course popularly considered an outrageous appointment for an island nation that depends on its navy (though in this case, the complaint was less about Smith's inexperience, and more about the blatant favor-trading and "Old Boy"-networking that led to his appointment).