Truth In Television - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Art Imitates Life

◊ are actually just as common in history as fiction.

Once in a while, a TV show does something that actually happens in Real Life (Don't worry, it never lasts, and they soon slip back into their old habits). Rarely, other shows pick up on this, and you then get a recurring trope that accurately reflects the real world. Listed here, for your convenience, are some examples of those.

The Dark Side of this trope occurs in Ripped From The Headlines.

When it's the exact opposite, you've got a bad case of Reality Is Unrealistic. If people fall for it, it's because TV Never Lies.

Technically, these tropes do not need to be Justified Tropes, since they are truth. However, Viewers Are Morons, and so writers may actually throw in justifications.

The Bastard Spawn of these two tropes gives us Inspired By and Very Loosely Based On A True Story.

There's a Sliding Scale of Truth In Television Frequency. In one end, the amount of times the said trope is Truth In Television can be counted with fingers of one hand. On the other end of the scale, these tropes happen very frequently in Real Life.

Another way of saying the above is that a great many things happen on television that have happened at least once to someone in the world. The reason they become tropes — and remember the principle of Tropes Are Not Good here — is because they're used in TV (et al) a lot, and generally in ways that wouldn't mesh well in real life. So, for instance, it's certainly the case that special agents haven worn Lycra (or similar) bodysuits, that people have squeezed themselves through air ducts, and that some people are cripplingly afraid of small spaces. This does not make the protagonist with a Spy Catsuit, making an Air Vent Escape but hampered by her Fatal Flaw of claustrophobia an example of Truth In Television. To extend this even further, if we ever only saw those tropes being used together or in similarly improbable combinations, none of them would qualify as Truth because they wouldn't have ever been used in a way that was, well, Truthful. They've been hyperbolized, exaggerated and stretched to be much more exciting and dramatic than Real Life... and in doing so hardly resemble it any more at all. Which is why they're Tropes.

And that's pretty much how television works. So please, before adding anything to the list below or describing any existing tropes as Truth In Television, think for a moment: is or was this used in TV kinda like it really happened? Or is there maybe kind of a lot of hyperbole on one side or the other of the equation to make it fit? If the answer to the first question is a definite yes... Go right ahead.

Tropes

Abandoned Warehouse - at least one or two can be found in any larger town or a city.
AB Negative: AB- really is the rarest common blood type (Kind of like being the tallest dwarf. There are LOTS of really rare types.), with between .2% and 1% of any given population having it.
Abnormal Ammo: Dragon's Breath pyrotechnic shotgun rounds.
Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Public colleges in Mexico often have an Absurdly Powerful Student Association, capable of granting all sorts of suspicious favors to those who have the appropiate connections.
Absurdly Spacious Sewer: France has an underground community due to their delicate catacombs and sewers. There are illegal shops and theatres under there.
Abusive Parents: Unfortunately.
Acme Products: Acme was a fairly common name for companies at one time, as it would put them at or near the beginning of the listings in the phone book. It helped that the word means "the best".
Acquired Situational Narcissism
Action Mom
Adminisphere
Afraid Of Needles: Belonephobia; the plague of the Big Damn Heroes.
Age Appropriate Angst
Airborne Aircraft Carrier - sort of.
Air Hugging
Air Vent Escape: Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers escaped Alcatraz using this method. But it requires very special circumstances to work effectively.
The Alcatraz: Where do you think the trope title comes from?
Alien Arts Are Appreciated
Alien Lunch
All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks
The Alleged Car: Chances are, you've either owned one, or you're too young to drive. Literally- it's one of the oldest and longest Troper Tales pages.
All Natural Snake Oil
Along Came A Spider: The Zodiac Killer
Altar The Speed
Alternative Calendar
Analogy Backfire
And Ninety Nine Cents - See the trope page for theories of its Real Life origin.
And The Winner Is: Much to the embarrassment of whoever stands up.
Anyone Can Die
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents
Ambulance Chaser - *sigh*
Amoral Attorney
Are You My Mummy
Arranged Marriage
Asexuality: Yep. It's weird being surrounded by something that you don't understand at all, except on an intellectual level.
Artificial Limbs
A Team Firing: Random firing generally discourages people from taking the time to aim when they fire back. This is known as suppression fire, and has been a standard tactic going back to the first World War.
Attention Whore
Ax Crazy: To the great dismay of many.
Axes At School: Unfortunately.
Badass Boast: Samurais in feudal Japan started their duels by telling their own and their ancestors' achievements.
Batteries Not Included: Children's toys eat batteries the way kids eat candy after Halloween.
Bavarian Fire Drill
Bedouin Rescue Service: Real Bedouins have a code of honour that mandates this.
Beeping Computers
The B Grade
Billions Of Buttons: Many more complex vehicles and control panels of industrial buildings have them.
Bitter Almonds: But if you can smell it, you're in trouble.
Blame Game
The Bluebeard
Boxed Crook
British Stuffiness: (see National Stereotypes) Brits are more private and reserved than Americans, but it does not always derive from arrogance.
- Actually it's ultra politeness, misinterpreted. Plus, catch us after a pint or two on Saturday night!
Buried Alive
Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie: Anyone who asks to be buried InSpace, for instance. Ask Gene Roddenberry!
Busman's Holiday: Carpenters spend their time off fixing the house, IT staff spend their time at home on a PC, and bus drivers travel by bus.
- Not to mention pilots and flight attendants do hitch rides on their airlines, obviously.
But I Play One On TV
But It Really Happened: Because, sometimes, it did, just as the creators said. We just would prefer not to know all the gory details.
But We Used A Condom: To the sorrow of many, and the existence of quite a few.
Call A Smeerp A Rabbit: European naturalists named some animals, such as the koala bear, after other animals that kind of looked similar but weren't at all related.
Calling Your Attacks: Martial arts practitioners believe that expressing certain phrases or vocalization help build up chi or ensure proper breathing
The Captain
Cardboard Prison
Ceiling Banger: What apartment dweller hasn't had to deal with noisy neighbors?
Chewbacca Defense: If the defense does not make sense, you must acquit.
Child Soldiers: Children in many third-world countries like Uganda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Somalia, etc.
- Also in some regions of the world, such as Darfur.
- Also, the Royal Army Cadets in the UK technically fall under this, being part of the Home Guard. As well, Iran sends in it's Cadet-equivalents to the front lines of a battle BEFORE allied forces.
Cold Cash: To the point that many burglars make a point of checking the freezer for stashed valuables.
Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: What you'll suffer the day you'll fail to pay the power bill, causing the power company to leave you unplugged for 3 working days with no access to TV Tropes.
Come To Gawk
Congruent Memory
Conjunction Interruption: I bet your dad has used it.
Convicted By Public Opinion
Cool But Inefficient: Several armies have used awesome but inefficient weapons to lay fear on enemy lines.
- Like nukes. Horribly destructive, but have a tendency to poison the land for years to come, and can get the entire world really angry at you.
Cool Chair: Thrones. Duh.
- Someone based a 15K chair off of the one Blofeld had. It's awesome, to say the least.
Corrupt Corporate Executive
Cosplay: Actually more common in reality than fiction.
Could Say It But
Crazy Prepared: Just read the Troper Tales about it. Seriously, go there right now. It is a huge page.
Creepy Basement
Cuteness Proximity
Dead Artists Are Better: Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, a picture by Vincent van Gogh, was never bought when he was alive. In 1987, almost 100 years after his death, that same picture was bought for $39,921,750 dollars in an auction at Christie's.
Deadly Doctor: To the suprise (and distress) of many.
Deadpan Snarker: Often done intentionally
Decade Dissonance: Compare Hong Kong to the Guangdong province just over the border, or downtown Rio de Janeiro to its slums.
- Hell, compare ANY inner city to the gleaming, tourist-laden areas.
Delegation Relay
Denied Food As Punishment
Depraved Homosexual: Jeffrey Dahmer, among others.
- Of course, the depraved heterosexuals are far more common.
Deserted Island: All around the world. And not just in tropical regions as in fiction, but in temperate and polar regions as well.
Diagonal Cut: Real-life iaido practitioners actually cut up inanimate objects for practice, in exactly this fashion.
Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Many examples in film and politics.
- Broadcast/"open mike" variant. One of the most well-known examples was by none other than U. S. President George W. Bush, who referred to a New York Times reporter as, and I quote, "A major league asshole" during the 2000 presidential campaign.
- Ronald Reagan during a sound check that was later leaked to the public: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." [1]
Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Especially among people with Asperger's or high-functioning autism. Also, pretty much anyone on the internet.
Do I Really Sound Like That?
Do It Yourself Plumbing Project
Doomsday Device
Doorstop Baby
Dream Within A Dream: Sometimes overlapping with All Just A Dream.
Dress Code
Drowning My Sorrows: It doesn't work, but that doesn't stop people from trying it.
Dude Not Funny: Real life is Serious Business.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: Honestly, who hasn't experienced this in their lifetime?
Dude, Where's My Reward?: Ditto.
Dungeonmaster's Girlfriend
Dying Town: Extremely common in Europe and US where people move from smaller villages and towns to larger towns and cities.
Earth Is A Battlefield - There's almost always a war going on in some places in the world. World Wars showed this trope to a very large extent.
Electric Instant Gratification (accidentally invented)
Elephant's Child
Embarrassing Middle Name - There's no shortage of people who dislike their middle name. This might be part of why a Full Name Ultimatum is so effective.
Emergency Services
Emergency Weapon: Every half-decent army gives its soldiers at least knives for backup, and even the ones that don't still have their soldiers equipped with hands.
Empty Cop Threat: Even if the cops can't actually charge the suspect with obstruction of justice, they can still threaten to do it - and some cops do.
The European Carry All: Just check out this "one leg pant", or as most people would call it, a skirt.
Even Nerds Have Standards
Evil Power Vacuum: Anytime a dictator or a really powerful dude is deposed. Colombia, for example, sank in a chaos of guerrillas and rival crime lords after Pablo Escobar got killed.
- This is also why Hitler was able to rise to power: Germany was a power vacuum as a result of World War One.
Evil Uncle: the laws of primogeniture, where the deceased's son gets estates ahead of the deceased's younger brother, sometimes provoked younger brothers into this sort of thing.
Evil Versus Evil: Power-hungry dictators (the closest Real Life equivalent of evil) often fight each other in their selfish quest for power. Case in point: Hitler and Stalin.
- The cartel mafia wars in Mexico, fighting to monopolize an area and continue with their evil plans.
Explosive Overclocking: In memory of all those who turned their CPUs into grilled silicon after overclocking them to 6 GHz.
Extreme Graphical Representation: LainOS is a FreeBSD-based operating system whose goal is to recreate the extreme graphical pizazz of the computers from Serial Experiments Lain.
- Compiz is a window manager presently included with many Linux distributions. If you want, you can overload it with plugins so that your windows wobble like Jello when they move, your desktop is on the surface of a cube (with sharks inside), windows shuffle and dodge around one another when you switch between them, inactive windows go translucent and gain a mirror sheen, and a trail of fire follows your mouse around. Here are some videos of it.
Family Business
Famous Last Words
Fan Girl - To an annoying degree.
Fan Boy - To an even more annoying degree.
Fast Roping — Trope Namer is someone's military.
Fatal Flaw: All humans have one (or more).
Fence Painting: Arranged by recruiters for militaries, fraternities, and sororities.
Feuding Families
Firing In The Air A Lot: There are several real-life cases of people getting killed by it.
First Person Camera: Just look at YouTube videos of Iraq, 9/11, or the Virginia Tech shootings.
Forbidden Fruit
Force Feeding
Foreign Queasine
Foreign Sounding Gibberish: Known in business as "foreign branding", and in everyday life as "Häagen-Dazs".
Freeze Sneeze
Friend Or Foe
Frivolous Lawsuit
Freudian Excuse: Used in many a court case.
- Mommy Issues
Freudian Slip: Whether or not you give any weight to Freudian psychology, it happens.
Full Name Ultimatum: My mom's done it, so has yours. Sadly, people rarely use it on their parents.
Funny Money: Happens due to hyperinflation; as of right now (June 2008), about one billion Zimbabwean dollars are worth one single US dollar.
- 2009: 300 trillion to one
Fun Size: Kittens, puppies, and the like. It wouldn't work in art if it didn't work in life.
Future Imperfect: Often due to Hollywood History, since TV Never Lies.
Game Of Nerds: America's pastime is popular among the genius set, what with its love of statistics and all.
Gentle Giant: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer famous after his hit "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". André the Giant. A great many others, many of whom probably edit this wiki.
George Jetson Job Security: Oklahoma, Indiana and an increasing number of other states now have fire-at-will laws which allow employers to fire employees without explanation or advance notice, except as mandated by federal laws.
Giant Poofy Sleeves: From the "leg of mutton" sleeves of the 19th century.
Girl On Girl Is Hot
Give Geeks A Chance
Going Postal
Gorgon Gazing: Don't look directly at the sun or at a nuclear explosion.
Great White Hunter: Jim Corbett was a naturalist and conservationist who hunted big cats that had turned man-eater.
Groupie Brigade
Grumpy Old Man
Guide Dang It: Learning a foreign language. Oh my God.
Hanging Separately
Handicapped Badass: This guy, for one.
Heads Tails Edge: Hey man, it can happen!
He Knows Too Much: The reason the FBI has the Witness Protection Program.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Sadly, far too often.
Holier Than Thou: We've all met or heard of someone who was a total jerk or hypocrite about religion. This is true for both theistic and atheistic beliefs.
Anything that has "Hollywood" in front of it. It often inspires actual experiments, and is often based off real life examples. Hollywood Science? Genetics, especially, you have crops being genetically engineered to be much better. Hollywood Feminist? Yep. Hollywood Atheist? You bet your ass, Darwin nearly became one due to the death of his daughter.
Honor Before Reason: Uncommon, but not nonexistant. Surprisingly, most likely to show up in the military.
Hot For Student
Human Popsicle: Cryonics companies such as Alcor and the Cryonics Institute offer to preserve your whole body or your brain (currently done by keeping the whole head) at low temperatures just after you're legally dead until someone finds out how to cure whatever was killing you. Research shows this might work, as the method they use now allows us to freeze and thaw small organs. They'll also, of course, have to cure the effects of freezing on the brain, which is somewhat more complicated. Oh, and figure out how to make new bodies for the heads-only crowd.
Humiliation Conga: A criminal once tried to trick someone into sending him an Apple PowerBook G4 he bought at eBay. He ended up receiving a binder with keys glued on the inside covers. Read the full story here!
I Always Wanted To Say That: You know you've done it.
I Coulda Been A Contender: Bill Butterfield was so bitter about his football career ending in high school that he tried to push his son into athletic success. The results weren't pretty.
I Know Kung Fu
I Know Mortal Kombat
If Jesus Then Aliens
If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Her
The Illegal
Implausible Deniability
Incompetence Inc
Innocent Fanservice Girl: Show any person over the age of, say, 50 a picture of a random high school in America, and they'll likely insist this is what's going on. Also, nudists, to a point. The prevalence of Girls Gone Wild videos also leads one to think that the average drunken party coed may teeter into this area after 3-4 shots.
Instant Expert:
Insufferable Genius: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Is That Cute Kid Yours?: Check the discussion page for examples.
Its All About Me: Unfortunately.
It's A Small Net After All: In Mexico, everybody uses MSN Hotmail, MSN Spaces, and MSN Messenger, thanks to an alliance between Microsoft and Telmex, the latter a nigh-monopolical telco led by Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world.
It's Not You, It's Me: You'd be surprised how much this line gets said in Real Life breakups. Heck, you've probably used it (or will use it), too!
The Jail Bait Wait
Jerkass: Who hasn't met at least one in real life?
Jerk With A Heart Of Gold: ...On the other hand, you've probably met one of these as well.
Joker Jury
Jump Off A Bridge Rebuttal: Used by your dads and my dads.
Kangaroo Court: Unfortunately.
Key Under The Doormat
Kiai: See Calling Your Attacks above.
Killer Rabbit: A great many animals are meaner, sharper, or more poisonous than they look. This is why you don't play with wild animals. Don't believe us? Try to cuddle a panda. On second thought, don't.
Kissing Cousins: Go check the Troper Tales page for details.
Knocking On Heathens' Door: The door to door prosthelytising is very prevalent, the witty comebacks from bemused homeowners, not so much.
La Resistance
Leave Behind A Pistol
Lensman Arms Race: World War II and the Cold War. Consider: the Germans only made very primitive payload rockets with long range work somewhat in WWII, and America couldn't launch a rocket as late as 1957. We were on the moon just over a decade later. And of course, nothing says "my ~~dick is bigger~~ kung-fu is better than yours" like the ever-more-powerful nuclear weapons tests of the 50s and 60s.
Level Grinding: Sheer repetition is the best form of improvement. Well, most effective form, anyway.
The Libby: The stuck-up popular kid who won't invite you to parties unless you're "cool" enough... there's one in every crowd.
Living Lie Detector: Dogs have been shown to yawn when a human stranger yawns, but not when said stranger pretends to yawn.
Living Motion Detector: True for several animal species.
Locking Mac Gyver In The Store Cupboard: Surprising but true. The most memorable case would be John and Clarence Anglen's and Frank Morris' escape from Alcatraz (as hard as it is to believe someone would actually fall for the fake-dummy-head-in-the-bed trick).
Loners Are Freaks: People often wrongly jump to this conclusion when dealing with loners in real life.
Lost Wedding Ring
Love Hurts: A list of personal examples would likely be the largest and most soul-crushing page on the Wiki. On the Internet.
Love Makes You Dumb: So, so painfully true.
Love Martyr: Nothing to laugh or smile about in real life.
Loving A Shadow
Luxury Prison Suite: As noted, the Hotel Escobar.
The Mafia
Ma'am Shock
Meddling Parents: You've probably had these or know somebody who does.
The Men First: Insofar as their instructors can hammer it into their heads.
Military Brat
Military Maverick: For every Colonel O'Neill you see on TV, I can guarantee you there's far worse in real life.
Miss Conception
Mission From God: From Joan of Arc to Osama bin Laden, religion has been a powerful motivator.
Mistaken For Special Guest: See Guy Goma for an example.
Mistaken Nationality: Far too common.
Modesty Towel: Force of habit and shyness will often lead to this being used even when there is no reason for it.
Monster Clown: Coulrophobia.
Moral Guardians: Futurama parodied PETA's practice of trying to get "liberated" carnivores to live on a vegetarian diet. These people also make a handy Strawan Political for people who have a beef with some aspect of censorship.
Most Gamers Are Male
My Car Hates Me: Otherwise, we wouldn't have tow trucks.
My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad: Because he totally can, and you know it.
My Hovercraft Is Full Of Eels: Two words: Mandarin Chinese. Of course, this Chinese troper finds everything about it absolutely hilarious.
Mystery Meat
Nightmare Fuel: Locked-In Syndrome. Global Warming. Nuclear war. Leprosy. Jack the Ripper. The goblin's gonna getcha if you don't... watch... OUT!
No Can Opener: Can openers weren't even invented until several decades after tin cans.
No Fame No Wealth No Service
Non Sequitur: No, I don't think the mailbox needs painting.
Normally I Would Be Dead Now
Not In My Back Yard
No You Hang Up First
Obligatory War Crime Scene
Oblivious Adoption: At least in the animal kingdom.
Obsolete Mentor
Occupiers Out Of Our Country
Off The Wagon: Not quite as often as portrayed in the Drugs Are Bad moral stories, but often
One Man Army: Under the right circumstances, this is completely possible. Sometimes inverted in One Man Armies going down against sufficient numbers or overwhelming volumes of fire.
Operation Blank
Operator From India
Overheating
Whoa Bundy
Path Of Inspiration: Church of Scientology.
Pepper Sneeze
Percussive Maintenance: Don't tell me you've never whacked your TV when it failed.
Phenotype Stereotype: Happens in many places apart from Japan. In Mexico, for example, white people are automatically assumed to be American, Canadian or German.
Pimped Out Dress: Worn by rich women throughout history (and men), and a huge part of the Ermine Cape Effect.
The Plague: The Black Death.
Playing Sick
Plucky Middie
Police Brutality
Police Lineup
Pop Station: All the knockoffs of real products.
Porn Stash: You know what you're hiding deep within your closet, drawer, or hard drive...
Post Robbery Trauma: Something far more serious than it seems on TV. This troper had his Minidisc player mugged on the street, was always on the lookout during one full year after that, and the day his socio-historical context teacher sent him to the lowest ghettos of Guadalajara, he was so scared he was always grasping his swiss army knife.
Powder Trail
Pretty Fly For A White Guy
Pretty In Mink: Fur is often worn for style instead of warmth.
Privately Owned Society (See the article's Real Life section for details)
Professor Guinea Pig: The mad scientist stories had to come from somewhere, and OSHA regulations tended to be a bit loose when science was in its infancy.
Profiling, racial and otherwise.
Punch Spin Gape: Its actually a legitimate theatrical technique for faking fistfights.
Push Polling
Ragtag Bunch Of Misfits: Is there a chapter in the Mexican 19th century that doesn't has one of these?
Rain Of Arrows: A key strategy of the English during the Hundred Years' War.
Raised By Wolves: There's a few examples: Kaspar Hauser, Genie, and a feral French boy. None of them ended up that well off.
Rant Inducing Slight: It happens to this troper more than he'd like to think about...
Relative Error: Siblings get mistaken for lovers in real life a lot, oftentimes to the disgust of the siblings.
Renaissance Man: Apparently this is one of the few positive examples people have bothered to list.
Ring Ring CRUNCH
Rock Beats Laser: Though not common, superior tactics or sheer weight of numbers have defeated superior technology. This was apparently one of the reasons the Japanese won in the Russo-Japanese war, too.
Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgment
Runaway Bride: One of this troper's friend's grand-mother did that. She left the groom at the altar and ran away with his witness who was also his best friend. And they all lived happily ever after (except the groom).
Sand Bridge At Low Tide: Mont Saint-Michel, a French islet near the coastline of Normandy.
Schoolgirl Lesbians: If you're in high school or college, you probably know a few. There's also LU Gs — Lesbian Until Graduation, the College version of this trope.
Secondary Fire: Many weapons have burst and autofire modes or even grenade launchers attached to the gun.
The Scrappy: Bill collectors are one of the most hated professions out there largely in part due to their (justified) very bad reputation.
- Also, lawyers and estate agents.
- Media industry chief executive officers, with the rise of the internet, have also fallen under this due to their different opinions.
- And politicians. Always politicians.
Scope Snipe: Carlos Hathcock pulled this off during the Vietnam War.
Screw Politeness, I'm A Senior!
Screw The Rules, I Have Connections!
Screw The Rules, I Have Money!: Because only the richest can bribe their way to victory.
Screw The Rules, I Make Them!: Freaking politicians...
Screw The Rules, I'm Beautiful!
Screw The Rules Im Doing Whats Right: The only one here that isn't cynical.
Seinfeldian Conversation: It is arguable that there is nothing more realistic than this trope.
- Indeed, an argument over that would be the perfect example.
- Absolutely any conversation will turn into this if entered in the middle.
Senseless Violins: The 2008 Northern Illinois University shooter managed to bypass the campus security by packing a pair of shotguns inside a guitar case.
Serious Business: We don't know where to begin with this one.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: As noted in the entry, Williams Syndrome.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: At least four separate editors have had this happen to them. Check the page.
Shrinking Violet
Shy Bladder
Somebody Else's Problem: Most notably the case of Kitty Genovese.
Smite Me, Oh Mighty Smiter
Snipe Hunt
Something's Different About You Now
Spock Speak: Asperger's Syndrome and legalese (though usually not to this degree).
Stage Mom
Star Crossed Lovers: "Things just didn't work out."
Stealth Hi Bye: It happens when you're distracted and don't notice when someone is entering or leaving the room.
Stout Strength: Incredibly strong men often look more rotund than body-building.
The Straight Will And Grace: CS Lewis made a note in the "friendship" section of The Four Loves that platonic friendship between members of the opposite sex happened a lot in academia. (He ignored the gay angle, though.)
Street Urchin: One of the most serious social problems everywhere in the world.
Succession Crisis: Plenty of historical examples.
Suicide Attack
Surrounded By Idiots: Everyone who's ever had a day job can attest to this. Or been in Public High School.
Sweet Polly Oliver: Joan of Arc, Mulan (the REAL one).
Taught By Experience: You know that your mistakes have left a mark on you, probably a scar.
Televisually Transmitted Disease: Strangely, most of the miraculous recoveries you see in medical dramas actually have happened.
That Poor Car
The Password Is Always Swordfish: the most common password... is "password".
The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: My bald, overweight uncle and my knockout cousin.
Theme Naming: The Emperor Constantine's children.
This Is Not A Drill
Those Two Guys: This Troper used to be one half of a Those Two Guys duo back in high school. I'm sure you've known a pair as well.
Tongue On The Flagpole
Too Dumb To Live: We've all met them at some point. Rad Girls(NSFW)
Too Many Cooks Spoil The Soup
Top Gunned Some planes really can do that.
Trash Of The Titans: As you can see in this site.
Trigger Happy
True Art Is Incomprehensible: This is one of those annoying ones that reinforces itself.
True Art Is Offensive: See above.
Trying To Catch Me Fighting Dirty
Ugly Guy Hot Wife
- Note: Being funny and unique will not get you chicks.... until you turn 25.
Ultimate Job Security
Undisclosed Funds: Talking about money was once viewed as crass, so people used these methods to do so.
The Unpronounceable: Indians working in call centers with American customers typically use adopted "American" names.
- Chinese names also tend to be particularly tough for English speakers, leading to most in relevant countries to adopt English names. Sometimes these names are unintentionally hilarious.
Upper Class Twit: Paris Hilton. Buddha was also one of such before leaving his castle.
Urban Segregation: The Independencia Avenue in Guadalajara, Mexico divides the city in two: the West side is the rich side, home to all the trendy malls, while the East side is the poor side, filled with gritty factories and impoverished ghettos.
Useful Notes: Useful because they're true.
Utopia Justifies The Means: Stalin, Mao, Robespierre, Pol Pot...
- Subjective. It's not clear who really fits this trope and who was just pretending to fit it — as part of a Xanatos Gambit, or because With Great Power Comes Great Insanity.
Verbal Tic: Francophone Canadians often say "là" ("there") at the end of each sentence, Mexicans do the same with "wey" and "ese" ("dude" and "this"), Argentinians start their phrases with "che", and United Statesians use "like", like, every five words. And not just, like, the Valley Girl types. Most famously...
Victory Gloating
Violent Glaswegian: Glasgow is the murder capital of Western Europe.
Wacky Marriage Proposal: Geeks love asking their soulmates in ways like that. And people take great lengths (e.g.: ball games, fireworks, et cetera)
Walking The Earth: Hitchhiking is about Walking The Earth for a while, finding all sorts of small jobs, with nothing but a backpack, enough money to stay fed, groomed and with a place to sleep.
We ARE Struggling Together
Weekend At Bernies: Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang
Well Intentioned Extremist: The real world version is a lot scarier, actually.
We Sell Everything: Wal-Mart.
Why Couldn't You Be Different?: If you haven't experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who's going through it. One way or the other.
Why Did It Have To Be Snakes: Phobias are common, even silly ones.
Wiki Walk
Will Not Tell A Lie: Very uncommon, but definitely real. This troper lives by it, and knows a couple other people who do as well.
Wiper Start: To the embarrassment of many a new driver.
Wishful Projection
Worthless Foreign Degree
Wretched Hive: Mogadishu, Somalia. The slums of Rio in Brazil. A few very bad neighborhoods in the United States. Hell, look hard enough, and you will find them all over the world.
Yaoi Fangirl: You know who you are.
Yiddish As A Second Language: What kind of schmuck needs this one explained, anyhow?
Your Money Is No Good Here: Switzerland and the UK mostly prefer their own currency despite being nearby tons of countries that use the Euro.
Your Other Left: Far, far too often. The bane of those giving directions over a mobile phone.
Yuri Fan: You know who you are too!