What is this trope? (Alt titles crowner 10/18): Multicultural Alien Planet

The name and the context it was taken from suggest it's about the application of accents and cultures to alien places. The body seems to say it's an alien society which isn't a Planet of Hats, or maybe that writers sometimes use accents as a lazy way to distinguish different parts of an alien society. The examples are a mix of all of these. If it's "This is not a Planet of Hats", I think the trope could do with a rename. As it stands, the body definitely needs some clarification and example trimming.

Should this even exist? It's just a collection of aversions to Planet of Hats. I think someone might have just wanted to name a trope after that Doctor Who line.

edited 13th Apr '11 8:32:03 PM by INUH

Eh, not particularly interesting trope. I'm okay with cutting it, renaming it whatever.

I'd say there's a possible trope or two here - especially the accent related stuff. Just listing aversions of Planet of Hats will not do, but using real-world accents to represent different cultures of an alien species, for instance, could work as a trope. In its current form, though, the page is a mess and the name really does not help matters. I'm inclined to give it the "cut and start new YKTTW" treatment at present.

As things stand, do we currently have any trope about Translation Convention as it relates to accents?

Accent Adaptation and The Queen's Latin are both about accent Translation Convention; they're focused on translating accents between different real languages, though.

Regardless of whether or not the trope is salvageable, the name is less than ideal...that line from Dr. Who would be written rather differently if the show was set someplace else.. Like, in the USA, anywhere with a distinctive accent like the Deep South or the Bronx.

It seems like this might be better treated as related to Translator Microbes rather than Translation Convention. Both Accent Adaptation and The Queen's Latin are about characters using a language other than what the viewers/readers/etc. are hearing/reading. In a sense, the current page is attempting to describe the opposite of Planet of Hats, but as noted, most of the examples seem to be merely aversions thereof rather than inversions.

On a normal forum this would be a necrobump... is reviving an old and stalled repair shop thread considered a good thing or a bad thing here?

Generally a good thing, or at least a not-bad thing. At least for trope repair and Image pickin threads.

Depending on how the rather vague Lots of Planets Have a North is developed, it might also be related to Inexplicable Cultural Ties.

Rename suggestions: Alien Dialect, or Aliens Have Dialects Too

I say keep the name and make it about semi-in-universe Accent Adaptation. Different real-world dialects illustrate different alien dialects.

I really dislike this title. It makes me think of a Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp" thing where they name their directions weird or something.

Bumping back from the dead...

Discovery,

Thanks for bumping this thread.

There is now a page action crowner for this trope here. Feel free to add other options as you see fit.

Bump for more votes.

From rereading the page, its pretty clear that this is an easily understandable and clear trope. I'm trying to see why so many of you aren't getting it, and failing badly.

I think it's less that people aren't getting it than that they think "aversion to Planet of Hats" (which is more or less the boiled down definition of the trope) isn't sufficient to be its own trope, and are therefore discussing the possibility of transforming the trope into being about using accents to distinguish between alien/fantasy cultures.

The name says nothing about what the trope is... lots of planets have a "North" sounds like someone trying to use a compass on an alien planet.

Aversions to Planet of Hats does sound like a decent trope though, examples would get to explain exactly how it is like that... useful stuff.

edited 18th Oct '11 6:58:47 AM by Raso

I think there's general consensus that the name is bad. Which the crowner supports. And I'm pretty sure the crowner is stable, so should we start coming up with rename ideas?

Diverse Alien Species might be a good name.

Alien Culture With Earth Accent

2: 1 in favor of rename. Page action crowner locked, Alt Tiles crowner blank hooked.

The problem with that name is that this trope is about far more than accents. And about diverse alien cultures, not just a single culture.

edited 18th Oct '11 11:54:07 AM by Nocturna

I got confused by one of your earlier posts. Is this supposed to be earth accents/cultures standing in as a translation convention, or aversions of Planet of Hats?

The previous crowner decided against redefining the trope, so it's about aversions to Planet of Hats.