Rhyme at the expense of clarity.: Red And Black Keep Back

"Keep Back" implies stuff like staying in the background, or staying in the rear of a group, or staying in reserve. This trope is that red and black is a very common evil color combination. The name should reflect that. And it's not as though witty names still can't be done with it.

This is a relatively new trope, with 39 wicks and 0 inbounds as of this posting.

It's a warning. Danger, keep back.

I've known this phrase since I was a kid, except I heard it as "stay back".

That still implies a broader danger warning, not Obviously Evil. It would be like Red Eyes, Take Warning being about only red-eyed characters with telekinesis, instead of being general about the danger of red eyes.

edited 17th Jan '12 1:14:04 PM by DragonQuestZ

Oh, I'm not saying it's a great title, just explaining it in case it was ambiguous.

We can probably do better.

Well okay then.

I think a new title would probably better. Red And Black Looks Evil?

edited 17th Jan '12 1:47:25 PM by shimaspawn

Sounds good to me. It's very Exactly What It Says on the Tin.

I've never even heard that rhyme — is it supposed to be a riff off of "red and yellow kill a fellow?" Because then the next line is "red on black, friend of Jack." And that's the opposite of this. The two-part rhyme is about how the stripes line up on coral and milk snakes, one being extremely venomous, the other harmless.

edited 17th Jan '12 2:43:33 PM by Martello

That sounds like it could potentially cause confusion, since milk snakes aren't venomous, so that's another reason to rename.

(We don't have either of those where I come from, so I never learned that rhyme.)

Evil Loved Red And Black?

The Colors Of Blood And Darkness?

I also know that rhyme and I think it is irresponsible (possibly dangerous) to use it that way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_snake#North_American_coloration_patterns

That article seems like Good Colors, Evil Colors But More Specific. Black and red are the first two "evil colors" listed.

edited 17th Jan '12 4:23:38 PM by rodneyAnonymous

It's a different rhyme.

I don't think this is The Same But More Specific, exactly, because the combination of red/yellow with black is a biological symbol for danger. The page description doesn't note it at present, but it's a primal, instinctive thing, not merely a cultural one.

I kinda like The Colors Of Blood And Darkness, but is there a way we could make it snappier?

Colors Of Blood And Shadow?

edited 17th Jan '12 6:42:49 PM by BobbyG

Well that is a very broad trope, enough to make a Super-Trope if specific combinations are common, and this is one of them.

Yeah it's very close, though... concede I guess... but "red and black rhyme = danger" is weird when there is another "red and black rhyme = okay, other = danger" about venomous snakes.

Red and Black and Evil All Over? (Sorry, had to say it.)

That's actually a good one!

That's perfect.

I really like Red and Black and Evil All Over. To me, that's a perfect combination of Clear, Concise, and Witty.

That one is great.

That's actually the kind of rename I was hoping we would think up on this thread.

I supported Black And Red And Evil back in the YKTTW. I'm not a big fan of the longer version since it's a bit unwieldy.

What about "Red, Black and Evil All Over", since we can do punctuation now?

Black And Red And Evil loses the joke.

edited 17th Jan '12 11:27:40 PM by BobbyG

Actually, the comma loses the joke as the thing it's playing off of is the old bad joke "What is black and white and red all over?" There are actually two ands in it. Check Google with quotes if you don't believe me. The version with two ands gets more hits.

edited 17th Jan '12 11:31:11 PM by shimaspawn

I know the joke. I've usually heard it with just the one "and", but never without the "all over". Edit: You're right about the two "ands" version getting more hits on Google, but the version with the comma still gets a respectable 270,000 hits.

Still thinking Red and Black and Evil All Over is better, in that case.

edited 17th Jan '12 11:44:00 PM by BobbyG

There is now a single proposition rename crowner for this trope here.

If there is support for skipping to a alternative titles crowner, I think we could probably do that, but I would rather not jump to that step by myself.

edited 21st Jan '12 12:12:28 PM by LouieW