Misused: Xenophone

There are a few things wrong with the page on Xenophone.

First, it simply isn't thriving: 30 wicks, 55 inbounds isn't particularly good.

Second, it is two different things mixed up on one page. On the one hand, there are odd Rube Goldberg Machine contraptions that somehow make music but couldn't possibly work for real (i.e. the wicks for The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, The Magic School Bus, The Smurfs, The Smurfs And The Magic Flute, The Non Adventures Of Kat Blik, as well as numerous links for Gaston Lagaffe: Dreadful Musician, Gaston Lagaffe, Glass-Shattering Sound, Scale Model Destruction, and This Is What the Building Will Look Like). This is what the trope is intended for. Several of Gonzo The Great's "instruments" would also come to mind.

On the other hand, there are numerous examples of instruments that work just fine and are used by real bands, but that some troper thinks look unusual (i.e. the wicks for Abney Park, Animusic, David Crowder Band, Jean Michel Jarre, Music, Pato Fu, PDQ Bach, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Susumu Hirasawa, Magic Music, Thundercats2011, and Theremin). This is misuse: the actual trope for this is Everything Is an Instrument.

And then it's used for something like Artistic License – Music, where a perfectly normal toy piano is used to produce sounds that a real toy piano couldn't (wicks for Peanuts and A Charlie Brown Christmas). This is neither of the above, but still misuse.

Third, it's a trope name in faux-Greek created by somebody who apparently doesn't speak Greek: the prefix "xeno" simply means "foreign", it does not mean "strange or oddball". With a name like that, it's understandable that people take the trope for "any odd instrument" or "any foreign instrument", but the problem is that that's not what the trope is about.

If we decide it is actually "instrument that could not work in RL" it could use a clearer description, right now it seems to emphasize "instrument that looks weird".

Everything Is an Instrument seems to be "items that were not designed as instruments used to make music", which would not include, for example, theremins, which were specifically designed as instruments. If "weird-looking instrument that is used in RL" is not going to be part of Xenophone, it would need a new trope (or those examples could be discounted as chairs and just go away, since many instruments look odd to the uninitiated).

"Many instruments look odd to the uninitiated" - precisely.

"Real instrument that looks odd" is at best subjective, and at worst People Sit On Chairs.

edited 5th Apr '12 10:35:47 AM by Spark9

""Real instrument that looks odd" is at best subjective, and at worst People Sit on Chairs."

I disagree with the second part. If it's mentioned In-Universe, that's a purpose. But otherwise it's just an audience reaction.

Clocking due to lack of activity.

We should probably crowner this.

Change name to Bizarre Instrument? Rube Goldberg Instrument?

Crowner hooked.

The parenthetical note in the crowner's header is technically inaccurate. In Ancient Greek, "xeno-" may have simply meant foreign, but in English, it also means strange or different.

(I really get peeved at people who try to insist that words haven't changed meaning in over 1000 years, and several language jumps. I'm old enough to have started seeing shifts in language just in my lifetime.)

According to my dictionary it only means "strange as in foreign", not "strange as in weird"; that's not the same thing.

edited 17th May '12 3:45:43 AM by Spark9

American Heritage and Collins, both linked from here.

ETA: and the reference you gave doesn't actually make the distinction you're trying to make—that's just one possible interpretation, and one which doesn't match what two other dictionaries say. All three could be seen as in agreement with each other (though not with you).

ETA x2: Also, your same dictionary lists the origin of xenon (the gas) as coming from the meaning "strange". In addition, the Other Wiki's disambiguation page shows a whole bunch of uses (xenomorph, xenogears, xenosaga, xenosapien) that imply alien/ET-type strangeness. And not a one that suggests merely foreign. ninja'd

edited 17th May '12 4:08:00 AM by Xtifr

Is that the dictionary, or the "in the wild" usage? Because the latter is more important usually.

edited 17th May '12 3:47:13 AM by SeptimusHeap

"In the wild" it appears to mostly mean "alien", as in extraterrestrial, such as in Xeno Races, Xeno Saga, and Xeno Fiction.

And this has nothing to do with Xenophon.

What would we rename it to? I would be fine with Gaffophone, but I know not everyone read Gaston Lagaffe in their childhood. Implausible Instrument seems the obvious one but is rather bland. Would be fine as a redirect, though.

And perhaps Gaffophone would be better as a subtrope for instruments with destructive sound. (When not built as an actual sonic weapon.)

Actually, having searched the wiki, we seem not to have a trope for a weapon that works by sound. Makes Me Wanna Shout is a personal superpower.

Get some votes.

I've only ever seen the prefix xeno- as "foreigner" — in Spanish, at least. I didn't know that it could also mean other things in English.

If you're considering new names, how about Bizarre Instrument or Fantastical Instrument?

For what it's worth, "xenophobe" (fear of foreigners, or the unknown, or aliens, etc., depends on context/intention) is somewhat common, "xenophone" is not.

edited 3rd Jun '12 3:16:52 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Calling crowner.

I moved/cleaned all the wicks and redirected Xenophone to Bizarre Instrument. I think everything's done.

You need to add a note to the discussion page.

Done. Is there a clock needed, or can I request a lock straight away?

edited 8th Jul '12 5:12:11 AM by LordGro