Misused: Arc Words

Either this, or some kind of prophecy. How is it presented in the book?

Definitely not a prophecy. It's a fairly experimental and episodic book, and the first time you see this, you think it's just some scenes the author's going to return to later, but by the fourth or fifth time you see it, unchanged, it begins to puzzle you. Finally, of course, he does come back and develop the scenes.

As I say, if it weren't so long, I'd be certain that it fits.

edited 4th Sep '12 1:45:37 PM by Xtifr

Then I'd say it fits. I don't think length is a disqualifying factor. It's just that very few authors use that long phrases as Arc Words.

Is it actually said/heard by the characters, or is it just repeated in the text?

Note: I'm not necessarily saying Arc Words have to be in-universe, I'm just wondering.

Good question! Definitely not quotes. It's there to screw with the reader, not the characters, which might be an important distinction.

There is currently an example from Creatures of Light and Darkness on the trope, which was there before I created a page for the work, but I think it's technically misuse. My example is closer, but I'm still undecided.

Somehow a post had made it into the crowner...deleted.

If we do the Trope Transplant, what is the misuse we're trying to cover?

I believe it's Arc Catch Phrase vs Enigmatic Arc Words, though I wasn't involved in the original dicussion.

• Arc Catch Phrase: A Catchphrase that relates to a certain arc rather than a character. (Sister Trope of Catchphrase)
• Enigmatic Arc Words: Words that are repeated during the plot, but their meaning is unclear and unexplained until towards the end. (Subtrope of Arc Catch Phrase)

...is this ready to be called?

We already have Sharephrase. I suggest Meaningful Sharephrase to clarify the difference. Edit: Now I see that you did not propose a rename, but my point about the definition still stands.

edited 27th Sep '12 2:18:49 PM by Lophotrochozoa

Is Arc Catchphrase what Arc Words is used to mean right now? It's not that intuitive to me.

(Note: Enigmatic Arc Words can also be related to Sigil Spam.)

I agree: Arc Catchprase doesn't feel intuitive to me. Whether or not you stick "arc" in front of it, to me "catchphrase" means something that just one character says, and that often doesn't have any kind of deep meaning.

We still have to define how Arc Words in the new meaning is distinct from Sharephrase.

I think there's a clear difference, but it's harder to put in words than I thought. As far as I can tell, Arc Words are a kind of non-musical Leitmotif that sum up the meaning of a work (at least one meaning). Sharephrase doesn't have any such deep meaning.

^ I agree, and that is a very important distinction.

Thematic Phrase, perhaps, in that case?

It could be connected to The Hollywood Formula - the dynamic character in that model is the one who articulates the theme to the protagonist, whereas in this case the same articulation recurs independently of that particular conversation.

If a name collects enough misuse for us to transplant the original trope to a different name it's probably a bad idea to change the original name for the new trope it was misused as.

Yeah, "Arc Words" is a rather catchy title for an arc motif ... just that's not the actual definition on the page.

Oops, sorry - I misunderstood the previous two posts. >_<

It's a terrible idea to not include what we're redefining the thing into on the crowner. It's just confusing. What would be the redefined tropes?

A phrase repeated throughout the work (often in a variety of contexts or situations) with great significance to either the theme or the plot (oftentimes both)?

Such as, for example, "Bump".

While that is a good start, we need a longer than laconic description, considering that I can barely expand descriptions.

edited 1st Feb '13 3:09:55 PM by SeptimusHeap

What about "Arc Words" for words that are repeated through an arc, and "Enigmatic Words" for words that are enigmatic?

Explains itself.

...are Enigmatic Words tropeworthy?

...are we still arguing about the title? I thought we were moving on to the description.

Calling this one in favor of the leading option. Make it so.

Hm, Recurring Phrase for the misuse? That seems to be what it's used for.