New titles: Alcohol Is Poison

It is a trope about common perception of alcohol as being extremely dangerous for pregnant women. I wouldn’t guess it from the name and indeed there is some misuse. This name is just too broad for such a narrow definition.

Here’s wick check:

Correct use (alcohol is seen as dangerous for pregnant women)

• Amar En Tiempos Revueltos
• Boardwalk Empire
• Community S2 E22: Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts
• Series/Dallas
• Die Hard
• Doctor Who NS S3 E3 "Gridlock"
• Doctor Who S32 E1 "The Impossible Astronaut"
• Film/Fargo (correct about “pregnant woman” part but example is about coffee, not alcohol)
• Farscape S 02 E 03 Taking The Stone
• Fetus Terrible
• Frothy Mugs of Water
• WMG/Glee
• Hangover Sensitivity
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl
• Hide Your Pregnancy
• Juno
• Mad Men
• Mistaken for Pregnant
• Morning Sickness
• Creator Breakdown/Music
• Olympic Dames
• Ominous Latin Chanting
• Project Runway
• Resident Evil Roleplaying
• Literature/Temeraire
• The Wellspring Empire
• Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
• Vorkosigan Saga
• While You Were Sleeping

Misuse (alcohol is generally poisonous)

• Ah! My Goddess
• Angry Gran
• Western Animation/Archer
• Babylon Five S 01 E 21 The Quality Of Mercy
• Babylon Five S 03 E 01 Matters Of Honor
• Batman: The Movie
• Manga/Club9
• Series/Dagvaktin
• Gargle Blaster
• Invasion Of The Saucer Men
• Roger Dodger
• The Most Dangerous Game
• Video Game/Westward

Ambigous

• Jungle wa Itsumo Hale nochi Guu
• Para Pencari Tuhan
• The Office (US)
• Truth in Television (overall example is about alcohol being generally dangerous but pregnant women are mentioned)

ZeroContextExamples

• A Farewell to Arms
• Dance Till Tomorrow
• Gavin And Stacey
• The Fantastic Favio Bros

edited 13th Sep '12 9:55:47 AM by kundoo

Do you suggest a namechange, expansion of the definition, or a transplant? Something is warranted, based on that misuse (seems to be at least 25%, up to 40%, on a quick glance and no counting), though. I think a namechange would be beneficial, at least.

edited 13th Sep '12 10:29:04 AM by AnotherDuck

I think a rename would be the best option. This trope is not about a woman who happened to have alcohol poisoning while being pregnant (which would be just an instance of alcohol poisonings), but about alcohol being viewed as specifically dangerous during pregnancy (while being relatively harmless for other people) to the point when people assuming “she’s refusing a drink = she’s pregnant”. If we broad the definition, this part would be lost.

I almost see Pregnancy Prohibition.

Alcohol Poisons Babies! Evil, evil alcohol. The above name is probably better though.

Misuse is at 26%+ and correct use is at 58%+ for those interested in the numbers.

edited 13th Sep '12 1:55:16 PM by Arha

Nah, I'd say Alcohol Poisons Babies is better because Pregnancy Prohibition sounds like a prohibition on pregnancies.

Point. I guess when I hear the word prohibition my mind instantly leaps to the banning of alcohol rather than the more general usage.

Sizable misuse has been shown. Do we agree on the need for a crowner or do we want to discuss other possible actions? To me it seems pretty clear that the title is the cause of the misuse but hey, might as well make sure everyone is on board here.

Well, there's not been many people who's posted their opinions (hint, hint, nudge, nudge), although everyone seems to have the idea that a namechange is the solution we're aiming for. Possibly not the only solution, but the main one, at least.

As a side note, seems my estimation of misuse numbers was as close as you can get, rounding off by fives as I did.

edited 14th Sep '12 3:25:05 AM by AnotherDuck

Agreeing with Alcohol Poisons Babies

Yes.

Definitely needs a rename.

Alcohol Poisons Babies is OK as a rename. It could be confused for "you shouldn't give alcohol to actual, born babies", but I don't think that will be an issue.

My dad let me taste whisky when I was five or six or something. Not quite a baby, but also not relevant to the trope.

I don't think the risk for confusion is significant, though. While I don't mind Alcohol Poisons Babies, it doesn't really strike me as a great name.

I like "Pregnancy Prohibition" but I see the problem. Maybe we can modify slightly to keep the pithy name? Like say, "Pregnancy Is Prohibition"?

Still have the same problem. Might work in China though.

I guess a problem with Alcohol Kills Babies is that we're not actually talking about babies, are we?

Also, while we're fixing this, should we expand this to everything a pregnant woman should avoid? Drinking, smoking, drugs - tropewise, it's all the same, right?

I don't mind it as long as it's handled the same way.

How about Pregnancy Abstinence? Or Alcohol Kills Embryos?

Alcoholic Embryo Abuse?

Pregnancy Abstinence works decently well.

I think this trope isn't about abstinence but about drinking being portrayed as dangerous.

Dunno. I read it as being about pregnant women who avoid alcohol to the extreme, rather than alcohol being handled as poisonous or something like it for pregnant women. The examples have mixed emphases, though. Depends on if you want to emphasise the poison aspect, or the avoidance aspect, I suppose.

As a side note, I like the page image.

edited 15th Sep '12 9:01:50 AM by AnotherDuck

"Abstinence" probably refers to sex more often than anything else.

Yeah, as that it's no better than Pregnancy Prohibition.

It does? I remember hearing it mostly about drugs, including alcohol.

What's that?

edited 15th Sep '12 3:18:05 PM by AnotherDuck

I think they're thinking about Abstinence-only sex education.