Ambiguous Name: Because Im Jonesy

This trope is officially about a character who is trying to impersonate someone he doesn't know, and then running into the impersonated person, who is of course not fooled by the impersonator.

Except without reading the trope, there is no way I could have known which of many mistaken identity tropes it was, because I don't read Dr. McNinja, so I don't know who Jonesy is.

In addition, not only is it a dialogue title, the redirect "You Are Disguised As Me" is also a dialogue title, meaning it covers only a single part of the whole trope.

Does this merit fixing?

Wick check please.

Agreed that this trope name is unnecessarily obtuse and obscure. "You Are Disguised As Me", currently its redirect, is a MUCH better name. I'm open to any name that accurately and reasonably encapsulates the trope, though.

Seriously, how did this one survive the purges?

Ambiguous or not, the name's not going to get changed unless it's a direct cause for a problem related to others understanding it. That's why shimaspawn asked for a wick check in the first place - to see if tropers are misinterpreting the trope on the basis of the trope's name alone.

edited 28th Aug '15 4:59:35 PM by KarjamP

I'd be surprised to find significant misuse because of how obtuse the name is. I would never accidentally mistake Because I'm Jonesy for anything, because I'd have to go to the page before having the first clue as to what it means.

A name like this is going to get it massively underused because no one's going to know the trope is already on the site, not misused, because it doesn't carry any meaning to misunderstand.

It's a lot harder to show that, the closest thing probably being to find a bunch of stories that should have it listed and don't.

edited 29th Aug '15 1:13:38 AM by Jokubas

It does have under a hundred wicks and it's reasonably old, and is a pretty common trope.

edited 29th Aug '15 1:20:33 AM by shimaspawn

If you can't prove others are having the exact same problem, then a rename's a no-go. Do what the mod says and do a "Wick Check" - scanning the examples to find if they are problematic.

Underuse is not proved by wick check. Underuse is proved by the fact that this trope is growing poorly. (Which it is.). Has under 100 wicks for a really common trope. (Which it does.). And the poor inbounds.

This trope is really stunted growth wise for being three years old and as common in media as it is.

edited 29th Aug '15 6:18:58 AM by shimaspawn

Is this an established term? Otherwise, I'd suspect that the line of dialogue in the title is the problem.

What the hell is 'Jonesy'? I have heard of Jones'n.

edited 29th Aug '15 6:45:38 AM by Memers

I personally get flashbacks of 6teen.

edited 29th Aug '15 9:52:50 AM by Rjinswand

It's not an established term. It would make sense that the title was the issue for it's failure to thrive.

I'd just assumed "misuse" was the only reason for trope names to be problematic. My bad.

Nope, underuse is a reason too.

It does have a redirect called You're Disguised As Me. Maybe turn that into the main title?

Not a fan of that one since it's a dialogue title. I think something else like Encountering Your Imposter would work better.

Besides, trope renames count towards the "No New Stockphrases" rule.

They're both stock phrases, though.

How about something like Imposter Thwarted By Original?

Too clunky for me. I like 16.

I'm not satisfied with it myself, but I meant something like it. My point is, the trope is not about a character encountering their impostor, it's about the impostor suddenly encountering the one they pretend to be.

Imposter Meets The Original?

The trope's about the imposter being exposed as being faked simply because they've bumped into the real deal. Therefore, is not indicative enough.

Exposing The Imposter With The Original? The Original Exposed The Imposter?

Imposter Exposed By The Original?

Now we're getting into the "Title as laconic" issue.