Is there something like this already in the wiki?
You were probably directed here from TLP
, in which case, the person who linked you to this page wants you to basically insert one or any combination of the following excuses into the post:
- It's hard to imagine how we could have missed this one, so I wouldn't be surprised if an article already exists... but I couldn't seem to find it.
- (and if they don't believe you) Seriously, I tried searching first. No really, I did.
- I didn't do a search, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't see this one anywhere. (But since I didn't search for it, I need confirmation.)
- This is such an obscure, unique, or difficult-to-describe concept that I don't even know how to begin searching for it.
- I tried to search but got Google Plexed, and I don't know how to narrow it down.
- I've seen entries that look like this one, but this might be a special case. I can't tell for myself.
- How do you expect me to browse this site and find articles without help when you guys don't even bother to sort half your indexes or even give your tropes titles that even remotely describe their meaning?! Solve the Soup Cans? Crystal Dragon Jesus?! What the hell are those supposed to mean?!!
- Fine, I admit it, I'm just downright lazy.
As a punishment for the poster's laziness, feel free to humiliate them by linking to the already existing article, if it exists. If the existing article uses the same title they were going to use, make sure to point that out.
If the poster did search, and they really didn't find it however, don't feel too bad about shooting them down in the first place. We all make mistakes.
The best the person can hope for is a chorus of How Did We Miss This One?. This is increasingly rare. Enjoy these golden days while they last, tropers. Another increasingly rare one is that we did have it, but it was lost in The Great Crash.
See Trope Finder for a useful way of avoiding this.
