De / Der Funken Wahrheit

aka: Truth In Television

Pimped Out Dresses like this◊ are actually just as common in history as fiction.

Hin und wieder findet man etwas in den Medien, dass so auch Im wahren Leben passiert. (Keine Sorge, das hält nicht lange an und schon bald sind sie wieder bei ihren alten Gewohnheiten). Selten greifen auch andere Shows dies auf und man erhält eine wiederkehrende Trope, die sich auch im wahren Leben findet.

Die dunkle Seite dieser Trope ist Aus den Schlagzeilen geklaut.

Das direkte Gegenteil ist Unrealistische Realität. Leute fallen darauf hinein, denn Die Medien lügen nicht.

Die verzerrten Nachkommen dieser Trope sind Inspiriert durch und Basiert lose auf einer wahren Geschichte.

Die folgenden Tropen unterteilen sich in zwei Kategorien: Solche, die nur unter bestimmten Umständen im wahren Leben auftauchen und solche, die dort häufiger auftauchen.

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Tropen:

• Aber Ich Spiele Einen Im Fernsehen (…But I Play One on TV)
• Aber Wir Haben Verhuetet (But We Used a Condom!): Zwar ist Verhütungung ein gutes Mittel gegen ungewollte Krankheiten und Schwangerschaften, allerdings kann man durch Verhütung auch nicht alles verhindern.
• AB- (AB Negative) ist tatsächlich eine der seltensten Blutgruppen ( es gibt aber seltenere), nur zwischen 0,2% und 1% in jeder Population haben sie.
• Absurd Geraeumige Kanalisation (Absurdly Spacious Sewer): Frankreich hat eine ganze Untergrundgesellschaft dank der großen Katakomben und Kanalisationen. Dort unten gibt es illegale Geschäfte und ganze Theater.
• Absurd Maechtige Studentenvereinigung (Absurdly Powerful Student Council): Öffentliche Universitäten in Mexiko haben oft eine absurd mächtige Studentenvereinigung, die ihren Verbindungen alle Arten von verdächtigen Gefälligkeiten erweisen.
• Acme Produkte (Acme Products): Acme war einmal ein ziemlich gewöhnlicher Name für Firmen, da er weit oben im Telefonbuch auftaucht und zudem "das Beste" bedeutet.
• Action Mom
• Akrophobischer Vogel (Acrophobic Bird): Es gibt Vögel, die nicht fliegen aber schnell laufen können (Sträuße, Nandus, Emus), Vögel, die zwar fliegen können, deren Reichweite aber beschränkt ist und es darum vorziehen, zu laufen (Hühner, Roadrunner) und Vögel, die zwar gut fliegen können, sich aber abhängig von der Situation entscheiden, ob sie fliegen oder laufen (wilde Truthähne, Fasane.)
• Alles Teil Der Show (All Part of the Show)
• Alle Verbrechen Sind Gleich (All Crimes Are Equal)
• Alptraum-Treibstoff: Locked-In-Syndrom. Globale Erwärmung. Atomkrieg. Lepra. Jack the Ripper. Die Goblins werden dich kriegen, also gib ja... fein... ACHT!
• Alternativer Kalender (Alternative Calendar)
• Altersgerechte Depression (Age-Appropriate Angst)
• Das Andere Links (Your Other Left): Viel zu oft. Zum Leidwesen all derer, die über's Handy eine Wegbeschreibung übermitteln müssen.
• An Die Decke Klopfen (Ceiling Banger): Welcher Apartment-Bewohner hatte es noch nie mit lauten Nachbarn zu tun?
• Angst Vor Nadeln (Afraid of Needles): Belonephobie.
• Anstands Handtuch (Modesty Towel): Force of habit and shyness will often lead to this being used even when there is no reason for it.
• Das Arme Auto (That Poor Car)
• Arrangierte Ehe (Arranged Marriage)
• Aufmerksamkeitsnutte (Attention Whore)
• Bankfurt: Mainhattan selbst natürlich, aber auch New York, London, Tokyo, Mailand, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapur, Moskau, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco...
• Bist Du Meine Mami (Are You My Mummy)
• Der Blaubart (The Bluebeard)
• Boese Gegen Boese (Evil Versus Evil): Power-hungry dictators (the closest Real Life equivalent of evil) often fight each other in their selfish quest for power. Case in point: Hitler and Stalin.
• Boeser Boss (Bad Boss)
• Böser Onkel (Evil Uncle): the laws of primogeniture, where the deceased's son gets estates ahead of the deceased's younger brother, sometimes provoked younger brothers into this sort of thing.
• Die Braut Die Abhaut (Runaway Bride)
• Britische Steifheit (British Stuffiness): (see National Stereotypes) Brits are more private and reserved than Americans, but it does not always derive from arrogance.
• Chewbacca Verteidigung (Chewbacca Defense): If the defense does not make sense, you must acquit.
• Der Clan (The Clan): It was once much more common than it is now.
• Cool Aber Ineffizient (Cool, but Inefficient): Several armies have used awesome but inefficient weapons to lay fear on enemy lines.
• Cooler Stuhl (Cool Chair): Thrones. Duh.
  • Someone based a 15K chair off of the one Blofeld had. It's awesome, to say the least.
• Das Ist Keine Uebung (This Is Not a Drill)
• Das Wollte Ich Immer Schon Mal Sagen (I Always Wanted to Say That): You know you've done it.
• Den Drachen Schikanieren (Bullying a Dragon)
• Durch Erfahrung Gelernt (Taught by Experience): You know that your mistakes have left a mark on you, probably a scar.
• Ehre Vor Vernunft (Honor Before Reason): Uncommon, but not nonexistant.
• Eigentlich Waere Ich Jetzt Tot (Normally, I Would Be Dead Now)
• Ein Drink Wird Das Baby Umbringen (One Drink Will Kill the Baby): Da sind viele zum Glück vorsichtig.
• Ein Mann Armee (One-Man Army): Simo Häyhä, um nur ein Beispiel zu nennen.
• Einzelgänger sind Freaks: People often wrongly jump to this conclusion when dealing with loners in real life.
• Ernste Angelegenheit: We don't know where to begin with this one.)
• Er Weiss Zuviel (He Knows Too Much): Der Grund, warum es auch im deutschsprachigen Raum Zeugenschutzprogramme gibt.
• Explosives Uebertakten (Explosive Overclocking): Im Angedenken an die vielen CPUs und Grafikkarten, die beim Versuch, sich durch Übertakten stärkere Hardware selbst zu machen, fritiert wurden.
• Familien Angelegenheit (Family Business)
• Familienfehde (Feuding Families)
• Fangirl (Fangirl): Kennt man spätestens, seit Elvis mit der Army nach Deutschland kam.
• Fliegender Flugzeugtraeger (Airborne Aircraft Carrier): Konzepte wie Stratolaunch, wo ein weltraumtaugliches Flugzeug von einem anderen Flugzeug aus gestartet wird, sind der Anfang. Nur mit dem Landen auf Fluggeräten klappt es noch nicht.
• Flucht Per Lueftungsschacht (Air Vent Escape): Frank Morris und die Anglin-Brüder flohen so aus Alcatraz. Aber, wie von den Mythbusters gezeigt, benötigt dies sehr spezifische Umstände um zu funktionieren.
• Freizeitpark Des Grauens (Amusement Park of Doom): Action Park war näher dran, als einem lieb wäre.
• Freudsche Fehlleistung (Freudian Slip): Ist euch auch schon passiert, gebt es ruhig zu.
• Freund Oder Feind (Friend or Foe?)
• Gefaengnis Aus Pappe (Cardboard Prison): Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, a Mexican drug lord, managed to escape a maximum security prison with very little effort. This was mostly because he bribed the staff, with seventy-eight people allegedly involved overall.
  • Greek criminal and alleged "modern Robin Hood" Vasilis Paleokostas escaped from a Greek high security prison by means of a helicopter. Twice.
• Geheimnisvolles Fleisch (Mystery Meat)
• Groesser Ist Besser (Bigger Is Better)
• Grosser Weisser Jaeger (Great White Hunter): Jim Corbett was a naturalist and conservationist who hunted big cats that had turned man-eater.
• Hab Ich Das Gerade Laut Gesagt (Did I Just Say That Out Loud?): Jede Menge Beispiele nicht nur in Filmen, sondern auch Im Wahren Leben, z. B. in der Politik.
• Haesslicher Typ Heisse Frau (Ugly Guy, Hot Wife)
  • Note: Being funny and unique will not get you chicks... until you turn 25.
• Der Hauptmann (The Captain)
• Helikopter Eltern (Helicopter Parents): Die Medien berichten immer wieder davon, angefangen beim Versuch, den Nachwuchs künstlich zu multitalentierten Wunderkindern aufzublasen, über etliche Überwachungs-Apps für die Smartphones der Kinder bis hin zu Straßen vor Schulen, die jeden Morgen von dutzendweise schweren SUVs blockiert werden, weil alle ihre Kinder direkt vorm Schultor absetzen wollen. Wer jung genug ist, kennt sicherlich auch selbst jemanden, der sie hat.
• Hinter Dem Krankenwagen Herjagen (Ambulance Chaser) Oder keine Übersetzung. In Deutschland illegal, daher schwer zu übersetzen
• Hochzeit Auf Speed (Altar the Speed)
• Ich Bin Ein Gott (A God Am I)
• Ich Kann Kung Fu (Suddenly Always Knew That)
• Der Illegale (The Illegal)
• Im Auftrag Des Herrn (Mission from God): From Joan of Arc to Osama bin Laden, religion has been a powerful motivator.
• Inkompetenz AG (Incompetence, Inc.)
• Ja Er Lebt Noch (Of Corpse He's Alive): Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang
• Der Jar Jar: Bill collectors are one of the most hated professions out there largely in part due to their (justified) very bad reputation.
  • Also, lawyers and estate agents.
• Jeder Kann Sterben (Anyone Can Die)
• Jiddisch Als Zweitsprache (Yiddish as a Second Language): Seid ihr Schmocks total meschugge, oder braucht ihr wirklich eine Erklärung?
• Joker Jury (Joker Jury)
• Kaninchen Genannt Smeerp (Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit"): Amerikanische Büffel und Koala-Bären.
• Kein Aber (Conjunction Interruption): Wetten dass auch dein Vater das benutzt hat?
• Kein Dosenoeffner (No Can Opener): Can openers weren't even invented until several decades after tin cans.
• Kiai (Kiai): See Calling Your Attacks above.
• Killer Kaninchen (Killer Rabbit): A great many animals are meaner, sharper, or more poisonous than they look. This is why you don't play with wild animals. Don't believe us? Try to cuddle a panda. On second thought, don't.
• Kinder Fragen Dauernd (Constantly Curious)
• Kindersoldaten (Child Soldiers): Children in many third-world countries like Uganda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Somalia, etc.
• Alles, was mit "Kintopp" anfängt. Entweder hat Kintopp Versuche Im Wahren Leben inspiriert, oder umgekehrt, so unrealistisch oder überzogen, wie es scheint, ist Kintopp von realen Beispielen inspiriert. Kintopp Wissenschaft (Hollywood Science)? Spätestens seit CRISPR ist reale Gentechnik von der im Kintopp nicht mehr weit entfernt. Kintopp Atheist (Hollywood Atheist)? Charles Darwin wäre nach dem Tod seiner Tocher fast einer geworden.
• Kotzbrocken: Who hasn't met at least one in real life?
• Korrupte Kirche (Corrupt Church)
• Krank Spielen (Playing Sick)
• Der Kredithai (All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks)
• Die Kroenung (Awesome Moment of Crowning): Many memorable moments in history qualify as these for somebody: check the page.
• Kuenstliche Gliedmassen (Artificial Limbs)
• Lebendig Begraben (Buried Alive)
• Letzte Worte (Last Words)
• Liebe Tut Weh (Love Hurts): A list of personal examples would likely be the largest and most soul-crushing page on the Wiki. On the Internet.
• Luxus Zelle (Luxury Prison Suite): As noted, the Hotel Escobar.
• Die Mafia (The Mafia)
• Mauerbluemchen (Shrinking Violet)
• Mein Auto hasst mich (My Car Hates Me): Andernfalls bräuchten wir ja keine Abschleppwagen.
• Mein Papa Ist Staerker Als Deiner (My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad): Because he totally can, and you know it.
• Missbrauchende Eltern (Abusive Parents): Leider.
• Monsterclown (Monster Clown): Coulrophobia.
• Moralhueter (Moral Guardians): Futurama parodied PETA's practice of trying to get "liberated" carnivores to live on a vegetarian diet. These people also make a handy Strawman Political for people who have a beef with some aspect of censorship.
• Nein Du Legst Auf (No, You Hang Up First)
• Nicht Alles Gold Was Glaenzt (All That Glitters)
• Nicht Witzig (Dude, Not Funny!): Real life is Serious Business.
• Niemand Trinkt Zielwasser (A-Team Firing): Zuviel Blei in der Luft bringt viele Leute dazu zurückzuschießen, ohne sich ausreichend Zeit zum Zielen zu lassen.
• Oberzicke (Alpha Bitch): The stuck-up popular kid who won't invite you to parties unless you're "cool" enough... there's one in every crowd.
• Das Passwort Ist Immer Schwertfisch (The Password Is Always "Swordfish"): "123456", "password" usw. Nicht umsonst ein Riesenaufreger für Sicherheitsexperten und Auslöser für große, folgenschwere "Hacks".
• Peinlicher Mittelname (Embarrassing Middle Name) - There's no shortage of people who dislike their middle name. This might be part of why a Full-Name Ultimatum is so effective.
• Pfeffer Nieser (Pepper Sneeze)
• Pfeilregen (Rain of Arrows): Eine Schlüsselstrategie der Engländer während des Hundertjährigen Krieges.
• Piepsende Computer (Beeping Computers): Windows Vista's UAC, and to a lesser degree, Ubuntu Linux's gksu. Also, a few laptops do this to let you know your battery's almost dead.
• Pornosammlung (Porn Stash): You know what you're hiding deep within your closet, drawer, or hard drive...
• Raubmordkopierer (Digital Piracy Is Evil): Beispielsweise ging SNK daran 2001 pleite.
• Rekrutierter Gefangener (Boxed Crook)
• Riecht Nach Bittermandeln (Bitter Almonds): To a point; that really is what cyanide smells like, to those that have the gene for sensitivity. To the rest, it's odorless.
• Sanfter Riese (Gentle Giant): Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer famous after his hit "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". André the Giant. A great many others, many of whom probably edit this wiki.
• Scheiss Auf Hoeflichkeit Ich Bin Rentner! (Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!)
• Scheiss Auf Regeln Ich Hab Geld! (Screw the Rules, I Have Money!): Because only the richest can bribe their way to victory.
• Scheiss Auf Regeln Ich Hab Verbindungen! (Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!): In Deutschland auch "Filz" genannt.
• Scheiss Auf Regeln Ich Mache Sie! (Screw the Rules, I Make Them!)
• Ein Schicksal Schlimmer Als Der Tod (Fate Worse than Death)
• Schwere Kindheit: Wird ständig vor Gericht aufgeführt.
  • Mommy Issues
• Selbstmord Anschlag (Suicide Attack)
• Die Seuche (The Plague): Der Schwarze Tod. Nicht zuletzt die COVID 19 Pandemie.
• Die Sorgen Ertraenken (Drowning My Sorrows): Funktioniert nicht, was aber viele nicht daran hindert, es zu versuchen.
• Spontaner Narzissmus (Acquired Situational Narcissism)
• Sterbende Stadt (Dying Town): Mittlerweile extrem häufig in Europa und den USA.
• Tiergefaehrdungsverein (Animal Wrongs Group)
• Tote Kuenstler Sind Besser (Dead Artists Are Better): Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, a picture by Vincent van Gogh, was never bought when he was alive. In 1987, almost 100 years after his death, that same picture was bought for $39,921,750 dollars in an auction at Christie's.
• Trauernder Antagonist (Antagonist in Mourning)
• Traum In Einem Traum (Dream Within a Dream): Überschneidet sich gern mit Alles nur ein Traum (All Just a Dream).
• Und Der Sieger Ist (Assumed Win): Besonders wahr für denjenigen, der aufgestanden ist.
• Und Neunundneunzig Cent (...And 99¢): Man gehe einfach mal in irgendeinen deutschen Supermarkt und sehe sich die Preisschilder an.
• Ungewoehnliche Munition (Abnormal Ammo): Tracer rounds, Dum-Dums/Hohlmunition und Dragon's Breath (quasi eine Shotgun als Flammenwerfer).
• Unglaublich Peinliche Eltern (Amazingly Embarrassing Parents)
• Unmoralischer Anwalt (Amoral Attorney)
• Utopia Heiligt Die Mittel (Utopia Justifies the Means): Hitler, Mao, Robespierre, Pol Pot...
• Veralteter Mentor (Obsolete Mentor)
• Verbotene Frucht (Forbidden Fruit)
• Verbrennt Die Hexe (Burn the Witch!)
• Verlassenes Lagerhaus (Abandoned Warehouse): Ein paar davon finden sich in jeder größeren Stadt. Im Prinzip die Lebensgrundlage der Berliner Clubkultur in der Techno-Ära.
• Verlorener Ehering (Lost Wedding Ring)
• Verpatzte Analogie (Analogy Backfire)
• Versteht Sarkasmus Nicht (Does Not Understand Sarcasm): Especially among people with Asperger's or high-functioning autism. Also, pretty much anyone on the internet.
• Viele Koeche Verderben Den Brei (Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup)
• Von Idioten Umgeben (Surrounded by Idiots): Everyone who's ever had a day job can attest to this. Or been in Public High School.
• Wir Verkaufen Alles (We Sell Everything): Mit solchen Riesenmärkten wie Marktkauf oder Real geht es allerdings langsam zu Ende.
• Wolfskind (Wild Child): There's a few examples: Kaspar Hauser, Genie, and a feral French boy. None of them ended up that well off.
• Wuerdest Du Von Einer Bruecke Springen ("Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal): Used by your dads and my dads.
• Yaoi Fangirl (Yaoi Fangirl): You know who you are.
• Yuri Fan (Yuri Fan): You know who you are too!
• Zu dumm zum Leben: Und genau dafür existieren die Darwin Awards.
• Zunge Am Flaggenmast (Tongue on the Flagpole)
• Zuschauereffekt (Bystander Syndrome): Most notably the case of Kitty Genovese.

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Noch zu übersetzen:

• Air Hugging
• Alien Arts Are Appreciated
• Arbitrary Skepticism
• Ax-Crazy: To the great dismay of many.
• Axes at School: Leider.
• Badass Boast: Samurais in feudal Japan started their duels by telling their own and their ancestors' achievements.
• *batteries not included: Children's toys eat batteries the way kids eat candy after Halloween.
• Bavarian Fire Drill
• Bedouin Rescue Service: Real Bedouins have a code of honour that mandates this.
• Berserk Button: Just about everybody has one. Some of us don't know it or try to keep it locked down.
• Break the Cutie: Very common and often very tragic.
• Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie: Anyone who asks to be buried In Space, for instance. Ask Gene Roddenberry!
• Busman's Holiday: Carpenters spend their time off fixing the house, IT staff spend their time at home on a PC, and bus drivers travel by bus.
  • Not to mention pilots and flight attendants do hitch rides on their airlines, obviously.
• Calling Your Attacks: Martial arts practitioners believe that expressing certain phrases or vocalization help build up chi or ensure proper breathing
• Cold Cash: To the point that many burglars make a point of checking the freezer for stashed valuables.
• Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: What you'll suffer the day you'll fail to pay the power bill, causing the power company to leave you unplugged for 3 working days with no access to TV Tropes.
• Comedic Sociopathy
• Congruent Memory: Can you say the entire alphabet out of alphabetical order? And some people need the song...
• Convicted by Public Opinion
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Could Say It, But...
• Crazy-Prepared
• Crystal Spires and Togas: Pick any high-rise development from 1990 and after. Especially Santa Fe, Mexico City◊, Puerta de Hierro, Guadalajara, Mexico◊, and Dubai, UAE◊.
• Cuteness Proximity
• Decade Dissonance: Compare Hong Kong to the Guangdong province just over the border, or downtown Rio de Janeiro to its slums.
  • Hell, compare ANY inner city to the gleaming, tourist-laden areas.
• Delegation Relay
• Denied Food as Punishment
• Depraved Homosexual: Jeffrey Dahmer, among others.
• Diagonal Cut: Real-life iaido practitioners actually cut up inanimate objects for practice, in exactly this fashion.
  • Broadcast/"open mike" variant. One of the most well-known examples was by none other than U. S. President George W. Bush, who referred to a New York Times reporter as, and I quote, "A major league asshole" during the 2000 presidential campaign.
  • Ronald Reagan during a sound check that was accidentally being broadcast: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
• Dodge by Braking Some planes really can do that.
• Do I Really Sound Like That?
• Do-It-Yourself Plumbing Project
• Doomsday Device
• Doorstop Baby
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Honestly, who hasn't experienced this in their lifetime?
• Dude, Where's My Reward?: Ditto.
• Dungeonmaster's Girlfriend
• Electric Instant Gratification (accidentally invented)
• Emergency Services
• Emergency Weapon: Every half-decent army gives its soldiers at least knives for backup, and even the ones that don't still equip their soldiers with hands.
• Empty Cop Threat: Even if the cops can't actually charge the suspect with obstruction of justice, they can still threaten to do it - and some cops do.
• Evil Power Vacuum: Anytime a dictator or a really powerful dude is deposed. Colombia, for example, sank in a chaos of guerrillas and rival crime lords after Pablo Escobar got killed.
  • This is also why Hitler was able to rise to power: Germany was a power vacuum as a result of World War I.
• Extreme Graphical Representation: LainOS is a FreeBSD-based operating system whose goal is to recreate the extreme graphical pizazz of the computers from Serial Experiments Lain.
  • Compiz is a window manager presently included with many Linux distributions. If you want, you can overload it with plugins so that your windows wobble like Jello when they move, your desktop is on the surface of a cube (with sharks inside), windows shuffle and dodge around one another when you switch between them, inactive windows go translucent and gain a mirror sheen, and a trail of fire follows your mouse around. Here are some videos of it.
• Fatal Flaw: All humans have one (or more).
• Fence Painting: Arranged by recruiters for militaries, fraternities, and sororities.
• Firing in the Air a Lot: There are several real-life cases of people getting killed by it. Myth Busted, Confirmed and Plausible.
• Force Feeding
• Foreign Queasine
• Foreign Sounding Gibberish: Known in business as "foreign branding", and in everyday life as "Häagen-Dazs".
• Freeze Sneeze
• Full-Name Ultimatum: My mom's done it, so has yours. Sadly, people rarely use it on their parents.
• Fun Size: Kittens, puppies, and the like. It wouldn't work in art if it didn't work in life.
• Future Imperfect: Often due to Hollywood History, since TV Never Lies.
• Game of Nerds: America's "pasttime" is popular among the genius set, what with its love of statistics and all.
• George Jetson Job Security: Oklahoma, Indiana and an increasing number of other states now have fire-at-will laws which allow employers to fire employees without explanation or advance notice, except as mandated by federal laws.
• Giant Poofy Sleeves: From the "leg of mutton" sleeves of the 19th century.
• Girl on Girl Is Hot
• Going Postal
• Grumpy Old Man
• Guide Dang It!: Learning a foreign language. Oh my God.
• Handicapped Badass: This guy, for one.
• Holier Than Thou: We've all met or heard of someone who was a total jerk or hypocrite about religion. This is true for both theistic and atheistic beliefs.
• Hot for Student
• Human Popsicle: Cryonics companies such as Alcor and the Cryonics Institute offer to preserve your whole body or your brain (currently done by keeping the whole head) at low temperatures just after you're legally dead until someone finds out how to cure whatever was killing you. Research shows this might work, as the method they use now allows us to freeze and thaw small organs. They'll also, of course, have to cure the effects of freezing on the brain, which is somewhat more complicated. Oh, and figure out how to make new bodies for the heads-only crowd.
• Humiliation Conga: A criminal once tried to trick someone into sending him an Apple PowerBook G4 he bought at eBay. He ended up receiving a binder with keys glued on the inside covers. Read the full story here!
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Bill Butterfield was so bitter about his football career ending in high school that he tried to push his son into athletic success. The results weren't pretty.
• If Jesus, Then Aliens
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...
• Implausible Deniability
• Instant Expert: Not exactly picking up ASAP but if you are a blackbelt at one martial art, then I doubt any other martial art would be any more difficult. Likewise, the more languages you know, the easier it is to learn new ones, especially if they're in the same linguistic family.
• Insufferable Genius: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
• In-Universe Camera: Just look at Youtube videos of Iraq, 9/11, or the Virginia Tech shootings.
• Is That Cute Kid Yours?: Check the discussion page for examples.
• It's A Small Net After All: In Mexico, everybody uses MSN Hotmail, MSN Spaces, and MSN Messenger, thanks to an alliance between Microsoft and Telmex, the latter a nigh-monopolical telco led by Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world.
• It's Not You, It's Me: You'd be surprised how much this line gets said in Real Life breakups. Heck, you've probably used it (or will use it), too!
• Kangaroo Court: Unfortunately.
• Lensman Arms Race: World War II and the Cold War. Consider: the Germans only made very primitive payload rockets with long range work somewhat in WWII, and America couldn't launch a rocket as late as 1957. We were on the moon just over a decade later. And of course, nothing says "my dick is bigger kung-fu is better than yours" like the ever-more-powerful nuclear weapons tests of the 50s and 60s.
• Less Embarrassing Term: Just check out this "one leg pant", or as most people would call it, a skirt.
• Level Grinding: Sheer repetition is the best form of improvement. Well, most effective form, anyway.
• Living Motion Detector: True for several animal species.
• Locking MacGyver in the Store Cupboard: Surprising but true. The most memorable case would be John and Clarence Anglen's and Frank Morris' escape from Alcatraz (as hard as it is to believe someone would actually fall for the fake-dummy-head-in-the-bed trick).
• Love Martyr: Nothing to laugh or smile about in real life.
• Loving a Shadow
• Ma'am Shock
• Military Brat
• Military Maverick: For every Colonel O'Neill you see on TV, I can guarantee you there's far worse in real life.
• Miss Conception
• Mistaken for Special Guest: See Guy Goma for an example.
• Mistaken Nationality: Far too common.
• No Fame, No Wealth, No Service
• Non Sequitur: No, I don't think the mailbox needs painting.
• Oblivious Adoption: At least in the animal kingdom.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country
• Off the Wagon: Not quite as often as portrayed in the Drugs Are Bad moral stories, but often
• Old Friend, New Gender
• Operation: [Blank]
• Operator from India
• Path of Inspiration: Church of Scientology.
• Percussive Maintenance: Don't tell me you've never whacked your TV when it failed.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Happens in many places apart from Japan. In Mexico, for example, white people are automatically assumed to be American, Canadian or German.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Worn by rich women throughout history (and men), and a huge part of the Ermine Cape Effect.
• Platonic Life-Partners: C. S. Lewis made a note in the "friendship" section of The Four Loves that platonic friendship between members of the opposite sex happened a lot in academia. (He ignored the gay angle, though.)
• Plucky Middie
• Police Lineup
• Post-Robbery Trauma: Something far more serious than it seems on TV.
• Powder Trail
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy
• Pretty in Mink: Fur is often worn for style instead of warmth.
• Privately Owned Society (See the article's Real Life section for details)
• Professor Guinea Pig: The mad scientist stories had to come from somewhere, and OSHA regulations tended to be a bit loose when science was in its infancy.
• Push Polling
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Is there a chapter in the Mexican 19th century that doesn't have one of these?
• Relative Error: Siblings get mistaken for lovers in real life a lot, oftentimes to the disgust of the siblings.
• Ridiculous Exchange Rates: Happens due to hyperinflation; as of right now (June 2008), about one billion Zimbabwean dollars are worth one single US dollar.
• Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!
• Rock Beats Laser: Though not common, superior tactics or sheer weight of numbers have defeated superior technology. This was apparently one of the reasons the Japanese won in the Russo-Japanese war, too.
• Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment
• Sand Bridge at Low Tide: Mont Saint-Michel, a French islet near the coastline of Normandy.
• Scope Snipe: Carlos Hathcock pulled this off during the Vietnam War.
• Seinfeldian Conversation: It is arguable that there is nothing more realistic than this trope.
  • Indeed, an argument over that would be the perfect example.
• Selective Enforcement
• Senseless Violins: The 2008 Northern Illinois University shooter managed to bypass the campus security by packing a pair of shotguns inside a guitar case.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: As noted in the entry, Williams Syndrome.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: At least four separate editors have had this happen to them. Check the page.
• Shoddy Knockoff Product: All the knockoffs of real products.
• Showing Off the Perilous Power Source: Don't look directly at the sun or at a nuclear explosion.
• Shy Bladder
• Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter
• Snake Oil (All-Natural Snake Oil)
• Snipe Hunt
• Spock Speak: Asperger's Syndrome and legalese (though usually not to this degree).
• Stage Mom
• Star-Crossed Lovers: "Things just didn't work out."
• Stealth Hi/Bye: It happens when you're distracted and don't notice when someone is entering or leaving the room.
• Stout Strength: Incredibly strong men often look more rotund than body-building.
• Street Urchin: One of the most serious social problems everywhere in the world.
• Succession Crisis: Plenty of historical examples.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Joan of Arc, Mulan (the REAL one).
• Televisually Transmitted Disease: Strangely, most of the miraculous recoveries you see in medical dramas actually have happened.
• Theme Naming: The Emperor Constantine's children.
• Trash of the Titans: As you can see in this site.
• True Art Is Incomprehensible: This is one of those annoying ones that reinforces itself.
• Ultimate Job Security
• Undisclosed Funds: Talking about money was once viewed as crass, so people used these methods to do so.
• The Unpronounceable: Indians working in call centers with American customers typically use adopted "American" names.
  • Chinese names also tend to be particularly tough for English speakers, leading to most in relevant countries to adopt English names. Sometimes these names are unintentionally hilarious.
• Upper-Class Twit: Paris Hilton. 'nuff said. Buddha was also one of such before leaving his castle.
• Urban Segregation: The Independencia Avenue in Guadalajara, Mexico divides the city in two: the West side is the rich side, home to all the trendy malls, while the East side is the poor side, filled with gritty factories and impoverished ghettos.
• Useful Notes: Useful because they're true.
• Verbal Tic: Francophone Canadians often say "là" ("there") at the end of each sentence, Mexicans do the same with "wey" and "ese" ("dude" and "this"), Argentinians start their phrases with "che", and United Statesians use "like", like, every five words. And not just, like, the Valley Girl types. Most famously...
• Violent Glaswegian: Glasgow is the murder capital of Western Europe.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: Geeks love asking their soulmates in ways like that. And people take great lengths (e.g.: ball games, fireworks, et cetera)
• Walking the Earth: Hitchhiking is about Walking The Earth for a while, finding all sorts of small jobs, with nothing but a backpack, enough money to stay fed, groomed and with a place to sleep.
• We ARE Struggling Together
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The real world version is a lot scarier, actually.
• Why Couldn't You Be Different?: If you haven't experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who's going through it. One way or the other.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Phobias are common, even silly ones.
• Wiki Walk
• Will Not Tell a Lie: Very uncommon, but definitely real.
• Wiper Start: To the embarrassment of many a new driver.
• Wishful Projection
• Worthless Foreign Degree
• Wretched Hive: Mogadishu, Somalia. The slums of Rio in Brazil. A few very bad neighborhoods in the United States. Hell, look hard enough, and you will find them all over the world.

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