Basic Trope: Someone's initials (or an acronym) spell out something embarrassing.
- Straight: Alice Isabel Diana Smith's initials are A.I.D.S.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice Isabel Diana Samantha Willamette Hannah Olivia Rachel Edwards's initials spell out A.I.D.S.W.H.O.R.E.
- Every character has initials that spell out something embarrassing.
- Downplayed: Clara Alice Thomas's initials are C.A.T. - a bit silly, but she's a cat lover and doesn't mind.
- Justified:
- Alice was named in or before 1978, before the term AIDS was used for the disease.
- Alice's parents didn't think about what their child's initials would spell.
- Inverted:
- Alice Willamette Edwards's initials are A.W.E.
- The name itself falls under Unfortunate Names, but it spells out something cool.
- Subverted: Lucy complains about her initials. They turn out to be the unremarkable "L.D.S."
- Double Subverted: Then she tries to make a monogram, and finds out that it'll say "L.S.D.".
- Parodied: Alice Samantha Thomasina Ula Pamela Isabel Diana Nathalie Alyssa Mary Edwards's initials spell out A.S.T.U.P.I.D.N.A.M.E.
- Zig Zagged: Aerith Samantha Smith's initials are A.S.S. It may sound silly in English, but it also turns out to mean "courage" in her native language.
- Averted: Alice's initials are unremarkable.
- Enforced: To add some Fun with Acronyms.
- Lampshaded: "Jesus, Alice, what were your parents thinking when they named you?"
- Invoked: Alice's Abusive Parents intentionally saddle her with a name that has embarrassing initials.
- Exploited: Bob offers to help Alice change her name... for a "modest fee", of course.
- Defied:
- Alice's parents realize before naming her that her name would spell out something unfortunate, so they choose something else.
- Alice changes her name so that her initials won't be as embarrassing.
- Discussed: Alice Isabel Davis is going to marry Bob Oliver Spencer. During The Maiden Name Debate, she points out that changing her name to "Alice Isabel Davis-Spencer" is out of the question.
- Conversed: "How come Emperor Evulz still hasn't noticed that the acronym for his organization is 'CRAP'?"
- Implied: Alice is the only member of her clique not to have her initials embroidered on her bag.
- Deconstructed: Alice realizes what her initials spell, and becomes extremely self-conscious about it.
- Reconstructed: Alice learns to laugh at herself. After all, it's not her fault; it's her parents'.
- Played For Laughs:
- Alice, oblivious to their meaning, puts her initials on everything.
- Alice even gets a friend at one point whose name is Herbert Ian Victor (HIV), and a lot of jokes are made about their rather unfortunate initials.
- Played For Drama: Alice is bullied when people discover her initials, and she becomes horribly depressed.
- Played For Horror: Alice, tired of people making fun of her initials, becomes a serial killer.
Back to Embarrassing Initials.
