Unclear Description: Does This Remind You Of Anything

This part of the description is incredibly broad. The description doesn't specify whether it's supposed to be just sexually-themed or not, and it's occasionally used on other pages tot refer to non-sexual contexts, but the examples seem to be disproportionately sexually themed, including the page dialogue and image.

It may be an idea to clarify just how specific this is. Is it just about sex? Or sex and drugs? If it's more broad than that, how broad is it?

"The Daily Show has to be right 100% of the time; FOX News only has to be right once." - Jon Stewart

It's not JUST for sexual situations...but, you know

It is precisely as broad as the description implies (it just tends to be used for sexual situations), and I don't see a problem with that. "Something that intentionally strongly recalls something else" is a pretty well-defined trope, even if I didn't make it sound like it just now. However, it is very heavily potholed, so...

FWIW, I've thought, based on the examples, definition-at-the-time-I-read-it (it's changed since), picture, and common usage, that it meant sexual things only, but I think it does have applicability beyond just the sexual. Maybe create a subtrope for the sexual usage, since that is far and away the most common usage?

Also, is this in-universe only, or can it also be applied to meta concepts/occurances, such as a sci-fi series which has bladed weapons which are stored as just a hilt, but when activated the blade extends out of said hilt, and which have the ability to reflect laser gun 'bullets,' and which are wielded by a specific group of psychic-capable people?

edited 1st Mar '12 1:10:35 AM by Nocturna

I think this is one of those pothole magnets like ...Or So I've Heard, If You Know What I Mean, and so forth.

edited 1st Mar '12 3:48:04 AM by Spark9

Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!

• Alternatively it can refer to an ersatz of something more familiar that the audience would immediately recognize in subtext in order to make it look less Anvilicious. Doesn't always succeed in fulfilling the latter. Doesn't always have to mean anything sexual.

It clearly says that non-sexual use is okay.

I'm afraid this is actually a sinkhole, and sexual use has taken over the page. Isn't sexual use covered by innuendo tropes though?

"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer

Yeah, we have about ten different tropes for when it reminds you of something sexual. We have Visual Innuendo, which itself has two further layers of subtropes, and we have several tropes about Double Entendres. Does This Remind You of Anything? should have no sexual examples.

I guess I'm just blanking out, but what's the lightsaber supposed to symbolize in that example?

Nothing. The point is, it's not a "lightsaber"; it's a "crystace". So is that this trope?

I dunno, Does This Remind You of Anything? seems like a supertrope to a lot of the innuendo/double entendre tropes but there are examples that wouldn't fit the existing tropes without some tweaking. Making it non-sexual only would leave those without a place to go. Perhaps just tweak the description to emphasize that it covers nonsexual allusions, and do some cleanup (good god, 2952 wicks)?

Calling someone a pedant is an automatic Insult Backfire. Real pedants will be flattered.

If it's a shout out, it's an allusion to Star Wars it's a Shout-Out. Either way though, no, it's not this.

Which sexual things aren't covered by existing pages?

That's a big part of the issue: what exactly is the difference between a Shout-Out and a Does This Remind You of Anything?? If the definition of the latter is "Something that intentionally strongly recalls something else" and the former is "deliberate reference to another work," then the lightsabre-esque weapon should surely only invoke Shout-Out if it had a similar name, was mentioned as being similar to or in some other way called deliberate attention to the fact that it's remarkably similar to the ones from Star Wars

Does This Remind You of Anything?? then becomes a trope for things which are remarkably like things you've seen elsewhere, but which aren't deliberately alluding to another work. As well as the "I insert Tab A into Slot B, fnar, fnar."

tl;dr Shout-Out is deliberate, intentional and the work draws attention to the reference. Does This Remind You of Anything? something in a work which makes you think of similar thing in another work.

But that would make it a weird combination of Audience Reaction (reminding you of another work) and objective trope (insert Tab A into Slot B).

Clocking due to lack of activity.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.

I think a greater distinction needs to be made between it and Getting Crap Past the Radar.

Never trust anyone who uses "degenerate" as an insult.

What options do we have here for a crowner?

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Doesn't appear that there's any interest here. Locking.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.