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Excessive example list quotes?

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Nohbody "In distress", my ass. from Somewhere in Dixie Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
"In distress", my ass.
#1: Dec 10th 2012 at 8:59:41 AM

Here, the issue of Example Indentation with quotes came up, and brought back to the forefront of my mind something that's been nagging me off and on for a while now.

TLDR form: Do we rely too much on quotes? Mind you, I'm not talking about in the Quotes Wiki (whose entire purpose is "lots of quotes"), nor about "TV Tropes"? More like "TV Quotes"!, but in the lists of trope/work examples.

In addition to the issue of quotes tripping up proper Example Indentation, at times it seems like they're relied on too much to actually convey the applicability of a trope to a work (or vice-versa), instead of the troper providing their own wording for the example body.

Is this an actual problem, or just a pet peeve on my part (to which I've probably contributed now and then, myself, unintentionally)? If the former, is there something to do about it, and if so what?

edited 10th Dec '12 4:55:40 PM by Nohbody

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Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#2: Dec 10th 2012 at 10:06:51 AM

My pet peeve is when a quote is used multiple times in an article. That's sloppy. And there are undoubtedly works that offer more quotable moments than others. There should be a balance as well; if half the examples have quotes, that's clearly too much, but the line is subjective.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#3: Dec 10th 2012 at 10:44:56 AM

One thing to look at on a page with a lot of quotes embedded in the examples is if those quotes are a signal that the page is, or is decaying into, a "stock phrase" page. I know that for a while there was someone very active in YKTTW who would simply go to imDb, search on a phrase or part of a phrase using the "quotes" search parameter, and then paste in long lists that were

  • <Movie name A>: "quote"
  • <Movie name B>: "quote"

and so on.

edited 10th Dec '12 10:50:00 AM by Madrugada

AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#4: Dec 10th 2012 at 4:02:15 PM

I don't add quotations unless I think they're very useful, or very hilarious, but still with the consideration that the reader haven't seen the show in question.

However, when editing an example I didn't add myself, I don't tend to rewrite them much, like removing or replacing quotations, unless maybe if it's extremely redundant. I only really rewrite if there's too much natter or discussions (like a recent raid on Hollywood Law). I could probably remove more quotations while I'm at it if there are too much of them.

I can't seem to find the page that brought this up in the first place, though.

edited 10th Dec '12 4:03:17 PM by AnotherDuck

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