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Not Tropeworthy: Ladyella

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Deadlock Clock: May 17th 2014 at 11:59:00 PM
Willbyr Hi (Y2K) Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#27: Mar 6th 2014 at 4:07:16 AM

See, that is a better argument for this to be a separate trope.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Willbyr Hi (Y2K) Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Lakija Since: Jul, 2012
#29: Apr 8th 2014 at 11:36:38 PM

[up][up][up][up]I agree to fixing the description to make it clear that -ella is a way of making a feminine name out of a defining characteristic.

I mean Barbarella? Seriously?

edited 8th Apr '14 11:36:48 PM by Lakija

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#30: Apr 10th 2014 at 12:25:07 PM

Should probably be expanded to include other "feminizing" suffixes, like -ette. And maybe versions from other languages like -ko in Japanese. There's nothing special about ella, and having separate tropes for each is pointless. Maybe masculine versions too?

Still limited to nameifying descriptions of course.

edited 10th Apr '14 12:26:11 PM by Clarste

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#31: Apr 10th 2014 at 5:49:14 PM

Those feminizing suffixes aren't used in the same way that -Ella is. They're generally used to feminize male names. Not nouns or adjectives. We would have to make sure that it was being used for things like Bayonetta and not for Brigette.

edited 10th Apr '14 5:50:33 PM by shimaspawn

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#32: Apr 10th 2014 at 9:25:48 PM

I said "still limited to nameifying descriptions". Anything that's misuse is simply misuse and dealt with as such. That's not worth noting. Also I disagree that -ella is special in this regard. Smurfette is a smurf who is female. "Smurf" is not a masculine name, it's a description of their species. You yourself just gave the "Bayonetta" example which is not -ella. -ko is also extremely commonly used to create feminine names out of nouns or descriptions.

edited 10th Apr '14 9:27:28 PM by Clarste

Lakija Since: Jul, 2012
#33: Apr 10th 2014 at 11:29:17 PM

[up] Expanding the trope could certainly help. Especially with real life examples, such as female names in Russia ending is "a."

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#34: Apr 11th 2014 at 10:24:38 AM

[up] Real life examples can't really qualify for a naming trope as real life has no narrative.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#35: Apr 11th 2014 at 10:47:16 AM

I don't think naming conventions require a narrative. Names can be chosen to inspire a certain future, or they can be picked while in that future, for the same purpose as in fiction.

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Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#36: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:01:22 AM

Broadening this trope to include traditional feminine name endings put onto typically male names, like the Russian "-a", or French "-elle" or "-ette", renders it useless as a trope. Doing so because it's used that way in real life is losing sight of the definition of ""trope" — a storytelling convention.

SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#37: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:02:27 AM

Technically, that makes it used in both Real Life and storytelling. It's not an exclusive either-or question.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#38: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:16:03 AM

But feminizing a typically masculine name, or using a name that has a typically feminine ending is not a trope in Real Life. Broadening the trope that far leaves it right where it is now: "This name has a feminine suffix".

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#39: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:20:26 AM

Yeah, I think even if we broaden it to more suffixes we need to keep the core idea:

"Adding a feminine suffix to an existing non-name word in order to create a female name that describes the character."

Ex: Cinderella = Cinder + Ella. So Cinderella is a girl who spends a lot of times in the cinders.

EX: Bayonetta = Bayonet + Etta. A weaponized name for a weaponized woman.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
KarjamP The imaginative Christian Asperger from South Africa Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The imaginative Christian Asperger
#40: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:36:31 AM

I think doing so to typically masculine names is at least a related trope.

For example, it can be used to signify that the character is a Distaff Counterpart to another character.

It can also be related to Family Theme Naming in which the sister has a femalized version of her brother's name.

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#41: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:39:26 AM

Those are both different tropes than this one though.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
KarjamP The imaginative Christian Asperger from South Africa Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The imaginative Christian Asperger
#42: Apr 11th 2014 at 11:57:45 AM

[up]Then perhaps we can make a super trope or expand this one to be more general?

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#43: Apr 11th 2014 at 12:03:57 PM

Expanding this trope that much makes it effectively worthless as a trope.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#44: Apr 11th 2014 at 12:14:55 PM

Yeah, doing it to something that already is a name is different from doing it to something that isn't. Bayonet, Vampire, and Cruel aren't names of their own, but with the suffix they become names with a very obvious meaning. By the way, we didn't have that last one.

I'd be more inclined to expand it to including male equivalents than to include male names turned female, though I can't really think of any example that would fit that anyway.

edited 11th Apr '14 12:19:52 PM by AnotherDuck

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KarjamP The imaginative Christian Asperger from South Africa Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
The imaginative Christian Asperger
#45: Apr 11th 2014 at 12:15:10 PM

[up][up]Please read No Trope Is Too Common. I think I had misunderstood you. Sorry about that.

[up][nja]

Okay, reading Another Duck's argument, I think we make another trope that's a Sister Trope to this one.

edited 11th Apr '14 12:18:52 PM by KarjamP

Madrugada Since: Jan, 2001
#46: Apr 11th 2014 at 1:03:42 PM

On male example (sort of) is the Jerry Lewis movie Cinderfella

bibwrecks Since: Feb, 2014
#47: Apr 11th 2014 at 2:23:19 PM

Is there a definition going?

What parts of a character is adding "-ella" meant to emphasize?

Having an extreme amount of an attribute connected to women or femininity or experiences that are coded as "feminine".

shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#48: Apr 11th 2014 at 2:27:43 PM

It's actually more the root word that is the importance of the trope. Adding -ella turns what was a word descriptive of the character into a feminine name. The emphasis isn't on the ella. It's on the other bit.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick
Lakija Since: Jul, 2012
#49: Apr 11th 2014 at 2:28:13 PM

[up] Exactly.

  • Take Barbarella. She's a barbarian with boobs. Hence the -ella at the end. Barbarella.
  • Cinderella: a girl who cleans and is covered in soot all the time. She's like a chimney sweep, but with boobs. Cinders + ella
  • Or Citronella. It's a bug-repellant candle. With boobs, I imagine.

edited 11th Apr '14 2:33:41 PM by Lakija


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