Thank you for opening this, Septimus.
Anyway, both the definition and the name seem to be problematic. Should we cut the trope entirely to make way for a replacement that's focused on the party aspect (e.g. Unbirthday Party)?
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
I think simply renaming, narrowing the definition down to parties on the wrong day, and tweaking the description would be sufficient (since there are already examples that follow that formula), instead of starting from scratch with the revised definition. A previous TRS thread did something similar by turning Smelly Feet into Smelly Feet Gag (going from "feet can smell bad" to "smelly feet Played for Laughs").
Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 9th 2019 at 6:16:37 AM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Party On The Wrong Day is a good rename idea.
Probably should Trope Launch Pad more uses of the title, like if they dont know their birthday but they just hold a party on X day cause the topic came up and such.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
I prefer Birthday Party On The Wrong Day, since it specifies the kind of party. Party On The Wrong Day is still an improvement, though.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 9th 2019 at 1:41:08 PM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
I dont think it needs to be limited to 'birthday'.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
It doesn't. There are plenty of other types of anniversaries that can produce the same situation (although I could imagine a wedding anniversary yielding a somewhat different reaction).
I wasn't really intending for Party On The Wrong Day to be the new trope name. It's a bit on-the-nose, don't you think? The current name is quite bland as well, but I'd like to think we can come up with something better.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
Made a crowner
with the suggested options.
How sweet it is
Hooked.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Just to be clear, does "Limit birthday-related examples to birthday parties on the wrong day" mean cutting examples that are just "Someone thought it was another character's birthday but it's not" or does the option mean excluding things such as anniversary parties on the wrong day?
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
Whether other parties are included depends on whether we're expanding the definition to include them, but it does mean getting rid of mistakes that don't have much of an effect on the plot, since your objection to those examples was that they're probably Chairs.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 12th 2019 at 11:58:59 AM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Looks like we've got a clear consensus on two of the three options. Do we need more time for the third one?
How sweet it is
That won't be necessary to wait a little longer for the other option, since it's not doing that well vote-wise.
Anyways, calling in favor of renaming and expansion.
Edited by Berrenta on Sep 18th 2019 at 11:40:13 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Okay, so apparently we're not limiting this to actual parties thrown on the wrong day. In that case, what exactly should the trope definition be? The reason I brought this up in the first place is that I couldn't get a good understanding of the trope from the description, so I'm at a bit of a loss now.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
We need to come up with a new name, and the description needs to be changed to account for other kinds of celebrations. Other than that, I can't think of anything.
Celebration On The Wrong Day might work if it's not limited to parties.
Edit: Made a crowner with a couple of options. Feel free to add more.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Sep 22nd 2019 at 8:08:22 AM
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Threw in a couple more: Special Occasion Miscalculation and Celebration Miscalculation.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
I threw in Not A Special Occasion as well, since it's similar to the current name, but reflects the expanded definition.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
How sweet it is
Swapped in the new crowner.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
J Keith
Added "It's not my Birthday"
1) By switching to a first-person phrasing, it emphasizes the tropes plot value, which is creating an awkward moment when the honoree need to tell a person who went to all the trouble of arranging a celebration, that they did so in error.
2) This allows the We Might Be Giants song to be a trope namer.
If 2) isn't valuable, also consider
"But It's Not My Birthday"
"No Chicken, No Check in" -Phil Keoghan
That might run into No New Stock Phrases though.
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
Celebration Miscalculation is the leading option so far.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
How sweet it is
Looks like we have a winner. Calling in favor of Celebration Miscalculation.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
The crowner is still open.
Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
How sweet it is
Looks like that's finally closed.
I'll commence the move.
...and done. Not much wicks to go through.
Edited by Berrenta on Oct 2nd 2019 at 9:24:19 AM
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
What do about the laconic and Playing With?
Crown Description:
What should be done with Not Their Birthday? Options are not mutually exclusive.
I'm making this thread after some discussion in the Trope Description Improvement thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13164954120A97000100&page=98#comment-2439
The current definition of Not Their Birthday is "X thinks it's Y's birthday, but it's not." The (poorly written) description does little to explain the narrative significance of such an occurrence, and quite frankly, I suspect that that's because on its own, it's not significant in the first place.
However, the description does seem to be referencing something that might be tropable—characters throwing a surprise party for someone on the wrong day. The majority of the examples seem to fit this definition. However, if that is what the trope should be about, then it could use a new name, as the current one encourages meaningless examples.
EDIT: I was told that I should do a wick check. I don't know if I did it right, but I gave it a shot. Here's what the usage looks like:
Birthday Hater - Mac from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is a strange subversion: he hates his birthday party because his best friend Bloo always makes it a Surprise Party where Mac is horribly humiliated. However, to make it more surprising, Bloo doesn't even throw these parties on Mac's actual birthday (except one time when he did), so the actual date doesn't matter.
Forgotten Birthday - The opposite of Not Their Birthday.
Keep Beach City Weird - During "Steven's Birthday", Ronaldo posts that you should never celebrate on your actual birthday, least you suffer from identity theft.
The Crumpets - In "Sticks Stink", he's disguised as Li'l One during what's supposed to be the latter's birthday.
The Equestrian Wind Mage - When Vaati reveals he doesn't actually know when his birthday is, everyone decides to treat the anniversary of his arrival in Equestria as his birthday instead.
The Witch of the Everfree - Since Pinkie doesn't know when Sunset's birthday actually is, she just takes guesses, leading her to throw Sunset a "birthday" party every month or so.
Some Like It Hot - Spats starts to become suspicious when the Friends of Italian Opera throw him a birthday party four months before his actual birthday.
Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 06 E 10 Charlie Kelly King Of The Rats - Charlie admits at the end of the episode that it's not really his birthday. The gang still gives him his presents anyway, though.
SpongeBob SquarePants S 1 E 9 "Nature Pants" / "Opposite Day" - The episode opens with SpongeBob and Patrick throwing Squidward a surprise birthday party. After they leave, Squidward yells: "It's not my BIRTHDAY!"
Star vs. the Forces of Evil S3E25 "Stump Day" - Star has the unfortunate luck of being born on Stump Day, so she's afraid to celebrate her birthday on that day.
Series/Rainbow - In the episode "Wrong Day". After overhearing Geoffrey telling a friend over the phone that his birthday is "on the second", Zippy, Bungle and George assume this to mean it's on the second day of the month. They decide throw him a surprise party, when he tells them that his birthday is actually on the second week of the month, not the second day.
3-2-1 Penguins! - Compassion Crashin starts off with the penguins throwing a surprise birthday party for Jason and Michelle, only for Michelle to point out that their birthday was two months ago.
Dwayne Johnson - Mick Foley throws a birthday party for him in the end of the "This Is Your Life" segment, but Rock bluntly tells him this:
Happy Birthday to You! - Or a brief sketch in which Ernie sings the song to the letter "U", leading to some confusion on the part of Bert, who thought he meant "you", i.e. Bert, whose birthday it isn't.
What Measureis A Non Cute - The Tribble-creature turns out to be a synthetic organism invented by Strex Corp. and given to Cecil "as a birthday present, because he loves animals so much", as explained to Cecil by one of their representatives minutes after he's just watched his "birthday present" almost murder his precious cat. It's also not Cecil's birthday..]].
Not Their Birthday - Everyone thought it was a character's birthday, but it isn't.
Light Novel/Baccano - Upon Isaac and Miria finally discovering that they are immortal in 2001, they sob for a bit before deciding to hold a birthday party for themselves and all the other immortals.
Birthday Episode - * Subverted: Bob wishes Alice a happy birthday, but it turns out that he got the date wrong.
Not-So-Forgotten Birthday - Inverted: Everyone thinks Bob's birthday is today, but it's actually not.
Not Their Birthday - Basic Trope: Someone thinks or acts as though it's another character's birthday, when it isn't.
Welcome To Night Vale Ep 43 Visitor - The visitor was a birthday gift for Cecil from his new managers. Too bad it's not his birthday.
Birthday Tropes
Mistaken for Index
Magazine/Yps - In one strip with Yps.
They Might Be Giants - The song "It's Not My Birthday" deals with this.
25 Total
13 Party on the wrong day, 8 Generic mistake, 2 N/A, 2 ZCE
Edited by MrL1193 on Aug 19th 2019 at 2:01:02 AM