TheCon subtropes

A user discovered at the TRS thread for Fake Mark that The Con has many oddly specific subtropes and two redundant sub-indices, Short Con and The Tale. The full list of subtropes with ≤30 wicks is as follows:

• Bibles from the Dead: 19
• Big Store: 28
• The Con Within a Con: 30
• Delayed Wire: 24
• Fake Mark: 20
• Good for Bad: 18
• One Born Every Minute: 29
• Pig in a Poke: 26
• Quick Change: 19
• Rainmaking: 19
• The Roper: 24
• Spanish Prisoner: 30

There is also a pending TRS thread for Flopsy to address its apparently invented name.

Edited by LaundryPizza03 on Sep 3rd 2020 at 12:44:59 PM

I'm back!

First off, motion to cut Short Con and The Tale. The former in particular is completely pointless, as it's an index of six tropes. The relevant info in the descriptions of those pages can be moved to The Con.

I'm ok with cutting Short Con and The Tale, as they seem redundant.

I don't think the lesser wicked tropes should automatically be cut for not having a lot of wicks... Many have lots and lots of on-page examples that can't be crosswicked because they're from older works that don't have pages. These tropes are real and distinctive, just on the road towards being a Forgotten Trope.

"It's just a show; I should really just relax"

I agree. Not every trope can be a popular one.

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

The TRS thread for Flopsy is now open. ~Septimus Heap thinks that the problem is that many of these tropes are vaguely named. For example, would you guess that Big Store is about a fake office building?

Any more opinion on the sub-indices, or can they go to the cutlist?

EDIT:' List of vague or non-indicative names:

• Beat Bag is about selling a common substance as something illegal. Most ghits are about music or fashion, but Urban Dictionary attests the term.
• Bibles from the Dead is a scam involving recently deceased people — the description is rather unclear. No explanation is given for the reference to the Bible in the title.
• Big Store is about an abandoned building that is used as a fake office building. The trope does not involve a retailer, and most google hits are for markets, retailers, and a Marx Brothers film titled The Big Store that does not yet have a work page.
• Delayed Wire involves claiming to give usefl information in exchange for money. It's unclear how the wiring of the money is "delayed".
• Flopsy is already at TRS. It was determined that this name was made up by TV Tropes.
• Good for Bad is about swapping out something with a less valuable knockoff. It's closer, but the name misleadingly implies that it's a Morality Trope.
• One Born Every Minute is about some clueless guy befriending a con artist and becoming The Mark. The title has nothing to do with the trope.
• Quick Change is about tricking a cashier into giving too much change. The title could easily refer to many other things.
• Rainmaking is a scam about claiming to make something happen, where the conman actually has no control. While this term is attested, the same term could also refer to bringing in new clients to a profession or the process of actually causing rain. Renaming it to Rainmaking Scam would help to clarify this.
• Spanish Prisoner is about pretending to be some wealthy person detained in a foreign country. It is an attested term, but again it is unclear to those unfamiliar with the subject; it could be mistaken for Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
• The Tale is about a multi-encounter confidence trick.

Edited by LaundryPizza03 on Sep 27th 2020 at 2:11:06 PM

I'm back!

I've brought Bibles from the Dead to TRS due to its unclear title and description.

I'm back!