Follow TV Tropes

Ask The Tropers

Go To

Have a question about how the TVTropes wiki works? No one knows this community better than the people in it, so ask away! Ask the Tropers is the page you come to when you have a question burning in your brain and the support pages didn't help. It's not for everything, though. For a list of all the resources for your questions, click here. You can also go to this Directory thread for ongoing cleanup projects.

Ask the Tropers:

Trope Related Question:

Make Private (For security bugs or stuff only for moderators)

MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
3rd Mar, 2021 07:29:21 AM

It depends. If you're friends with somebody, you can say it as a joke.

STARCRUSHER99 (Captain)
3rd Mar, 2021 07:33:05 AM

In context, it's meant to be an endearing thing - like a "you're a knucklehead, but you're my knucklehead" thing. Between friends, those kinds of terms can get thrown out rather casually.

DisneyMagic Since: Mar, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 07:38:07 AM

Okay, thank you, you both. In the movie they are brothers which I put the same category as friends. I was just a little worried that was it insulting/offensive when I found out what bonehead means (a stupid person) but if it's just a joke or endearing thing, it's totally fine. I was just thinking was it an insult because the older brother was scolding his younger brother for some dangerous and illegal stuff and that's why said: "I hope you learned your lesson" and then added "bonehead" in the end. ("I hope you learned your lesson, bonehead") and that's why I thought it was an insult

Edited by DisneyMagic
crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
3rd Mar, 2021 07:38:21 AM

It's poor context, anyway. Examples should be clear how to identify the trope involved.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
DisneyMagic Since: Mar, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 07:40:59 AM

@crazysamaritan what did you mean?

BeanWiggin Since: Feb, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 07:56:05 AM

I'll add that bonehead is probably a little more insulting than knucklehead. Knucklehead is generally just used for "silly" whereas bonehead is "stupid."

But they're both still friendly jabs in the context of the movie.

DisneyMagic Since: Mar, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 08:00:07 AM

Okay thank you, so @Bean Wiggin you have seen the movie?

crazysamaritan MOD Since: Apr, 2010
3rd Mar, 2021 10:18:39 AM

Zero-Context Example: A Zero-Context Example is an example that fails to do the most important thing an example should do: explain how and why it fits the trope.


For Verbal Tic, it is important to note the Catchphrase and how you know it is being spoken inadvertently, meaning automatically or without control. The context you've copied here doesn't establish the unintentional part. The context would fit better under Insult of Endearment, with the addition of what you've learned here.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
DisneyMagic Since: Mar, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 12:17:32 PM

@crazysamaritan okay, but I don't think that Insult of Endearment is good since it's an insult and to me it was said that that "bonehead" wasn't an insult but instead a joke or endearing thing. Maybe I change it (since now I'm joined in) and put it an Affectionate Nickname trope (I mean to change that :"Verbal Tic") because you said that "Verbal Tic" didn't fit

RoundRobin Since: Jun, 2018
3rd Mar, 2021 12:57:07 PM

You might want to have a look at Bluenose Bowdlerizer. While using swearwords just for the heck of it is discouraged, so is removing all swearwords from an article just because you're against cussing.

- Fly, robin, fly! - ...I'm trying!
Arctimon Since: Nov, 2009
3rd Mar, 2021 01:13:56 PM

Disney, you have asked this question on every platform that the fandom is on: Tumblr, the BH 6 wiki, and others. You even asked me this very same question months ago.

You were given an answer every single time you asked it. There is no need to keep asking it, because you’ve gotten the same answer every single time.

STOP.

Edited by Arctimon My Fanfiction.net Page My DeviantArt Page
Tabs MOD Since: Jan, 2001
3rd Mar, 2021 01:31:05 PM

I've cut the Verbal Tic entry from the page since it's misuse and too low on context to be moved.

DisneyMagic Since: Mar, 2021
3rd Mar, 2021 01:34:19 PM

@Arctimon that's true but it just tells that I'm so worried about that "bonehead" term and that I have had a little "crisis" about it. I guess, I just keep asking before someone tells me otherwise (that it's offensive/insulting) but I NEVER do it to harass/bully persons, never. If I know that my questions are annoying (which they might be), I change my "target" and ask someone else. But did you ever answer me?

mightymewtron Since: Oct, 2012
3rd Mar, 2021 01:37:27 PM

I mean, you got the answer. The real issue for this site is that it's a misused trope.

As for this:

I don't think that Insult of Endearment is good since it's an insult and to me it was said that that "bonehead" wasn't an insult but instead a joke or endearing thing.

You are right that "bonehead" is usually an insult. It can be used as a jokingly endearing term. Therefore, it fits the Insult of Endearment trope.

Since it seems you joined just to ask this question, maybe check some links before you get into editing, like Welcome to TV Tropes.

Edited by mightymewtron I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Octoya Since: Jul, 2014
3rd Mar, 2021 03:28:39 PM

It's essentially the same thing as calling someone "dummy" or "you idiot". It's something you say when you care about them, but they did something foolish or they tend to do foolish things. As in, I assumed, all languages, whether or not something is an insult or an affectionate term relies entirely on the tone of how it's being said and the relationship between the two individuals.

It genuinely, honestly, does not matter what the word literally means. I've seen people call each other much more offensive and insulting terms before and still mean them in a friendly, affectionate manner. As long as the other party knows based on context that that's how it is meant. If you have trouble discerning tone, that is the issue, not the word being used.

Top