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Distracting Disambiguation
- 158 statements
- 30 feature instances
- 13 referencing feature instances
| Distracting Disambiguation | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | label |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | page |
DistractingDisambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | comment |
It's pretty common to make mistakes when trying to communicate so it's not rare to see characters stop to disambiguate their meaning to avoid confusion. What is unusual is when they do it in the middle of a fight to the death, and their enemies politely stop to listen. This is a kind of Non Sequitur where a character, usually in the prelude to or middle of a serious (if not deadly) situation takes a time out to clarify that what he really meant to say was X. Expect it to escalate into an inane conversation on the subtle differences and various interpretations of X as opposed to Y, or XYZ rather than ZYX. Once the character's Distracting Disambiguation is over, expect everyone to go right back to the critically dangerous situation as if nothing had happened. Subtrope of Talking Is a Free Action. See also Digging Yourself Deeper, which can happen in said disambiguation. Compare and contrast Poor Communication Kills, which can happen if talking is not a free action or if the disambiguation could kill if not corrected. Many times it happens because characters are Derailed for Details. See also Sidetracked by the Analogy. |
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| Distracting Disambiguation | fetched |
2023-06-04T20:44:19Z | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | parsed |
2023-06-04T20:44:19Z | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | processingComment |
Dropped link to StandardHeroReward: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Distracting Disambiguation | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_15eb5ad9 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_15eb5ad9 | comment |
On JourneyQuest, of all the things Sir Perfluous could have done when ambushed by a party of orcs, he decides to correct them on their use of the orcish language. Although the line he is criticizing is so far into You No Take Candle territory, the other orcs take time out to agree with him. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_15eb5ad9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_15eb5ad9 | featureConfidence |
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| JourneyQuest (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_15eb5ad9 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_24a56b50 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_24a56b50 | comment |
Meet the Spartans does this straight, complete with Talking Is a Free Action. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_24a56b50 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_24a56b50 | featureConfidence |
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| MeetTheSpartans | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_24a56b50 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2a8943c0 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2a8943c0 | comment |
The Miraculous Ladybug fic Eye of the Beholder has this exchange between Alya, newly chosen wielder of the Peacock Miraculous, and an Akumatized biology post-grad. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2a8943c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2a8943c0 | featureConfidence |
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| Miraculous Ladybug | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_2a8943c0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bb4ae0f | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bb4ae0f | comment |
In the Volume 4 finale of Heroes, Sylar is holding Claire hostage and taunting her by listing all the members of her family he's going to kill, when: | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bb4ae0f | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bb4ae0f | featureConfidence |
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| Heroes | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bb4ae0f | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bff0e11 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bff0e11 | comment |
Raising Arizona: When Gale and Evelle try to rob a bank, they shout, "Everybody freeze! Everybody get down on the ground!" The people in the bank all just stare at them blankly. Finally, an old geezer explains that they're all confused by his orders, saying, "Well, which is it, young feller? You want I should freeze or get down on the ground? Mean to say, if'n I freeze, I can't rightly drop. And if'n I drop, I'm a-gonna be in motion. You see..." Gale tells him to shut up and get down on the ground. Evelle helpfully adds, "Ya'll can just forget about that freezing part." | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bff0e11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bff0e11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Raising Arizona | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_2bff0e11 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_30d9627b | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_30d9627b | comment |
In the BBC radio play The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox is about to plummet to his death, and Ford Prefect attempts to discuss the etymology of the unusual exclamation Zaphod used. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_30d9627b | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_30d9627b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978) (Radio) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_30d9627b | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_334120fc | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_334120fc | comment |
8-Bit Theater: Pick a strip, any strip. They lampshade their tendency to do this and point out that their method of dealing with threats is to bicker, argue semantics, stall with Fighter, hurt each other, bicker some more and then implement a brilliant plan from out of nowhere. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_334120fc | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_334120fc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 8-Bit Theater (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_334120fc | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3495152f | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3495152f | comment |
In Hancock, the title character pauses in the middle of a gunfight while rescuing a pinned down (female) police officer to ask for permission to touch her body since he has been coached on public relations in order to repair his tattered image. He explains that he would only touch her to rescue her, with no inappropriate connotations, and he then explains that it's not that he doesn't find her attractive, he just doesn't want to cross any lines. He calmly explains this under a hailstorm of bullets while the villains are loading up a rocket launcher. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3495152f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3495152f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hancock | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_3495152f | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3ee3ceda | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3ee3ceda | comment |
The wizards are in a league of their own. In The Last Continent, they respond to being threatened by a god ("Begone, lest I visit you with boils!") by pointing out that visiting someone with cake is a lot better than boils, provided it's not sponge. Hilariously, the god they're being threatened by is just as easily distracted. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3ee3ceda | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_3ee3ceda | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Last Continent | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_3ee3ceda | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_41b0198a | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_41b0198a | comment |
The Dresden Files: In Skin Game, Harry Dresden and Michael Carpenter are in a standoff and Carpenter says if the villains attack, he and Harry will fight to the death. Harry then clarifies that Michael means he and Harry will fight the villains to the death, not each other. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_41b0198a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_41b0198a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Dresden Files | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_41b0198a | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_45a5beb2 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_45a5beb2 | comment |
This trope is central to the premise of WordGirl. Since it's an educational show as well as an Affectionate Parody of superheroes, WordGirl will always take time out of her confrontations with villains to define the word of the day for them before going right back to the action. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_45a5beb2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_45a5beb2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| WordGirl | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_45a5beb2 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_468bebb0 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_468bebb0 | comment |
Discworld: Ankh-Morporkians are particularly known for this. The Creator wouldn't have been able to say "Let there be light" without someone asking "What color?" The wizards are in a league of their own. In The Last Continent, they respond to being threatened by a god ("Begone, lest I visit you with boils!") by pointing out that visiting someone with cake is a lot better than boils, provided it's not sponge. Hilariously, the god they're being threatened by is just as easily distracted. Guards! Guards!: There is a discussion on whether the female version of "Head Honcho" would involve the term Honchette, Honchessa, or Honcharina. Some monster-hunters discuss whether saving Ankh-Morpork is worth it because they're "only" being offered fifty thousand dollars instead of the Standard Hero Reward, and they get hung up on exactly what Vetinari would be offering them half of (he ain't a king! Well, half his Patrimony or whatever) and whether he could give them his aunt in Pseudopolis or, hilariously, his little dog, as a replacement for the nonexistent princess. |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_468bebb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_468bebb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Discworld | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_468bebb0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_50024843 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_50024843 | comment |
In the webcomic version of Vainqueur The Dragon, the eponymous dragon is about to attack a bandit troop burning a village. Most of the bandits and their leaders are terrified, except for the hulking Ogron the Ogre, who fearlessly defy Vainqueur. But instead of responding to the challenge, Vainqueur points out that Ogron clearly isn't an ogre, but a cyclops. After a few frustrating exchanges, an annoyed Ogron claims he's called that because he eats people. Vainqueur shrugs, and chomps out the cyclops' upper body with one bite. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_50024843 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_50024843 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Vainqueur the Dragon | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_50024843 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_51b928a3 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_51b928a3 | comment |
The Squire's Tales: In The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, by Gerald Morris, one knight is threatening another and shouts, "I shall not rest until thou art cleaved in twain!" The other characters present (including the second knight, who doesn't really want to fight) start arguing over the proper past participle of "cleave". | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_51b928a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_51b928a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Squire's Tales | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_51b928a3 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_522c0244 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_522c0244 | comment |
Take the Money and Run: The bank tellers think that Woody Allen's character's holdup note says "I have a gub." He spends some time correcting them that he has a gun. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_522c0244 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_522c0244 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Take the Money and Run | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_522c0244 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5755b96a | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5755b96a | comment |
Very common in The Order of the Stick, which has Talking Is a Free Action in full force. For example, you get Roy trying to remind Xykon of the murder he's actually pursuing him for... As well as many inane discussions in the middle of fights about D&D rules (like with the half-ogre munchkin). Even outside of melee, a dramatic revelation can easily wander into Distracting Disambiguation and just spoil the effect: Even a pun-fight isn't safe from this. |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5755b96a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5755b96a | featureConfidence |
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| The Order of the Stick (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_5755b96a | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5c897f4a | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5c897f4a | comment |
Schlock Mercenary: After Petey gives an ultimatum to the Principal of Thrice, slipping a Hoist by His Own Petard reference to it. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5c897f4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_5c897f4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_5c897f4a | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_69daf29 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_69daf29 | comment |
Happens very shortly in Grrl Power, because Maxima is too professional to get easily distracted (unlike Sydney), especially when it Takes Ten to Hold Vehemence. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_69daf29 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_69daf29 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Grrl Power (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_69daf29 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6ac55ec7 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6ac55ec7 | comment |
Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition has a spell that can cause Distracting Disambiguation: Leomund's lamentable belabourment. The victims of this charm will start discussing with the caster on any topic of his choice, whether to agree or disagree, whatever the earlier situation. If the effect is prolonged, the creatures will continue arguing even if the mage walk away, and may end up either confused or enraged. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6ac55ec7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6ac55ec7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dungeons & Dragons (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_6ac55ec7 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6eb4ca5c | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6eb4ca5c | comment |
Early in season two of Jackie Chan Adventures, Tohru is fighting Hak Foo, whose schtick involves coming up with elaborate names for every single attack. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6eb4ca5c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_6eb4ca5c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Jackie Chan Adventures | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_6eb4ca5c | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_99949d04 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_99949d04 | comment |
In Wakfu Season 1 Episode 3, while fighting a villain named "The Black Raven", Yugo makes the point that all ravens are black. The team then immediately drops what they're doing in order to work on a better name for him, ignoring the feeble attempts of the Black Raven to remind them that they were about to fight. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_99949d04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_99949d04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wakfu | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_99949d04 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c0d401ea | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c0d401ea | comment |
In PepsiaPhobia, a tense hostage moment is ground to a halt by Phobia trying to say the name of the netherbeast, Klgwtzlpx... Krgbblfts... Krteskyblts... Krflksywlts... Krghxltlps... KRPHXYZWLPS! (the Z is silent). | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c0d401ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c0d401ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| PepsiaPhobia (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_c0d401ea | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c43df4d8 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c43df4d8 | comment |
Doctor Who: In "The Husbands of River Song", River tells the Doctor (not knowing it's him because of his latest regeneration) that she'll remove the organs of the next person who calls her by name — in alphabetical order. Prompting the Doctor to asks, "Which alphabet?" | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c43df4d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_c43df4d8 | featureConfidence |
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| Doctor Who | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_c43df4d8 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ca5d97f1 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ca5d97f1 | comment |
Monty Python's Flying Circus A man tries to skyjack a plane: Dennis Moore sketch: |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ca5d97f1 | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ca5d97f1 | featureConfidence |
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| Monty Python's Flying Circus | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_ca5d97f1 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e293455a | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e293455a | comment |
This happens quite a few times in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the midst of the Buffy Speak and general chitchat among heroes, villains, and between them. One season 7 episode, "Conversations with Dead People", has Buffy stop her fight with a newly risen vamp when it turns out he was a Sunnydale alumnus who'd had a crush on her. They spend the rest of the episode commiserating, and he even gives her therapy to get through her emotional troubles with Spike! Eventually, they fight and she dusts him. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e293455a | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e293455a | featureConfidence |
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| Buffy the Vampire Slayer | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_e293455a | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e75c6d45 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e75c6d45 | comment |
In Goblins, this come often with D&D rules . Minmax once stalls a fight against a bunch of demons because he had won initiative, and then they start arguing whether he'd drawn his sword beforehand or not. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e75c6d45 | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e75c6d45 | featureConfidence |
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| Goblins (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_e75c6d45 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e7e37776 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e7e37776 | comment |
Employed heavily in Firefly, unsurprising as it is another Joss Whedon show: | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e7e37776 | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_e7e37776 | featureConfidence |
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| Firefly | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_e7e37776 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ea4f62db | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ea4f62db | comment |
Family Guy, Season 2, Episode 13, "Road to Rhode Island". Brian and Stewie have stayed the night at a motel, but their credit card was declined. The manager comes knocking... | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ea4f62db | featureApplicability |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ea4f62db | featureConfidence |
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| Family Guy | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_ea4f62db | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_fe5f7909 | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_fe5f7909 | comment |
Guards! Guards!: There is a discussion on whether the female version of "Head Honcho" would involve the term Honchette, Honchessa, or Honcharina. Some monster-hunters discuss whether saving Ankh-Morpork is worth it because they're "only" being offered fifty thousand dollars instead of the Standard Hero Reward, and they get hung up on exactly what Vetinari would be offering them half of (he ain't a king! Well, half his Patrimony or whatever) and whether he could give them his aunt in Pseudopolis or, hilariously, his little dog, as a replacement for the nonexistent princess. |
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| Distracting Disambiguation / int_fe5f7909 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_fe5f7909 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Guards! Guards! | hasFeature |
Distracting Disambiguation / int_fe5f7909 | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ff7b68ba | type |
Distracting Disambiguation | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ff7b68ba | comment |
In an episode of Night Court, Mac's old war buddy starts choking and has enough trouble calling attention to this fact that he writes it with squeeze ketchup on the cafeteria table. | |
| Distracting Disambiguation / int_ff7b68ba | featureApplicability |
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Distracting Disambiguation / int_ff7b68ba |
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