Insistent Terminology: Difference between revisions

* Kotomi from ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' insists on being addressed with "Kotomi-chan" and won't even register other forms of address. This makes most people somewhat uncomfortable, as it is a rather intimate form of address.

** In the same show, Fuko's carvings are starfish, not stars.

** Greatly exaggerated in the minds of fans. Washu did this ''once'' in ''Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki,'' and six episodes later it came back to bite her on the butt when she discovered that Mihoshi had included it in her report. That hasn't stopped fanfic writers using it to death.

* Suzuka from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' somewhat fits this trope during his first appearance in the Dark Tournament. He insists on being called "The Beautiful Suzuka" and promises that anyone who doesn't refer to him as such will not live to repeat their mistake. When the foxgirl announcer Koto just calls him Suzuka, he shows his annoyance by hurling a razor sharp playing card at her head. She manages to duck as the card skewers the demon sitting behind her, scaring her enough to use Suzuka's title and constantly compliment him and his techniques during the match. And even once [[Call Back|a whole two sagas later]].

** Lina Inverse insists on referring to Philionel El Di Saillune as the "First Royal Successor". Don't call him "Prince" in front of her. Just don't. In the novels, this is partly because, thanks to [[Royally Screwed-Up|some succession issues with Saillune's royal family]], this is his actual title. He really isn't a prince, even if he is the current ruler's son.

** Not to mention the number of people Lina has to, ahem, correct about the various titles she's usually introduced with. Generally by the assembly of local banditry.

* Albireo Imma of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' likes his tournament alias of "Ku:Nel Sanders" so much that he requests everyone to call him by that name and will pretend to ignore you if you call him by his original name.

* ''[[Spice and Wolf]]'': By the way, did you know that Holo is wise?

** Sasuke corrects Deidara that his jutsu is called "Chidori", not "Raikiri" (Lightning Blade). "Chidori" is the formal jutsu name, and "Raikiri" is the nickname given to Kakashi's version.

** On a number of occasions, Shikamaru and Shikaku corrected their opponents by insisting that their technique is called Shadow Imitation Technique (Kagemane no Jutsu) and not Shadow Bind Technique (Kage Shibari no Jutsu). The Shadow Imitation Technique is more refined version of the older Shadow Bind.

{{quote|'''Arf:''' It's the same damn thing!}}

** Given that the Belkan magic system's terminology differs from the more common Mid-Childa system in many ways ("knights" instead of "mages"; "knight armor" instead of "barrier jackets"), Arf is probably correct that there's no actual difference between a guardian beast and a familiar.

* Kei and Yuri's codename is "[[Lovely Angels]]". Don't ever call them the [[Dirty Pair]], you jerk!

* ''[[Butterflies, Flowers]]'': Domoto insists that Choko address him as "Director Domoto ♥" when on the job. [[Say It with Hearts|Don't forget the heart]].

** "Call me Christ!"

** And inverted with "I'm not an angel".

* Maiza Avaro and Firo Prochainezo of ''[[Baccano!]]'' often remind other characters that the particular type of criminal sydicate of Italian origin to which they belong is ''not'' [[The Mafia]], but the ''Camorra''.

* [[Half-Human Hybrid|Rin]] of ''[[Blue Exorcist]]'' is ''not'' a [[Berserk Button|demon.]]

* [[Dragonball Z]] has Vegeta insisting on calling Goku by his Saiyan birth name of Kakarot.

* A very poignant use crops up a lot in ''[[Code Geass]]''; the racist, darwinist Britannians call those who were once Japanese "Elevens", since Japan was redesignated "Area 11" after the Britannians invaded, as a way of oppressing the Japanese; They go as far as to illegalise the use of the terms "Japan" and "Japanese". It is frequently done by two characters:

== Comic Books ==

* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]: Season 8'' comics have Dawn cursed to turn into three things. She would like you to know that the second one was not a centaur, it was a centaurette, which is, as she defined it, a girl centaur.

** Vampires in Neopolis prefer [[Not Using the Zed Word|not to say the zed word]]; One, when called a vampire, insists he's "a Hungarian-American with an inherited medical condition."

** Robots, who are victims of [[Fantastic Racism]], tend to insist on being acknowledged as "Ferro-Americans" or "Post-Organics".

* In the ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'' comics, the Nazi head-in-a-jar mad scientist Herman Von Klempt gets ''very upset'' if you call his ape a monkey.

* [[Captain Mar-Vell]] would often insist he be called by his actual name and not "Captain Marvel".

 

== Fan Works ==

* In ''[[The Vinyl Scratch Tapes]]'', Octavia doesn't have a ''band'', she is part of an ''ensemble''.

* In [[The Teraverse]], stories set in San Diego often mention the "Fire-Rescue Department", ''not'' "Fire Department"; justified, since the city's fire department (in real life as well as in the stories) is administratively combined with its EMT and beachfront lifeguard services. There is also a character (of French descent) named Marie-Therese, who is so insistent about her first name being hyphenated that one of her Internet screennames is revealed to be "notwithoutmyhyphen". (Considering that she is closely associated with a Marie, it also helps to avoid confusion.)

 

== Film ==

* ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'': "It's not slime, it's mucus!"

** "That's a harp... and that's a dress." "''ROBE.''"

** "We've been through this... It's a HARP. and you know it."

** This causes [[The Igor|his nonplussed assistant]] to claim his name is pronounced "Eye-gor", and to call Frederick "Froederick".

** Reversed, however, when the creature is recaptured: Igor addresses the doctor as "Fronkenshteen", and he screams "[[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|My name... is... FRANKENSTEIN!]]"

** "Mr. Sparrow." "''[[They Call Me Mister Tibbs|Captain]]'' Jack Sparrow!"

** Davy Jones [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this in the second movie:

 

== Literature ==

** The ''[[Mort]]'' book has Mortimer, who, whatever the topic of conversation, would reflexively correct anyone who called him "boy" or "you" by giving his name. {{spoiler|In the final duel this becomes a [[Berserk Button]]}}.

** From ''[[Making Money]]'', Unseen University has a Department of Postmortem Communications, who summon the spirits of dead people to talk to them. They are ''not'' "necromancers". Necromancy, in fact, is strictly forbidden at Unseen University!

** Ankh-Morpork's Guild of Seamstresses prefer to be known as the "Ladies of Negotiable Affection". '''Not'' prostitutes, "''Ladies of Negotiable Affection''".

** Unseen University librarian is an ape, not the M-word. Knowing the difference is part of natural selection.

** Let us not forget ''Miss'' Susan Sto Helit (the granddaughter of Death).

** Or ''Mister'' Vimes, who insists on the title (even after he is technically ''Sir'' Samuel Vimes or even the ''Duke'' of Ankh.)

** In the [[Comic Book Adaptation]], Aahz's apprentice Skeeve correctly addresses another Pervect, who starts to scream at him... then stops, astonished to realize someone actually got it right, and asks politely what he can do for Skeeve.

*** It's all especially funny because ''all'' racial terms in the books are insults. Skeeve, for example, is a Klahd because he's from Klah, and the characters from Trollia are Trolls or Trollops, depending on sex. Pervects are thus asking for respect that no one else gets (or cares about much). Then again, they are Pervects, so they mostly get it.

** Parodied by his [[Expy]] Milo Perrier in the movie ''[[Murder By Death]]'', where he indignantly responds to someone calling him "Frenchie" with "I'm not a Frenchie! I'm a Belgie!"

** There was also a "I am not Belgian, I am FRENCH!" moment, followed immediately by "My apologies. Correcting people has become a reflex."

** "You seem to have mistaken me for some mild mannered youth! I am STUPENDOUS MAN!"

* In one ''[[Bloom County]]'' storyline, Opus becomes a garbageman but insists upon calling himself a "waste-management artisan". When Milo [[Lampshade Hanging|calls Opus out on how dumb that sounds]], he asks, "What did [[Ronald Reagan]] call those weapons shipments to Iran?" Milo answers "'Goodwill gifts'", to which Opus replies "I'm a waste-management artist, thank you very much."

{{quote|'''Andy:''' If we're all brothers, how come I'm so fuzzy, you're so skinny, and Olaf is so fat?

'''Spike:''' I'm not skinny, I'm ''trim!''

'''Andy:''' You're not fat?

'''Olaf:''' I'm ''roly-poly!''}}

 

* In one folk tale, it's said that the Chinese used to give extravagant names to their firstborn sons but very plain names to their younger children. So when Chang, the second-born, sees his brother, Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sa-rembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-peri-pembo, fall into the well, he tries to tell his mother... only to be repeatedly told to give his brother the proper respect by saying his name ''properly''. In the aftermath (the kid was alive, but suffered a terrible cold), the Chinese culture changed to where even firstborns had short, sensible names... like Chang.

** "Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo" was the first child's name, according to [[The Other Wiki]]. While claimed to be Chinese, about the only thing anybody agrees on about the tale's origins is the impossibility of it being Chinese.

* The robes worn by a Catholic priest on Gaudete Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent) and Laetare Sunday (the Fourth Sunday of Lent) are rose-colored. ''They are not pink.''

 

* Within ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'', the people who wrestle are not "wrestlers", they're "superstars", and female wrestlers are called "divas". And the titles they wrestle for are not "belts", they're "championships". Nor are "wrestling fans" called such; they're the "WWE Universe". Also, it's not even called pro-wrestling anymore, it's "sports entertainment"... or at least, it was. "Sports" has been put in the banned list too, so now it's just "entertainment" or "action soap opera". And they don't even have "athletes" or "sportsmen", but "entertainers with tremendous athletic prowess". [[Vince McMahon]] doesn't seem to like to be reminded that he runs a professional wrestling company.

** This has led to a fun game of [[Loophole Abuse]] with rival company [[TNA]]. A few [[TNA]] fansites have begun to claim that [[TNA]] is now the number one wrestling company in the world, since [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] is fighting the world "wrestling" at every turn.

** Over the past decade or so, anyone whose seen to be particularly rebellious or anti-establishment within WWE (ex: [[Joey Styles]], [[Chris Jericho]], [[CM Punk]]) will make fun of the term "sports entertainment", boldly emphasize "wrestling", or simply do both. Interestingly, many of these people have some significant connection to [[ECW]].

* Similar to, and possibly the inspiration for, the ''Grinch'' movie example above, is wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. Piper is legitimately of Scottish descent, and often wears a traditional kilt to the ring. Of course, his opponent will invariably comment about how he doesn't want to wrestle someone in a "skirt". Piper's response: "It's not a skirt, it's a kilt!", [[Berserk Button|followed by some serious pummeling]].

* Weapons that aren't supposed to be used in a wrestling match are commonly called "foreign objects". During a period of time in which WCW was trying to present itself as a cleaner and more tolerant alternative to the WWF, these were renamed "international objects" because standards and practices didn't like that use of the word foreign.

 

* In ''[[Planescape]]'', a tiefling will likely take offense to be called a "bastard" or "half-breed" (of course, who wouldn't?); "planetouched" they're okay with, though they prefer "Sir" or "Lady".

 

* An old Vaudeville joke involves a man who thinks he's found his long-lost friend. The straight man says nothing except "I'm not Rappaport", thereby giving the joke its name. It also inspired a successful play in [[The Eighties]] as well as a film starring Walter Mathau.

{{quote|'''Joker:''' Hey, Rappaport! I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?

** And the comic itself, which is a part of the Gaslamp Fantasy genre, most definitely not [[Steampunk]].

** And when a mad scientist is playing with them, « ...they're not dolls! They're ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20181109 research manikins]''».

* ''[[Pokémon-X]]'': His name is Jim Gai, but you can just call him Gym Guy. Except when he randomly reverses this. It seems that whatever spelling he prefers is the one that the protagonists did not just use.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'':

** Confuse the different Scandinavian countries. I dare you! To clear up: The Scandinavian countries have much in common, and are generally on very good terms with each other, but do not take kindly to foreigners thinking a Dane is a Norwegian (or vice versa) or Norway being a part of Sweden.

** Also, Sweden is '''not''' to be confused with Switzerland.

** Actually, this is more relevant depending on the person you're talking to. If you are talking to left-wing defender, professors, and university students (usually the ones related to history, sociology, etc), and some newspapers (then again, it shows a lot the opinion of the corporation—if it's more right-wing or directed to a more homogeneous public, probably "Americano" will be the option), this is more common.

* Many holders of PhD degrees, as well as MD, DDS, and similar medical degrees are emphatically insistent on being referred to as ''Dr.'' Your Name Here, '''not''' Mr./Ms./Mrs. thankyouverymuch. When working in the retail or service industry, this is typically a sign that the person is going to be very difficult to deal with.

* TV Tropes has a few. For example, British television show ''[[Doctor Who]]'' 's main character (other than the companions, according to [[Word of God]]) is named "The Doctor" as is ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' 's holographic doctor who never settled on a proper name for himself. Any reference to "The Doctor" of Voyager will be followed by "no not [[Doctor Who|that Doctor]]."

* It is [[wikipedia:Bus rapid transit|bus rapid transit (BRT)]] ''stations'', not BRT ''stops''. BRT has been gaining prominence through notable examples such as the [[wikipedia:Ottawa Rapid Transit#Transitway|Transitway]] in Ottawa, Canada, the [[wikipedia:TransMilenio|TransMilenio]] system in Bogotá, Colombia, and other BRT systems in cities such as Mexico City and Curitiba, Brazil.

* Until 1999, France officially used the expression "Événements d'Algérie" ("Algeria Events") instead of "Guerre d'Algérie" ("[[wikipedia:Algerian War|Algerian War]]"). During more than forty years, this conflict (which killed more than 150,000 people) wasn't considered to be an official war.

* The USA does not use "Torture"; it uses "Aggressive Interrogation Methods".