Distracting Disambiguation: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Roy:''' I'll take on the archers. Haley, V: Slow down that wizard!<br />

'''Haley:''' She's a sorcerer, actually.<br />

'''Vaarsuvius:''' Technically, a sorcer'''ess'''.<br />

'''Roy:''' Wow, I can't tell you how much more fulfilling this battle will be now that I can refer to my enemy by the proper appellation. Now stop wasting time and get moving!<br />

'''Haley:''' Relax, [[Talking Is a Free Action|speaking is a free action.]]|''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0166.html strip #166]}}

{{quote| '''Commander''': I hope you're all ready, because today is the day we DIIIIIE!<br />

'''Everyone''': YE- Wait, wha...?<br />

* In ''[[The SquiresSquire's Tales|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 tense of "cleave".

* ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]'' gives us a discussion on whether the female version of "head honcho" would involve the term Honchette, Honchessa, or Honcharina.

* This happens quite a few times in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' in the midst of the [[Buffy-Speak]] and general chitchat among heroes, villains, and between them.

{{quote| '''Webs:''' Oh, my God!<br />

'''Buffy:''' Oh, your God, what?<br />

'''Webs:''' Oh, well, you know, not my God, because I defy him and all of his works. Does he exist? Is there word on that, by the way?<br />

{{quote| '''Man:''' All right, don't anybody move... except to control the aeroplane... you can move a little to do that.<br />

'''Stewardess:''' Can I move?<br />

{{quote| '''Dennis:''' Stand and deliver! Drop that gun! ''[Moore shoots him]'' Let that be a warning to you all. You move at your peril, for I have two pistols here. I know one of them isn't loaded any more, but the other one is, so that's one of you dead for sure... or just about for sure anyway. It certainly wouldn't be worth your while risking it because I'm a very good shot. I practice every day... well, not absolutely every day, but most days in the week... I expect I must practice, oh, at least four or five times a week at least... at least four or five, only some weekends... like last weekend, there really wasn't the time, so that moved the average down a bit... but I should say it's definitely a solid four days' practice a week... at least. I mean... I reckon I could hit that tree over there... the one just behind that hillock... not the big hillock, the little hillock on the left. You see the three trees, the third from the left and back a bit -- that one -- I reckon I could hit that four times out of five... on a good day. Say with this wind... say, say, seven times out of ten.<br />

'''Man:''' What, that tree there?<br />

'''Dennis:''' Which one?<br />

'''Man:''' The big beech with the sort of bare branch coming out of the top left.<br />

{{quote| '''Mac:''' "I'm... cooking"?<br />

''(he desperately wipes and edits it)''<br />

* Employed heavily in ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'', unsurprising as it is another Joss Whedon show:

{{quote| '''Simon:''' ''(being held up at gunpoint)'' Are you Alliance?<br />

'''Jubal Early:''' Am I a lion?<br />

'''Simon:''' What?<br />

'''Jubal Early:''' I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though, I have a mighty roar.<br />

'''Simon:''' I said Alliance.<br />

'''Jubal Early:''' Oh, I thought...<br />

'''Simon:''' No, I was...<br />

* In the Volume 4 finale of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', Sylar is holding Claire hostage and taunting her by listing all the members of her family he's going to kill, when:

{{quote| '''Sylar:''' Papa Petrelli, Mama Bennet, Mr. Muggles... What's your brother's name again? Larry?<br />

'''Claire:''' Lyle.<br />

* In the BBC radio play of ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Radioradio series)|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 [[Pardon My Klingon|unusual exclamation]] Zaphod used.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'' 2nd Edition actually 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.

* ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' '''runs''' on this trope. Just pick a strip, ''any'' strip. They even become [[Genre Savvy]] to their tendency to do this at one point, pointing out that how they deal with threats is bicker, argue semantics, stall with Fighter, hurt each other, bicker some more and ''then'' implement a brilliant plan from out of nowhere.

{{quote| "[[Asymmetric Dilemma|And anyway, you're a villain.]]"}}

* Very common in ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|The Order of the Stick]]'', which has [[Talking Is a Free Action]] in full force.

** Even outside of melee, a dramatic revelation can easily wander into Distracting Disambiguation [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0292.html and just spoil the effect]:

{{quote| '''Eugene:''' '''<big>Xykon is alive!!</big>'''<br />

'''Roy:''' What??<br />

'''Eugene:''' Well, I don't mean actually alive. Technically, he's still dead, just not, you know, DEAD-dead.<br />

He's undead, right, so he's up and moving around, even though he's still life signs: negative. But it's not like he just spontaneously came back to life.<br />

I mean, he DID come back spontaneously, but back to, uh, undeath, I suppose.<br />

{{quote| '''Elan:''' --and I'll foil your evil plans!<br />

'''Tarquin:''' Then I wonder what I've begotten into.<br />

Also, "foil" is less of a pun than it is a word derivation. We say someone "foiled" a plan because they defeated them -- as with a foil.<br />

'''Elan:''' Really?<br />

* Same principle in ''[[Goblins (Webcomic)|Goblins]]'', again with ''D&D'' rules. Minmax once [http://www.goblinscomic.com/07302005/ stalled a fight against a bunch of demons] because he had won initiative, and then they started arguing whether he'd drawn his sword beforehand or not.

* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|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...

{{quote| '''Manager:''' Open up or I'll hit you with this blunt instrument I use to hit dead-beats with bad credit cards. Well, it's not an instrument, it's more of an object, but it's blunt, hard and blunt, and well... it's kinda like a bat. I found it out back one day when I was raking.}}

* In ''[[Wakfu (Animation)|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.

* Early in season two of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures (Animation)|Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', [[Heel Face Turn|Torhu]] is fighting Hak Foo, whose schtick involves coming up with elaborate names for [[Calling Your Attacks|every single attack]].

{{quote| '''Hak Foo:''' Mad Monkey Kung Fu! Octopus Fists of Fury! Shredding Lion Claws! Minnow Whallops Whale!<br />

'''Torhu:''' I'm sorry, what was the last part?<br />

* Pinkie Pie on ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' often indulges in this, as part of her [[Cloudcuckoolander]] persona.

{{quote| '''Spike:''' You know, Pinkie, these two ponies have a bit of a grudge match they try to settle, trying to prove who's the most athletic.<br />

'''Pinkie:''' ''Yes!'' And grudge rhymes with fudge!<br />

'''Spike:''' Yes it... does? What?<br />