Expo Label: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:Camera smashing robot.jpg|link=Superman|frame|Two Examples of an [['''Expo Label]]''', Including This Caption]]
 
[[As You Know]], one of the more obnoxious side-effects of [[World Building|creating a believable world]] in [[Speculative Fiction]] is [[Expospeak]]. Aha! [[Inner Monologue|I've got it!]] An alternative to using a [[Narrator]] (or making characters look bat-shit crazy as they stand around talking to themselves) is to label everything so clearly that the audience can tell what it is without further explanation! Everything shall be [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]!
 
Most ordinary things are not labeled like that in [[Real Life]]. While an [['''Expo Label]]''' or two can help with the pacing, they can easily come across as silly and awkward.
 
On the other hand, various scientific and technical fields are notorious for labeling everything in sight. Console gauges, dials and switches are often clearly marked, with broken components tagged as such to reduce costly (or potentially lethal) operator errors. Programming courses actually encourage you to label every single thing you code.
 
Accordingly, the [[Big Red Button]] often has an [['''Expo Label]]'''. Bonus points if it's handwritten on a piece of masking tape because the creator hasn't had the time or inclination to mount anything permanent.
 
{{examples}}
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* As the above picture indicates, these used to be painfully present in ''[[Superman]]'' comics. Another particularly strong example was the Floating [[Redundancy Department of Redundancy|Anti-gravity]] [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=87 Bed of Krypton]. And Lois Lane was ''still'' confused when she found it floating.
* ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'': Absolutely everywhere. The characters can see them as well.
* From Superdickery.com -- [[media:Camera smashing robot.jpg|This Robot Is Trained To Smash Your Camera]], [[media:Sensor_Autodog_5555Sensor Autodog 5555.jpg|Sensor Autodog]], [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=40 Projector for Dematerializing Any Matter for One Minute], [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=42 The Mechanical Brain], [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=54 Luthor Android Hate Tapes], [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=60 Spare Robot-Parts], [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=33&Itemid=52&limitstart=69 Super Powers Tester]
 
 
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** This may have been inspired by a [[Real Life]] incident in which everything in a lab was labelled for the benefit of a visiting executive. One of the labels covered a product logo which provided the same information (plus a brand name).
* In just about every [[Political Cartoon]] ever ([http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/Iraq4Years/main.asp I wonder what that giant monster represents?])
** Parodied on ''[[The Onion]]''-- in—in which political cartoons often feature children labeled "Innocent Kids", villains with labels like "Insensitive Citizens ([[Hollywood Atheist|Probably Seculars]])" and "Today's Lazy Moms", and [[The Grim Reaper]] labeled with something random [[Ripped from the Headlines]].
** [http://www.cracked.com/article_18680_political-cartoons-lowest-form-communication.html Cracked] and [http://chainsawsuit.com/2010/08/24/good-idea/ Chainsawsuit] also made fun of it as well.
* A ''[[The Far Side]]'' cartoon had a man standing in his yard after painting labels such as THE HOUSE, MY SHIRT, THE DOG, THE CAT on everything with a caption of "There! That should clear things up around here!"
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