Insistent Terminology: Difference between revisions

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Occasionally this extends into a [[I Am Not Weasel|species joke]], where an alien or funny animal corrects others about some stereotypical aspect. Can also be done with a person whose name has an unusual pronunciation -- see [[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"]].

Compare with [[Don't Call Me Sir]], [[They Call Me Mister Tibbs]], and [[Do Not Call Me Paul]]; compare and contrast with [[The European Carry All]]. [[Spell My Name With a "The"]], [[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"]], [[I Am Big Boned]], [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word]], [[Not Using the Z Word]] and [[I Am Not Weasel]] are specific sub-tropes of this. See also [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]]. For the fandom equivalent, see [[Gannon Banned]]. For the "adult" version, see [[Its Not Porn Its Art]].

Compare with [[Don't Call Me "Sir"!]], [[They Call Me Mister Tibbs]], and [[Do Not Call Me Paul]]; compare and contrast with [[The European Carry All]]. [[Spell My Name With a "The"]], [[It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"]], [[I Am Big Boned]], [[Blackmail Is Such an Ugly Word]], [[Not Using the Z Word]] and [[I Am Not Weasel]] are specific sub-tropes of this. See also [[She Is Not My Girlfriend]]. For the fandom equivalent, see [[Gannon Banned]]. For the "adult" version, see [[Its Not Porn Its Art]].

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* 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]].

* ''[[The Slayers]]''

** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'': Butch from the anime series constantly corrects those who get his name wrong. Everyone has mistaken his name for either "Biff", "Bill", "Bob", "Hutch", "Butcher", "Patch", "Botch", or "Chuck". Whenever his partner, Cassidy, gets it right, he accidentally corrects her with the wrong name.

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

* ''[[The Sandman (Comic Book)|The Sandman]]'' brings us [[Serial Killer|Fun-Land]]. "Not FUN! FUN-''LAND''!" This being The Sandman, it's actually pretty terrifying: the guy in question ''is'' a child-murdering sociopath hiding behind the mask of an amiable, slightly goofy fat guy who stalks his "prey" in [[Meaningful Name|amusement parks]].

* [[Deaths Head]], of the Marvel universe (and occasionally appearing in the ''[[The Transformers (Comic Book)|Transformers]]'' and ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' comics when Marvel had the license), is a freelance peacekeeping agent. Some call him bounty hunter, but never twice, [[Verbal Tic|yes?]]

* [[Deaths Head]], of the Marvel universe (and occasionally appearing in the ''[[The Transformers (Comic Book)|Transformers]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who]]'' comics when Marvel had the license), is a freelance peacekeeping agent. Some call him bounty hunter, but never twice, [[Verbal Tic|yes?]]

* ''[[Runaways]]'': Molly's code-name is '''Princess Powerful'''!

* [[Spider-Man]] has been known to correct villains who call him an insect, pointing out that spiders are technically arachnids.

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== Fan Works ==

* In ''[[Kyon Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]'', Kanae insists Kyon call her by her [[First-Name Basis|first name]] instead of her [[Last-Name Basis|last name]].

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]'', Kanae insists Kyon call her by her [[First-Name Basis|first name]] instead of her [[Last-Name Basis|last name]].

** Later, Achakura insists on calling Nonoko "[[Magical Girl|Magical Radiant Nonoko]]".

** Yakuza pretty consistently refer to themselves as "ninkyo dantai" ("chivalrous organization") and to rivals as "boryokudan" ("violence group").

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* ''[[Arrested Development (TV)|Arrested Development]]'': "'''ILLUSIONS, Michael.'''" A trick is something a whore does for money... Or cocaine!

* One of the first things Ned in the pilot of ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' says is that the people he brings back to life are not zombies or undead, merely "alive again".

* ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]''

* ''[[Doctor Who]]''

** In the 2007 Christmas special, Bannakaffalatta, a red-skinned, spikey alien {{spoiler|cyborg}}, takes it personally when the Doctor tries to call him "Banna".

** The Doctor in general is rather insistent that he ''borrowed'' the TARDIS, not stole it. {{spoiler|Meanwhile, the TARDIS herself insists that ''she'' stole ''him''.}}

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== Tabletop Games ==

* In the prodigious backstory of ''[[Warhammer (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer]]'', there was once a great war between the [[Elves vs. Dwarves|elves and the dwarfs]]. While the war was inevitable due to deep social, economic and cultural differences, an overly arrogant elven king and some too-stubborn dwarf lords, helped with a dark elven [[False Flag Operation]], the straw that broke the camel's back was when said elven king had the dwarven emissary to his court ''shaved'' for his own amusement. The subsequent war is known as "[[Serious Business|the War of Vengeance]]" to the dwarfs, who do not take kindly to use of the more common elven term, "the War of the Beard".

* In the prodigious backstory of ''[[Warhammer (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer]]'', there was once a great war between the [[Elves vs. Dwarves|elves and the dwarfs]]. While the war was inevitable due to deep social, economic and cultural differences, an overly arrogant elven king and some too-stubborn dwarf lords, helped with a dark elven [[False-Flag Operation]], the straw that broke the camel's back was when said elven king had the dwarven emissary to his court ''shaved'' for his own amusement. The subsequent war is known as "[[Serious Business|the War of Vengeance]]" to the dwarfs, who do not take kindly to use of the more common elven term, "the War of the Beard".

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* ''[[Kit N Kay Boodle]]'': Everyone must yiff (or boink, or pound)! The word sex is never used to describe what everyone is doing in every panel, which encourages the dissonance between the cutesy, cartoony art style and the extremely messy sexual content.

* Mary from ''[[Dubious Company]]'' learned that around [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen Marl]], elves and elfs are [[Fantastic Racism|completely]] different races.

** Also Elator's [[Girlish Pigtails|hair]] is '''[[Rated M for Manly|manly]]'''.

** Also Elator's [[Girlish Pigtails|hair]] is '''[[Rated "M" for Manly|manly]]'''.

* In [[Vattu]]: It's '''Lord''' Morrian.

* [[Inhuman]]. They're not furries, they're aliens.

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** And while we're on the subject, remember that you're supposed to pronounce it ''GNU '''slash''' Linux'', merely saying ''GNU Linux'' won't do.

** Stallman also stresses the difference between "freeware", that is, software that costs $0.00 but still has some restrictions on its use, and "free software", which can be used with absolutely no restrictions and is usually, but not necessarily, free of cost. He refers to the former as "free as in beer" and the latter as "free as in speech".

** Whatever you do, don't confuse [[We ARE Struggling Together|"free software" and "open-source software"]] around members of the Free Software Foundation (especially Stallman) or Open Source Initiative.

** Whatever you do, don't confuse [[We ARE Struggling Together!|"free software" and "open-source software"]] around members of the Free Software Foundation (especially Stallman) or Open Source Initiative.

** Possibly referenced in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1105 #1105].

* [[Harlan Ellison]] once stormed out of a radio interview after the host referred to his work as "[[Sci Fi]]" instead of "[[Science Fiction]]" or "[[Speculative Fiction]]".

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** Relatedly, "ex-Marine" is considered rude when used for anyone who got an Honorable Discharge from the USMC. Once a Marine, always a Marine, so "retired", "veteran", "inactive", and so on are variously preferred.

*** Some Marines take this rule to extremes, by including even the less-than-honorable dischargees: it's not unheard of to hear Marines insisting that there's only one ''real'' ex-Marine... [[Acceptable Target|Lee Harvey Oswald]]. (Murdering your own commander in chief is universally agreed to disqualify you for membership in the "Few and Proud.")

** Also, [[Don't Call Me Sir|don't address noncommissioned superiors with "sir"]]. They aren't officers; they ''work'' for a living!

** Also, [[Don't Call Me "Sir"!|don't address noncommissioned superiors with "sir"]]. They aren't officers; they ''work'' for a living!

*** Unless you are dealing with NCOs in the US Air Force, where calling them "Sir" or "Ma'am" is perfectly acceptable.<ref>This is generally accepted as going back to the bomber crews of [[World War II]]: [[Band of Brothers|Tightly-knit teams]] that were a mix of officers and NCOs, and who very much depended on each other for survival.</ref> Any sergeants who protest to being addressed thus are generally recognized as [[The Neidermeyer|having a metaphorical stick up their hindparts.]]

** The uninformed often have a habit of referring to all Naval junior rates as Seamen. The rate of Seaman is a particular specialisation dealing with on deck evolutions and maintenance. Try referring to an engineering rating, particularly one who has had years of specialised training (eg. electrician, fitter, etc) as a Seaman and [[Berserk Button|see what happens.]]

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** This is one of those things that's over the heads of most people. Only really those within this culture really know the difference.

* Expect a polite correction if you refer to a Central European country from the former [[Commie Land|Soviet bloc]] as being in Eastern Europe in the presence of a resident of one of these countries, especially the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland or Hungary. Czechs will point out that Prague is west of Vienna and nobody calls Austria Eastern Europe, and Poles will point out that the geographical centre of Europe is arguably located in their country. Although most people would argue it's in [http://toolserver.org/~geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Geographical_midpoint_of_Europe¶ms=54_54_N_25_19_E_type:landmark&title=Purnu%C5%A1k%C4%97s+%28centre+of+gravity%29 Lithuania].

* In places that have changed hands often or recently, the name by which you call a country or city has a chance of offending the listener. It might well be [[Shout Out|Istanbul, not Constantinople]] ... but I don't recommend using the former among a crowd of Greeks. Nor would it be a smart move to refer to "Gdansk" in the presence of anyone whose grandparents were forcibly expelled from what had been the German city of Danzig for the millennium preceding WWII.

* In places that have changed hands often or recently, the name by which you call a country or city has a chance of offending the listener. It might well be [[Shout-Out|Istanbul, not Constantinople]] ... but I don't recommend using the former among a crowd of Greeks. Nor would it be a smart move to refer to "Gdansk" in the presence of anyone whose grandparents were forcibly expelled from what had been the German city of Danzig for the millennium preceding WWII.

* The British art gallery brand Tate once asked taxi drivers to correct passengers wanting to go to "the Tate"; they actually wanted to go to "Tate Britain". Spell My Name ''[[Inverted Trope|Without]]'' a The, to distinguish the original gallery (now Tate Britain) from the newer Tate Modern gallery which is a couple of miles away from the original gallery. To which a snarky fare might reply, "OK, take me to the British Museum instead."

* A group of Lesbians (as in inhabitants of the island of Lesbos) recently [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7376919.stm went to court to get people to stop using the word "lesbian" to mean "gay woman"]. They [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7520343.stm failed].

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** The strict naming rules require that the name assigned first must be used, and it turned out that a specimen was labeled "apatosaurus" before "brontosaurus" was coined. The paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote the essay "Bully for Brontosaurus" about his preference for that name.

* Pastor Ernie Sanders, a right wing [[Fundamentalist]] radio preacher in the [[Cleveland]] area, has a version of this trope that many people will find offensive. According to Sanders, Democrats are "socialists" and/or "communists", homosexuals are "sodomites", etc.

** Incidentally, most actual socialists/communists/assorted other far left groups object to being compared to the Democratic Party, the mainstream of which is too conservative for their tastes. Center-lefties tend to return the favor, as the center left tends to have no particular problem with (properly regulated) capitalism and don't tend to hold the more collectivist principles of socialism and Communism as gospel. (Also, Communists are a radical subset of socialists, [[We ARE Struggling Together|etc.]])

** Incidentally, most actual socialists/communists/assorted other far left groups object to being compared to the Democratic Party, the mainstream of which is too conservative for their tastes. Center-lefties tend to return the favor, as the center left tends to have no particular problem with (properly regulated) capitalism and don't tend to hold the more collectivist principles of socialism and Communism as gospel. (Also, Communists are a radical subset of socialists, [[We ARE Struggling Together!|etc.]])

* [[Mr. T]], who actually changed his name<ref>Laurence Tureaud</ref> so people would ''have'' to address him as "Mr." This came out of watching people call his grown male relatives "boy" due to the institutional racism of the day:

{{quote| "I think about my father being called 'boy,' my uncle being called 'boy,' my brother, coming back from Vietnam and being called 'boy.' So I questioned myself: 'What does a black man have to do before he's given the respect as a man?' So when I was 18 years old, when I was old enough to fight and die for my country, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, I said I was old enough to be called a man. I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody's mouth is 'Mr.' That's a sign of respect that my father didn't get, that my brother didn't get, that my mother didn't get."}}

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* In the theater world, there is a clear distinction between a soundboard operator and sound engineer. An operator simply operates, and often does little more than turn mics on and off at the beginning and end of the show, with a little bit of pre-show music. An engineer fiddles with the settings of every mic, sometimes mid-show, runs a complex set of music and sound effects, and will be very offended if you call them an operator.

* In 2009, US Senator Barbara Boxer caught some heat while holding a congressional hearing. When Brigadier General Michael Walsh addressed her as "ma'am", she requested that he address her as "Senator". This touched off a nationwide debate as to whether it was acceptable for the officer to abide by military conventions (in which "ma'am" is an accepted term for all women) or if he should address the senator by her preferred honorific.

** Notably, General Walsh did not seem offended by her request. As a general officer in the US Military, he was probably well accustomed to people who [[Don't Call Me Sir|didn't like being called "Sir" or "Ma'am"]]

** Notably, General Walsh did not seem offended by her request. As a general officer in the US Military, he was probably well accustomed to people who [[Don't Call Me "Sir"!|didn't like being called "Sir" or "Ma'am"]]

* Walmart has no employees. They call them "associates". Also, they don't make profit, but "surplus".

* Medical marijuana users don't get high, they medicate. "Getting high" refers specifically to consuming it for the recreational side effect, rather than for any medicinal reason. This is similar to how taking a dose of cough syrup is "fighting a cold" and chugging the bottle is "attempting an hallucinogenic trip."

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* Likewise, the words "fantasize" and "imagine" mean pretty much the same thing. People are usually encouraged to have an "imagination", but are usually discouraged from "fantasizing".

* [[Formula One]] races; it's not "[proper adjective] Grand Prix", or "[name of country] Grand Prix", it's "Grand Prix of [name of country]".

* Try calling a full ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' story from the classic era an "episode" around an [[Fan Dumb|elitist]] fan. None will miss a chance to correct your blunder and insist you call it a '''serial'''.

* Try calling a full ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story from the classic era an "episode" around an [[Fan Dumb|elitist]] fan. None will miss a chance to correct your blunder and insist you call it a '''serial'''.

** [[Fan Dumb|Even though the official DVD releases use that exact terminology.]]

*** Or go onto any Doctor Who message board and refer the main characters as "Doctor Who" (or, god forbid "Dr. Who"). They will remind you that he is "The Doctor".

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* White supremacists often insist that they're not racists, they're ''racialists'', as if that makes their ideas any more respectable.

* ''[http://www.bangpdx.com/ BANG! The Entertainment Paper]'' is not a newspaper, since the people who make the stories and comics within strive to entertain, not to detail current events.

* TV Tropes has a few. For example, British television show ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~Doctor Who]]'' 's main character (other than the companions, according to [[Word of God]]) is named "The Doctor" as is ''[[Star Trek Voyager (TV)|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 ~~(TV)~~|that Doctor]]."

* 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 (TV)|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.

** Taken to a logical extreme, some BRT proponents have resorted to calling the buses as ''"BRT vehicles"''. Even more so, Ottawa's bus system, [http://www.octranspo.com/ OC Transpo], has considered the Transitway as the foundation of Canada's capital city's "Rapid Transit Network".

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[[Category:The Turing Option]]

[[Category:Insistent Terminology]]

[[Category:Trope]]