History Administrivia / TropeDecay

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16862320830.78103200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

When this gets too bad, it may be necessary to [[Administrivia/EverythingYouWantedToKnowAboutChangingTitles rename the trope]] to avoid confusion, or remove the {{trope}}, or completely rewrite it. The [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/conversations.php?topic=renames Trope Repair Shop]] is where these cleanup discussions happen.

Administrivia/TropesAreTools applies even here, however; Trope Decay can sometimes be the result of the Wiki/TVTropes HiveMind ''correcting'' a problem. This is particularly true when the original definition is [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible excessively specific]] or the trope experiences Administrivia/MissingSupertrope Syndrome. For an excellent example of both, witness the evolution of the trope BodyHorror. Body Horror was originally defined as a narrow set of VirusVictimSymptoms. Over the course of several years, however, the commonly accepted usage gradually drifted and expanded to become ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the previously missing supertrope to all anatomy-related horror tropes. When brought into the repair shop, this "misused" form of the trope was voted by a significant margin to be the better definition and made official. The original narrow definition, meanwhile, is now the Traumatic Transformation internal subtrope of Body Horror's subtrope TransformationHorror.

Administrivia/TropesAreTools applies even here, however; Trope Decay can sometimes be the result of the Wiki/TVTropes HiveMind ''correcting'' a problem. This is particularly true when the original definition is [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible excessively specific]] or the trope experiences MissingSupertropeSyndrome. For an excellent example of both, witness the evolution of the trope BodyHorror. Body Horror was originally defined as a narrow set of VirusVictimSymptoms. Over the course of several years, however, the commonly accepted usage gradually drifted and expanded to become ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the previously missing supertrope to all anatomy-related horror tropes. When brought into the repair shop, this "misused" form of the trope was voted by a significant margin to be the better definition and made official. The original narrow definition, meanwhile, is now the Traumatic Transformation internal subtrope of Body Horror's subtrope TransformationHorror.

Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad applies even here, however; Trope Decay can sometimes be the result of the Wiki/TVTropes HiveMind ''correcting'' a problem. This is particularly true when the original definition is [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible excessively specific]] or the trope experiences MissingSupertropeSyndrome. For an excellent example of both, witness the evolution of the trope BodyHorror. Body Horror was originally defined as a narrow set of VirusVictimSymptoms. Over the course of several years, however, the commonly accepted usage gradually drifted and expanded to become ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the previously missing supertrope to all anatomy-related horror tropes. When brought into the repair shop, this "misused" form of the trope was voted by a significant margin to be the better definition and made official. The original narrow definition, meanwhile, is now the Traumatic Transformation internal subtrope of Body Horror's subtrope TransformationHorror.

TropesAreNotBad applies even here, however; Trope Decay can sometimes be the result of the Wiki/TVTropes HiveMind ''correcting'' a problem. This is particularly true when the original definition is [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible excessively specific]] or the trope experiences MissingSupertropeSyndrome. For an excellent example of both, witness the evolution of the trope BodyHorror. Body Horror was originally defined as a narrow set of VirusVictimSymptoms. Over the course of several years, however, the commonly accepted usage gradually drifted and expanded to become ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the previously missing supertrope to all anatomy-related horror tropes. When brought into the repair shop, this "misused" form of the trope was voted by a significant margin to be the better definition and made official. The original narrow definition, meanwhile, is now the Traumatic Transformation internal subtrope of Body Horror's subtrope TransformationHorror.

See also CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions and SquarePegRoundTrope.

Sometimes, the idea of what a {{trope}} is about is lost along the way. New examples get written by imitating previous examples, or just by reading the page title and free-associating. Then more examples are written in imitation of those bogus examples. Some ''[[SarcasmMode helpful]]'' soul rewrites the description to match the expanded set of examples, which inspires even further far-fetched examples. Eventually the page degenerates into a list of television shows people like.

The cure for decay is to edit vigorously: trim shoehorned examples so they don't inspire more shoehorned examples. Ensure the page description begins by describing the trope and ends once it has finished describing the trope, so people actually read it.

"'''A rare variation:'''" and "'''a literal example:'''" are two wiki-specific stock phrases you'll often see used to rationalise contrived examples. [[WordCruft Zap 'em.]]

For a comprehensive list of pages prone to gangrene, see SquarePegRoundTrope.

When decay becomes a chronic condition, it may be necessary to [[Administrivia/EverythingYouWantedToKnowAboutChangingTitles rename the trope]] to avoid confusion, or remove the trope, or completely rewrite it. The [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/conversations.php?topic=renames Trope Repair Shop]] is where these cleanup discussions happen.

See also CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions and MissingSupertrope.

Sometimes, the idea of what a {{trope}} is about is lost along the way. New examples get written by imitating previous examples, or just by reading the page title and free-associating. Then more examples are written in imitation of those bogus examples. Some helpful soul rewrites the description to match the expanded set of examples, which inspires even further far-fetched examples. Eventually the page degenerates into a list of television shows people like.

Sometimes, the idea of what a {{trope}} is actually about gets lost somewhere along the way. Either new entries miss the point somehow, or the author just read the trope title and [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant thought they got the gist of it]]. This includes things like describing just anything remotely scary as Nightmare Fuel, when Nightmare Fuel was originally intended to be things you found unintentionally scary as a kid (hence why AccidentalNightmareFuel was created and NightmareFuel repurposed). Remember though, that Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible--what you think is decay may just be [[PlayingWithATrope unusual usage]] on second glance.

When this gets too bad, it may be necessary to [[Administrivia/EverythingYouWantedToKnowAboutChangingTitles rename the trope]] to avoid confusion, or remove the {{trope}}, or completely rewrite it. The [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/conversations.php?topic=renames Trope Repair Shop]] is where these cleanup discussions happen.

TropesAreNotBad applies even here, however; Trope Decay can sometimes be the result of the Wiki/TVTropes HiveMind ''correcting'' a problem. This is particularly true when the original definition is [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible excessively specific]] or the trope experiences MissingSupertropeSyndrome. For an excellent example of both, witness the evolution of the trope BodyHorror. Body Horror was originally defined as a narrow set of VirusVictimSymptoms. Over the course of several years, however, the commonly accepted usage gradually drifted and expanded to become ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the previously missing supertrope to all anatomy-related horror tropes. When brought into the repair shop, this "misused" form of the trope was voted by a significant margin to be the better definition and made official. The original narrow definition, meanwhile, is now the Traumatic Transformation internal subtrope of Body Horror's subtrope TransformationHorror.

See also CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions and SquarePegRoundTrope.