History Literature / TheTruth

** Sacharissa's "It gives me the humorous vegetables." (Read: the willies).

* WeNeedADistraction: As De Worde notes, a vampire flailing in pain because of his own flashbulb is ''always'' the center of attention.

* WordSaladHumor: Foul Ole Ron can always be counted on to provide examples of this, like exclaiming “Thatch and trouser!” Or trying to advertise the newspapers by yelling “Squidaped-oyt!” Likely inspired by Evening Standard sellers in London slurring the name of the paper to things like "Eeninstanat".

** Also "A lie can run around the world before the truth has got its boots on" (which in RealLife was coined by James Watt, and used by Creator/MarkTwain and UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill among others)

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Interestingly, even though it's specifically said that BigBad [[spoiler:Lord de Worde]] never gets his hands dirty with violence -- he has men for that -- he seems to be pretty good with a sword in the final confrontation. Of course, facing [[spoiler:a vampire]], that doesn't help him very much... [[spoiler:William does mention several times that the one thing the de Wordes are expected to excel at is charging into battle.]]

* CallBack
** William's older brother Rupert was one one of the few casualties of the war with Klatch which occurred in ''{{Literature/Jingo}}''.
** Vetinari is highly suspicious of moving type and other innovations, citing the eventes of ''Literature/MovingPictures'' and ''Literature/SoulMusic''.

-->'''Tilly''': "Once a day" Mr. de Worde. That’ll teach them going around being young.

** When his ominous statment is finally backed up [[EmpathicEnvironment by thunder]] Otto yells "[[Literature/SoulMusic Music with rocks in!]]" which is the slightly mangled Discworld way of saying "[[HoldYourHippogriffs Rock'n'roll!]]"

** Finally , [[spoiler:he's completely nonplussed by William's inquiry as to whether he'll be attending Harry King's daughter's wedding, until Drumknott fills him in on some details. To be fair, he had been unconscious for several days before that.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Lord [=DeWorde=] is horrified to learn that the New Firm tried to kill William. It doesn't stop him from trying to ship William to another continent to stop his interference, but it's the thought that counts.]]

** While attending school and being forced to play rugby, William is remembered as always arriving at the ball immediately ''after'' all the bodies have collided.. which is what a good newsman does.

* ItIsDehumanizing: [[spoiler: Lord De Worde]] thinks of any race that isn't human as this, when he calls Otto the vampire "it", Otto loses his composure.

** Mr. Pin has [[Film/PulpFiction "'Not a Nice Person at All' done in pokerwork on his purse,"]], Mr. Tulip at one point elaborates on "get medieval on his arse" at some length (see under NoodleImplements), and Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip discuss foreign food at one point, including "what they call sausage-in-a-bun in Quirm." When discussing whether or not people will take a dog's word as evidence, Mr. Slant points out "A dog has personality. Personality counts for a lot."

** However, in https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/MonstrousRegiment, Vimes implies that the Unorthodox Potato Church is gaining popularity, despite (or because of) being "uncomplicated."

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Parodied, when [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} the Bursar]] gives William his name (Dr A.A. Dinwiddie, D.M.(7th), D.Thau., B.Occ., M.Coll., B.F.) and adds "That's Dinwiddie with an o."[[note]] An earlier draft had this as a straight example, as the Bursar would have given his name as "Worblehat with an o", but then [=PTerry=] remembered that he'd already given the Bursar a surname, in an offhand line in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''; he kept the "with an o" bit because it fit with the Bursar's personality. The name Worblehat would, however, go on to be used in ''The Art Of Discworld'', which reveals it to be the real name of the Librarian.[[/note]]

* OffOnATechnicality: Technically, William did assault Angua [[spoiler:with a scent bomb]], but because [[spoiler:she was in wolf-form, and thus unable to be properly identified as a watchman, and they don't want to officially confirm who is actually the werewolf on the watch,]] he’s saved from the wrath of Vimes.

* SupremeCouncilOfVagueness: The Committee to Unelect the Patrician (a reference to the Committee to Re-elect the President from the Watergate affair).

* MoralSociopathy: After being presented with proof of an afterlife, Mr. Pin becomes frightened enough to start acting in ways that conflict with his "shaky grasp of how things were supposed to work in a moral universe" in the hopes it might keep him out of Hell. However, his lack of enthusiasm about this and attempts to employ ruthless loopholes end poorly for him.

** William is fond of obscure words, easily defining "tosheroon" to Harry King's astonishment. In future books, the ''Times'' will boast a crossword puzzle that regularly gives ''Vetinari'' a run for his money.