History Main / TruthInTelevision

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There's a SlidingScale of Truth In Television frequency. In one end, the amount of times the said trope is Truth In Television can be counted with fingers of one hand (for example, AirVentPassageway). On the other end of the scale, these tropes happen very frequently in RealLife (like BerserkButton).

Another way of saying the above is that a great many things happen on television that have happened at least once to someone in the world. The reason they become tropes -- and remember the principle of TropesAreNotGood here -- is because they're used in TV (et al) a ''lot'', and generally in ways that wouldn't mesh well in RealLife. So, for instance, it's certainly the case that special agents have worn Lycra (or similar) bodysuits, that people have squeezed themselves through air ducts, and that some people are cripplingly afraid of small spaces. This does not make the protagonist with a SpyCatsuit, making an AirVentPassageway escape but hampered by her FatalFlaw of claustrophobia an example of Truth In Television. To extend this even further, if we only ever saw those tropes being used together or in similarly improbable combinations, '''none''' of them would qualify as Truth because they wouldn't have ever been used in a way that was, well, Truthful. They've been hyperbolized, exaggerated and stretched to be much more exciting and dramatic than RealLife, and in doing so hardly resemble it any more at all. Which is why they're Tropes.

Also, because something may be Truth In Television does not mean we necessarily want RealLife examples of it. If a trope is listed both here and on Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease that means that while its occurrence is definitely possible or even common in RealLife, listing the examples would either be too [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs exhaustive and pointless]], [[FlameBait too controversial]] because RealLife is subjective, or too NSFW because it is a sex trope and while true, descriptions would be too upsetting/not Family-Friendly.

For another such example, TheMentallyDisturbed - [[CaptainObvious mentally ill people do exist]] in RealLife and therefore the trope belongs on this index. That said, real life mental illness (at least once you include the milder illnesses and degrees of it) is so common that having a list of mentally ill people would overwhelm the wiki, and some people would find being listed as examples of mental illness or instability very insulting. Another example would be pretty much any trope related to religion or its practice: for example, the ApocalypseCult and ScamReligion are both unfortunately Truth In Television, yet it's often subjective (e.g. people thinking all religions are scams, or all religions but their own are), and even in the cases where it's objectively proven (e.g. the group committed mass suicide with notes about an apocalypse, or arrests/litigation uncovered objective fraud) leveling the accusation is ''highly'' insulting.

TheDarkSide of this {{trope}} (and too often the only side) occurs in RippedFromTheHeadlines.

Technically, these {{trope}}s do not need to be [[JustifiedTrope Justified Tropes]], since they are truth. However, ViewersAreMorons, and so writers may actually throw in justifications.

The Bastard Spawn of these two {{trope}}s gives us InspiredBy and VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory.

There's a SlidingScale of Truth In Television frequency. In one end, the amount of times the said {{trope}} is Truth In Television can be counted with fingers of one hand (for example, AirVentPassageway). On the other end of the scale, these {{trope}}s happen very frequently in RealLife (like BerserkButton).

Another way of saying the above is that a great many things happen on television that have happened at least once to someone in the world. The reason they become {{trope}}s -- and remember the principle of TropesAreNotGood here -- is because they're used in TV (et al) a ''lot'', and generally in ways that wouldn't mesh well in RealLife. So, for instance, it's certainly the case that special agents have worn Lycra (or similar) bodysuits, that people have squeezed themselves through air ducts, and that some people are cripplingly afraid of small spaces. This does not make the protagonist with a SpyCatsuit, making an AirVentPassageway escape but hampered by her FatalFlaw of claustrophobia an example of Truth In Television. To extend this even further, if we only ever saw those {{trope}}s being used together or in similarly improbable combinations, '''none''' of them would qualify as Truth because they wouldn't have ever been used in a way that was, well, Truthful. They've been hyperbolized, exaggerated and stretched to be much more exciting and dramatic than RealLife, and in doing so hardly resemble it any more at all. Which is why they're {{Trope}}s.

Also, just because something may be definitely and entirely Truth In Television does not mean we necessarily want RealLife examples of it. If a trope is listed both here and on Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease that means that while its occurrence is definitely possible or even common in RealLife, listing the examples would either be too [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs exhaustive and pointless]], [[FlameBait too controversial]] because RealLife is subjective, or too NSFW because it is a sex trope and while true, descriptions would be too upsetting/not FamilyFriendly.

For another such example, TheMentallyDisturbed - [[CaptainObvious mentally ill people do exist]] in RealLife and therefore the trope belongs on this index. That said, real life mental illness (at least once you include the milder illnesses and degrees of it) is so common that having a list of mentally ill people would overwhelm the entire wiki, and some people would find being listed as examples of mental illness or instability very insulting. Another example would be pretty much any trope related to religion or its practice: for example, the ApocalypseCult and ScamReligion are both unfortunately Truth In Television, yet it's often subjective (e.g. people thinking all religions are scams, or all religions but their own are), and even in the cases where it's objectively proven (e.g. the group committed mass suicide with notes about an apocalypse, or arrests/litigation uncovered objective fraud) leveling the accusation is ''highly'' insulting.

And that's pretty much how television works. So please, before adding anything to the list below or describing any existing {{trope}}s as Truth In Television, think for a moment: is or was this used in TV kinda like it really happened? Or is there maybe kind of a lot of hyperbole on one side or the other of the equation to make it fit? If the answer to the first question is a definite yes... [[YoureInsane Go right ahead.]]

There's a SlidingScale of TruthInTelevision Frequency. In one end, the amount of times the said {{trope}} is TruthInTelevision can be counted with fingers of one hand (for example, AirVentPassageway). On the other end of the scale, these {{trope}}s happen very frequently in RealLife (like BerserkButton).

Another way of saying the above is that a great many things happen on television that have happened at least once to someone in the world. The reason they become {{trope}}s -- and remember the principle of TropesAreNotGood here -- is because they're used in TV (et al) a ''lot'', and generally in ways that wouldn't mesh well in RealLife. So, for instance, it's certainly the case that special agents have worn Lycra (or similar) bodysuits, that people have squeezed themselves through air ducts, and that some people are cripplingly afraid of small spaces. This does not make the protagonist with a SpyCatsuit, making an AirVentPassageway escape but hampered by her FatalFlaw of claustrophobia an example of TruthInTelevision. To extend this even further, if we only ever saw those {{trope}}s being used together or in similarly improbable combinations, '''none''' of them would qualify as Truth because they wouldn't have ever been used in a way that was, well, Truthful. They've been hyperbolized, exaggerated and stretched to be much more exciting and dramatic than RealLife, and in doing so hardly resemble it any more at all. Which is why they're {{Trope}}s.

Also, just because something may be definitely and entirely TruthInTelevision does not mean we necessarily want RealLife examples of it. If a trope is listed both here and on Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease that means that while its occurrence is definitely possible or even common in RealLife, listing the examples would either be too [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs exhaustive and pointless]], [[FlameBait too controversial]] because RealLife is subjective, or too NSFW because it is a sex trope and while true, descriptions would be too upsetting/not FamilyFriendly.

For another such example, TheMentallyDisturbed - [[CaptainObvious mentally ill people do exist]] in RealLife and therefore the trope belongs on this index. That said, real life mental illness (at least once you include the milder illnesses and degrees of it) is so common that having a list of mentally ill people would overwhelm the entire wiki, and some people would find being listed as examples of mental illness or instability very insulting. Another example would be pretty much any trope related to religion or its practice: for example, the ApocalypseCult and ScamReligion are both unfortunately TruthInTelevision, yet it's often subjective (e.g. people thinking all religions are scams, or all religions but their own are), and even in the cases where it's objectively proven (e.g. the group committed mass suicide with notes about an apocalypse, or arrests/litigation uncovered objective fraud) leveling the accusation is ''highly'' insulting.

And that's pretty much how television works. So please, before adding anything to the list below or describing any existing {{trope}}s as TruthInTelevision, think for a moment: is or was this used in TV kinda like it really happened? Or is there maybe kind of a lot of hyperbole on one side or the other of the equation to make it fit? If the answer to the first question is a definite yes... [[YoureInsane Go right ahead.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Fancy dresses have been worn by both {{Disney Princess}}es[[note]] ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast''[[/note]], and RealLife {{Princess}}es[[note]][[TheHouseOfTudor Mary I]][[/note]]]]

-->''"This manga is fiction, but it portrays a lot of reality, too"''

TheDarkSide of this {{trope}} and often the only side occurs in RippedFromTheHeadlines.

Also, just because something may be definitely and entirely TruthInTelevision does not mean we necessarily want RealLife examples of it. If a trope is listed both here and on Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamples that means that while its occurrence is definitely possible or even common in RealLife, listing the examples would either be too [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs exhaustive and pointless]], [[FlameBait too controversial]] because RealLife is subjective, or too NSFW because it is a sex trope and while true, descriptions would be too upsetting/not FamilyFriendly.

!Tropes:

Also, just because something may be definitely and entirely TruthInTelevision does not mean we necessarily want RealLife examples of it. If a trope is listed both here and on NoRealLifeExamples (or says "No real life examples, please" on its page) that means that while its occurrence is definitely possible or even common in RealLife, listing the examples would either be too [[Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs exhaustive and pointless]], [[FlameBait too controversial]] because RealLife is subjective, or too NSFW because it is a sex trope and while true, descriptions would be too upsetting/not FamilyFriendly.

When it's the exact opposite, you've got a bad case of RealityIsUnrealistic. If people fall for it, it's because TVNeverLies.

!!Tropes:

[[redirect:WikiSandbox]]

!!Tropes:[[index]]

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[[folder:A-C]]
* ACupAngst: There are some cisgender women that feel this way over small breasts, and many transgender women see gaining breasts as one of the most important points of their transition. It is ''not'' universal though, for either...
* AbandonShipping: Particularly nasty divorces or breakups (especially those where abuse or something else {{squick}}y was involved) can result in this, in that not only the parties involved no longer want to be involved with each other, but ''no one'' wants them to get back together or looks back on the "good old days" of when they were.
** Also can happen when the couple ''hasn't'' broken up or divorced yet, but it becomes known that DomesticAbuse or FinancialAbuse is happening for example.
* AbandonedWarehouse: At least one or two can be found in any larger town or a city. It's not unusual for any warehouse to be vacant for part of the year as supply and demand shift.
* AbdicateTheThrone: Britain's Edward VIII, Sweden's Queen Christina, recent Dutch monarchs, the Pope.
* ABNegative: AB- really is the rarest common blood type with between .2% and 1% of any given population having it. However, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_blood_group_systems#Rare_blood_types there are LOTS of really rare types.]]
** The whole aspect of the {{trope}} in that AB- can only take AB- blood is false. The positive variant (i.e. AB+) is considered a universal receiver of Red Blood Cells (O- is the universal donor), which makes life much easier for the blood bankers, in that they can usually just grab a bag of any old blood type and they won't reject it. AB- (the TropeNamer) is only slightly more limited; they can receive any negative red cells but not positive red cells (as opposed to how the inverse is possible and is why AB+ is the universal receiver).
** The "universal donor/receiver" angle only works with components. Whole blood is uncommonly used in transfusion medicine at present; most blood products consist of specific processed components such as red blood cells, plasma, or platelets. O- is the universal donor for red cells; AB+ is the universal recipient for red cells. With plasma it’s reversed: O is the universal recipient, AB is the universal donor (Rh+/- doesn’t matter much in plasma). If you had to give someone whole blood it really ought to be exact match.
** You can usually get away with giving Rh+ red cells to an Rh- patient ONCE without ill effects. Most people don’t have Rh antibodies unless they’ve been transfused with Rh incompatible blood (you can get them from pregnancy too). Once a person makes Rh antibodies giving them Rh positive blood can kill them.
** Regardless of the above, it is standard practice to give patients only their own blood type. Even if one is a universal recipient, using another type is done only if you have no choice. Rarity isn't really an issue either, because if one has a common blood type meaning there are plenty of donors, that also means there are plenty of recipients to split it between.
* AbnormalAmmo: Dragon's Breath pyrotechnic shotgun rounds. Actually most of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_gauge_shotgun#Specialty_ammunition shotgun ammunition types]] could be considered "abnormal".
** Name any episode of MythBusters. Chances are you will see this {{trope}} in action with a gun or cannon.
** The blunderbuss will use anything you can stuff down the barrel as ammo.
** The British rather ingeniously use (or used) tungsten rounds for cave fighting to prevent ricochet. [[LoopholeAbuse There was a side effect of the bullets acting like explosive rounds in human tissue.]]
** 40mm grenade launchers, such as the Mikhor MGL, are often marketed with a wide variety of ammunition types, ranging from the standard high explosive to smoke grenades and 40mm Buckshot. One episode of ''Futureweapons'' showcased 40mm canisters that fired small reconnaissance cameras.
* AboveTheInfluence: Refusing to have sex with someone whose consent may be compromised is a sign of integrity, maturity, and not being a rapist. Refusing to have sex with someone who is wanting to do it for reasons that severely conflict with your own values or desires (e.g. you want love and they want money) is a sign of being a mature adult with a healthy approach to sex.
* AbsentAliens: At least to the date of this writing, no sentient alien species from non-Earth planets have been documented and observed on Earth. Nor have living humans from Earth physically arrived on other planets aside from the Moon, being aliens to those planets.
* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Public colleges in Mexico often have an Absurdly Powerful Student Association, capable of granting all sorts of suspicious favors to those who have the appropriate connections.
** Which has the [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop dubious virtue]] of preparing students for RealLife.
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: They exist. Surgical blades, for example, need to be this because sharpness equals precision.
** Obsidian stone blades take it a step further, being sharper than surgical blades (other tool-grade rocks, like slate, still can be made sharper than even professional kitchen knives). Being crystalline, not metallic, they're less reliable and harder to precisely manufacture, though.
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: France has an underground community due to their delicate catacombs and sewers. There are illegal shops and theatres under there.
* AbuseMistake: Quite often happens to adults in places where BDSM is not a recognized sexual expression/practice. Also, sometimes happens with children who are accident-prone and/or have some physical or mental illnesses, or whose single parent is male or whose parent(s) are in an alternative subculture or religion or similar.
* AbusiveParents: Unfortunately.
* AccidentalArt: "Found art" is an example. Another example would be architecture or design considered utilitarian at the time but which is later appreciated as artistic. Street photography also relies on this - framing everyday people and things to be a work of art.
* AccidentalHero: More of them than you can count, and you may end up becoming one yourself someday. Sometimes, all that is required of heroism is being in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time yet knowing what to do!), or even simply doing a seemingly mundane action can make you the person who saves a life or many lives or prevented major injury or whatever.
* AccidentalMurder: In the US legal system alone, there is "second-degree murder" (callous, depraved indifference to whether anyone lives or dies), "felony murder" (killing someone accidentally while committing a felony crime), "vehicular manslaughter" (killing someone in a car accident while driving drunk/recklessly), and "involuntary manslaughter" (accidentally killing someone, while being so negligent that death could be expected).
* AccidentalPervert: Sometimes happens as a result of Asperger's syndrome or autism, cultural differences, or social isolation - someone doesn't understand that their [[DoubleEntendre words]] or actions could be taken as sexual or sexual invitations, or worse, as sexist/misogynist/misandrist or sexual harassment.
* AccidentalTruth: Frequently happens - quite often with gossip and rumors and speculation, where it is often easy to accidentally hit on the truth even with some of the wildest guesses, especially with people who are in TheTysonZone.
* AcePilot: In both military and civilian flight. Some in civilian flight have saved lives with their skill and professionalism. (The "Gimli Glider" and "Miracle on the Hudson" emergency landings were both done by pilots who could be considered a part of this category precisely because they ''were'' such good manual pilots that they could keep control of jets as gliders after sudden power losses - due to running out of fuel and a bird strike, respectively - enough to make a proper emergency landing rather than an uncontrolled crash.)
* AchievementsInIgnorance: Because sometimes, ignoring or not knowing the common wisdom can actually allow someone to think and act in ways that are ''better'' than said common wisdom.
* AcmeProducts: Acme was a fairly common name for companies at one time, as it would put them at or near the beginning of the listings in the phone book. It helped that the word means "the best".
* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: An actual DSM defined personality disorder that develops in some people who acquire fame or notoriety.
* {{Acrofatic}}: Sumo wrestlers. Many technical pro-wrestlers qualify too. Also many olympic weightlifters and strongmen, both of whom need agility and coordination.
* ActionMom: Because motherhood isn't the end of life for most women in modern society. Firefighters, paramedics, police, and some militaries all include some mothers among their ranks, and sometimes they end up defending their own or others' children. Historically truth as well.
** Played straight with deadly results with samurai-class women. They trained with various weapons ("inferior" naginata and tanto particularly) specifically to be this trope and defend the home and family while the men were off making war.
* ActionSurvivor: Often overlaps with AccidentalHero above. It is actually common for bystanders in crimes, disasters, or other emergencies to ''not'' suffer from BystanderSyndrome, and to instead act with incredible bravery to save property and/or lives.
* ActuallyFourMooks: At long range radar has a tendency to read multiple objects in close formation as single objects, a fact that has been {{exploited|Trope}} by multiple air forces to hide their numbers or lure enemies into tangling with fighters when they thought it was an unescorted bomber instead.
* ActualPacifist: Quakers/Society of Friends. Jains. Others who, due to religion or personal morals or experience, find killing or violence or war absolutely repugnant and an affront to humanity.
* AdaptationalBadass: Due to historical revisionism, propaganda reasons, and many other causes, some people are seen as more badass than they were or are, especially over time and in different recountings of their actions or words.
* AdaptationalHeroism: See above. Historical revisionism, propaganda, the invocation of FairForItsDay, and many, many other causes can lead to different retellings of someone's words, actions, or life being more "heroic" than it once was.
* AdaptationalVillainy: The other side of the coin of the above tropes. Sometimes historical revisionism, propaganda, new information coming to light, and many other causes can lead to someone who was once seen as good or heroic being seen as much less so. Often a cause or result of BrokenPedestal.
* AdaptationalWimp: This one happens due to varying gender politics, varying standards of what is "badass" or "wimp" over time and culture, and many other reasons. A good example here is the perception of VisualKei rock musicians among their fans versus among society at large.
* ADarkerMe: The internet can cause this, and before the internet (and before identity became something as important as it is), someone could become this by moving to another place and entirely changing their identity and persona.
* ADateWithRosiePalms: Humans are one of the species that masturbates for pleasure, making this trope almost universal TruthInTelevision.
* {{Adminisphere}}: Administrators and upper management of anything tend to either be or become separate from the rank and file, which means decision making may well be affected badly. Averted by policies and by keeping communication open, and subverted when the education or better information of higher-ups makes for better decisions.
* ADogAteMyHomework: Excuses for homework not being done are common anywhere there is education. That said, the more common excuses now are related to computer crashes, misplacement, "was there an assignment?" and similar - "the dog ate it" is such an obvious case of BlatantLies that even if true, it is pointless to try it.
* AdventurerArchaeologist: Yes; though it's very exaggerated nowadays, there really used to be rough-and-tumble cowboy archaeologists. Roy Chapman Andrews is said to be the inspiration for IndianaJones. He led expeditions through the Arctic and China, but most famously through the Gobi Desert. He was frequently attacked by bandits and survived by his wits. Yes, he was a real person. Go look him up. His biography reads like a pulp fiction novel, but unlike Creator/LRonHubbard, it's all true.
* AfraidOfBlood: Hemophobia.
* AfraidOfNeedles: Trypanophobia, the plague of BigDamnHeroes for years.
* AgainstMyReligion: There are people that sincerely do not wish to take part in a given action due to their religion, and who are not TheFundamentalist about it. The difference between them is that the person who sincerely believes in this will say no - TheFundamentalist will berate you for not saying no.
* AgeAppropriateAngst: Teenagers and early 20s people have many hormonal changes and environmental pressures even if their lives are relatively "easy." Middle-aged people have to cope with death, divorces, physically and hormonally changing bodies, and financial pressures. Elderly people have to cope with death and the realization of their own being near, illness, and loneliness.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: Much to our sore toes.
* AirGuitar: SeriousBusiness for those who take part in the official air guitar championships. Also, rhythm games like GuitarHero made this an acceptable form of entertainment.
* AirHugging: Homophobic men can have this down to an art... as can some religious people who believe touching is in essence sexual.
* AirJousting: This is what dogfights were like back when they had more maneuverability (WWI, for those playing at home).
* AirVentPassageway: Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers escaped Alcatraz using this method, but it requires very special circumstances to work effectively. Jason Grimsley used this trick to steal a corked bat to help a fellow MLB baseball player.
* TheAlcatraz: Where do you think the [[TropeNamer trope]] title comes from?
* TheAlcoholic: [[NoRealLifeExamples A list of RealLife examples would be too exhaustive and gossipy]], but alcoholism is one of the most common serious drug addictions in the world, especially when you include those who fall under FunctionalAddict along with the less functional. And susceptability to alcoholism is something few people know they have before they become alcoholics...
* AlcoholHic: That said, it's not the surest way to tell if someone is drunk - sober people can get hiccups just as easily.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Alcohol is well known for its ability to decrease intellectual capacity while lowering inhibitions.
* TheAllegedCar: Chances are, you've either owned one, or you're too young to drive (or [[TakeAThirdOption live in a country with no universal automobile tradition]]).
* AllNaturalSnakeOil: "All natural" can refer to many things, from the beneficial to the deadly, and is a form of the AppealToNature fallacy.
* AllPartOfTheShow: Has happened, specifically with deaths and injuries and near-misses per FatalMethodActing.
** Also why attacks on venues and theaters, for example, are so dangerous - they are seen as a part of the show.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: A common form of DomesticAbuse relationships and/or generally unhealthy relationships and friendships.
* AlmightyJanitor: Plenty of people are far more dangerous/competent than their low station would give reason to believe. Generally speaking, pissing off a secretary is a very bad idea for those seeking employment[[hottip:*:As a matter of fact, pretty much any interviewing guide worth its salt will usually direct its readers to make nice with the secretary.]].
* AlphaBitch: The stuck-up spoiled popular kid who won't invite you to parties unless you're "cool" enough... there's one in every crowd.
* AltarTheSpeed: Hurried weddings exist for a variety of reasons, among them pregnancy and military deployments.
* AlternativeCalendar: The Lunar Calendar. Very confusing and annoying when it comes to planning for Jews and Muslims.
* AlwaysSecondBest: For many of us, much to our eternal chagrin.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Ditto.
* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Parents are almost always embarrassing, at least to teenagers.
* AmbulanceChaser: [[TheFlintstones Hey, it's a living]].
* AmicableExes: Many divorced couples report that they get along with their ex just fine once the pressure of being married is removed.
* AmoralAttorney: The word "shyster" comes to mind.
* AnalogyBackfire: As illustrated by anyone citing Romeo and Juliet as happy lovers.
* AndNinetyNineCents: See the trope page for theories of its Real Life origin.
* AmbiguouslyBi and AmbiguouslyGay: Not everyone who is bisexual or gay comes out of the closet. Ambiguity is required in more homophobic cultures and societies, and some people who grew up in more repressive times or have many other reasons may just hint at their sexuality with no obvious statements.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Because not all physical and mental disorders are diagnosable per exact symptomology. There is an entire category, the "not otherwise specified" that is a catchall for, say, something that kind of looks like autism but where the patient has turned social engagement and social expression into his or her perserverations.
* AncientTradition: They exist, though not so many as there once was, because TimeMarchesOn.
* AndIMustScream: Locked-in syndrome and lacunar strokes. Brain and spinal cord tumors. ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease. Some semi-comatose states. Quadriplegic paralysis. Quite a few other diseases and conditions that can leave one suffering a fate far worse than immediate death and at least semi-aware of doing so.
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: RealLife examples are not allowed for the trope, due to obvious reasons, but it is definitely TruthInTelevision.
* AndYourRewardIsEdible: Food is often offered as a reward or payment, and has been from OlderThanDirt times right up until the present.
* AngstDissonance: Because some seemingly minor tragedies impact people more personally than major ones, and because what causes a particular person to feel overwhelming grief may be different than what makes another do so.
* AngstWhatAngst: Because some people in RealLife are truly TheStoic, have been through so much pain and tragedy that instead of it being cumulatively worse, they become inured to it, and/or they suffer from mental illnesses or alternately are on medications that make them suffer less/feel less. Also happens as a result of "tragedy fatigue," which is a legitimate coping mechanism in the modern world - if you felt the same level of ongoing pain over every tragedy you ever heard about happening somewhere in the world, you would lose the ability to function.
* AnimalReactionShot: Youtube and the Cheezburger network have plenty of them, as does any collection of funny or cute animal photos or macros.
* AnimalTesting: Unfortunately. There are ways to determine if a product uses this and to avoid products that do.
* AnimalWrongsGroup: Unfortunately as well.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: This is how younger siblings are, in fact, perceived by their older siblings.
* {{Antimatter}}: Is real, albeit in very small quantities.
* AnxietyDreams: Most people have a few nightmares like these. Some have many of them.
* AnyoneCanDie: Because anyone can die, at any time, for the most stupid of reasons.
* AnythingThatMoves: The combination of pansexuality/omnisexuality and extreme levels of sexual desire can lead to this. "Sex addiction" is a pathological form where the behavior is addictive and harmful to one or both parties. SituationalSexuality is a variant created out of the lack of the usual outlets for one's normal sexual behavior.
* APartyAlsoKnownAsAnOrgy: Swingers parties, some (usually less well-maintained) fetish parties, and some parties of the rich and famous.
* ApatheticCitizens: One of the most pressing modern problems, and a problem that has existed since OlderThanDirt times. Getting people to deal with the tragedy of the commons and with problems that only affect marginalized populations has always been difficult if not impossible - which is why environmental damage that eventually harms everyone and institutionalized discrimination, for example, happen.
* ApologizesALot: Submissives and passive people in general. Can sometimes be the sign of a mental disorder such as anxiety.
* AppealToAuthority: Frequently used in real life. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, pundits, and other assorted Very Serious People are seen as infallible sources by some - even if they are a part of AstroTurf, TheShill, or outright [[BlatantLies lying]].
* AppealToForce: Engaged in by everyone from [[NorthKorea dictators of failed states making nuclear threats]] to that guy in the alley with a gun or knife who really wants your wallet and phone.
* AppealToNature: The attempt to convince people that "natural" is somehow "better" or "healthier." While true sometimes, it is ''definitely'' not true all the time. For example, hemlock is all natural and will kill you painfully if eaten because it is also a ''deadly poison,'' while drinking an entire bottle of artificial vanilla flavoring will give you a bad taste and at the very worst give you diarrhea (from the polyethylene glycol used in most artificial vanillas) but will have no other ill effects.
* AppealToTradition: "We've always done it this way," and sadly, one of the biggest drivers of bigotry and discrimination of all forms, as well as also being a huge contributor to many other problems. ''Commonly'' overlaps with ApatheticCitizens in its "don't rock the boat" variant.
* AppealToWealth: Very much TruthInTelevision and one root of the 1% vs 99% controversy. Should the AppealToWealth be seen as the right of those who are wealthy to manage society as they have earned it, or should it be seen as a crass attempt of the wealthy and corporations to override, disenfranchise, and silence anyone who isn't rich?
* AppealToWorseProblems: Happens every single day. How dare you read this page when people have no internet access in Appalachia?
* ApocalypseCult: While no real life examples are allowed on the article, they have existed in RealLife. Jonestown, Heaven's Gate, and the Aum Shinrikyo are some of the more nightmarish examples.
* ApplianceDefenestration: Sometimes happens, either for reasons of anger or reasons of wanting to dispose of a broken appliance or gadget.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: Because not all skeptics are total skeptics, and not all religious/spiritual/occult/etc believers are credulous and stupid or take ''everything'' on faith.
* ArmorIsUseless: Has been at points throughout history, at least in regard to specific types of armor.
* ArmorPiercingSlap: ''Very'' common when dealing with the more hot-headed ladies.
* ArmouredClosetGay: Because some people internalize homophobia, or realize the best defense in a homophobic culture is an angry offense.
* ArrangedMarriage: Believe it or not, there are still places where this is common.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Martial arts, personal training, bodybuilding, and other physical disciplines occasionally draw douchebags who would rather show off and brag about their skills and prowess than actually develop themselves in a healthy way.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Lists of accusations against people in RealLife (whether as criminal charges or just someone's angry rant) do occasionally end on the weakest point or include every potential accusation possible.
** This is known as "kitchen sink approach" in some criminal prosecutions where the goal isn't necessarily to prove the worst charges, but just to put the criminal in jail/prison, hopefully for a long time. After all, one million charges of jaywalking can accomplish that goal...
* ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving: To some people in RealLife, TheEndJustifiesTheMeans.
* ArtifactOfDeath: Strongly radioactive sources or items, items contaminated with [[ThePlague a disease-causing]] [[{{Pandemic}} bacteria or virus]], or contaminated with/containing poison.
* ArtificialLimbs: Existed long before it became a trope.
* TheArtOfBraRemoval: Bound to happen for virgins who don't practice or pay attention.
* AsbestosFreeCereal: An ''incredibly'' common marketing gimmick in RealLife, often riding on the back of AllNaturalSnakeOil.
* AscendedExtra: People who aren't well-known sometimes become well-known later on, and then people look for their first appearances...
* {{Asexuality}}: It's weird being surrounded by something that you've got no interest in.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Known in business as "foreign branding", and in everyday life as "Häagen-Dazs" Also, [[http://www.engrish.com Engrish]]. Seriously, they couldn't find an gaijin expatriate somewhere around Tokyo? And some [[http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com Chinese tattoos look cool until a Chinese person tells you what it really means]]. Also: Even in Japan, the way to make a restaurant sound posh is to name it in French or Italian.
* AssassinOutclassin: Rare but has happened as the page's RealLife section shows. Fidel Castro is probably the ultimate one in RealLife, having survived at least over ''638'' assassination attempts and those ''just'' being the ones the American CIA brought.
* AssholeVictim: This is what can happen to you when you're the kind of person that others feel right to rejoice in your misfortunes. The moral: Try not to be such a douchebag.
* AssumedWin: Much to the embarrassment of whoever stands up.
* ATeamFiring: Random firing generally discourages people from taking the time to aim when they fire back. This is known as suppression fire, and has been a standard tactic going back to the first World War.
* AttentionWhore: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9lmvX00TLY&feature=player_embedded Interior Semiotics]].
* AttractiveBentGender: Music/{{Miyavi}} and AndrejPejic are some great modern examples, Music/DavidBowie and Music/YoshikiHayashi some of past times.
* {{Auction}}: They happen every day on websites such as Ebay and Yahoo Auctions, and many days in auction houses. Charity auctions are also a common way of fundraising.
* AutoErotica: Having sex in cars still happens, though most post 1980s mass-market non-truck vehicles being too small/cramped/uncomfortable for sex (and that sex in a car is illegal in some areas) somewhat restricts the practice after that time to either the very desperate with no other private space or those rich enough to afford limousines, spacious SUVs or trucks, tour buses/party buses, or luxury cars with some space in the front or back seat.
* AwesomeAnachronisticApparel: Quite a lot of it exists. Everything from steampunk clothes to 1980s fashion.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Quite a lot of things in RealLife, beginning with manned space travel...
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Stage names and chosen names are often a purposeful attempt to invoke this. Some people have them normally.
* AwfulWeddedLife: More common in the past when it was less easy/more socially stigmatizing to get a divorce. Still happens now - usually in religious contexts or cultural contexts that frown heavily upon divorce, or a couple wanting to stay together "for the children" even if their relationship is so abusive or dysfunctional that divorce would actually be ''better'' for everyone involved.
* AxCrazy: To the great dismay of many.
* AxesAtSchool: Unfortunately, the school massacre has become Truth In Televsion too many times.
* BabyTalk: Also called "parentese." Enunciating vowels and slowing things down helps babies get a grasp on how to physically imitate verbal speech.
* BackseatDriver: Sometimes helpful, other times not so much.
* {{Backtracking}}: Who hasn't done this to try to find something they have lost?
* BadassAdorable: Being cute does not negate being badass. This is especially interesting when you consider animals who are examples of this, though, as plenty of animal species considered cute also tend to have behaviour that would be considered tremendously badass.
* BadassBookworm: Doctors, lawyers, and others who have used knowledge to save lives, defeat threats to life and property, overcome diseases and injuries, construct fair laws, and more. Scholars and teachers who preserve knowledge and encourage learning, even if learning puts one at risk or teaching does. Journalists (especially of the IntrepidReporter variant) can qualify as this as well - they are bookworms and writers - but at their best are also providing a vital service to society by increasing knowledge, even of things some people might not want known.
* BadassBoast: Samurais in feudal Japan started their duels by telling their own and their ancestors' achievements. Among other places.
* BadassDecay: Happens in many, many ways. [[GrowingUpSucks Age]], MoneyDearBoy, and SoMyKidsCanWatch are among them, but there's many many ways.
* BadassDriver: The dashcam videos of quite a few Russian drivers show them to be this trope. Some police officers/highway patrol officers also qualify quite handily - as do ice road truckers, delivery drivers carrying time-sensitive organs or medications, and anyone who volunteers to be a designated driver.
* BadassFamily: Sometimes happens when a family features a lot of family members who are involved in military work/police work or firefighting or other high-danger "badass" jobs.
* BadassIsraeli: Quite a few.
* BadassNormal: Quite a lot of RealLife badasses per Badass Of The Week and other sources: not everyone necessarily has to be in the military or the emergency services to be a true badass.
* BadBoss: Quite a few examples. Especially prominent examples during ancient and middle ages.
* BadDreams: Everyone has them, some more than others. Sometimes can be a symptom of anxiety or PTSD or a similar illness, if ''too'' frequent and/or the repetition of real-life events.
* TheBadGuysAreCops: In some of the more corrupt regions of the world, and sometimes elsewhere. Let's leave it at that.
* BadNewsIrrelevantNews: As any browse of the news ticker on any TwentyFourHourNewsNetwork or the news on your ISP homepage will provide.
* BalanceOfPower: A major part of any nation that wishes to maintain hegemony or empire doing so. The results have made life miserable for a lot of people in RealLife.
* BaldWomen: Chemotherapy and other causes of hair loss, and there are some women who choose shaved heads/baldness as a fashion statement.
* BalloonBelly: Sometimes a result of insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome, and the resulting obesity. Alternately, can be a result of the malnutrition/starvation disorder kwashikor. Can also be the result of [[{{Squick}} overwhelming intestinal worm infection.]]
* BananaPeel: Yes, discarded banana peels can be slippery - though fresh ones rarely are, and they need to be on a smooth surface such as tile or a smoothed stone walk - a rough surface will likely give them or your other foot enough traction to avoid a fall.
* BankRobbery: Happens, though the incidence of them has been greatly reduced by surveillance cameras, greater penalties, tracking of cash, and similar moves to reduce their popularity as a crime. After TheNineties, generally only committed by StupidCrooks who are caught very fast. Post TheNoughties and in TheNewTens, the trope became inverted in a few instances, with major banks robbing society at large and even individuals via foreclosures.
* BannedInChina: Banning by region is the most common form of censorship in RealLife.
* {{Bara}} / TheBear / ManlyGay: A case of truth becoming trope - a fixture in gay-directed media, and once mainstream media began to portray a wider range of gay men, ManlyGay men including bears began to be depicted more often in it as well. Contrast CampGay and compare both ArmoredClosetGay, MachoCamp, and StraightGay.
* BarBrawl: The consumption of alcohol can lead to some people getting violent over the stupidest of reasons. If you have a large group of people consuming alcohol, you are bound to have a couple of these people. Usually, this trope is less fun to watch in real life.
* BasementDweller: Hikikomori and extreme agoraphobics at the most extreme (who do not want to leave their parents' homes), slackers or the broke (who stay there either for lack of desire to work and pay rent, or who have no money) at the least.
* BastardBoyfriend: Unfortunately so, especially due to the popularity of pickup artist subculture and cultural memes rooted in gender stereotypes that insist all women and all gay men want a BastardBoyfriend.
* BathroomBreakOut: Burglars have used the excuse of a restroom visit to get into places. People under arrest/custody and kidnapping victims have used the excuse to escape.
* BatteriesNotIncluded: Children's toys eat batteries the way kids eat candy after Halloween. Which is why Nintendo started making {{GameBoy}}s rechargeable in the 2000s.
* BattleCry: Some have hypothesized they came into existence as warning or intimidation, but common through the history of warfare.
** RememberTheAlamo: A quite common casus belli in warfare is remembering a LastStand conducted in fighting against or defending against the enemy.
* BavarianFireDrill: People generally do what they're told, and this can be used against them. "Spearphishing" and other social engineering scams feed off of this quality of human beings.
* BeachEpisode: Beaches and beach resorts are very popular vacation destinations.
* BeardOfSorrow: While not as common as in Hollywood, lack of attention to personal care can be a sign of quite a few mental illnesses, abuse, addiction, and/or poverty. Someone who's always prided themselves in being clean-shaven suddenly no longer caring about it is one example, though obviously it could have other causes.
* BearsAreBadNews: Bears are extremely dangerous. Especially grizzlies and polar bears, which have been known to hunt and kill humans.
* BecauseISaidSo: Used by adults to children on many occasions. Sometimes used by adults to other adults, and often combined in those cases with an AppealToAuthority ("I'm a doctor, trust me"), or an AppealToForce (a threat of arrest or violence).
* BecomingTheBoast: Some people who brag want to be what they present themselves to be, and eventually do become what they present themselves as.
* BecomingTheMask: Very easy to do in some contexts - in fact, some forms of psychotherapy encourage people to do this to feel better.
* BedouinRescueService: In the modern era, this is mandatory. In ages past... not so much.
* BeepingComputers: They ''used'' to do that in the days of blinkenlights. Now not so much.
* TheBGrade: Yes, there are perfectionists out there who will become suicidal because of this. Somewhat justified if they're trying to get into MIT, University of Tokyo, an Ivy League school (and they aren't a Legacy), or either Oxbridge university in the UK. If you've been in a classroom for any period of time, you've seen it happen - maybe to you.
* BeingEvilSucks: Having the reputation of a criminal or even a {{jerkass}} restricts one's social opportunities, work prospects, and future. Having an actual criminal record is even more restrictive and limiting. Most criminals and other "evil" people, unless they are politicians or otherwise "normal" as well as "evil," tend to live short and difficult lives.
* BeingGoodSucks: Unfortunately, is true sometimes as well - people who report crimes are occasionally investigated as suspects, people who return lost money or jewelry aren't rewarded, people die saving the lives or property of others, and more.
* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Especially in the civil service sector, where "too much work, not enough time" seems to be status quo.
* BellyDancer: They exist, even in competitive tournaments, and it is a form of exercise for some people.
* BenevolentBoss: They exist.
* BeQuietNudge: Who hasn't been on the giving or receiving end of one of these?
* BerserkButton: Almost everyone has at least one. Some people have far more than that. And some subjects (politics and wars being big ones) are almost always guaranteed to be them.
* BestialityIsDepraved: Most societies tend to see it as such, or at the very least, an act of the absolutely immature and deprived of all legitimate sexual outlets.
* BewareMyStingerTail: Scorpions, various insects like bees, stingrays...
* BewareTheNiceOnes: The nicer someone is, the worse can be his or her anger when triggered. Or at least it stands out more.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Sometimes "silliness" is a symptom of mental illness, and other times someone may seem silly but be employing ObfuscatingStupidity.
* BewilderingPunishment: Very common in abusive relationships and in dictatorships both, where punishing people without telling them what they are being punished for keeps them in fear of punishment and allows punishment with no proof of wrongdoing.
* {{BFG}}: There are some huge guns in RealLife.
* {{BFS}}: There are also some big swords and swordlike knives.
* BigApplesauce: NewYorkCity [[CaptainObvious exists]], but it is not the stereotype.
* BigBadWannabe: Copycats of dictators, {{Serial Killer}}s, and the like unfortunately exist.
** There are also all of the people who believe that DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster, and seek to mime or recreate the lives and sometimes behavior of organized criminals or GangBangers.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Every nation, government, corporation, and even some private individuals run surveillance and monitoring operations to varying degrees. Spy agencies, police, and private detectives count as well. No RealLife examples are allowed due to controversy and ubiquity, but ''definite'' TruthInTelevision.
* BigEater: Competitive eating contests, Binge Eating Disorder, super sizes...
* BigBulkyBomb: Some bombs require a lot of C4 to get the required blast.
* BigDamnHeroes: Last minute rescues do happen in RealLife.
* BigFriendlyDog: St. Bernards, Mastiffs, Pit Bulls, and Newfoundlands, along with many of the larger herding dogs, like Komondors, Great Pyrenees and Old English Sheep Dogs. They've been bred for decades to have calm natures and strong loyalty to their owners.
** BewareOfViciousDog: On the flip side, you have many dogs (including of the above mentioned breeds) that are... less than friendly, whether naturally so or trained that way by their owners. Or they get that way as a result of rabies.
* BiggerIsBetterInBed: To some women, and to some gay and bisexual men, but not to all. ''Definitely'' a personal preference, based on ''very individual'' aesthetics and anatomy.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: It is guaranteed that at least once in life, everyone will experience some moment that is so overwhelmingly absurd/insane/stupid/weird/all of them combined that one is left shaking their head and going "WTF?"
* BigRedButton: Some exist, but not all dangerous buttons/levers/etc are so clearly marked.
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Yes, they exist, and you may even be a part of one!
* BillionsOfButtons: Many more complex vehicles and control panels of industrial buildings have them. Ever been in the cockpit of a plane?
* BillyElliotPlot: Unfortunately happens when fathers wish to apply gendered stereotypes to their sons.
* BitterAlmonds: But if you ''can'' smell it, you're in trouble.
* BiTheWay: Too many to list in real life, but most RealLife bisexuals are this - their sexuality just ''is.''
* BlackBox: Many examples exist in real life, from computer programming (where the example came from) to your own body and brain and how it entirely works.
* BlackWidow: The DistaffCounterpart of TheBluebeard.
* BlameGame: In officespeak, they call it "blamestorming".
* BlazingInfernoHellfireSauce: They exist in real life, with shops devoted to selling them. Some are so hot that they must be served with eyedroppers.
* BlingBlingBang: There are quite a few examples of firearms crafted for visual appeal over utility, specifically for collectible firearms and some sport shooting applications. Gold plating or gold on parts of the gun, diamonds being affixed to the gun, and more similar modifications exist.
* BlingOfWar: Generally only limited to officers and ceremonial dress rather than combat gear itself in modern militaries, though there were some exceptions as you go further back in time. Samurai were one such exception: being aristocrats as well as warriors, their combat gear was supposed to show off their wealth as well as have battle utility.
* BlockPuzzle: The Rubik's Cube is the most famous, but many others exist.
* TheBluebeard: He was a real person. He wasn't the only one.
* BluntYes: Offer to give almost anyone a sizable amount of money, no strings attached, and this is a likely reply.
* BodyCountCompetition: Features heavily in war crimes and similar atrocities. NaziGermany and ImperialJapan both did it as sport, as have other forces serving genocidal regimes or acting on their own initiative to commit war crimes.
* BodyHorror: Gruesome deaths from various accidental and intentional causes result in this, along with medical malpractice, some congenital birth defects, and quite a few other causes of an absolutely terrifying appearance.
* BoldExplorer: Too many examples to list, but they have existed. Humanity as a species is one.
* BondageIsBad: Though the popularity of such things as ''50 Shades of Gray'' and its sequels have helped reduce the stigma, there is still some stigma toward BDSM sexuality in some corners and in regard to some aspects. For example, male submission is still seen in many cultures as "unmanly," no matter ''how'' badass the submissive male is outside of the bedroom.
* BookBurning: Happens too often, along with other forms of censorship and disinformation. That said, is nearing DiscreditedTrope status, with how easy replicating information is in TheNewTens and onward.
* BoomerangBigot: Though most in RealLife tend to hate people of their own race/sexuality/gender/etc for behavior they see as stereotypical or personally offensive or attention whoring, wanting everyone to behave in "normal" ways. Many of these can be found, for example, telling African-Americans to change their names and "not sound black," or telling same-sex couples that they need to adopt traditional heterosexual [[{{Seme}} gender]] [[{{Uke}} roles]] and [[AllLesbiansWantKids aspirations]] if they want to be accepted as married.
* BornUnlucky: The apparent lot of some people, though all is not as it seems. Institutionalized racism/sexism/other discrimination and instutionalized poverty are some huge contributors to this - statistically, someone born as female and African-American to a poor family in a culture where white, male, and rich people have higher social status and privilege is ''far'' less likely to become financially successful or even reach a level of post high school education.
* BoundAndGagged: Part of some BDSM scenes. Occasionally done in the course of crimes such as kidnapping and home invasion.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: While the internet (and the ability to find the uncensored version of anything) is pushing this toward DiscreditedTrope status, a lot of things such as publicly displayed advertising, news and sports broadcast at earlier hours, and some other things at least face ''token'' bowdlerization (e.g. censorship so paper-thin it's obvious what the actual word or body part is supposed to be), and in some cultures and countries a lot more things get the treatment and far more harshly than token forms.
* BoxedCrook: Informants. They're criminals themselves, but given immunity in order to catch/testify against bigger criminals in their orbit. In the past law enforcement was itself this - hire the biggest {{Badass}} that can be found to stop the others.
* BoyishShortHair: A popular haircut for some.
* BraggingRightsReward: Too many to name, but anything where the only award is immediately consumed or is an unusable certificate or trophy (or worse, the temporary acclaim of one's current peers.)
* {{Brainwashed}}: Rare, but it can happen, though [[TropesExaminedByTheMythBusters NOT by hypnosis or subliminal suggestion]]. (See MoreThanMindControl below for how it does.) Ongoing situations of DomesticAbuse and other forms of abuse and exploitation tend to have some element of this.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: NaziGermany. UsefulNotes/NorthKorea. Cults that attack, perpetrate crimes against, sue people in the outside world, or commit mass suicide. Abused spouses or family members that (sometimes violently) defend their abusers. Often specific to charismatic cults centred around an individual and or specific set of beliefs (including atheistic, religious, and political). These cults can control whole countries but are usually very small and insular. Usually far too self-destructive, insular, unstable, and paranoid to survive long.
* BreadAndCircuses: Offering small sops and small rewards to an oppressed population to make them overlook their repression and conditions has been a longtime favorite trick of politicians.
* BreastExpansion: Breast implants are probably one of the most common forms of plastic surgery in the Western world after around TheEighties, because of media portrayals convincing women that a flat chest was [[ACupAngst something unwomanly over which to be very, very worried and ashamed.]]
* {{Bridezilla}}: In some places, because weddings are often seen as the best moment of any woman's life, and therefore they have to be perfect, expensive events that are fantasy made reality. Averted for people and cultures where weddings/partnerships are seen more as a legal formality or something to do in private.
* BriefcaseBlaster: Heckler and Koch makes a special briefcase for their [=MP5K=]. [[http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c70c0f2ba0 Here's a video.]]
* BringMyBrownPants: Some people urinate and/or defecate when faced with extreme fright. It is pissibly connected to the fight-or-flight response, to allow the body to flee faster.
* BringMyRedJacket: Colors on the red spectrum are some of the most attention-getting and eye-catching for both humans and other animals, ''especially'' because even for something color-blind, red ''is not invisible'' even if not visible as red. Wearing red will cause you to be targeted by predators or seen first by someone or something blinded by anger - [[BullSeeingRed why bullfighters use red capes]]. On the other hand, throwing the red item away from oneself is a powerful visual distraction, as human and animal eyes track red-spectrum colors.
* BringHelpBack: Requests for emergency responses, more soldiers, food, and the like. More modern (post late 19th-early 20th century) variants use telegraphs, radios, telephones, and other means - before that it was messengers.
* BringNewsBack: Less common in post late 19th-early 20th century events, unless communications means are entirely cut off or monitored and the news can't be heard by Big Brother.
* BritishStuffiness: (see NationalStereotypes) Brits are more private and reserved with people other than their close friends than Americans are, but this should not be interpreted as being arrogance; likewise the reverse with American bluster.
* BrokenAesop: Because RealLife doesn't have a writer, and because chaos theory ''does'' tend to apply.
* BrokenBridge: Sometimes, the things that bar one from accomplishing something in RealLife seem almost as arbitrary and pointless. You ended up marrying your high school sweetheart - ''40 years'' later, because it took that long for you to accept yourself, him to accept himself, and society to accept both of you?
* BrokenPedestal: Discovering someone or an organization you respected and looked up to (or even someone you loved) was actually an awful human being, a criminal, or similar has happened to a lot of people.
* BrotherSisterIncest: Unfortunately.
* BrokeTheRatingScale: The first use probably was by a band who claimed that they were so loud that their speakers had to [[UpToEleven Go To Eleven]] (versus the usual 1-10 volume control).
* BrutalHonesty: Can be found among people on the autistic spectrum, abusive {{jerkass}}es, and others who for some reason or other don't care about how the message is recieved as long as it is recieved. Also a tactic used in interventions/therapy with addicts as well, though its effectiveness is very individualized and entirely reliant on true denial being a huge part of the addiction - such confrontational approaches can do far more harm than good with someone who is telling the truth (e.g. they really don't have a problem) or someone who already acknowledges and understands the depth of their problems.
* BugWar: Farmers vs. locusts has been one almost since the dawn of agriculture. Sometimes smaller-scale ones have involved destructive/invasive/harmful/potentially lethal insect pest species (disease-carrying mosquitoes and roaches, fire ants/bullet ants, spiders, hornets, killer bees...) Many examples can be seen in the reality/documentary shows "Infested" and "The Exterminators," if you wish to see them.
* BullSeeingRed: Actually does work because red, even to color-blind humans and animals, often shows up as something eye-catching if not red itself - sometimes as green or dark grey or black - all of which are also eyecatching colors. Combine eyecatching capability with motion and you have something that even a colorblind animal will chase.
* BullyingADragon: Because people (and even entire nations) really do sometimes think that picking on something ''with the capacity to kill or severely injure them or with the capacity to make their life hell'' is a good idea.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: There are a few very rare persons that are just ''so good'' at what they do (and [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich enough]] to no longer have to worry about currying favor or about what anyone could do short of physical assault or legal action) that they don't have to play by the "unwritten" rules and standards for appearance, attitude, behavior, jargon, etc, at least to some degree.
** For a very technical definition, jailhouse lawyers/prison lawyers. Convicts/inmates who study law and in some cases know it ''better'' than actual lawyers, especially in regard to law in practice as opposed to legal theory. Some who've studied enough may even have degrees in law. Unfortunately, except in some very rare cases, their criminal background bars them from actually taking the bar exam and using their knowledge of law to become ''actual'' lawyers.
** In another technical definition, there ''are'' very rare lawyers that are self-taught or taught via apprenticeship as opposed to a traditional law school path. These often need a political waiver to take the bar exam, but given one and passing the exam, ''can'' become real lawyers.
* BuriedAlive: Used to happen extremely frequently because of primitive medicine. (Well, with varying frequency, depending on who you ask.) Now, it's rare. People still have this fear and request bells installed in their coffin just in case.
* BuryMeNotOnTheLonePrairie: Specific instructions for the final handling of a body or ashes are far from uncommon.
* BuryYourGays: Unfortunately truth for many periods of human history, and in some places of the world even as others become more accepting. There are still, unfortunately, too many places on Earth where being GLBTQIA can lead to death even if death is not prescribed by law.
* BusmansHoliday: Carpenters spend their time off fixing the house, IT staff spend their time at home on a PC, musicians tend to spend time off going to others' shows and listening to music, mechanics can be found on the weekends restoring a car or building a hot rod, and pilots and flight attendants do hitch rides on their airlines, obviously.
* ButchLesbian: TruthInTelevision before it became a trope. Once lesbians began to be depicted in various forms in media, the ButchLesbian stereotype actually became shorthand for "we are trying to show that this character is a lesbian," similar to how CampGay became the first gay male role to be shown - because both are so obvious shorthand, yet [[HideYourLesbians deniable]] if need be.
* ButHeSoundsHandsome: The internet has enabled this form of [[PolishTheTurd turd polish]] quite well - it is easy for people to create accounts to shill for themselves or for other people, and some {{troll}}s do this when spearphishing: if they can get you to add or trust their "friend," they have access to your account and identity...
* ButNotTooGay: Unfortunately truth for a lot of time, and has even become a point of contention in GLBTQIA circles itself - with some StraightGay, LipstickLesbian, and stealth transgender people telling others to StopBeingStereotypical and be more "normal" and try to gain more societal acceptance, and with some CampGay, ButchLesbian, and androgynous/nonstealth trans people accusing them of being the BoomerangBigot and CategoryTraitor.
* ButIPlayOneOnTV: Actors, musicians, and others are often recognized for role played or stage persona.
* ButWeUsedACondom: To the sorrow of many, and the existence of quite a few.
** If our product doesn't work, Happy Father's Day!
* BuyThemOff: A very, very common tactic by those rich enough to say ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney. In a less cynical variant, the purpose of car insurance - to keep minor to moderate non-injury accidents out of court by effectively buying the cost of repairing the vehicle(s) or property involved. Citations and fines also can be considered this - the person is fined instead of arrested/jailed, and effectively "buys off" the government/state/whatever issuing them for their freedom.
* ByTheBookCop: They exist. Most don't become known because their less law-abiding and more violent counterparts tend to gain either laudatory or condemnatory media attention, while they do the everyday business of good police work.
* BystanderSyndrome: Fascinating to sociologists, not so much for the victims. Most notably the case of Kitty Genovese.
* CaffeineBulletTime: From the stimulant consumer's POV, time does often seem to move faster after a stimulant dose (or alternately, painfully slower as they feel faster - like driving a fast sports car in a miserable traffic jam). That said, unless someone is very sensitive to caffeine, it usually takes stronger stimulants such as amphetamine-class drugs or cocaine to achieve this effect.
* CakeEater: Some men are attracted to (sometimes much) older women.
* CallASmeerpARabbit: European naturalists named some animals, such as the koala bear, after other animals that kind of looked similar but weren't at all related. Example: The Tasmanian tiger, aka the thylacine.
* CallingCard: Some serial killers and terrorists (and other criminals who want attention for their crimes) do this. Organized criminals occasionally do it to send a message and provoke fear. The serial killer/terrorist variant is usually claiming responsibility or taunting the police/military/etc - the organized criminal variant is making the crime itself the CallingCard but with the message sent to other criminals/potential victims as opposed to the police or the military.
* CallingYourAttacks: Martial arts practitioners believe that expressing certain phrases or vocalization help build up ''chi'' or ensure proper breathing
* CampGay / TheTwink: Although to a far lesser extent (and a far more self-aware extent) usually than TV depictions of gay men would have you believe. Contrast {{Bara}}, TheBear, StraightGay. MachoCamp is when this is intentionally subverted, and ArmoredClosetGay is arguably when it is unintentionally DoubleSubverted.
* CannotSpitItOut: Happens. A very alarming (to those who experience it) variant is the nightmare where one cannot scream or one's words can't get to the tip of their tongue.
* CannotTellFictionFromReality: Some of the more severely afflicted of TheMentallyDisturbed tend toward this direction. To a lesser degree, you have those who insist AllMythsAreTrue in regard to fictional stories.
* CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest: "Courtship" or other religious relationship models, more conservative cultures in general, and in situations where it is considered disrespectful or inappropriate to express sexual interest in someone in ways people other than them know, in public, or before a close, documented mutual relationship exists.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: Childhood, in strict disciplinarian families. Obtaining security clearances in some occasions - people are actually ''advised'' to lie on the illegal drugs questions if they are not present addicts, because an honest answer will often disqualify someone, even if it would be more preferable to have someone who admitted to smoking a joint in college than a liar in the position.
* CantGetInTroubleForNuthin: Childhood, in overly permissive families. Being rich or a celebrity.
* CantHaveSexEver: Some religious commitments impose this - priests and nuns within Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, and some Buddhist monks for example. Some health conditions that could invoke OutWithABang if the patient has sex. Profound mental retardation (e.g. generally below an IQ of 50) where the person ''cannot'' ever have the mental status to give meaningful consent to sex with a partner. Persons who are "wired" to only desire sexual activity that causes harm (e.g. pedophiles and zoophiles who have ''no'' attraction to adults or to humans, respectively, and obviously can't have sex without harming a victim.)
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Actually a ''good'' sign: someone who is uncomfortably drunk/passed out after less than three drinks doesn't yet have tolerance to alcohol, and with increasing alcohol tolerance, is increasing risk of alcoholism. Someone who can drink three full bottles of wine and still not pass out, for example, is most likely an alcoholic - someone who is sleeping after two glasses is likely not.
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: Some RealLife relationships are like this. They don't tend to last very long, at least in times and places where people can move freely, can choose their friends, can get divorces, etcetera - most people eventually realize they ''can'' live without them and doing so is far less drama and stress.
* CanYouHearMeNow: Became a trope because it was (and still to some degree is) TruthInTelevision, ''especially'' with mobile phones on one or both sides of the conversation, though landlines are ''not'' immune, especially with background noise, quiet or confusing speech, and similar.
* TheCaptain: On every naval ship that exists, and private sailors and pilots also have the title.
* CardboardPrison: Some prisons and jails are rather easy to escape. Tended more to happen in the pre-camera past or in the Third World. In modern times (at least in the US) there's a few "low-security" prisons that are basically dormitories that criminals may be able to transfer to for the later parts of their sentences as an incentive for good behavior, or to which white-collar criminals, some petty financial criminals, and the occasional low-level drunk drivers (the ones who didn't kill anyone and earn a vehicular homicide charge, but who also didn't have a good enough lawyer to keep them at fine and driving ban) or drug offenders (some possession cases) are sent. The thing keeping them from escaping is that if caught, they're back to high-security prison with even more time tacked on.
* CareerBuildingBlunder: In the creative arts most often, in business and politics sometimes. Most common in the latter two fields when what was a "blunder" at the time was actually ahead of its time or FairForItsDay.
* CareerVersusMan: Some women are still told this in some parts of society and in some cultures. The codification of this in Japan in women's employment into "career track" and "marriage track" makes it very, very difficult for women to have high-level careers, ''especially'' once they marry.
* CargoShip: People who get a little ''too'' attached to love dolls or to sex toys. An extreme example is "object-relationality" or "object-sexuality" where you have people seriously, unironically professing romantic love for their car or for the Berlin Wall or Eiffel Tower, for example - and sometimes even trying to have sex with the object.
* CarMeetsHouse: Mechanical failure and alcohol are the most common causes, with driver medical problems close behind. Tends to happen to businesses more than houses, especially those with drive-up/drive-through areas or parking spaces next to glass fronts such as gas stations or convenience stores.
* CarpetOfVirility: Hairy men exist in RealLife, and for most brown or darker-haired men who aren't East Asian this is the default state - one needs to shave near-constantly ''to'' look like this and ''not'' look like Bigfoot.
* CasanovaWannabe: They exist in many places in many forms. "Pickup artist" subculture is what happens when they counsel each other on getting laid with a heavy dose of HeManWomanHater. Needless to say, it doesn't work very well, at least not as well as it claims to do.
* CassandraTruth: Sadly enough, nearly all or almost all disasters have been foreseen and even explicitly warned about by ''someone'' with knowledge of the problem that leads to the disaster. A hurricane flooding New Orleans? Yeah, people were predicting it for 10 years or more. A nuclear power plant in an earthquake and [[TemptingFate tsunami zone]]? People were predicting trouble and protesting the plant over five years before the Tohoku quake made it a reality.
* CastingCouch: RealLife examples abound from film to fashion and music (where it's more common now). Somewhat subverted in that unlike in fiction, where complying may well benefit the victim, in reality, the victim may very well get nowhere at all for his or her trouble, or end up destroying his or her career doing this for real. There's also porn staged around the idea with fully willing participants...
* CastFromLifespan: While obviously not truth in television in the magical sense, ''living itself'' is this: every day you live you become a day older, and some of the choices you may make within that day or over time will shorten your lifespan in exchange for everything from necessity to convenience.
* CasualKink: In some places far, far more than others. If you're in such a place, you probably either are very aware of it, or don't even recognize it as unusual.
* TheCatfish: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wels_catfish "wels catfish"]], also called a "sheatfish". They can be up to 10 ft long (3m) and weigh 330lbs (150kg). They eat ducks.
* CatsAreMean: Yes, some are. Whether as a result of poor training, bad temperament, mental illness, or some combination thereof, there ''are'' some cats that will happily fight with other cats until they're near death, and angrily attack even the humans feeding them and trying to engage with them. Ferals can ''seem'' this way, but are more "wild" than "mean" per se. Averted, though, just as often as it's played straight in RealLife - quite a lot of cats are cuddly, sweet, intelligent, and ''not'' mean. Males neutered at an early age, especially of the colored shorthair/tabby or Siamese breeds, are highly reputed for calm temperament and being good with people and other cats.
* CatScare: Anyone who's owned a cat can tell you this is TruthInTelevision. Especially alarming when a cat does something that breaks glass AND makes a lot of noise, which has likely led to more than a few frantic police calls.
* CATTrap: If you're suffering from claustrophobia, you don't want to spend too much time in a closed scanner.
* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Because some people [[YourDoorWasOpen don't remember to lock the door]], and others are exhibitionists.
* CeilingBanger: What apartment dweller hasn't had to deal with noisy neighbors?
* TheCityNarrows: Most large cities have what is euphemistically called a "bad area" or two. The larger the city, the more likely. It probably won't be all alleys, though.
* TheChainsOfCommanding: It can be tough to be a political leader, and sometimes political leaders are restricted by politics or the lack of cooperation from others from accomplishing even important or needed goals.
* CharmPoint: Jewelry or pieces of clothing with symbolic or spiritual meaning to their owner. Common in some parts of pagan, neopagan, shamanistic, and occult belief where, for example, a ring with an amethyst may mean something entirely different than one with an aventurine or ruby - and even mainstream religions have some things that could be considered as such (rosaries in Catholic Christianity for example, the ''hijab'' in some forms of Islam)
* CheckPointStarvation: There ''are'' no {{Check Point}}s in RealLife, unless you count sleep as one.
* ChekhovsGun: The amount of times something actually turns out to be really important later is almost innumerable in RealLife.
** ChekhovsClassroom: If something in class seems really emphasized, try to remember it. If nothing else, it may be in a pop quiz or standardized test.
** ChekhovsGunman: Many, many times someone who seems entirely unimportant or useless or a sideline player isn't. Overlaps with such tropes as AlmightyJanitor, AscendedExtra, and BullyingADragon.
** ChekhovsNews: Paying attention to weather reports, in some areas of the world and some times of the year, can save your life. It's always good to know, for example, if in three days you're going to be snowed in or in a hurricane, or if later in the day there's a high risk of tornadoes.
** ChekhovsSkill: That weird little bit of knowledge or unusual skill you have can do anything from make you famous to earn someone's trust to save a life. The reason it's very important to learn all you can learn how to do and keep up with knowledge (or at least, on how to use search functions)
* CherryTapping: Human beings who die from stinging insects or from something else that in small or ordinary amounts is fairly harmless, but in large numbers is fatal.
* ChewbaccaDefense: If the defense does ''not make sense'', you must acquit. Still a logical fallacy, but it works. Sometimes in a roundabout way - quite a few legal systems demand a mistrial be declared if the prosecution or defense has failed its duties.
* ChildByRape: Unfortunately.
* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Happens on occasion, especially when there aren't many options other than the childhood friend, or if the childhood friend returned after their friend had been widowed or divorced and was suddenly the best option available.
* ChildProdigy: They exist. Quite a few in music and the arts, others in the sciences or mathematics. Unfortunately, the trope can be forced by AbusiveParents who turn a normal or gifted/genius child into a prodigy - but at the expense of mental health, social life, and more.
* ChildrenInTow: Some animal species do this, ducks and dogs/canines in particular. Bears also do it, which is why if you see a baby bear, you should ''run'' for safe cover such as a vehicle or building (and ''not'' your tent) because the mama is likely nearby.
* ChildSoldiers: Uganda, Sierra Leone, Congo, Somalia, Darfur, the Iranian militia during the Iran-Iraq war, and the Hitler Jugend. Among ''far'' too many others.
* ChivalrousPervert: But if you think you are one you probably aren't, much like the JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: RealLife examples are too controversial for this, but yes, there are some people who are ''exactly'' like this, and that is why you should be ''very'' wary of someone who ''brags'' about repeatedly betraying others or worse, who uses you to betray someone else - because the odds are, you too will be betrayed.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Some people have this in real life. In some cases they become rescuers/emergency service personnel because they feel called to the work and rewarded by saving people. But sadder cases sometimes involve codependency or even the lack of care for one's own life.
* ChubbyChaser: Yes, they exist in real life, and are an issue of contention among fat people. Some don't mind them, others (whether out of not wanting to be fat or out of disgust with being reduced to their weight as a fetish among other reasons) find being admired by them offensive. There's also a couple of real life subtypes: one is respectful of fat people and admires them (and may be fat themselves), the other sees fat people as desperate and easily degraded and used.
* ChurchMilitant: Christianity and Islam [[NotSoDifferent both]] during the Crusades. Both WesternTerrorists and Middle Eastern terrorists [[NotSoDifferent when they claim Christianity, Islam, or any sect thereof]] as their raison d'etre. Various groups throughout history outside of either - for example, priests active within TheCartel or favelas may be just as armed to the teeth as anyone else.
* ChurchOfHappyology: We'd say more but they'll sue us.
* CircumcisionAngst: Is beginning to disappear with the increasing globalization of the world and the increasing acknowledgement that routine circumcision in healthy boys, at least as it is usually practiced, is damaging. Unfortunately, still likely to happen among some US parents, who will still decide for circumcision for their sons just to "look normal" or "be healthy."
* CityOfWeirdos: LosAngeles, SanFrancisco, and Berkeley in California all have this reputation. Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas also do in the US. Worldwide, [[FreeStateAmsterdam Amsterdam]], Tokyo, and Bangkok have it.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The placebo effect, and the way prayer/meditation/etc "work" aside from the existence of anything they are directed toward. Assuming good faith and treating people with respect can fit in here too in a combination with the SelfFulfillingProphecy - sometimes, offering respect and assuming good faith can actually make someone act in a more noble or responsible manner, and the reverse is even more true: shunning people and treating them as if they are evil or untrustworthy often results in [[ThenLetMeBeEvil them becoming just that]].
* CleanUpTheTown: Sometimes happens, though rare, via various methods. The darker inversion is unfortunately more common - a dictator takes power by promising to do this, and/or his idea of doing it is [[FinalSolution killing what is seen as undesirable.]]. AdolfHitler gained power in that way. Among ''many'' others.
* CloseKnitCommunity: Some small towns or neighborhoods, quite a few internet communities or fandom communities, and some subcultures and subculture locations.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Quite a few people like this exist in RealLife, on a spectrum from "slightly eccentric" to "TheMentallyDisturbed and clinically insane."
* ClusterFBomb: Most people (except for the extremely religious or extremely young) have issued one of these, usually when hammer meets thumb, toe meets chair leg/bedframe/wall, or a vehicle or computer will not start up when needed. Some people drop them far, far more frequently - see those groups under ObligatorySwearing further down.
* CockFight: Sometimes happens, but the DistaffCounterpart of females viciously competing for males is more often seen.
* CoitusUninterruptus: Apparently, a means of showing dominance or control... or of, again, being an exhibitionist.
* ColdCash: To the point that many burglars make a point of checking the freezer for stashed valuables.
* ColdSniper: Both out of necessity and self-selection for many military snipers.
* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: What you'll suffer the day you'll fail to pay the power bill, causing the power company to leave you unplugged for 3 working days with no access to TV Tropes.
* ColonelKilgore: Some people do join or stay in the military because they enjoy violence and killing.
* ColorCodedPatrician: Uniforms in general are this. Police uniforms especially, but medical uniforms and judges' robes as well, and highly formal professional dress also qualifies: it's far more likely that you'll assume, in most Western or Westernized societies, the guy in a three piece suit and tightly cut short hair to be in charge of ''something'' as compared to the guy in a ripped t-shirt and jeans with long hair - unless you're at a concert and maybe even then.
* CombatMedic: Quite a few have existed, both obviously in various military forces and wars, and there have also been cases of police officers acting as medics, paramedics having to rescue someone in a dangerous situation or subdue someone threatening, and doctors and nurses having to deal with violent emergency situations in hospitals.
* CompensatingForSomething: Examples are both too numerous and too FlameBait to mention.
* ComeToGawk: We are very curious primates, we humans.
* ComfortFood: Unfortunately, and even more unfortunately, marketers know how to make high-fat, high-sugar, and high-salt foods be seen as comfort food. Which is one component of the obesity problem of the first world.
* ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor: In the Digital Age, people who torrent music, movies, games, software, etc. for free can be just as critical of a product as someone who bought it through legal means, if not '''more''' critical because someone who buys a product would be more willing to get some value out of it, seeing that he would have given up money for it.
* CondescendingCompassion: You poor thing, wasting your pathetic little hopeless life on reading this page. (As you can obviously tell, examples centering around race or gender or sexuality or culture or similar can get ''very'' nasty.)
* CongruentMemory: Hey, it works. Seriously, try it.
* ConjunctionInterruption: Your dad has used it.
* ConMenHateGuns: It varies. Some fraud criminals ''do'' carry guns and wouldn't hesitate to kill. Others, if they are the CorruptCorporateExecutive type, their guards/security handles the violence. Others commit petty crimes and don't want to take the risk of additional charges/worse charges (e.g. someone who commits petty retail fraud or scalps fake event tickets may face six months in jail if caught, but if they are armed at the time, the crime could become armed burglary or armed robbery with over five years and something far harder to explain away.) Still others commit their fraud via the phone or internet, meaning they have no need to be armed.
* ConscienceMakesYouGoBack: BystanderSyndrome can be overruled by empathy and what one has been taught to do.
* ConspicuousConsumption: Those who have money often feel the need to display their riches.
* ConstantlyCurious: Toddlers are naturally precocious, some more than others. They want to learn about the world around them.
* ConsummateLiar: Sociopaths, psychopaths, and various fraud criminals/scammers. PR, politics, and the corporate business world also draw a lot of them, as do the shadier parts of the arts, media, and music industries.
* ContinuingIsPainful: In RealLife, it is. Very few people survive near-fatal injuries without some ongoing disorder or disability, for example, and if one is ever arrested and imprisoned, trying to become a part of normal society again is very difficult. Trying to survive after being put in extreme personal debt (especially debt that cannot be completely discharged in bankruptcy), losing one's residence, or in some cases after having one's reputation or credibility ruined (whether for things you actually did or things someone made up or some combination thereof) is very difficult, as is starting over in an entirely new career after one's 20s or 30s.
* ContractualPurity: Unfortunately so. Disney and other "child" stars in the US, those who act or participate in children's media as well in many places in the world. In Japan, any IdolSinger is usually this - look at the Minami Minegishi scandal from {{AKB48}}. Sometimes, impressed on non-famous people who live at home or live in situations with demanding rules. Has a very devastating effect on personal lives.
* ConvenienceStoreGiftShopping: What you do when you realize that there is a holiday or anniversary or some other similar event - and nothing better is open or nearby, or you are broke. Or the person really does want a couple packs of cigarettes and a six pack of beer and a lottery ticket.
* ConvenientlyCommonKink: Because a fair amount of kinks are fairly common among sexual humans (especially at the lighter end of BDSM, for example), and in settings where people can be open, they may be quite surprised at how many people share their deepest, darkest desire.
* ConvertingForLove: Yes, it happens. Enough that some religious sects will use the promise of a loving relationship to recruit people.
* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_hegemony Cultural hegemony]], trial by jury.
* CoolBike: Quite a few people have them.
* CoolButInefficient: The Tsar Tank. You could walk faster than it could move at top speed.
* CoolChair: Thrones. And someone based a 15K chair off of the one Blofeld had.
* CordonBleughChef: Chefs trying to be artistic or edgy rather than simply cook food, or make use of an oversupply of an ingredient.
* CorruptCop: They definitely exist, in many regions of the world.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: There are so many examples to list that this is considered standard procedure for any CEO. One good example is American bank execs spending bailout money (which was supposed to be spent on failing businesses and bank loans) on multi-million dollar bonuses for high-ranking bankers.
* TheCorruption: Methamphetamine.
* CosmeticAward: Many awards in RealLife are this, even "resume-padding" awards like being on the dean's list at college - no one after your first employer (''possibly'') really cares. Often overlaps with the BraggingRightsReward. If it's a paper or trophy and does not actively get you any advancement - it's almost always this.
* {{Cosplay}}: More common in reality than fiction. Just go to a fan convention.
* CostumePorn: Halloween. VisualKei subculture also.
* CouldSayItBut: We could say this is an example, but we didn't.
* CountryCousin: Many people have relatives in more rural areas.
* CourtlyLove: Became a trope because it was once TruthInTelevision. Still is in some sectors of society, although in most of those aside it's more due to impossibility of consummation than not wanting to consummate the relationship. The GroupieBrigade once it reaches a certain size is a fairly good modern example - only a select few or lucky few will actually even have a one night stand, but the rest are there, even if they know their appearance (e.g. fat, over 25) or IncompatibleOrientation, or the sheer number of other groupies etc makes them very unlikely candidates.
* CowboyCop: They exist, and are often found in PoliceBrutality cases or overlapping with CorruptCop.
* CoyGirlishFlirtPose: Happens, and used by men as well.
* CrackIsCheaper: College education, especially postgraduate or some majors. Getting the "proper" (read: most expensive and elite) gear as a musician or a photographer, among other professions or hobbies where the person who's spent the most is seen as the best.
* CrazyCatLady: Animal hoarders exist, although animal hoarding in RealLife is not limited to gender: men can be animal hoarders as well as women, and while cats ''are'' one of the more easily hoardable animals, everything from rats to horses can be hoarded.
* CrazyHomelessPeople: Some due to deinstitutionalization or addictions, others simply due to how others perceive their behavior (e.g. to most normal people, bathing in a sink or fountain may seem crazy, but if one has no shower...) or due to the mental strain that homelessness and social isolation itself provides.
* CrazyPrepared: Survivalists and the "prepper" community. Also known to happen among ex-soldiers and those who have had difficult lives or experienced traumatic events. Preparing is seen as a way to gain control over life.
* CreepyBasement: All kids are afraid of their basement/attic. The only kids who aren't, don't have one, or live in it themselves.
* CrimeOfSelfDefense: Sometimes when people think they [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what they had to do]] to save their own or someone else's life, the law sees it differently. [[note]] To limit your chances of ever ending up in this situation, never use disproportionate force (e.g. don't use a gun in self-defense against anyone with anything BUT a gun) and only use enough force needed to allow for escape (e.g. no matter how much you want to unleash a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown once you have the upper hand, ''don't.'' [[/note]]
* CriminalMindGames: The Zodiac Killer and other serial killers.
* CrisisOfFaith: If you're having one, you're not alone. And people have resolved them in many ways: leaving their faith if they realize it doesn't fit them, is abusive or fraudulent in their eyes, or is otherwise causing them more harm than good to become atheists or agnostics or to join a different faith, or in cases where they want to stay in their faith but want to find a different expression of it, seeking out a different branch or interpretation.
* CrossDressingVoices: Happens to people early in gender transition for obvious reasons. Also happens with some cisgender people that have voices out of their normal range for a variety of reasons from injury to smoking to hormonal problems.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Plenty of people, again, are far more capable or intelligent (or dangerous) than they might look. This trope is yet another reason why trying to take things from people without their permission or trying to assault people is often a ''very bad idea.''
* CruellaToAnimals: Some people do profit off of or wear or display trophies of their animal cruelty and take pride in it.
* CruelMercy: Often the purview of the TechnicalPacifist, from Buddhist monks who would drop people who they wished would die in pits with scorpions, to prison guards or officials who make sure pedophiles or child killers end up in general population where they will likely be raped and killed.
* CruelTwistEnding: Dying under the age of 55 or 65 or so, in pretty much any way it can happen in most Western or Westernized societies. Particularly cruel are sudden deaths, such as accidents, being a crime victim, suicides...
** Similarly, losing a parent, your lover, or someone else very close to you suddenly and arbitrarily.
** Being molested or raped, especially by someone you trusted. It's an end to life as you knew it, to that relationship as you knew it...
** Developing a severely disabling or terminal illness, especially one that robs you of your mind or bodily control.
** A career-ending injury or illness, if you loved what you did that, due to the injury, you can no longer do or do and not risk death or serious injury.
** Going to prison for a long sentence or to be put on death row, particularly if you are innocent of the charges.
* CryingWolf: Happens, and due to its ability to induce "warning fatigue," the bane of emergency managers, meterologists, and others who need people to pay attention to their warnings this time. No, those tornado sirens ''aren't'' just a test and yes, they are for real...
* CucumberFacial: The cucumbers function to help with puffiness around the eyes.
* CulturalPosturing: A cause of many a FlameWar. And many a ''real'' war. And more arguments, fights, and drama than can be counted, especially if one brings in subcultures, parts of subcultures, and similar as well.
* CulturalRebel: Many of them exist.
* CulturePolice: No RealLife examples are allowed, because there are ''too many'' and too depressing.
* CuriousQualmsOfConscience: Because sometimes, even if one thinks one has made the right decision or done what one was required to do, it may not have been the right decision or it may have had too high of a cost.
* CurseCutShort: Especially if one is in a setting where one could get in a lot of trouble for using the word(s), or is around one's parents, children, more conservative religious types, or [[FowlMouthedParrot parrots]]. Sometimes done when someone realizes they are being SirSwearsALot or could be offending someone and then cuts off after they've dropped half the ClusterFBomb, which sometimes has an effect that is more hilarious than anything else.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Can be accomplished with contacts, or alternately, with dying one's hair to match one's eye color.
* CutenessProximity: The presence of something cute or beautiful in a photograph will increase the aesthetic value of all nearby. Models make a living off of this trope, as do animal and child stars.
* CutenessOverload: Admit it, you've been through this a lot of times in your life.
* CutHimselfShaving: Yes, people do this to explain away injuries from abuse or SelfHarm. The inverse also happens - suspicious injuries or overdoses or whatnot that look like SelfHarm or suicidal, or like someone else did it, can be true accidents.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: This is actually one of the strongest arguments for drug legalization - that were drugs legalized and those currently illegally manufacturing and selling were brought into a regulated, legalized system, their business acumen could be directed somewhere more legitimate than violence and warfare, the insane profits they make could be ''taxed the hell out of'' much like alcohol and tobacco currently are, and the tax proceeds could be used to manage the regulation of the substances, and to provide treatment and care and paths back into society for those who became addicts.
* CuttingTheElectronicLeash: Happens sometimes but usually more of the "turning the phone off" variant than throwing it away, unless the person is trying to show off how rich they are that they can discard a $500 smartphone without as much as a care.
* CuttingTheKnot: Favored tactic of the military and the police alike when faced with something tricky or troublesome. Unfortunately, this is also often applied to ''people,'' which results in a lot of war crimes and PoliceBrutality, and which is also why you should only call the police on a suicidal person as a ''very last resort,'' because some officers, especially if they feel in personal danger, have no qualms about shooting or tazing someone who seems to be acting out.
* CynicismCatalyst: There's quite a lot of these in RealLife - and trying to avoid creating them is important for some. For example, one RabidCop engaging in PoliceBrutality can make people hate and fear (and possibly violently lash out toward) police officers. One ObstructiveBureaucrat can make people afraid to seek services or bring complaints they need to do, or even vote. A bad experience with an ObstructiveBureaucrat or DrJerk can make people refuse to get checkups or otherwise seek even needed care. And so on...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D-F]]
* DadTheVeteran: Very, very often TruthInTelevision - in many countries, the military is one of the biggest employers and/or the employer of last resort for those who cannot get a job elsewhere or qualify for benefits but do meet military standards, and some such as {{Israel}}, SouthKorea, and Singapore have mandatory universal military service, so there are a lot of ''military'' veterans if not actual ''combat'' veterans.
* DanBrowned: Happens far more in RealLife than in fiction. Fictional creators who make shit up almost never get called out on it. There are many hoaxes still alive today thanks to this.
* DanceOfRomance: Sometimes, people do fall in love after dancing with each other. Even people who had no previous romance. Happens with professional dancers and figure skaters, among others.
* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Experimenting with chemicals or explosives in the US (or anywhere in the world) post the War on Drugs and the WarOnTerror, unless you are the government or military itself or in an accredited educational institution. Even if, as a hobbyist chemist, you really ''are'' looking for a beneficial compound, good luck trying to tell the law you're not making meth, and even if, as an amateur bottle rocket or fireworks enthusiast, you're actually not planning on anything even remotely terroristic, good luck on surviving the [[AttackDrone Predator drone attack]].
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: A small portion of real criminals are actually like this. Organized criminals such as TheMafia and the {{Yakuza}} are almost always this - most successful members try to avoid the actions that make them visible and therefore arrestable to patrolling police such as traffic violations or buying/selling drugs out in the open. (The majority of criminals are pretty much equally split between StupidCrooks and people who are just ignorant of/don't really care about the law or proper behavior around cops and are easy pickings.)
* DarkHorseVictory: Sometimes happens in sports and politics.
* DarkIsEvil: The greatest majority of street crime happens at night in urban areas, and after a certain hour in ''many'' urban areas, particularly mid-size urban areas, pretty much the only people out on the street (as opposed to being inside somewhere working, playing, or sleeping) are criminals. The less lighting at night a particular place has, the more likely crime is to occur there. In colder areas of the world and colder times of year, most hypothermia deaths are at night because night is the coldest time. Most fire deaths and carbon monoxide deaths are also at night, because most non-nocturnal people are sleeping and without an alarm, won't awaken before it's too late. Finally, some criminals (especially of the overdramatic teenage or overwhelmingly mentally disturbed varieties) will cite everything from heavy metal music to dark poetry to Satan as reasons for why they committed some horrible crime.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Goths, metalheads, and/or others who tend to wear a lot of black and indulge in things more mainstream society would consider "dark" are no more likely to harm you than anyone else - and most of the aforementioned teenage and overwhelmingly mentally disturbed criminals mentioned above are ''not'' considered cool or welcome in such communities. [[note]] (For example, people who destroy occupied property or kill someone's pet have, in most forms of Satanism, transgressed against another person's domain, which is one of the ''worst'' things you can do in the belief, to the point of absolving the person transgressed against if ''they kill you.'' In ''many'' forms of Paganism, inflicting harm upon other humans or animals is considered to bring three times the harm you caused back on you. So people who kill humans or animals or vandalize in the name of "dark" belief systems are usually incredibly failing their own "beliefs," and the majority of people in them are not doing so.) [[/note]] Night is, in the desert during summer or in deserts that are hot all year round, the ''safest'' time to travel - temperatures are lower, there is less risk of sunstroke or dehydration, and one can actually sometimes see further than on a bright day if the moon is full. Also, while there are more street crimes at night in urban areas, ''daytime'' is actually the most risky for burglaries of homes and property, because burglars assume people will be at work or away in the day and home at night.
* DarkShepherd: Sometimes police officers have to take this role, though too often it ends in PoliceBrutality and no one's better off. Pretty much the point of military occupations, even "peacekeeping" ones - invoking the monopoly of force with the equivalent of "stop killing each other or we'll kill you all" to force unity until deeper bonds of trust and authentic unity can (hopefully) form in a more idealistic peacekeeping mission, or to hold the enemies together in some sort of uneasy peace until it all falls apart again in more cynical situations. Religious leaders take this role too, to varying levels and varying effect.
* DateRape: Unfortunately. Acquaintance rape, as it is more properly called, is actually ''the most oommon form of rape,'' and depressingly, the one hardest to prosecute even though most acquaintance rapists are also serial rapists - the odds of it being even ''reported'' are lower than that of stranger rape involving weapons, for example, and even if reported, the odds of it being pursued and the rapist being convicted are low still.
** DateRapeAverted: Fortunately, this happens too. One of the more promising efforts in reducing the amount of acquaintance rape is a dual effort to educate men on what acquaintance rape is (to both make sure it doesn't happen by accident AND remove the excuse of "I didn't know" from the serial rapists using it as a modus operandi) and to encourage everyone to not fall victim to BystanderSyndrome and, if they see a potential acquaintance rape situation setting up, to simply ''separate the people involved.''
* DaylightHorror: Because there is no set time for Bad Things to happen in RealLife.
* DayHurtsDarkAdjustedEyes: As anyone whose eyes have been dilated in an eye exam can testify.
* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Common in the days of royalty, still TruthInTelevision in the more corrupt corners of politics, finance, business, anywhere you have elitist individuals congregating and forming nepotistic to the degree of incestuous self-serving relationships and at the same time getting into internal politics. If you've been in some fandoms or internet communities, you've likely seen it on a very small scale. These tend to overlap with DramaBomb ''a lot,'' for reasons that should be obvious.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter: ''Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers'', a picture by Vincent van Gogh, was never bought when he was alive. In 1987, almost 100 years after his death, that same picture was bought for £24,299,562 ($39,921,750) dollars in an auction at Christie's. This trope also applies to musicians, in part explaining the ongoing popularity of everyone from Elvis to Amy Winehouse.
* DeadlyDoctor: To the surprise (and distress) of many. The reason why malpractice suits (and subsequently, malpractice insurance) exists.
** In a less horrifying example, Dr. Kevorkian.
* DeadlyGas: The amount of chemicals belonging to that category are just too numerous to count. Even oxygen itself can be one in some circumstances.
* DeadpanSnarker: You ''really'' want an example of this?
* DeathByChildbirth: Unfortunately. Less often than in the past in the Western and Westernized world, still happens. Happens far more frequently in areas where mothers have little or no access to qualified medical help or to infection control.
* DeathBySex: If your heart is ''not'' healthy enough for sex. Some sexual practices such as EroticAsphyxiation (the solo variant is ''especially'' bad for this - just go ask a [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/INXS few]] [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto dead rockstars]] and [[DavidCarradine movie stars]]), sex play involving guns, alcohol or drug enemas, and intense bloodplay can also kill.
* DeathByWomanScorned: Has happened - some people ''do'' get so absolutely enraged over being cheated on that they resort to murder, either of the adulterous partner, of their new lover, or both.
* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: Has happened in a few instances. Rarely, a situation like this is actually planned for: a dying partner with a terminal illness will encourage a LoveTriangle or non-monogamous relationship, out of wanting to remove the pain of beginning a new relationship and the doubt of "would he/she approve" with express approval and encouragement.
* DeathSeeker: Terrorists, unfortunately. Suicidal people in general. Occasionally someone who is terminally ill is this, ''especially'' if the illness is one that will eventually take away their mind/ability to communicate rationally, such as Alzheimer's or similar. Was also the case with AIDS before antiretroviral therapy - some patients sought suicide or hoped to die before the final stages of the disease set in, sometimes allowing an early infection to become fatal in hopes of dying from pneumonia instead of overwhelming cancer or brain involvement.
* DefconFive: Except, in RealLife, it is Defcon ''One'' that you have to worry about as it is the state of war or attack. Five actually means peace.
* DecadeDissonance: Compare Hong Kong to the Guangdong province just over the border, or downtown Rio de Janeiro to its slums. Compare ANY inner city to the gleaming, tourist-laden areas.
** There is a tiny island off the coast of Scotland, St. Kilda, where the seas are so choppy and rough, that few people dare try to sail to and from it. People have lived there for centuries. The government sent an expedition there in about 1746 to see whether Bonnie Prince Charlie had taken refuge there after the Battle of Culloden. The locals hadn't heard of Prince Charles Edward Stuart--nor of King George II either. George I had been their king for twenty years.
* DeepSleep: Some people are definitely heavier sleepers than others, especially if drunk or drugged. The reason fire alarms and loud alarm clocks exist.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: Some former combatants in wars become close allies. For example, Germany and Japan are both US allies after WorldWarII. On a more personal level, some people need to argue or physically fight to develop respect for someone, and once the person proves to be a WorthyOpponent, they become a friend.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Yes, people have defected from regimes or resigned from positions because business as usual was just too repugnant for them.
* DefensiveFailure: A lot of people do this for very good reason - the decision to risk killing another human being, even if they are trying to kill you, is a very painful one for most people who are sane, non-sociopathic human beings and who haven't had military or police experience. It's also why WeaponForIntimidation is a ''bad'' idea.
* DelegationRelay: Else known in English as "passing the buck," because no one really wants to do some chores or run some errands.
* DeliciousDistraction: Yes, food can be a distraction.
* DeliverUsFromEvil: Women often tend to become more conservative when pregnant and seek to have more stable lives for themselves and their children - at least some women, but definitely not all.
* DeliveryGuy: Male obstetricians, EMTs, and cops have helped with the delivery of babies, and there's been more than a few incidents requiring fathers, brothers, or even random strangers to help.
* DemotedToExtra: People lose relevance sometimes, and often fall into here while trying to scream WereStillRelevantDammit.
* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Concentration camps in NaziGermany and NorthKorea, in which the highest death rates were (or in NorthKorea's case, are) from starvation.And some parents really do consider starving the kids a form of discipline. In a more benign sense, a child being denied junk food for bad behavior.
* DepopulationBomb: The Toba supervolcanic eruption, which reduced the entire human population of the world to under 8900 people. To put that in perspective, any modern mid-sized urban area has to have at least 10,000 residents. The ''entire planet'' was reduced to a small town's population.
* DepravedDentist: There's been a few cases of RealLife dentists sexually assaulting unconscious patients, and others doing fraudulent or unnecessary work (especially on low-income children on Medicaid and, conversely, in high-income privately insured patients) to make money, even if said work makes the patient's oral health far worse. And the UrExample of the DeadlyDoctor, MadDoctor, and all similar tropes, Josef Mengele, started out as a dentist.
* {{Derailing}}: Examples abound around the internet, but it's a too-common way of silencing people in meatspace as well. The AbominationAccusationAttack and AppealToForce and AppealToWorseProblems actually work even more effectively in meatspace conversations, because, for example, someone who's just been even wrongly accused of being a pedophile or a Hitler supporter is going to be confused or upset, someone being threatened with violence will usually shut up, and the overwhelming guilt of feeling like one's problems are little often is effective as well. All three of those actually work ''less'' well on the internet.
* DesertedIsland: All around the world. And not just in tropical regions as in fiction, but in temperate and polar regions as well.
* DesignerBabies: Some people have tried for this throughout history, to varying degrees of success.
* DespairEventHorizon: In RealLife, increasingly found to be the reason most people who commit suicide do - because the physical or emotional pain (or both) has, for the time being, exceeded any ability the person has to live with or cope with it. Most people who consider or even attempt suicide are not "crazy" and some are even hyper-rational, and have simply crossed this RealLife DespairEventHorizon. The goal of successful suicide prevention in this great majority of cases (e.g. where the person isn't actively hallucinating and trying to die as a result) is to acknowledge the desire for suicide as legitimate, reasonable, and a valid response to such pain - but at the same time, to try to provide alternatives, reduce the pain, or increase the person's ability to cope with it.
* DetectiveMole: The CorruptCop sometimes actively hinders an investigation. These are often planted or bought by organized crime.
* DiagonalCut: Real-life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iaido iaido]] practitioners actually cut up inanimate objects for practice, in exactly this fashion.
* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Many examples in radio and TV interviews, and politics.
* DifficultButAwesome: Becoming a doctor, top-tier lawyer, professional athlete, CEO, or any other number of high-paying positions that can only be achieved by some combination of hours studying/practicing, skill, and sometimes huge doses of privilege or luck. Competing in the Olympics or similar high-level athletic competitions. Surviving something where most people would say NoOneCouldSurviveThat and with your mind and most of your body intact.
* DifficultySpike: Sophomore or junior year of college for most people - it's after orientations and such and it's when one usually must take the hardest classes unless they've put them off until their last year. Almost any job or career when something unexpected or disastrous happens - for example, the well-worn adage that police work is 80 percent paperwork, 10 percent dealing with drunks, and 10 percent ''sheer terror.'' Or when EMT s have to deal with an accident with several critically wounded victims at once.
* DiminishingVillainThreat: [[ForeverWar Long wars]] tend to do this to both sides involved: the more resources expended on the war(s) and battles within them, both human and otherwise, the less there are to spend next time, and then the next time.
* DinerBrawl: It's not rare for late-night diners to see these happen from time to time. Many of these diners are in areas with a lot of nightlife, resulting in drunk patrons coming in to eat. As with the BarBrawl, drunk people gathering together in one place can sometimes be dangerous.
* DinnerDeformation: Some types of snakes eat a prey so large that it shows.
* DinnerWithTheBoss: More often during TheFifties in the US when entertaining bosses and co-workers at home was expected for men. In Japan and in most of Europe the trope was and is subverted - the boss was expected to entertain, and/or the boss, employees, and other bosses and other employees go out to a restaurant or bar. When it happens in modern times, this is pretty much how it is everywhere after around TheEighties - no one is usually expected to bring their boss home.
* DiplomaticImpunity: Occasionally has happened. Most countries, however, now have methods in place to deal with severely errant diplomats, so while diplomats can still get away with offenses punished with citation or petty misdemeanors, serious misdemeanors or felonies or anything involving violence usually gets them sent back to their country to be prosecuted there, or extradited to the country in which they committed the crime for prosecution.
* DirectionlessDriver: Why most drivers get lost (the rest being misdirected)
* DirtyCoward: Quite a few people have achieved notoriety for their inaction to the degree of complicity that allowed people to be killed and/or horrific abuse to occur because ''they did nothing'' or worse, they ''helped it happen'' in fear for their own finances/lives/whatever.
* DisabilityImmunity: Thalassemia and sickle-cell trait protect against anemia, and a wide range of physical and mental disabilities can keep one out of military service or at the very least out of combat unless things are very desperate.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Because sometimes something seen as "abnormal" or "disabling" in most normal Western societal contexts can actually provide unique abilities. Some prosthetic body parts (legs and external sex organs) are in some cases ''better'' and more adaptable (e.g. the wearer can switch out different types) than "real" legs or a "real" penis, for one example. Mental disorders from depression to OCD are capable of providing their sufferers with different ways of looking at things in life which may enhance creativity or make them better at something than a healthy person.
* DisappearedDad: For many people in RealLife. Whether via death, divorce, abandoning the mother as soon as she said she was pregnant, or other reasons. The non-angsty version overlaps with HasTwoMommies, where the sperm donor isn't known, but all is well anyway.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Many Ad Councils have tried putting sexy things in their billboards to get people to pay attention to them. They end up causing more car accidents than they had been trying to prevent.
* DiscoDan: People like this exist, but the characterization is often {{flanderized}} in media depictions, and the PopularityPolynomial means that ''any'' genre has a chance at returning, so they may actually end up ahead of their time due to luck or cultural winds blowing the right way.
* DismissingACompliment: Often seen, especially in Japan, as a way to show politeness.
* {{Dismotivation}}: Can be a symptom of illnesses like depression or anxiety, and can also be a result of living in an oppressed society or culture.
* DisposableSexWorker: Unfortunately. It's finally beginning to change, but especially in countries where sex work is illegal (and even in the ones where it's legal sometimes) police have long been slow to investigate rape charges made by sex workers or even the disappearance of sex workers, if they investigate at all.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Real life examples are no longer allowed, but it happens. You or someone you know may have been a victim, too.
* DividedStatesOfAmerica: More conservative states versus more liberal states. Poorer states versus richer ones. There are plenty of maps redrawn to ostensibly show the "real America" depending on your politics. [[BanOnPolitics AND THAT IS ALL.]]
* DividedWeFall: Internal squabbles and quarrels can have far more destructive impact on anything from a friendship to a nation than can any external threat. Good examples can be seen in nearly every case of Internet drama that has ever happened as well.
* DivorceAssetsConflict: When you've shared the same stuff for years, you're going to fight over who gets what. Averted with prenups.
* DiyDisaster: What happens when your toilet contents spew from your showerhead after your DoItYourselfPlumbingProject.
* DoesNotLikeMen: Misandrists do exist, particularly in the "second wave radfem" community. Lesser extremes that aren't misandry would be someone who was repeatedly victimized by men, or, on an entirely orientation/attraction level, lesbians.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Barefoot runners, and small children.
* DoesntLikeGuns: True for a lot of people in RealLife. Also, some people (especially in areas with strict gun control) prefer to carry other weapons or not carry weapons at all but improvise them if they get into a fight or need to defend themselves.
* DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm: Can happen with people on the autism spectrum. There's also neurotypical people who don't get sarcasm. Like the DumbBlonde, or anyone unfamiliar with a language and/or culture. Aphasia and aprodosia, where because of a brain injury, someone physically cannot comprehend what you're saying, are some other reasons.
* DodgeballIsHell: In some schools.
* DodgeByBraking: Some planes really can do that.
* DogFoodDiet: In some places some people are forced into eating dog food and cat food. In some places, there is not even anything as nutritious as that to eat.
* DoggedNiceGuy (or girl): Some exist in RealLife (people who want someone out of their league to notice them and only have persistence and luck on their side as opposed to looks or money, people who have held onto relationships that ''should'' have ended out of sincere love or hope the person will get out of the addiction/leave the religious cult/end the string of affairs/leave the current abusive partner/etc until the other person finally just dumps them or they realize that their love means nothing to the person, or in a less cynical vein, people who stay with and loyal to partners suffering from Alzheimer's or similar conditions). That said, if you see yourself as one, you're probably one of the many stalker-related tropes instead.
* DoIReallySoundLikeThat: Some voice actors avoid watching their own work specifically to avoid this.
* DomesticAbuse: Sadly so, and probably more common than most of us would like to think, especially if emotional and financial abuse are counted alongside beatings and rapes.
* {{Dominatrix}}: You can find one fairly easily in any major city, should you desire.
* DontLookAtMe: Sometimes people do get very embarrassed over being seen out of costume or in a less than fashionable state. Especially if there are cameras involved. Hollywood stars and VisualKei musicians are especially known for this - being seen out of hair/makeup/stage clothes/etc can be offensive.
* DontYouDarePityMe: A very common response to CondescendingCompassion and/or when the WhiteKnight is caught in the act. Some people feel this way toward any pity.
* DonutMessWithACop: Because in many places, donut shops are the only 24 hour (or at least open early closed late) businesses, and they serve coffee, which many night-shift patrol officers [[MustHaveCaffeine tend to live off]] of because most cops aren't naturally nocturnal. Such shops often give officers/deputies discounts or free coffee, also. Subverted in settings after TheNineties when convenience stores, coffee shops, gas stations, and similar began to take the role as well.
* DoomItYourself: Because do-it-yourself projects can become far more complex than they seem at first, misunderstood or forgotten instructions or items can have major impacts on their outcome, and some things REALLY do require professional training to repair (electrical wiring being the big one usually - mess it up and you have a life-threatening hazard for shock or fire)
** DoItYourselfPlumbingProject: Because people don't see plumbing projects as necessarily hazardous as electrical or structural work, they're more likely to try to do it themselves with equally bad results.
* DoomsdayDevice: We had a whole Cold War revolving around nuclear weapons.
* DoomTroops: The SWATTeam, bomb squads, anti-terror squads. Seems to be spreading widely to ''all'' law enforcement, in a phenomenon called "the militarization of the police."
* DoorstopBaby: Less common nowadays because hospitals will take abandoned babies, no questions asked. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
* {{Doorstopper}}: References are almost always this, and some textbooks on certain subjects can approach it. Also, [[TakeThat anything]] [[ChurchOfHappyology written]] [[BadWriting by]] LRonHubbard unless it's a short story.
* DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest: Because what people find attractive sometimes doesn't change, and because sometimes, what they see of their ex or of their dead love in someone else doesn't frighten/upset/trigger them but is comforting.
* DoubleEntendre: Practically the stock in trade of anyone who uses {{Twitter}}, headline writers, and anyone in some situations.
* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Especially in regard to emotional abuse (since in many patriarchial societies, men are supposed to be seen as not having emotions at all, [[SarcasmMode so how can they be emotionally abused and manipulated]]?) and financial abuse. Even in regard to physical abuse, a man abused by a woman may find himself anything from viewed as unmanly and weak for not defending himself to arrested and imprisoned if he does fight back or use any force to escape.
* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In some countries, rape is actually defined as unconsented ''male-on-female'' sex. Also, female pedophiles versus male pedophiles, especially apparent in mother/son abuse versus father/daughter and attractive female teacher/male student versus male teacher/female student.
* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Just take a look at how PrisonRape is treated by first world societies. And how often the AssShove and AnalProbing and such are considered ''absolutely hilarious'' even when they are involved in ''real'' incidents.
* DoWithHimAsYouWill: OlderThanFeudalism, but mostly stopped due to consolidation of law enforcement and formalized justice systems where they exist.
* DownInTheDumps: Law enforcement often has to visit dumps to investigate crimes. Then there's garbage pickers, salvage workers...
* DramaticShattering: Glass tends to break in accidents, crimes, and disasters. Also, in a form of {{Defictionalization}}, people being dramatic or wanting to destroy something will often break whatever glass is nearby.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Some people believe this has happened, though verifying whether it actually has or not is impossible since the dream itself can't be recorded.
* DreamingOfTimesGoneBy: Some people have had such experiences. Again, objective verification of them is impossible. This is a central belief for some who believe in {{reincarnation}}, or in transcendental vampirism where a vampire's immortality/soul is living on in other living humans, as it is seen as one of the "awakening experiences" for both.
* DreamingTheTruth: Happens for writers and musicians sometimes, though can't be relied upon - if you're ''trying'' to have a dream to write about or of that composition you want to make in full, it likely won't happen.
* DreamWithinADream: ''Incredibly'' common.
* DressesTheSame: "Who wore it better" features.
* DressCode: High schools, particularly privately-operated schools. Many businesses, of the "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" variety. Fancy restaurants may require a jacket or tie for men, and many bars and clubs prohibit hats.
* DrFeelgood: Prescription pill mills, and doctors who divert addictive or psychoactive medications for themselves or people they know, or who prescribe before finding other solutions.
* DrivenToSuicide: Can happen - suicide, being, as earlier mentioned under DespairEventHorizon, the result of pain exceeding ability to cope with pain, is not always the result of existing severe mental illness. Torture, extreme and untreated/untreatable physical pain, intense emotional/physical/sexual abuse with no way to escape, being faced with an immediate and seemingly hopeless situation such as a terminal illness diagnosis or going from an upper-middle-class life to one of homelessness and grinding poverty are among the events that can cause this without an existing severe mental illness being present.
* DrJerk: Because some people in the caring professions enter them for their profit potential or for being "better than" or able to control others, or believe they have an OmniscientMoralityLicense.
* DrowningMySorrows: It doesn't work -- sorrows are excellent swimmers -- but that doesn't stop people from trying it.
* DrugsAreBad: TruthInTelevision when drugs are used incorrectly or dangerously, or by someone who shouldn't use them due to age, allergies, or addiction.
* DrunkenMaster: ''Very'' common among musicians and performing artists (especially in the more difficult forms such as standup comedy). Many need at least a buzz to knock off stage fright/loosen up/etcetera, and some musicians, comedians, etcetera are actually far better when at levels of intoxication that would leave most people passed out. Of course, this isn't good for their health or personal lives as many, especially those who fall into the latter group, are TheAlcoholic.
* DrunkenSong: ''KARAOKE.'' Also, any song given the singer's alcohol and drug consumption beforehand.
* DrunkWithPower: Fairly common in the helping professions and law enforcement with their granting power over other people - to the extent that responsible organizations in both fields do their best to find people who are like this and retrain them better/remove them from the career entirely.
* DuctTapeForEverything: A quite common repair tactic in low-income settings - among "rednecks" in the US for example. There's even a joke about the "redneck tool kit" that contains duct tape for "things that move but shouldn't," WD-40 and a hammer for "things that don't move but should," and a six pack of beer. Also common among musician road crews, both due to low-income and that many overlap with low-income groups such as rednecks, and that it ''is'' effective (if not necessarily safe) for many applications in setting up a stage.
* DudeShesALesbian: Because, yes, sometimes she is.
* DudeWheresMyReward: Not getting a promised reward (anything from an actual reward to pay to recognition) is a universal human experience.
* DueToTheDead: ''Many'' cultures and subcultures see respectful treatment and remembrance of the dead as ''highly'' important, and disrespect in regard to either as a deep insult.
* DumbassHasAPoint: To assume that stupidity or shallowness or disagreeableness ''automatically'' discredits someone's point is the logical fallacy of AdHominem.
* DungeonmastersGirlfriend: Happened even before the TropeNamer of DungeonsAndDragons: significant others, friends, or family members being promoted to a position regardless of competence or skill simply because of their relationship to the person placing them in that position. Compare {{Nepotism}}.
* DyingLikeAnimals: Happens in some disaster situations and ''many'' war situations - where people who could, say, take precautions against a disaster to mitigate it and save their lives or who could, if they united, repel an invasion, instead choose to act in ways that are counterproductive and even dangerous toward those who are actually doing something.
* DyingTown: Extremely common in Europe and US where people move from smaller villages and towns to larger towns and cities. Also common in Australia. And India. And China...
** Mountain towns (like Viganella, Italy and Rattenburg, Austria) that are deprived of sunlight for winter are the most famous. The young will move away as soon as possible, leaving the towns inhabited by few dozen old people. Recently, mirrors have been installed to reflect the light from behind the mountains.
* DynamicEntry: Smash and grab burglaries, home invasions, shoplifter flash mobs.
* DysfunctionalFamily: They exist, and you may even be a part of one. If you are, ''please'' seek therapy now.
* DysfunctionJunction: These can be found in many, many settings in RealLife. Formalized versions consist of 12 Step recovery meetings, support groups, and the like - where people are (at least allegedly) acknowledging and working on their issues. The informal version is far more common.
* EatDirtCheap: Famines, when even the DogFoodDiet or [[ReducedToRatburgers rats]] are unavailable or for the "wealthy" only. Currently around the African continent for a variety of reasons, and in NorthKorea because of the society.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Most people must do this to at least some degree. Especially common among artists and those who live in less than perfect circumstances.
* EarthIsABattlefield: There have only been 80 years in the past 3000 where there hasn't been a war somewhere.
* EditWar: Here, [[TheOtherWiki there]], and everywhere.
* EducationMama: Tiger Mom and the stereotyping that all Asian moms are obsessed with achievement and education. The JewishMother is also stereotypically this, not pleased until her sons and daughters are all in med school or law school. While some moms definitely match these stereotypes, some don't and the EducationMama can be found in many other places as well.
* ElectricInstantGratification: Accidentally invented.
* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: These issues tend to exist almost everywhere, especially once a group gets large enough to have a faction that wants to ignore them and one that wants to at least mention them.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: There's no shortage of people who dislike their middle name. This might be part of why a FullNameUltimatum is so effective.
* EmergencyBroadcast: Everything from tests to tornado warnings in the US, [[BerserkButton possibly overused there.]]
* EmergencyServices: Some form of medical assistance is generally the most common (even if it's just one doctor or battlefield medics). Once a settlement or village or town of some sort has developed, the need for law enforcement is usually not far behind. A firefighting agency generally organizes when/if there are enough people close enough together to make fires a hazard.
* EmergencyWeapon: Every half-decent army gives its soldiers at least knives for backup, and the ones that don't still have their soldiers equipped with hands. It's the countries that take soldiers hands away you really have to watch out for.
* EmotionlessGirl: Because it is not only males that are TheStoic or who suffer from mental illnesses related to the lack of emotion or the inability to express emotion.
* EmptyCopThreat: Even if the cops can't ''actually'' charge the suspect with obstruction of justice, they can still ''threaten'' to do it -- and some cops do.
** There's also the inverse - the cops promise to make things easier for you or make things go away. As empty as the threat (the cops can and often [[ILied will not do it]], and even if they do, the prosecutor can throw it out and/or if you gave money to make it happen, you've committed the crime of bribery of police officers), If you're ever encountered with a cop that asks you to admit to or confess to something "lesser" (especially if you did neither crime) or intimates a bribe will help matters, the correct response is to ''shut up'' and demand a lawyer.
* EmptyNest: Is a great source of angst to those who have devoted their entire lives to family and childrearing and ''nothing else.'' Less painful, in most cases, for those who've developed interests and hobbies and friendships beyond and outside of the "nest."
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: Unfortunately people who commit animal cruelty and/or damage the environment for profit or for personal fulfillment exist. And intense animal cruelty at an early age is a warning sign that the person who does it has incipient homicidal tendencies.
* EnfantTerrible: While real life examples are not allowed, a few have existed. Usually the result of extreme abuse and/or neglect, or severe mental illness.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: Has happened a few times, as a result of criminals, corrupt politicians, bigots of various sorts, brutal cops, and others who might be considered RealLife villains not realizing [[IsThisThingStillOn their mic was hot]], that the person they were communicating to brag about their actions or plans was recording it, or that the people they just unleashed a torrent of abuse upon were all recording it/streaming it.
* EnragedByIdiocy: The stupidity and shallowness of other human beings can be a ''major'' cause of anger and annoyance.
* EntitledBastard: People who mistreat others and at the same time expect them to drop everything and help when they are personally in trouble do exist in RealLife, in everything from individual relationships and friendships to international relations.
* EntitledToHaveYou: Not TruthInTelevision itself, but unfortunately, people who believe it to be true ''are.'' These people are at best ''incredibly'' annoying to have to coexist with, and at worst rapists.
* EpicRace: Some triathalons, adventure races, rallies, etcetera would qualify as this.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Very much TruthInTelevision. Evil people/people who commit evil acts can come from ''any'' background/backstory/culture/race/religion/anything, as a browse of People You See In Hell or similar will show you. There is no group (aside from groups that are ''defined by'' committing crime or killing) that is somehow "more or less evil" or more or less likely to spawn violence/harm/etcetera than any other.
* EthicalSlut: Being one is possible as long as everyone involved ''is'' open and honest about what they want, and as long as a being imposing strict codes of sexual propriety doesn't exist.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Even AdolfHitler loved his mama.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Real life career criminals will often compartmentalize their "evil" and indulge in gross sentimentality. Extremely anti-social personalities, in particular, will frequently have the most adverse reaction toward child molesters and rapists.
** Also can be a result of someone believing one "evil" act to not be evil/a problem at all (e.g. a drug dealer who happily deals in pot and psychedelics, but will ''not'' deal in meth or heroin) or someone who uses an IDidWhatIHadToDo rationalization for one evil act but who draws the line at another (e.g. a store burglar/shoplifter who won't steal from or harm individual people, a person who kills others in a war but who, given the opportunity to rape, refuses it).
** During UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, TheMafia was among the strongest allies the US government had for rooting out Nazi sympathizers and spies. The mob ''hated'' the Nazis. Also a case of PragmaticVillainy: concentration camps weren't just for disliked ethnicities and homosexuals.
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards: Nerds either have very low standards, or [[ExtravertedNerd very high standards]].
* EverybodyHatesMathematics: More accurately, ''almost'' everyone in certain groups - such as dyscalculics and people in settings where it is taught in boring and incomprehensible ways. The "uselessness" of mathematics also gives it some hatred - especially since in many settings, people who would do just fine in life learning math they could and will actually use are also forced to learn math that they likely never will use once out of college or that would be better and faster done by non-human brains, especially since many people now carry around a device that can do calculations a lot faster and more reliably than most people can in their heads.
** It is possible that at some point in the future, the emphasis on applied mathematics for most people, as a result of TechnologyMarchesOn, will consist of verifying device output (e.g. "is my app giving me the right number here").
* EverybodysDeadDave: [[DownerEnding "There were no survivors."]]
* EverybodySmokes: Until TheEighties (and TheNoughties in other places) this was TruthInTelevision with incredibly high smoking rates throughout much of the world. It is still true for some cultures, subcultures, and populations, but not universally.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Quite a few people who have attraction toward each other. ''Very often'' overlaps with TransparentCloset.
* EverythingsBetterWithChocolate: It releases pleasure hormones. Many people use it as an antidepressant, including JKRowling.
* EverythingIsBigInTexas: Texas is a pretty damn big state.
* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: Jewels have been a luxury and status symbol for millenia.
** GemEncrusted: Some people can really overdo this now that Swarovski crystals are more common...
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-163-australia/ Australia.]] For the immunocompromised, life.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Some cases of psychopathy, sociopathy, and malignant narcissism. People suffering from these will occasionally argue for the "inherent virtue" of violence against innocents or rape, for example. There are two organizational variants: one, where an entire society/nation [[MoreThanMindControl is brainwashed]] into violence or genocide (such as in the genocide of the Native Americans or the Holocaust), and the other where a small organization led by and consisting of people like the aforementioned psychopaths promotes violence or abuse (e.g. Neo-Nazi or violent militia groups, NAMBLA and "little girl lovers") and becomes its own echo chamber of its "evil" beliefs and actions.
* EvilChancellor: No RealLife examples are allowed on the article, but AdolfHitler is the ''reason'' for the trope.
* EvilDebtCollector: [[strike:Most]] '''All''' of them. No exceptions. See Palisade Collections or the collections department of Wachovia Dealer Services as typical examples.
* EvilDetectingDog: Bomb-sniffing dogs. Also, some dogs can detect someone who seems to be nervous or angry. This isn't infallible though, as these dogs can alert on a criminal about to commit a crime - or on someone with fear of dogs, social anxiety, or who's angry for an unrelated reason.
* EvilIsCool: Yes, sometimes it ''is.'' This is the supertrope of DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster, the various portrayals of sociopathy as heroic, the reason we have ''so much'' violence and similar in the media - because many humans do have that part of themselves that is a {{jerkass}} ''at best.'' Thankfully, for ''most'' people, escapist media (anything from myth about the JerkassGods killing each other off to a couple hours playing UltraSuperDeathGoreFestChainsawer3000) satisfies the human need for indulging in evil.
* EvilIsSexy: The groupies/hangers-on of outlaws of various sorts, organized criminals, and serial killers.
* EvilLuddite: [[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/terrorists/kaczynski/1.html Ted Kaczynski]], more commonly known as The Unabomber, is probably the RealLife TropeCodifier.
* EvilMakesYouUgly: Those who manufacture and use large amounts of methamphetamine tend to develop physical damage from exposure to the toxic chemicals and dehydration.
* EvilMatriarch: A few have existed at the center of some horrific child abuse cases.
* EvilPowerVacuum: Anytime a dictator or a really powerful dude is deposed. Colombia, for example, sank in a chaos of guerrillas and rival crime lords after Pablo Escobar got killed.
* EvilUncle: The laws of primogeniture, where the deceased's son gets estates ahead of the deceased's younger brother, sometimes provoked younger brothers into this sort of thing.
* EvilVersusEvil: Power-hungry dictators (the closest Real Life equivalent of evil) often fight each other in their selfish quest for power. Hitler and Stalin could be an example of this form. Organized criminals fighting amongst each other creates another form: the drug cartel mafia wars in Mexico, gang wars elsewhere.
* ExaltedTorturer: Due to ValuesDissonance, at various points in various societies, RealLife torturers have been excused and glorified, as has torture itself. No examples may be given to avoid the obvious FlameWar, but it has happened.
* ExiledToTheCouch: For various reasons from arguments to religious taboos, some partners/spouses/lovers do not share a bed temporarily.
* ExpandedStatesOfAmerica: If Puerto Rico or one of the other US territories or commonwealths ever becomes a full state. Arguably happened to ''the entire world'' with American English becoming the dominant language and, for ''many'' years, American culture and media (and culture and media inspired by that) being globally dominant.
* ExpectationLowerer: Unfortunately, a lot of the world is seen as such by those who wish to consider themselves better. Pretty much anything related to class warfare (such as SlobsVersusSnobs) and CulturalPosturing is rooted in this.
* ExplosiveOverclocking: In memory of all those who turned their [=CPUs=] into grilled silicon after overclocking them to 6 [=GHz=]. You can also do this with a steam engine, which will recover more easily.
* ExplosiveStupidity: Terrorists do blow themselves up with their own bombs, and even more often than that, ordinary people handle explosive chemicals and similar (especially petrochemicals like gasoline and kerosene and lighter fluid) in ''incredibly'' stupid and dangerous ways.
* ExternalCombustion: Rigging cars to explode has been a favorite method of both TheMafia and WesternTerrorists.
* ExtremeDoormat: This form of passive/submissive behavior is called "learned helplessness," and it is often a sign of extreme abuse or of a culture/subculture being ''so'' harsh on non-submissive behavior that only the most passive and submissive stay around (and are broken into being more so) while anyone with ''any'' amount of self-determination eventually either leaves or is kicked out/shunned.
* ExtremeGraphicalRepresentation: [[http://lainos.sourceforge.net LainOS]] is a [=FreeBSD=]-based operating system whose goal is to recreate the extreme graphical pizazz of the computers from ''SerialExperimentsLain''.
** [[http://compiz.org/ Compiz]] is a window manager presently included with many Linux distributions. If you want, you can overload it with plugins so that your windows wobble like Jello when they move, your desktop is on the surface of a cube (with sharks inside), windows shuffle and dodge around one another when you switch between them, inactive windows go translucent and gain a mirror sheen, and a trail of fire follows your mouse around. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJB9Yum3S9M&feature=PlayList&p=6AD5E5D6B2DEA293&index=0&playnext=1 Here are some videos of it.]]
* ExtremeOmnivore: Human beings, and some animals, can or will eat many things - even things that are very unhealthy or inedible.
** A sad case exists with birds that eat inedible plastics - which their bodies also cannot expel. The plastics fill up the birds so they cannot eat or drink, and they die of starvation or dehydration.
* EyeScream: Eye injuries are incredibly common ''and'' also preventable. Wear proper protective goggles while working with tools, chemicals, or anything else that could throw something into or splash into your eyes. Do not weld anything or use some blowtorches without welding-specific goggles/visor/both. Don't look directly at solar eclipses. And if you ''ever'' see a [[TheDeadliestMushroom bright-as-sun flash]], ''do not look in its direction, and throw yourself toward the nearest shade.''
* FaceDoodling: If you haven't done this to someone, you're either lying or you've had this done to you.
** [[TakeAThirdOption Or both]].
* FaceOnAMilkCarton: Now a DiscreditedTrope but was once TruthInTelevision until TheEighties when [[Series/AmericasMostWanted TV]] became the most popular way to find missing or wanted people.
* FagHag: Not as often as happens stereotypically, but can happen in cultures where heterosexual men only associate with women they see as "fuckable," and heterosexual women only associate with women who increase their attractiveness to said heterosexual men or who they aspire to be - leaving women percieved to be ugly to have more friendship and social options as a friend of gay men, if the gay men don't shun them for their appearance or weight or whatever.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Sadly sometimes true - just look at the amount of talented and intelligent people who have ambition, try hard - and fail every single time. Gets even worse when people believe their failure to mean they need to be excluded and punished and shunned more.
* FairCop: Happens in real life sometimes - not all police officers love donuts or fattening food, and for some officers (especially young rookies) there are intense fitness requirements.
* FairForItsDay: Quite a lot of things, because every era had people who could see beyond, say, racism.
* FairytaleWeddingDress: Because many brides see their wedding as the best day of their lives, and want it to be like a fairytale.
* FakeFood: Often used in food photography and in window displays of food.
* FakeKillScare: A form of ColdBloodedTorture in real life, employed by governments and organized crime both.
* FakeUltimateHero: Often overlaps in real life with the PhonyVeteran, though there are people who impersonate being police officers or doctors or other professions where they can claim heroic deeds that they didn't do.
* FalseFlagOperation: They ''have'' happened in real life. Examples can be found over on the UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories page.
* FalseRapeAccusation: Has happened in real life but far more rarely than true rape accusations. No real life examples are allowed due to this and that it is ''such'' a controversial topic.
* FamilyBusiness: Many small businesses involve some element of this.
* FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo: Imprinting.
* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether: Organized crime tends to produce this, and some non-organized crime examples exist.
* FamilyUnfriendlyViolence: Most RealLife violence that isn't part of an organized sport tends to be this.
* FamilyVersusCareer: A conflict for women in many societies that don't respect their rights to autonomy even after having had a family.
* FamousLastWords: Many people have had them, and many others have had them falsely attributed.
* FanGirl: To an annoying degree.
* FanBoy: To an even ''more'' annoying degree.
* FanDisservice: Some fetishes to people who don't have those fetishes, some appearances to people who find those appearances disgusting.
* {{Fanservice}}: Strippers, bikini contests and pageants in general, anything that relies heavily on SexSells or SexIsInteresting.
* FarsideIsland: Most islands are fairly small. Australia and Hawaii are ''exceptions'' to that rule. Most real islands are even smaller than the FarsideIsland - they are low and underwater.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Very common for some types of street fashion like punk and visual kei, and some runway outfits are even like this.
* FashionShow: Another one that's existed in real life long before it was a trope.
* FasterThanLightTravel: Thought averted due to relativity. But wait! [[http://news.discovery.com/space/warp-drive-spaceship-engine.html Not so fast!]]
* FastRoping: Lifted directly from a standard (if somewhat dangerous) Real Life rappelling technique.
* FatalFlaw: [[strike:Lots of people]] ''Everyone'' will have one. Some have more than one.
* FatBastard, FatIdiot, and FatSlob: Definitely NOT TruthInTelevision for all overweight or obese persons, but there's definitely enough cases of all three (sometimes [[{{Sonichu}} coexisting in the same person]]) to keep the stereotypes going.
* FatCat: Some cats really are overweight.
* FedToTheBeast: People have actually been executed by being thrown to animals or insects. Tragically, some people have [[AllAnimalsAreDomesticated accidentally]] and intentionally committed suicide this way at zoos or by having their CoolPet get out of control.
* FeedTheMole: A counterintelligence tactic. Not recommended for use in anything but official spying though - trying this against an undercover cop that you feel is unfairly investigating you can result in an arrest for lying to police or obstruction of justice, or trying it against someone trying to start office politics or similar drama can result in their making people believe the false information.
* FencePainting: Arranged by recruiters for militaries, fraternities, and sororities.
* FelonyMisdemeanor: Tends to happen when one person or group takes something far, far more seriously than the other does - for example, TheFundamentalist going into a frothing rage over a person of age and who is not an alcoholic having one alcoholic beverage.
** The FelonyMisdemeanor actually exists as a part of US federal law. The US federal legal system generally doesn't ''have'' infractions or misdemeanors. Any crime committed, therefore, in areas where US federal law applies but there is no state/tribal/local law (so there is no default of handing over to the locals for a ticket or a low-bail arrest etc) is automatically a federal felony. So, if you disturb the peace on an airplane? Felony charges with mandatory minimum of two years, whereas if you disturbed the peace on the ground in a recognized state, city, reservation, etc, you would likely get anywhere from a ticket to maybe a short jail term. Decide to take your fast car out somewhere to do a Youtube vid of just how fast you can go? If you're on federal land, you'll face felony reckless driving charges as opposed to, if sober, a speeding ticket.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Is a social construct. If a society limits opportunities for women and/or forces them to be defined as by their men, many women ''will'' fall into this trope. While it's not "true," it ''happens'' in real life due to both double standards and patriarchy.
* FemaleSuccessIsFamily: Patriarchial cultures, some matriarchial cultures, some religions, etcetera believe this to be true, as do some women themselves, whether influenced by the culture or claiming not to be. It was also seen as absolute truth in most Western societies until around TheSixties. It's not ''objective'' truth, as much as a controversial assumption a lot of people in real life do unfortunately make, and by which they judge other women.
* FeminineWomenCanCook: DiscreditedTrope now, but until TheSixties or TheSeventies in most Western cultures, women were expected to learn to cook and to be bad at any part of the "housewife triad" of cooking, cleaning, and childbearing was seen as a shameful thing, a sign a woman wasn't "feminine."
* FeudingFamilies: The Hatfields and the [=McCoys=] in the [=US=]; the [=MacGregors=] and the Campbells in Scotland; the Italian mafia families in New York and Sicily (with a couple in New Orleans).
* FieldPromotion: Happens in military combat. Also how a vice president/chancellor/vice premier/prince etc (or if something has happened to a vice president/premier/prince/etc, the next on down the line) gets power - whomever is available and alive in the succession gets promoted to the leadership in an emergency.
* FightingIrish: The Irish Republican Army, source of 95 to 99 percent of the world's WesternTerrorists until the peace agreement was brokered at the end of TheNineties.
* FinancialAbuse: One of the most prevalent forms of abuse in the world.
* FingerGun: A way to pretend one has a gun [[WeaponForIntimidation when one does not]] if a pocket or jacket is used to conceal it. Also is mimed for humor or shock value on occasion.
* FireForgedFriends: Military and police and firefighter buddies can be this.
* FiringInTheAirALot: The earliest form of "warning shots" and "suppressive fire," intended more to frighten and terrorize than to actually hit anyone with the gunfire. In another form, "celebratory gunfire" for anything from holidays to terrorists celebrating a victory. The problem with it is that the bullets have to land somewhere, and when they do, people in their way get shot.
* FirstLawOfGenderBending: True in real life in regard to FTM transgender persons: the ''only'' way to ensure a man born with an externally female body will ''not'' grow breasts (requiring surgery to remove them) and will attain full male height and bone/body structure (again, without an even more intense, painful, and less likely to be covered surgery involving the breaking of legs, insertion of rods into the leg bones, and a slow recovery with having to learn to walk and do anything involving leg movement all over again) is to begin gonadal suppression either via medication or via hysterectomy/oophorectomy before puberty starts, and administering testosterone and growth hormone to induce male puberty if that is desired instead of female. Which is actually a very difficult and controversial option (see the InternetBackdraft over transgender kids). It does ''not'' help matters that due to earlier puberty, many children born "girls" start puberty at 8 to 10 years of age, and that after around 11 to 13 gonadal suppression begins to have destructive effects (e.g. puberty of some type can't be postponed indefinitely)
* FirstPersonSnapshooter: The prevalence of smartphones and smaller, cheaper, more userfriendly professional grade cameras has made life exactly this. Instagram and similar services became the trope codifiers, with ''everyone'' having photography opened to them as long as they can afford a phone.
* FiveManBand: Quite a lot of HardRock / HeavyMetal acts are this, because singer + lead guitar + second/rhythm guitar + bassist + drummer = five people onstage. In fact, pretty much the only ways for a HR / HM band to subvert this are to have only one guitarist (making it four members with no rhythm/second guitar player), to add a keyboardist, or even an instrumentalist unknown for the genre (making it six members), or to claim late members as "eternal members" (meaning four or five people onstage but the band count officially being at six... or seven... or more...)
* FlameWar: Became a trope because of its occurrence in RealLife. If there is something to argue about on the internet, people ''will'' argue over it. Sometimes even if there isn't something to argue about, they will still find a way to argue about it.
* FlatYes: Stupid or boring questions often get this.
* FlorenceNightingaleEffect: The reason for nurse fetishism and medical fetishism - being in a position of vulnerability and pampered/cared for is a ''very common'' fetish for a lot of people. Some of whom have pages on this wiki as contributors or as creators.
* FlawedPrototype: Happens in many aspects, from military gadgets to toys.
* FluffyFashionFeathers: Feathers on clothing are still worn today, usually down trimming.
* FlushingToiletScreamingShower: In older homes or apartments (those built before TheSeventies on average) with bad plumbing. This is something that can be used in inspecting a home: if flushing the toilet changes the shower temperature, the dwelling will likely require extensive plumbing work at some point in the near future (as well as major electrical work if the wiring also hasn't been redone since TheSeventies or TheEighties) and is a bad deal unless you have lots of money and time for renovations or for razing and rebuilding.
* FoodAsBribe: Almost everyone has done this or had this done to them.
* FoodSlap: The drink variant is how many a BarBrawl begins...
* AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted: It's called "sudden wealth syndrome".
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Sometimes this does happen.
* FootDraggingDivorcee: One partner does not believe in divorce, wishes to control the other, or is angry about the situation or wants more money...
* ForbiddenFriendship: Sometimes for good reasons (someone really is dangerous or being a ToxicFriendInfluence), other times for various types of prejudice or personal hatreds.
* ForbiddenFruit: Prohibiting something and creating a mystique of danger around it will draw people to consume it or do it.
* ForceFeeding: Sometimes it's necessary when the person (or animal) is sick. But it has been and is being currently used so that a torture victim or someone indefinitely imprisoned with no access to trial or lawyers can't starve themselves to death.
* ForeignLookingFont: They exist, but [[UnfortunateImplications using them is often a very bad idea]] because they often have racist implications or are used in racialized imagery. For example, Chop Suey, Lithos and Neuland are all considered racist, especially in certain contexts.
* ForeignQueasine: There's a whole show based around it called ''Bizarre Foods'' on the Travel Channel. And while most of it is in Asia, there are episodes that take place in North America, believe it or not. Anyone for fried nutria on a stick?
* ForgivenButNotForgotten: Actually a good approach to take when the nature of what was done hints at something far worse beneath it (e.g. the offense shows the person to be a narcissist or sociopath).
* ForgetsToEat: Every gamer has done this. This can also be applied to workaholics.
* ForHappiness: The motivation of a lot of people in life, either their own or others' happiness.
* FormerChildStar: Became a trope because of being Truth In Television with the downfall of many "child stars."
* FormerlyFat: People lose weight and diet successfully. Others learn how to starve and purge or get on various drugs...
* ForTheEvulz: The motivation of some people in life - they ''want'' to hurt other people.
* [[FourOneNineScam 419 Scam]]: TruthInTelevision and in New Media. Don't believe it? Just take a look inside your spam folder... and realize this is one of the reasons why we have to have spam folders.
** The name actually comes from the section of the Nigerian criminal code pertaining to wire fraud, so it's also ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* ForeverWar: Not one year has there been peace in every country all at once.
* FourthDateMarriage: Sometimes people do fall in love fast. Other times with heterosexual couples, there's an accidental pregnancy. Arranged marriages can also lead to this.
* FowlMouthedParrot: Parrot owners are well-advised not to swear around their parrots, lest the parrot have trouble finding a new home if it outlives them.
* FreakyFashionMildMind: Yes, some people with odd/freakish clothes or hair just have it because they like it - they aren't trying to offend people or get attention.
* FreezeSneeze: Cold really does make some people sneeze.
* FreudianCouch: Yes, many psychiatrist's and psychologist's offices do have couches. It's TheCoconutEffect.
* FreudianExcuse: Used in many a court case. DaddyIssues and MommyIssues are subtropes of this, also used in many a court case.
* FreudianSlip: Whether or not you give any weight to Freudian psychology, it happens.
* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: "Vampire subculture" tends to mostly, if not entirely, consist of these. The consumption of human blood when/if it is done is a consensual act of ritual, for example.
* FriendlyRivalry: Some friends have rivalries like this, also common among siblings.
* FriendOrFoe: Sometimes, especially in combat, it is very difficult to tell who is on your side and who is not.
* FriendshipDenial: Because one is judged by their friends, sometimes this is necessary if someone who is a friend is not up to par with who your other friends are.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Often is a "real relationship" for some people, especially those that don't prefer traditional dating and romance models.
* FriendToAllChildren: Why some people become parents, teachers, etcetera...
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Many people like animals and animals like them in return...
* FrivolousLawsuit: This isn't just in America, they come from all over the world. Some of the most ridiculous are from Brazil and Britain.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Happens more than most people like to think about. Also, hardly anyone sees it coming until the nightmare is at last real...
* FullNameUltimatum: My mom's done it, so has yours. Sadly, people rarely use it ''on'' their parents.
* FunctionalAddict: Most real addicts would fall under this category.
* TheFundamentalist: If you've never met one, you will someday. If you have, you know it... and everything about their cause and why you are evil for not converting to it.
* FunSize: Kittens, puppies, and the like. It wouldn't work in art if it didn't work in life.
* FunTShirt: Such shirts are sold all over the place.
* FutureImperfect: Often due to HollywoodHistory, since TVNeverLies. Plus the fact that no one can predict the future.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-I]]
* GadgetWatches: Some companies are trying to invent these, in response to, as of TheNewTens, the smartphone and tablet being far more popular personal accessories than the watch.
* GaiasLament: Unfortunately, due to climate change (though some people dispute this), pollution of various kinds, overfishing, nuclear contamination in some areas, and other forms of environmental damage.
* TheGamblingAddict: TruthInTelevision that became a trope.
* GameOfNerds: America's pastime is popular among the genius set, what with its love of statistics and all.
* GarbagePostKid: Became a NewMedia trope due to its being truth.
* GargleBlaster: Some bartenders do make drinks like this in real life, as either hangover cures, challenges ("if you can drink this you have free beer for a week"), or as ways to dispose of low-quality or undesired liqueurs.
* {{Gaslighting}}: Very unfortunate TruthInTelevision. Engaged in by abusive partners, high-demand abusive coercive religious groups, and occasionally even by law enforcement or medical professionals who wish to make someone seem or feel unbalanced or troubled, either to themselves or others.
* {{Gayborhood}}: Quite a few of them exist in the US and around the world. California alone has Hillcrest in San Diego, West Hollywood in LosAngeles and Castro Street in SanFrancisco.
* GayMoment: Quite a few people have these, often overlapping with AttractiveBentGender (just go look at the comments on Miyavi videos on Youtube for some fine examples) or with EvenTheGuysWantHim / EvenTheGirlsWantHer.
* {{Gayngst}}: Less common in more accepting areas as of TheNewTens, but quite a large amount of angst (and even suicides) have originated from this throughout history...
* GenderBlenderName: Very common, especially among transgender people, but plenty of cisgender people have them too.
* GeneralFailure: There were many, but it's best not to start listing them.
* GeneralRipper: Same as above. Many but listing them is probably not a good idea.
* GeniusBruiser: Sumo wrestlers and technical wrestlers. Some US NFL players, before chronic traumatic encephalopathy sets in (or if it does not).
* GeniusDitz: Some people whose profession it is to entertain others tend to be this, because entertainers are not generally thought of as "smart." One example is [[Music/TwistedSister Dee Snider]]'s testimony regarding the [[MoralGuardians PMRC]] - a HairMetal singer is brought before the US Congress looking dragged in from a late show and hung over, and the PMRC had apparently expected him to make a fool of himself and bolster their cause. Instead, he provided an eloquent and factually-backed defense of free speech [[SophisticatedAsHell while also implying]] [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar that]] [[TakeThat Tipper Gore was a closeted sadomasochist.]]
* GenocideBackfire: Why genocide isn't only [[MoralEventHorizon one of the worst evils]] possible, but one of the most pragmatically stupid evils as well. There are ''always'' survivors, and even if somehow there isn't any, genocide does ''not'' go unnoticed forever. Note the American genocide of Native Americans, which seemed to be successfully swept under the rug until the survivors and their descendants and their supporters began to speak out...
* GenreBlindness:
** The reason a lot of innocent people or nonviolent/petty criminals get into ''serious'' trouble with the police. (There are [[UsefulNotes/StayingOutOfLegalTrouble a very specific set]] of actions, behaviors, rules, and similar one ''must'' follow when dealing with police officers if one does not wish to end up arrested or ''dead.'')
** Similarly, the reason a lot of kids are set up as {{delinquents}}, at least in very strict school settings: people working in the education setting (especially administrators, behavioral specialists, etcetera) have a very specific idea of what "good kids" are and what "bad kids" are. When {{profiling}} based on race or appearance gets involved, this gets very nasty fast.
** The reason those who fall victim to politics or intrigue in any environment (whether an office or a fandom or a house or whatever) often do - there's warning signs of such being in play, and if you miss those signs, your time in that environment will be short and miserable unless you learn how to play.
** The reason why, if you seek treatment for a mental health issue, you need to know your issue and direct your own treatment plan ''if at all possible,'' so you can remain proactive in your treatment and be seen as a candidate for recovery rather than becoming a pinball in the system.
** The reason why you should know enough about cars to at least have a vague idea of what's wrong when your car needs repair. The difference between "the battery is dead" and "it won't start and I have no idea why, it was making a funny noise first maybe?" is sometimes around a few thousand dollars if you run into a shady enough mechanic. Same thing goes for computers, or for anything else where repairs are expensive and generally arcane to most users.
* GenreSavvy: How to avoid all of the above.
** Knowing how to deal with authority, if not to appeal to it, to get it out of your life so you can go on your way.
** Understanding the signs of abusive or toxic environments to make yourself less vulnerable to them and to avoid getting into them.
** Understanding anything you need professional help with, if not as well as the professional, well enough to work with them as a team rather than be seen as a passive consumer at best and a sucker at worst.
* GentleGiant: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer famous after his hit "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". André the Giant. A great many others.
* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: Oklahoma, Indiana and an increasing number of other states now have [[IncrediblyLamePun "fire-at-will"]] laws which allow employers to fire employees without explanation or advance notice, except as mandated by federal laws.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: It's common for artwork that is not appreciated in one place to be appreciated in another.
* GhostShipping: The variant of a widow/er ''not being able to let go'' of their late spouse/partner/lover if they die is ''very'' common - it is a result of deep or complicated grief, especially at a sudden or senseless loss.
* GiantPoofySleeves: The "leg of mutton" sleeves of the 19th century. The puff-and-slash sleeve of the Renaissance. The revival of leg o' mutton sleeves in the 1980's.
* {{GIFT}}: Spend ''any'' time on the internet reading comments (especially on [[FlameWar contentious issues such as sex or politics or religion]]) and you will find plenty of demonstrations of GIFT.
* GiftGivingGaffe: Happens with gifts that are incredibly inappropriate (e.g. it's probably not a good idea to give your boss a vibrator unless you work at a sex toy company, or to give kids alcohol or tobacco), insulting (''never'' give anyone bodybuilding/diet/fashion/housekeeping/health books or items unless that's a personal interest of theirs and they've specifically asked for those), TooMuchInformation (e.g. gift certificates for colonics or waxing), or outright homophobic/racist/sexist.
* GiganticGulp: Huge drinks are quite common in some places. Anti-obesity advocates seek laws to reduce them in some of those places.
* GildedCage: Getting or being rich has its own concerns and problems - and some people do feel trapped by their upper-class status, and in some cases are prohibited from things they want to do due to maintaining decorum or out of self-protection.
* {{GIRL}}: Not as common as it used to be - internet gender split is around 50/50 now - but often done by law enforcement and others doing stings of pedophiles and similar predators, and also becoming one of the most common ways for a transgender person to begin passing, especially since for some, it is the only way to pass.
* GirlfriendInCanada: Manti Teo, and quite a few less famous cases.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot / YuriFan / GuyOnGuyIsHot / YaoiFan: Quite a few people find the idea of same-sex couples hot, even if they are themselves straight-identified.
* GirlPosse: These tend to form in some situations, generally high schools and fandom communities.
* GladIThoughtOfIt: Why patents and copyrights (and documenting your ideas outside of them) exist - people ''are'' willing to do this.
* GlorifiedSpermDonor: They exist.
* GodAndSatanAreBothJerks: Optionally add "and neither really exist" and you have the view of some atheists, and also the view of some variants of non-theistic Satanism.
* GodEmperor: The [[ImperialJapan Imperial Japanese]] believed this as part of a nationalist fascism. [[WorldWarII It did]] [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki not end well.]]. Post World War II, the divinity of the imperial family remains an important part in some strains of UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}}, but not all (some Shinto followers see the divinity of the emperor as a political imposition on their beliefs that corrupted the faith), and is ''technically'' acknowledged but is far more ceremonial than anything else, except to right-wing nationalists - the Japanese equivalent of Neo-Nazis.
* GodIsEvil: In combination with "and doesn't exist," the beliefs of some atheists. In combination with SatanIsGood, the beliefs of some theistic Satanists and left-hand-path followers. In combination with GodAndSatanAreBothJerks and "don't exist," see above. Strangely enough, the actual belief of some types of TheFundamentalist and KnightTemplar and SoulsavingCrusader such as Westboro Baptist and JackChick and Muslim terrorists - [[BlueAndOrangeMorality though they don't consider their God evil]], while celebrating things [[MoralEventHorizon He allegedly does]] which most people not of that belief system would consider evil. In combination with "Yes, that god is evil but this one is good and this one doesn't care," ''many'' forms of Paganism and NeoPaganism.
* GodIsGood: Most forms of Christianity believe this and all will profess this (even the above kinds that accidentally imply GodIsEvil will proclaim that is actually ''good''). Also the primary belief of all forms of Islam and all forms of religious Judaism. Combined with "and doesn't exist," you have atheists who believe religion is a positive influence even if false. Combined with "and walked away from it all," you have Deists. Combined with "there are many gods and many/the one over them all is good/we are all gods and innately good" you have much NeoPaganism.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: There have been a few real life examples, though not as many as fiction would have you think.
* GodwinsLaw: Try to find ''one'' comment section on a controversial topic without one Nazi comparison. ''YOU WILL FAIL.''
* GodzillaThreshold: When something will kill people or, especially, kill lots of people, ''anything'' is preferable. Whether it's getting someone addicted to drugs so they don't kill themselves or cutting off their gangrenous limb on a personal level, or shooting dead the guy with an assault rifle trained on his family, or destroying the streets of a city to turn them into flood control channels or considering aiming nuclear weapons at an incoming asteroid...
* GogglesDoNothing: Steampunk fashion, cosplay.
* GoingByTheMatchbook: Pocket litter, as it is called, ''can'' provide very useful clues as to where someone was - but it can also provide false leads (the person went somewhere but it was irrelevant), dead ends (e.g. the person went somewhere but nothing happened there) and plenty of other misdirections.
* GoingCosmic: The result of the use of some types of recreational drugs.
* GoingNative: Expatriates, and people who marry into or work closely with other cultures that are far different than the one in which they were born and raised.
* GoingPostal: We have a word for this: "massacre".
* GoingToSeeTheElephant: For people who have to tag along on shopping trips or similar when they don't need to or want to buy anything. Going to an event or party only to find out that it has been canceled.
* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: Golden items are a status symbol.
* GoneHorriblyRight: Most weapons, from guns to nukes. They're made to threaten people and to kill people - and that they do.
* GoodCopBadCop: Actual cops do this routine - which is one of many reasons that you ''need'' a lawyer if you ever find yourself under investigation, whether you are innocent or not. It's also used in other settings. The thing to keep in mind is they ''both'' want the same thing from you.
* GoodIsNotNice: Especially using the "manners" and "tone" definition for "nice," since a common tactic of those who want to maintain repression or the restriction of civil rights (and of abusers in general) is to pick on someone for manners or tone rather than address the argument itself or the person's needs.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Because in dealing with certain people (psychopaths and harmful sociopaths who commit violence against others, rapists/pedophiles unable to suppress their urges or redirect them into fantasy alone, predators in general) and in regard to one concept (genocidal racial/ethnic/national hatred, as when it gets any sort of a foothold in a society, that society is on the slippery slope to the same place the Nazis were), protecting society and its most vulnerable ''requires'' vigilance, strict laws, and ''total rejection'' of justification.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: Street brawlers will ''usually'' win against martial artists (unless the martial art is something like Krav Maga or capoeira that originated with needing to be useful in street fighting) due to their being CombatPragmatists or being unpredictable.
* GoodVersusGood: What happens when people who have ethical goals come into severe conflict or drama over how to achieve them. Some big examples being the debates over anything related to any given minority group from women to GLBTQIA people to racial minorities, to whether recreational drugs and recreational use of drugs should be handled via the legal system (prohibition) or the medical system (legalization and treatment)... very few people involved in any of those debates are what could be considered "evil," but all see different ways needed to achieve "good."
* GoombaStomp: Quite a few animals can actually be killed when jumped on, although that applies to mostly smaller animals.
* GoOutWithASmile: If someone's suffered from a painful terminal illness and is finally getting to die, and/or someone who feels their life has been lived to its best and they're ready to die dies. Usually involves euthanasia because most means of dying without drug assistance are very painful...
* GoshdangItToHeck: ''Mormons'' unless they're "jack Mormons" and even some of those, are absolutely famous for this. Some other religious people (generally of more conservative sects) at least in public.
* GossipEvolution: Especially in small communities and on the Internet.
* GottaKillThemAll: Some unbalanced people or killers make "kill lists." Other people write fake "kill lists" as a fantasy or as a joke - which is not a very good idea, because fantasy and joke kill lists, though they're never meant to be acted on seriously, ''are'' taken seriously by law enforcement in many places, and you can face felony charges for threatening, harassment, terrorism, or even conspiracy to commit murder, even if ''none of the targets see the list'' or even if some see it and actively acknowledge it as a joke.
* GotVolunteered: Being signed up as a volunteer for something one actually doesn't want happens quite often, especially in military and office settings.
* GovernmentDrugEnforcement: When people are legally ordered to take psychiatric drugs or take anti-alcohol or anti-opiate medications. Only slightly less controversially, chemical castration for serial rapists and serial pedophiles.
* GrailInTheGarbage: Some incredibly expensive and rare items have been thrown out or left for thrift shop collections or yard sales, for example, only to be found later by people who understand their value.
* GranolaGirl: They exist - just go to any "natural health" or "yoga" or similar event, or read the comments over on Natural News and you'll see them.
* GrassIsGreener: Why people try to change their place in life. Sometimes it's not, per [[AnAesop the Aesop]], other times it ''actually is'' and people regret not trying for it sooner or even commit suicide over the despair of realizing it is too late to make said changes. One of the greatest sources of depression in RealLife.
* GravityIsOnlyATheory: Flat earth and hollow earth theorists and homeopaths, among ''many'' other cranks and quacks.
* GrayRainOfDepression: Rainier and snowier areas tend to have higher representations of several mental illnesses. Being born in a snowy winter northern climate (e.g. Canada, Scandinavia) is correlated to a five percent increase in development of schizophrenia.
* GrayAndGrayMorality: Ninety percent of interpersonal conflict is ''this.'' No one is seeking to irreparably harm or kill the other, no one is seeking to do anything that is definitely and truly unethical - both sides are seeking what they find to be their moral and ethical goals, except said goals ''highly'' differ.
* GreatWhiteHunter: Jim Corbett was a naturalist and conservationist who hunted several tigers and other big cats that had turned man-eater. Many far less ethical examples exist: they're called poachers.
* GrievousHarmWithABody: People have been killed or seriously injured when someone committing suicide by jumping lands on them. Human stampedes/crushes also achieve their fatality from this: the weight and strength of the living people trying to escape and the sometimes already dead bodies crushes and suffocates more people to death. This is also the reason you should ''not'' sleep with your baby in the same bed - an adult's body can crush or suffocate an infant's without even awakening the adult until it's too late.
* GroinAttack: Attacks to the genitals are indeed paralyzingly, fetal-position-inducingly painful and will knock most any guy (and sometimes gal) out of commission.
* GroupieBrigade: Actors, musicians, and many other famous and notorious people have these. Generally they tend to appear at shows, parties, and other events related to their person of interest, and are quite more varied than the stereotype: some can be respectful of the stars and of other fans. Others, not so much.
* GrowsOnTrees: Quite a lot of food does grow on trees. Tree nuts, almost all fruits that aren't tomatoes, berries, or melons, and avocados.
* GrumpyOldMan: Everything from life experiences parking someone firmly on the cynical side of the sliding scale to illnesses such as dementia can make some seniors very much this trope.
* GuideDangIt: Learning a foreign language. Cooking. Almost anything involving computers, though this may change. Anything related to repairs.
* GunsAreWorthless: Most definitely ''not'' TruthInTelevision after around the late 19th century (and one of the great debates of the 20th century onward is if they have become ''too'' not-worthless), but the very first guns (e.g. muskets and the like) ''were'' incredibly difficult to load, fire, and reload, had a very slow fire rate, and were often likely to blow up on the shooter. Until firearms technology and training improved, a skilled archer was a far more dangerous ranged attacker than a shooter, and guns were near-useless melee weapons, because in the time it would take to load and fire, the enemy soldier's sword would already be through your heart.
* GunsInChurch: The open carry movement invokes this on occasion. Obviously, anyone committing a crime with a gun also invokes it.
* GuysAreSlobs: In cultures that encourage men to be uncultured slobs and that hold up slobbishness and lack of education and culture as "manly" and alternately writes off cleanliness, culturedness, education, and refinement as "feminine" or "gay," men obsessed with proving their heterosexuality and masculinity will often become uncultured slobs.
* HackerCave: As a form of {{defictionalization}} and LifeImitatesArt, some people in geek culture want to build these and have built them.
* HadToComeToPrisonToBeACrook: Prison is rarely rehabilitative, and the lack of real rehabilitation and recidivism gets higher with the security and the punitiveness (e.g. this happens even more in medium and maximum security than in minimum security). In prison, criminals meet more hardened or more clever criminals and jailhouse lawyers - learning how to stay on the outside longer, how to commit different crimes, and similar for the next time - but will likely go back. It also doesn't help that a felony record stays with someone - making it impossible in some instances to find legitimate employment or housing.
* HairTriggerTemper: Borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder in manic or mixed episodes, intermittent explosive disorder, some forms of dementia, and some forms of epilepsy can cause this. And then there are just the people who don't have any specific mental illness, but are just ''that'' angry all the time and waiting for something to lash out at. These can be found anywhere from a FlameWar to road rage incidents, and they make up a ''large'' portion of people convicted for assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, attempted murder, and murder.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: RealLife takes some wild, surprising, 90 degree turns due to both tragedy and luck.
* HandicappedBadass: Quite a few of them through history.
* HangingJudge: Some have existed, and some do exist. Also, the "mandatory minimum" sentencing system in the US can turn any judge into this when it sends someone to prison for 20 years or more for a nonviolent crime.
* HappilyAdopted: Lots of people.
* HappilyMarried: Many, MANY couples.
* HappyMarriageCharade: More common in the past, but loveless arranged marriages and celebrity marriages can be this, because an immediate divorce is forbidden by religion or would be tabloid fodder or blackmail fodder. Also can happen in more homophobic cultures, where a gay man and a lesbian or a bisexual man and bisexual woman pretend to be in a happy heterosexual marriage to satisfy society's needs and protect themselves from harm or outing - and have their same-sex relationships in secret.
* HarmlessVillain: Some people designated as villains in real life may not be very harmful. This is very much something on which the mileage of many people may vary, so no more will be said and no examples will be given.
* HasTwoMommies: Or two daddies - same-sex couples are parents in some regions of the world.
* HatePlague: Mob mentality and methamphetamine abuse are on one end of the spectrum in that while neither are actual "disease," they spread virally and produce hatred, paranoia, and violence. On the other end, for actual disease, we have rabies and possibly toxoplasmosis.
* HatesSmallTalk: [[MyersBriggs Introverted people]] in general are not fans of small talk.
* HatesTheJobLovesTheLimelight: Especially because in some corners of acting, the music industry, and other parts of creative media, it's considered cool to maintain an attitude of being "above it all," and cynical, distrustful, and jaded.
* HauledBeforeASenateSubcommittee: Happens to all sorts of people, from high-level government operatives to musicians and writers among others.
* HaveIMentionedIAmGay: Sometimes necessary for gay people who avert AllGaysArePromiscuous because of the annoying omnipresence of that stereotype ''even in GLBTQIA circles'' and the idea that if you're not having lots and lots of sex, you're not ''really'' for real. The variant of alluding to one's bisexuality is even ''more'' common because without it, one tends to get pigeonholed as "100 percent straight" or "100 percent gay" and therefore potential partners are repelled.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Baseball player Mike Piazza once called a press conference to announce he's not gay.
* HaveIMentionedIAmSexuallyActiveToday: Teenagers often do this - which equally often gets them banhammered from places they're not supposed to be, if the abuse/moderation staff is wise to that fact.
* HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster: Ahh, the ComingOutStory...
* HeadsTailsEdge: Hey man, it ''can'' happen!
* HeadbuttingHeroes: Firefighters with different plans of fighting a fire/rescuing people from something. Doctors who heavily disagree on a diagnosis or course of treatment.
* {{Headdesk}}: Sometimes this does happen in real life. Or the object isn't a desk... everything from walls to pianos to computer keyboards have occasionally gotten this treatment.
* HealingHerb: Many herbs do have medicial properties, if used properly.
* HealingPotion: In the subverted sense, liquid medications. They won't likely save your life, but everything from Pepto-Bismol to Nyquil will definitely help you feel better if you need them.
** Also in a subverted sense, red wine, with the flavonols in it being powerful antioxidants that slow aging, prevent cancer, and possibly even prevent Alzheimer's, the fermentation enhancing their effect, and the alcohol at small levels reducing stress and the damage stress brings to the body. The trick is to consume just enough that you get the benefit of the flavonol compounds, but you ''don't'' get too much bad effect from overconsumption of the alcohol, which can obviously cancel out all of these benefits and provide even more risks. Needless to say, ''not'' a good idea for TheAlcoholic or anyone else who can't stop at one glass per day/per every other day.
* HealingShiv: Many surgical and medical tools are objects that in the hands of anyone but skilled surgeons and doctors, can cause horrific injuries or death (and even do in their intended surgical and medical uses sometimes).
* HeartbreakAndIceCream: Sometimes TruthInTelevision for mentally well people, ''much'' more often truth for binge-and-purge bulimics and those who suffer from binge eating disorder.
* HeavyMetalUmlaut: Used by quite a few metal bands, though phasing out of interest because of overuse.
* HeavyVoice: Can happen due to thicker vocal folds in overweight people, or due to testosterone whether as therapy or as illicit steroid use.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Because if an organization is bad enough and violent enough, or a friend or acquaintance is, their response to percieved betrayal to be something else/to leave may well be violence.
* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Mercenaries, private armies, and others whose allegiance to any side is bought. Also ''very'' common in GrayAndGrayMorality conflict - which much real world conflict is - when people who were once "heels" to one side of the conflict become "faces" to the other, or vice versa.
* HeelFaceTurn: People who have left racist and other hate groups, or violent sects.
* HeelFaithTurn: Getting into religion ''can'' sometimes make someone a better person instead of converting them into TheFundamentalist or a KnightTemplar.
* HeelRealization: Often the only reason why people who do bad things truly change - they realize they were wrong and what they did hurt people. The point of everything from interventions for addicts to abuser treatment programs is to force these, and arrest and imprisonment are a less successful way of trying to force these. A darker version is when a high demand coercive group tries to force one of these on someone who really isn't a bad person doing bad things, to convince them they are and joining the group is the only path to salvation.
* HeirClubForMen: Inheritance in ''many'' parts of the world until the 20th century. In a combination of OlderThanTheyThink and FairForItsDay, Islamic sharia law was actually one of the first legal systems to buck the tradition of male-only inheritance, by demanding women recieve at least ''some'' direct inheritance.
* HereditaryHairstyle: Because many boys and men unconsciously or consciously model their fathers or brothers in regard to fashion. Especially common before unique and stylish fashion for men became common. ''Far'' less common in women and girls for a variety of reasons.
** A variant of it exists in Visual Kei with "legacy hairstyles," which aren't between blood relatives (usually) but which are either ''so'' linked to a specific artist that wearing them signifies a connection/support/liking for that artist, or signifying of a specific need/style.
* HeldBackInSchool: Not always a bad thing, but avoid it if you can.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: The reason the US FBI has the Witness Protection Program.
* HeroicResolve: Human beings can, in some of the worst emergencies and disasters, find strength they never knew they had to save others' or their own lives.
* HeroicRROD: Unfortunately, many human beings (especially if engaged in an activity they enjoy or feel they absolutely must do) can push themselves past ''their bodies' limits'' leading to major, sometimes disabling injuries or even their own death.
* HeroicSacrifice: People have sacrificed their own lives to save others' lives. A depressingly common example comes from mass shootings in the US, where people have been shot and killed by the heavily-armed assailants while trying to stop him/protect others.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Real people who did good things feel bad about themselves, especially if the "good things" came at a cost of human life or suffering or even property or money, or if they weren't done soon enough... among many other reasons.
* HeroicVow: These are a required part of some organizations and the like.
* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: Sometimes, with especially bad liars. Other times it simply denotes uncertainty (which actually can mean honesty: the person wants to be sure of what they're saying and think about it first), confusion, thinking of how to tell the truth but leave out irrelevant or traumatizing information, not being a native speaker of the language one is using, being drunk or high or under medication or sleepy, being absolutely terrified, and more. Because of all of these other meanings, while some liars do hesitate, it's not, in and of itself, a valid way to spot a liar and is ''worse than useless'' against compulsive liars, TheSociopath, and someone who believes their own lies. This doesn't stop people from believing it is, though, per TheCoconutEffect.
* HeteronormativeCrusader: In the nonviolent sense, MoralGuardians and some political organizations. In the violent sense, gay-bashers and people that attack transgendered people claiming "gay panic."
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Known in North America as "bromance".
* HetIsEw: Some types of the YaoiFan and YuriFan are like this. In a more serious sense, the view of some LGBTQIA people that live in societies that have strict gender roles and rules and heavy stereotyping accepted - they don't wish to emulate the heterosexual roles and find, for example, the idea of alpha males and alpha females playing out sitcom and romance drama stereotypes being the "ideal" to be something people should mature from, not aspire to. And yes, there are the ''very rare'' reverse bigots who think heterosexuality is itself gross or offensive.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Sadly, one of the most universal truths there is - those who choose violence to stop violence or choose unethical tactics to fight unethical tactics, or similar, even though it may be ''the only way'' to stop the existing situation, almost always eventually become the same thing as they defeated.
* HiddenDepths: Some people really are more rounded than they may seem at first. Is very, very common with musicians and others who are pigeonholed to a specific "genre" or "scene."
* HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier: Done all the time, occasionally to insult or mock someone without them knowing. Many English speakers do this as a matter of course, not even realizing they are doing it to any non-English speaker, while at the same time becoming upset if someone is obviously doing it to them in Japanese or Spanish for example.
* HighClassCallGirl: They exist, although it's a fantasy stereotype of sex work for the most part, as in most sex workers ''aren't'' rich and upper class, and ''many'' are the SexSlave.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: Sadly, far too often.
* HintDropping: One of the biggest causes of miscommunication and misunderstanding in the world, because some people don't even get the hint is being made, others get the ''wrong'' hint (e.g. someone's trying to hint how much they hate someone, and the person getting the hints assumes that the person is trying to use PUA seduction tactics), or the recipient of the hints wants to be told directly to confirm.
* HisAndHers: Such items exist.
* HistoricalCharacterConfusion: Often served with a side of BeamMeUpScotty or {{Malaproper}}, it is incredibly common in education settings and in life in general.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Historical revisionism and needing to make someone "better" than they were for a portrayal. Sometimes the result of the actual truth of someone being found out.
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Biased rumors, historical revisionism, and needing to depict someone as "worse" than they were can lead to this.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Happens, because people who hurt other people become or are stupid, overly self-assured, or greedy.
* HolierThanThou: Everyone has met or heard of someone who was a total jerk or hypocrite about religion. This is true for both theistic and atheistic beliefs.
* The "{{Hollywood}} X" Tropes. Most of them have a germ of truth somewhere in them. The inaccuracy lies in taking a narrow definition and assuming that it's universal.
* HomeSweetHome: Nesting instinct in most people kicks in around the late 20s to early 30s.
* HonorableMarriageProposal: In the past or in places where single motherhood is still shunned, this was demanded. Not TruthInTelevision after TheEighties or so in most of the first world, except for Japan and South Korea.
* HonorBeforeReason: Uncommon, but not nonexistent. Most likely to show up in the military.
* HonorRelatedAbuse: Unfortunately common among extreme fundamentalist Muslims and extreme fundamentalist Islamic cultures.
* HookersAndBlow: Musicians, actors, artists, rich people, and their parties.
* HopeIsScary: Why some people don't leave abusive or punitive or horrible situations, even if they could and have the wherwithal to do so - to envision a future without the abusive spouse/high demand coercive religious group/bad friend/etcetera is scarier than to know the certainty of the future even if the only certainty is more abuse.
* HopeSpot: Sadly, it's quite common in life to ''think'' you have a chance at something other than failure or death, for example, and then find out you had no chance at all or you somehow made a bad decision that turned your chance into this.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Killers, rapists, and robbers who work on holidays or significant dates, either out of some personal connection to the day (e.g. Nazi sympathizers acting out on Hitler's birthday) or because it provides far more opportunities.
* HospitalHottie: Some people in the medical profession are attractive, and [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect sometimes being in a bad condition makes those who are helping one seem more attractive than they may be otherwise.]] Playing one of these is also a common BDSM fetish role.
* HopelessWar: They have happened. They are happening. They are perhaps the saddest example of the SunkCostFallacy: the more money, lives, and time poured into a war, no one is willing to admit that it was all for naught and it's time to give up. Hence, the HopelessWar is created and drags on and on with no end.
* HotBlooded: Some people are this. Alcohol, amphetamine drugs, and/or cocaine can induce it even in those who aren't and worsen it in those who are.
* HotForStudent: [[http://readjack.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/lafave1.jpg Debra La Fave]] comes to mind. Or Mary Kay [=LeTourneau=].
* HotGuyUglyWife: This happens when some guys care about a girl with personality, ignoring how she looks.
* HouseHusband: In places and relationships with more gender equality (or in cases where the woman is rich or has the better career somehow even if it's not an equal society, (e.g. she's a nurse or teacher who's pretty much guaranteed work, the man is a StarvingArtist or day laborer or such) this happens sometimes.
* HumanityIsInfectious: Not with robots, but with some AI programs, which can be trained to post and appear as human beings.
* HumanPopsicle: Cryonics companies such as [[http://www.alcor.com/ Alcor]] and the [[http://www.cryonics.org/ Cryonics Institute]] offer to preserve your whole body or your brain (currently done by keeping the whole head) at low temperatures just after you're legally dead until someone finds out how to cure whatever was killing you. Research shows this ''might'' work someday, as the method they use now allows us to freeze and thaw small organs. They'll also have to cure the effects of freezing on the brain, which is somewhat more complicated. Oh, and figure out how to make new bodies for the heads-only crowd.
* HumansAreDiplomats: Once some humans learned the value of peace over war, and generally a common trait among more ethical people, who would rather resort to other solutions for anything than violence.
* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Face it, we are. ''Humans are the only species that entirely and willingly destroys the entire ecosystem that supports them for short term gain or profit,'' and humans are also one of the most violent and most effectively violent internal combat and predatory species in the world.
* HumansAreWarriors: Humans are violent predators (though this tendency is beginning to be repressed better and eradicated in some over time) and have often preferred violent or abusive solutions to peaceful ones.
* HumiliationConga: A criminal once tried to trick someone into sending him an Apple [=PowerBook=] G4 he bought at eBay. He ended up receiving a binder with keys glued on the inside covers. [[http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/ Read the full story here!]]
* IAlwaysWantedToSayThat: Because offline, at least, your brain comes up with that great quip far too late.
* IAteWhat: Understanding what is actually in your food can lead to this - and to becoming a very picky raw vegan if you have the money to be.
* ICallHerVera: People tend to name (and sometimes gender) inanimate objects. Musical instruments, vehicles, and weapons attract this a lot.
* ICallHimMisterHappy: There are so many euphemistic names for the penis, even excluding what individual men might name theirs, that listing them would not only be NSFW but take up an entire page (and such pages exist elsewhere)
* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: Because of how stereotyped and restricted to everything from appearance to class to everything else relationships are based on in many societies, and with the constant drumbeat of "you're never good enough" directed at women and at the gay or bi men who buy into it (often younger twinks), this happens when someone is seriously approached by someone that they believe they shouldn't ever deserve.
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: Capsaicin (the stuff that makes chili peppers hot) is very addictive.
* ICouldaBeenAContender: Bill Butterfield was so bitter about his football career ending in high school that he tried to push his son into athletic success. [[http://archive.apsportseditors.org/contest/2002/writing/over250/over250.enterprise.fifth2.html The results weren't pretty]]. Also mothers of beauty pageant girls, and parents trying to push kids into careers or better academic levels.
* IdiotBall: Some situations tend to be this because of all of the emotional involvements and fallacies they invoke, making critical and intelligent thinking nigh-impossible.
* IdleRich: Because for some, being rich ''is'' their life's accomplishment. Aversions, however, do exist.
* IfICantHaveYou: Real domestic abusers (especially) and stalkers do act like this - to the point that people who are victims of domestic abuse are advised to make sure their abuser does not know of their escape plans or date.
* IfItsYouItsOK: Because sexuality is a complicated thing, bisexuality is ''not'' always a 50/50 split, and it's possible for someone who thinks they are a 0 on the Kinsey Scale (absolutely heterosexual) to meet one person of the same gender that they find absolutely irresistible, and possible for someone who thinks they are a 6 (absolutely homosexual) to meet someone of the opposite gender that they find absolutely irresistible.
* IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou: Several good foods are actually quite bitter or almost disgustingly bland. On the other hand, some very bad foods also taste bad.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Anyone with a younger sister has said this.
* IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten: Asking people to commit crimes or hurt other people or animals or do something else "evil" is a test for everything from criminal groups afraid of police infiltration to some high demand coercive organizations doing recruitment or promotion. A common trick is to hold the person's doing such an act over them as blackmail - e.g. once someone has smoked crack with the dealers and made a sale, they're in as a co-conspirator and capable of being ratted on...
* IgnoredEpiphany: Admit it, there's been times you've probably wanted to change everything about your life or felt awful about something (whether it be an addiction or how you damage the environment or whatever) and... gone right on ahead doing it while brushing the guilt off.
* IHatePastMe: Everyone at one point or another has looked back on their life and asked at different points "What was I thinking?!".
* IHaveToWashMyHair: Bad excuses are often the best - especially if the date or event is itself not worthy of a good excuse.
* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Every 12 seconds, a kid accidentally fires a gun and hurts someone.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Why people try to become celebrities or try to get involved with celebrities. Why people aspire to do anything, in many cases, other than sit in their rooms and watch TV and get fat.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Very, very common in real life.
* IKEAErotica: Bad, boring, bland sex happens. If it's the only sex you have, though, you might want to see a therapist.
* IKnowKarate: Because some people do, indeed, know karate and other martial arts.
* IKnowMaddenKombat: Sports skills can be easily transferrable to combat.
* IKnowMortalKombat: Because even more people know no martial arts but think they do. The reason Bullshido and the WhatTheFuAreYouDoing trope exist.
* ILetYouWin: Sometimes, letting other people win things is a very good idea.
* IllGirl (and boy): ''Many'' people have been physically and/or mentally ill as children or teenagers.
* TheIllegal: Illegal immigrants are a large portion of many populations, and a hot-button political issue for nativists in said countries.
* ImNotAHeroIm: Said by ''many'' real life heroes.
* ImNotHereToMakeFriends: Became a trope from reality TV, but happens everywhere, especially in business and with people with NoSocialSkills or interest in staying. Rarely, these people succeed. More often, they fail badly because ''everyone'' either hates or doesn't notice them.
* ImplausibleDeniability: Bad excuses are common everywhere.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Because fortunes rise and fall for various reasons, and especially for those who are rich solely by the actions of others such as family, anything from being disowned to the family funds being lost can cause this.
* ImprobableFoodBudget: Sometimes people do win free food, or know people who work in expensive clubs/restaurants/etcetera and "help out" their friends. Also can be induced by employee theft or shoplifting.
* IncompatibleOrientation: Often one of the most tragic forms of LoveHurts.
* IncompetenceInc: Enron and more recently, the Yellow Book company. Their stock plummeted from over 100 dollars a share to just 13 cents in about a year.
* IncrediblyLameFun: There are people that enjoy things most people would consider boring.
* IncrediblyObviousBug: Surveillance cameras and some listening equipment is this ''by design,'' as a deterrent. Chats or other areas online where you are notified that you are being logged or screencapped are the same thing - an attempt to prevent abuse and bad behavior.
* InducedHypochondria: Dr. Google is often to blame, along with its accomplice, Dr. [=WebMD=]. Spend time reading around either and you will believe yourself to be ill, possibly dying.
* IndustrialGhetto: Because not many people capable of not living in overly industrialized areas tend to choose living there. Hence, industrial areas become restricted to industry and to those too poor to live elsewhere.
* IneffectualDeathThreats: Admit it, you've made these.
* InelegantBlubbering: It's cute and charming when Hugh Grant does it. Not so much in real life.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Show any person over the age of, say, 50 a picture of a random high school in America, and they'll likely insist this is what's going on. Also, the prevalence of Girls Gone Wild videos also leads one to think that the average drunken party coed may teeter into this area after 3-4 shots.
* InnocentBigot: Usually happens with kids, who don't know any better when they first assume their parents/caretakers' bigoted attitudes. Also can happen with the very sheltered, e.g. those raised in restrictive religious systems or isolated locales.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Asperger's Syndrome, social isolation in general, and being a FishOutOfWater can all cause this. Also can happen with people who aren't necessarily familiar with how a culture or subculture operates and what is and is not considered offensive/rude/racist/etcetera.
* InsufferableGenius: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and millions more.
* TheInternetIsForPorn: And/or downloading music. And/or, according to some, buying drugs.
* IntimidatingRevenueService: Only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. Ask AlCapone.
* InUniverseCamera: Just look at Website/YouTube videos of any disaster after around 2000. From 9-11 to 3-11, you will see any disaster from the inside.
* IsThatCuteKidYours: Check the discussion page for examples.
* ISurrenderSuckers: The reason why police officers will keep one gun pointed at a dangerous suspect at all times until his arms are fully handcuffed.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Narcissists and sociopaths on the more extreme end, individual survival and forgetfulness on the more benign.
* ItsASmallNetAfterAll: In Mexico, ''everybody'' uses MSN Hotmail, MSN Spaces, and MSN Messenger, thanks to an alliance between Microsoft and Telmex, the latter a nigh-monopolic telco led by Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world.
* ItsNotYouItsMe: You'd be surprised how much this line gets said in RealLife breakups. You've probably used it (or will use it), too!
* ItsRainingSalesmen: Sometimes they do this to people coming in with bags (or in cases with far more UnfortunateImplications, because you're poor or [[{{Profiling}} a minority]], because they want to make sure you're not a shoplifter). Also can happen if the sales staff needs to look busy.
* IWasToldThereWouldBeCake: The easiest way to get people to show up to an event is to provide free food.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:J-L]]
* TheJailBaitWait: Depending on the state, you may not even have to wait. Some go as low as 14. But yes, people have been known to do this.
* {{Jerkass}}: Who hasn't met at least one in real life?
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: ... On the other hand, you've probably met one of these as well. But if you consider yourself one you probably aren't.
* JewsLoveToArgue: The Talmud itself is a result of legal arguments regarding Jewish religious laws. This emphasis may have also been a contributing factor in the amount of Jewish lawyers, [[UnfortunateImplications stereotypical]] and otherwise.
* JokeItem: Plenty of them exist, some for the point of using them in practical jokes, others for many other reasons.
* JokerJury: War crimes trials held by the victorious nation can be seen as this. As can very biased juries, for racial or other reasons. Attempting to prevent this is the reason that the ''voir dire'' process exists in some countries that use juries.
* JokeWeapon: Happens in RealLife. In one variant, carried to look like an actual WeaponForIntimidation but with no intent of actually being used. In another variant, used - there was at least one case of someone being slapped with a fish.
* JumpOffABridgeRebuttal: Used by everyone's dad.
* KangarooCourt: See JokerJury above. Corrupt legal systems can produce this, as can biased or unfair ones.
* KeyUnderTheDoormat: Burglars know this. Don't bother with it.
* {{Kiai}}: See CallingYourAttacks above.
* KidsAreCruel: As anyone who went through middle school can attest.
* KidsPreferBoxes: And bubble-wrap. Sweet, sweet bubble-wrap.
* KilledOffForReal: Death, obviously. Unless one is somehow revived.
* KillerRabbit: A great many animals are meaner, sharper, or more poisonous than they look. This is why you don't play with wild animals.
* KillSat: The Strategic Defense Initiative, more commonly known as Project Star Wars. Similar projects are in the works, mostly because [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers are cool]].
* KnockingOnHeathensDoor: Door-to-door proselytizing does exist, most infamously with the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.
* LanguageBarrier: People being unable to communicate due to not sharing a language is as old as civilization.
* LaResistance: The French and Dutch Resistances were notoriously violent and strong, as were the Soviet and Yugoslav partisans, and the Polish Home Army.
** Krav Maga, the deadliest martial art, was made specifically for Jews getting accosted by the SS.
* LeaveBehindAPistol: Intentionally leaving a suicide method in reach of someone likely suicidal has happened.
* LensmanArmsRace: World War II and the Cold War. Consider: the Germans only made very primitive payload rockets with long range work somewhat in WWII, and America couldn't launch a rocket as late as 1957. We were on the moon just over a ''decade'' later. (TheSpaceRace being guided on both sides by [[HerrDoctor genius German rocket scientists from Nazi Germany]], who were unaware of each others' existence as competitors for quite some time). And nothing says "my [[strike:dick is bigger]] kung-fu is better than yours" like the ever-more-powerful nuclear weapons tests of the 50s and 60s.
* LessEmbarrassingTerm: Just check out this "[[http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/product.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302024102&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442133688 one leg pant]]", or as most people would call it, a skirt.
* LethalJokeItem: Some items are far more dangerous or even deadly than they would look, either by themselves or when combined with something else.
* LethalJokeWeapon: They exist, and are usually why the JokeWeapon is taken seriously. No one knows whether a JokeWeapon is a LethalJokeWeapon and assuming the latter tends to be a good idea for those interested in staying alive.
* LeonineContract: Not only exists, but is called that in courts of law.
* LethallyStupid: There are certain people (and animals) who are too dangerous to stay around, even if they don't intend to cause chaos.
* LevelGrinding: Sheer repetition is the best form of improvement. Well, most effective form, anyway.
* LivingLieDetector: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yawn Dogs have been shown to yawn when a human stranger yawns, but not when said stranger pretends to yawn.]]
* LivingMotionDetector: True for several animal species, which is why said species are so hard to film.
* LoanShark: Why do people use their services instead of a, you know, bank? Bad credit, my dear Watson. Bad credit.
* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Surprising but true. The most memorable case would be John and Clarence Anglen's and Frank Morris' escape from Alcatraz (as hard as it is to believe someone would actually fall for the fake-dummy-head-in-the-bed trick).
* TheLoinsSleepTonight: The OTHER reason why you have a spam folder.
* LonersAreFreaks: People often wrongly jump to this conclusion when dealing with loners in real life.
* LostWeddingRing: The lengths people have gone to to get them again can be quite amazing.
* LoveHurts: A list of personal examples would likely be the largest and most soul-crushing page on the Wiki. or on the ''Internet''.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: So, so painfully true.
* LoveMartyr: Nothing to [[DudeNotFunny laugh]] or smile about in real life.
* LovingAShadow: "Loveshys" and "Involuntary Celibates (incels)". This is the problem with loving someone from afar.
* LuxuryPrisonSuite: The Hotel Escobar. Pinochet's exile. Elba.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M-O]]
* MacGuffin: The BraggingRightsReward in its physical permutations (e.g. trophies and objets d'art) and anything useless that only has value in being collectible and/or desired by more than one person.
* MacGyvering: VERY common in RealLife, especially among people who are cash-poor. Everything from furniture creation to computer repair to fashion to [[TheAllegedCar automobile repair to]] animal and human health care may well be subject to it depending on the setting.
* MadeOfPlasticine: Human beings can be very weak and die from some of the most unlikely to ordinarily cause death things, but not always - see NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow below.
* TheMafia, TheMafiya, TheTriadsAndTheTongs, {{Yakuza}}, and other organized crime groups: They are tropes because they exist.
* MalignedMixedMarriage: There are hundreds, if noth thousands of examples throughout history of people hating those who marry outside of their race. In fact, at one time in the US, there were laws banning miscegenation [[note]]interracial marriage[[/note]].
* MamaBear: Both the animal and human kind. There are documented cases of mothers rescuing their children from mountain lions and actual bears.
* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: The families of real life criminals do indeed live in this sort of denial sometimes, even when confronted with overwhelming evidence of criminal behavior.
* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Men do wonder. DNA testing has shown that sometimes, they have reason.
* MaamShock: Was more pronounced when "ma'am" meant an older woman. Now not as big of an issue - except for men mistaken for women on some occasions.
* ManInABikini: How often have you seen one, and the reaction it gets?
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: Will almost inevitably be claimed as this by anyone invoking it.
* MeatVersusVeggies: There are many cases where persons debate with one another about the superiority of one kind of diet over another. If you're a vegetarian, you have probably had to contend with all sorts of reactions ranging from concern borne of ignorance to open scorn or derision. Alternately, if you're a meat eater, you've likely been accused of everything from murder to animal cruelty to endangering your health.
* MeddlingParents: You've probably had these or know somebody who does. Cf. JewishMother.
* TheMenFirst: Insofar as their instructors can hammer it into their heads.
* MentalAffair: The non- ScienceFiction variant is fairly common.
* TheMentallyDisturbed: Far more common but also far more mild than TV would make you think.
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: If you're not claustrophobic, house arrest.
* MileHighClub: Though trying to join is probably a bad idea if you don't have a private aircraft, and [[TooDumbToLive a very bad idea]] if you're the pilot.
* MilitaryBrat: There is a whole subculture surrounding the family of military personnel.
* MilitaryMaverick: For every Colonel O'Neill you see on TV, there's far worse in real life.
* MisleadingPackageSize: Overpackaging, fraud, or the desire to present something as more valuable than it is can make this happen.
* MissConception: If sex education doesn't exist. More common in the past, still sometimes happens in restrictive religious communities.
* MissionFromGod: From Joan of Arc to Osama bin Laden, religion has been a powerful motivator.
* MistakenForGay: Many times, a result of the conflation of traits attributed to binary gender and sexuality. Yes, [[CaptainObvious feminine men and masculine women can be straight]].
* MistakenForSpecialGuest: See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Goma Guy Goma]] for an example.
* MistakenlyBanned: Spend enough time on the Internet and it will happen somewhere.
* MistakenNationality: Far too common simply because many people don't care to learn geography or about nations.
* MisterMuffykins: Most breeders call the little yappy dogs victims of "small breed syndrome." A lot of it is just plain stupidity on the owner's part.
* TheMistress: Divorce lawyers and journalists alike make a huge part of their living because this is TruthInTelevision.
* ModestyTowel: Force of habit and shyness will often lead to this being used even when there is no reason for it. Paranoia can also be a factor, if your room has a window.
* MonsterClown: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulrophobia Coulrophobia]]. Also applies to mimes.
* MoralGuardians: ''Futurama'' and ''TheOnion'' parodied PETA's practice of trying to get "liberated" carnivores to live on a vegetarian diet. Also perpetual AcceptableTargets the FCC and "concerned mothers".
* MoreThanMindControl: How {{Brainwashed}} and BrainwashedAndCrazy actually happen in RealLife. The amount of ways that people can be turned against their own interests, their own consciences, and their own bodies and lives, or pressed into HappinessInSlavery or resignation to slavery are enough to induce nightmares and paranoia.
* MuggingTheMonster: If people make a career of robbing people, there's always a chance they'll pick the wrong person to try to victimize and end up getting the shit beat out of them or shot. [[http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=73382 There have been]] quite a few cases of muggers trying to assault karate students.
* MundaneLuxury: To someone living in a third-world country, simple things like ''clean'' running water can be considered luxuries.
* MusicIsPolitics: In the 60s and onward, the ProtestSong became a subgenre.
* MyCarHatesMe: Otherwise, we wouldn't have tow trucks.
* MyDadCanBeatUpYourDad: Because he can, and you know it.
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: Mandarin Chinese.
** Icelandic (and by extent, Faroese) is considered the hardest language (grammatically) to learn, ''even for native Icelanders''.
* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: This is what lawyers are for.
* MysteryMeat: "Pink slime," which is ammonia-soaked beef castoffs. Mechanically separated chicken. Similar and worse examples exist.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Streakers.
* {{Nepotism}}: "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is definitely TruthInTelevision: those with relatives in business or government or the arts or whatever tend to get "brought in" by those relatives, and then promoted, often beyond their skill and competence.
* NeverRecycleABuilding: Sometimes for historic value, sometimes because builders are lazy and architects want ''their'' plan used. There's also the unfortunate case of, say, a building that was clearly home to a Jack-in-the-Box now saying "Wendy's" on the front, which just looks plain silly.
* [[NiceGuy Nice Guy/Gal]]: Lots of them, and far more than a pessimist can ever think.
* NoCanOpener: Can openers weren't even ''invented'' until several decades after tin cans. Before then, consumers were instructed (according to TheOtherWiki) to use a hammer and chisel.
* NocturnalEmission: Happens mainly between 13 and 25, but for both sexes its a mere two percent. Nocturnal ''erections,'' on the other hand, are normal for all men well into their 40s or 50s, ''not'' necessarily a result of what is going on in the dream, and their absence generally means that something is wrong with blood flow to the genital region and possibly elsewhere.
* NoFameNoWealthNoService: Members-only or restricted entry clubs, restaurants, and other venues. Anything that will only provide service to celebrities.
* NonSequitur: "No, I don't think the mailbox needs painting."
* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: Human beings can survive quite a lot, but see CherryTapping and MadeOfPlasticine above too...
* NoSexAllowed: Some religious systems that impose celibacy or heavily restrict sex. Also applies to minors for obvious reasons.
* NoTellMotel: LoveHotels in Japan, and plenty of other hotels and motels. You may have even stayed in one...
* NotInMyBackYard: And ''another'' one used in RealLife long before it was a trope.
* NoYouHangUpFirst: A manifestation of the "sunk cost" fallacy in that someone who is speaking in such a conversation will want to stay on as long as they can even if it would be better to stop talking.
* ObligatorySwearing: Middle and high school. The Music/{{Punk}}, Music/HeavyMetal, Music/{{Rap}}, and VisualKei music scenes. Sailors and truck drivers. The military.
* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Yes, many of those war crime scenes you see in movies ''actually happened'' (or were based on true events) and were most likely ''toned down'' for viewers.
* ObliviousAdoption: Oh, it happens alright. More often than we like to think.
** Fortunately, [[HappilyAdopted the other way around]] also happens.
* ObsoleteMentor: Because ScienceMarchesOn, SocietyMarchesOn, and TechnologyMarchesOn, and some people don't bother to catch up with them, even if they're the best of a specific art or the best at a specific time.
* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry: The reason LaResistance tends to exist in RealLife and one reason YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters exists as a trope.
* OfCorpseHesAlive: Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
** It was once common practice to photograph someone post-mortem after posing them in a chair as if they were alive. The [[UncannyValley results are somewhat disconcerting]].
* OfferedTheCrown: Again, by default, any trope concerning royalty is automatically [=TIT=]
* OffTheWagon: Not quite as often as portrayed in the DrugsAreBad moral stories, but often.
* OldShame: Everybody's got something they're embarrassed about.
* OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby: Alcohol is toxic to humans, but for most adult humans, in amounts well below the [=LD50=], the "poisoning" produces enjoyable effects and no lasting damage. Once one gets near the [=LD50=], one can die or be permanently sickened. In pregnant women and in children, the damage can occur much faster - causing fetal alcohol syndrome or death. Same for pets. And chronic overuse even below the [=LD50=] can lead to lasting and permanent illness or even cancer.
* OneManArmy: Under the right circumstances, this is completely possible. Sometimes inverted in One Man Armies going down against sufficient numbers or overwhelming volumes of fire. An excellent real life example would be MSG Gary Gordon and SFC Randy Shughart at the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993. Technically a Two Man Army, but still qualify.
** Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper during Finlands winter war (1939-1940) he scored 505 confirmed kills & 542 unconfirmed. Also 200+ kills with submachine gun. Remarkably, all of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in fewer than 100 days with a very limited amount of daylight per day. Nicknamed "Valkoinen Kuolema" in Finnish, which translates to "White Death".
* OnlySaneEmployee: Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt.
* OnlySaneMan: You feel like this often, admit it. And this trope's cousin SurroundedByIdiots too, most likely.
* OperationBlank: They've had some [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16213_the-25-least-inspiring-military-operation-names.html pretty silly names]].
* OperatorFromIndia: Dell is the biggest offender. Most big companies do it nowadays to save money. Outsourcing FTL
* {{Overheating}}: Why your computer needs fans or some kind of a cooling system, especially the more you push it to do. Why ignoring the "check engine" warning or the temperature gauge on your vehicle is ''never'' a good idea. Can happen to human beings also, usually during heat waves, under the influence of drugs that affect the brain's temperature regulation - from alcohol to MDMA to neuroleptic drugs - or who have some forms of brain damage that do the same.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Komodo dragons and leafy sea dragons, among others.
* OutWithABang: Yes, there are some sexual practices that can kill you. If you're in bad enough health or are just unlucky, sex itself can do so.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P-R]]
* PaedoHunt: As exemplified by the cases where parents' family photos of once-innocent events have been reported to police by developers or by people who see them on FaceBook, by the infamous "paedophile/pediatrician" mixup, and MoralGuardian callouts of fictional media employing DawsonCasting or [[{{Literature}} not even involving]] [[AnimeAndManga real personages at all]] for depicting relationships between teenagers.
* PapaWolf: As if the MamaBear trope wasn't enough, ''do not threaten or harm someone's children.''
* PaperTiger: Ah, bullying. You find out just how tough someone who's [[MuggingTheMonster mugged the monster]] really is.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Some situations don't allow for a physical or heated confrontation.
* PathOfInspiration: ChurchOfHappyology, and other cults.
* PepperSneeze: It irritates the mucus membrane of the nose.
* PercussiveMaintenance: Don't say you've never whacked your TV or computer when it failed. It's TheCoconutEffect many times, but in cases where the failure involves poor solder joints, dust or dirt, loose wires or connectors, or other causes of bad connections, a good whack can actually be a useful temporary fix. Also used as a last resort fix (as in, nothing else works and the only option is losing the data) to get a non-solid-state hard drive to work long enough to retrieve data from it.
** Also, though not advised unless you have ''no other choice'' (e.g. you haven't backed up, you're out of warranty and have no money) for the other damage it can do, sometimes works (along with a few blasts of compressed air to shake loose dust and dirt) to get a stopped laptop fan running. For this, you'll want to know where the fan *is* (to reduce the risk of doing other damage) and, after the air blasts, smack the case under the fan with the heel of your hand. If the fan was just slow-running and blocked due to the dust, there's a good chance it will restart and work longer.
* PerformanceAnxiety: Nervousness caused by being in front of people is one of the biggest sources of stress in the world today.
* PerkyGoth: Because not all Goths are depressives or dour.
* PhenotypeStereotype: Happens in many places apart from Japan. Lots of Germans and Nazis went to South America due to WW2.
** In the USA, all [[AmbiguouslyBrown "brown" people]] are assumed to be either Mexican, Indian, or Middle Eastern.
*** Meanwhile, in Canada, [[AmbiguouslyBrown "brown"]] means anything that isn't people that are incredibly pale or dark.
* PickedLast: Hopefully, this one doesn't happen to you.
* PimpedOutCape: Whether it's a coronation robe or just something to show off your wealth in public.
* PimpedOutCar: There was even a reality show about doing this called "PimpMyRide," and there's some parts of car culture centered around it. If you want to see some extreme examples, go to Japan and look at the "vanning" subculture - mostly ''yankii'' or retired bosuzoku, who know mechanical repair and devote themselves to designing each others' increasingly outrageous-looking mobile housing or promotional vehicles.
* PimpedOutDress: Worn by rich women throughout history (and men), and a huge part of the ErmineCapeEffect.
* PinkElephants: That said, alcohol-related hallucinations are usually due to withdrawal or alcohol poisoning (or that your drink has been spiked with something other than alcohol, if you're not in withdrawal and haven't drank more than three or four drinks at least.)
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Bosozoku and ''yankii'' in Japan, 99 percent of motorcycle clubs elsewhere in the world, punk rockers and black metallers for the most part, the list goes on. The most harm members of such groups likely do on average is creating noise, minor illicit drug use or petty fraud or shoplifting, if that. They normally get hated either for the more outrageous crimes (and incredibly rare) crimes that show up in their midst, or for being nuisances with the extent of petty crimes in a more law-oriented and business-oriented mainstream culture.
* ThePlague: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death The Black Death]]. Spanish Flu.
* PlatonicLifePartners: Creator/CSLewis made a note in the "friendship" section of ''The Four Loves'' that platonic friendship between members of the opposite sex happened a lot in academia. (He ignored the gay angle, though.) It's called the Westermarck Effect, and it's why most brothers and sisters raised together aren't romantically interested in each other.
* PlayingSick: Don't tell me you've never done it.
* PluckyMiddie: They had to be.
* PoliceAreUseless: Do some research on the subject, and then take a new look at the gun control debate.
* PoliceBrutality: Rodney King. Any number of incidents you can find on Youtube or elsewhere.
* PoliceBrutalityGambit: Also sadly real - and hurts not only cops but the actual victims of PoliceBrutality, by making their cases less believable.
* PoliceLineup: Often done with photographs more now, and somewhat fading from popularity due to misidentifications. Eyewitnesses are often considered one of the least reliable forms of testimony compared to CCTV and other video recordings, DNA, and other less partial and less easily influenced evidence.
* PornStash: You know what you're hiding deep within your closet, drawer, or hard drive...
* PostRobberyTrauma: Something [[DudeNotFunny far more serious than it seems on TV.]]
* PottyEmergency: Chances are, you've had one at some point in your life.
* PottyFailure: Can happen as a result of fright, food poisoning, laxative overdose, or simply misgauging how long it is until the next toilet. Can also be a symptom of a serious medical condition if it happens without any precipitating factor or repeatedly.
* PowderTrail: It happens. Often more so with liquid than powder - this is why you avoid sparks and open flame near gasoline or other flammable liquids.
* PretextForWar: Has happened quite a few times in history.
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: It's a common subculture among some.
* PrettyInMink: Fur is often worn for style instead of warmth.
* PrimalScene: Walking in on parents (or other adult relatives) having sex has happened to a lot of people.
* PrisonRape: It only became a trope relatively recently because it was [=TiT=]
* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: See the article's RealLife section for details.
* ProfessorGuineaPig: The mad scientist stories had to come from ''somewhere'', and OSHA regulations tended to be a bit loose when science was in its infancy. The mad scientist stories, and the stereotype we associate them with, came from Nikola Tesla. Those lightning bolts in the background were Tesla coils. In Europe, abandoned castles were squatted in because (since there wasn't a UNESCO back then) there was a lot of free space and they wouldn't disturb anyone. Scientists back in the day really ''were'' experimenting with electrobiology.
* {{Profiling}}: Racial, class, and otherwise. There's entire industries (data brokering for example, and polygraphy) based upon it or concepts of it.
* PunchSpinGape: Its actually a legitimate theatrical technique for faking fistfights.
* ThePurge: How most people kick off dictatorships.
* PushPolling: If you've ever taken a survey, you've probably been a victim and don't even know it.
* RabidCop: They're very common in PoliceBrutality cases.
* RacialRemnant: People survive genocide and assimilation, as do their cultures.
* RacistGrandma: Because people tend to hold onto ingrained beliefs, even if they have incredible ValuesDissonance. Other times, can be a result of cynicism or mental illness.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Is there a chapter in the Mexican 19th century that doesn't has one of these? Also, any revolutionary group in the history of ''forever''.
* RainOfArrows: A key strategy of the English during the Hundred Years' War and of the Chinese.
** [[MythBusters HWACHA!]]
* RandomlyDrops: Dollar stores, thrift/consignment shops, and lost and found are this trope's RealLife counterpart. Also, in large cities or other places with a lot of people, people will often drop or forget things from loose change to occasionally expensive or hard to acquire items.
** Thieves (and on the other side of the coin, police raids of thieves or drug dealers) also run into this trope - things stolen or acquired in a raid can range from absolutely useless even for resale, to incredibly valuable and/or rare.
** Locally, there is a tradition of getting rid of unwanted items during a move or after a yardsale by simply leaving them in a box by the side of the road. These boxeses can contain almost anything, and sometimes have amazing finds.
* RantInducingSlight: ''Everyone'' has had this happen to them. There are thousands of examples to be found every day. NEW examples.
* RapunzelHair: Prior to the 20th century, this was almost mandatory for women in any culture. Also the natural result of a baptized Sikh's obedience to the requirement to keep kesh. There are also multiple people who just happen to have this or who are trying to achieve this. Also pretty common among VisualKei artists, especially from earlier times.
* RecursiveAmmo: The[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targetable_reentry_vehicle MIRV]], for starters.
* RedLightDistrict: There's quite a few in the world.
* RelativeError: Siblings get mistaken for lovers in real life a lot, oftentimes to the [[{{Squick}} disgust]] of the siblings. Sometimes [[InvertedTrope the opposite happens]]. Just as squicky.
* RenaissanceMan: Leonardo Da Vinci is the UrExample, but there are many.
* RetIrony: Rare cases are present. See the page for examples.
* RequisiteRoyalRegalia: See PimpedOutDress.
* RibbonCuttingCeremony: Happens from time to time.
* RidiculousExchangeRates: Happens due to hyperinflation; as of 2009, about 300 trillion Zimbabwean dollars are worth ''one single US dollar''. The most famous example was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic Weimar-era German mark.]]
* RingRingCRUNCH: This is so common, there are actually products to prevent this: Meet [[http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/91f2/ Clocky]] and the [[http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/giftsunder50/8f1a/ Sonic Bomb]].
* {{Roboteching}}: Many guided weapons actually do this.
* RockBeatsLaser: Though not common, superior tactics or sheer weight of numbers have defeated superior technology. This was apparently one of the reasons the Japanese won in the Russo-Japanese war, too. There's also the Whack-a-Mole theory: wherever you wipe out insurgency one place, they'll just pop up somewhere else, ad infinitum. Iraqi insurgents, the Viet Cong, and Afghanistan over the last 50 years are examples.
* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: It is [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080417001927/http://www.guidemag.com/temp/yaoi/a/mcharry_yaoi.html proposed]] that eight out of ten Japanese women had experience with such relationships.
* RunawayBride: An anonymous bride left the groom at the altar ''and ran away with his witness '''who was also his best friend'''.'' And they all lived happily ever after (except the groom).
* RupturedAppendix: Yes, it happens in RealLife. And it IS fatal if untreated. This is why, if you have severe stomach pain in the lower right side or that started there and spread, you go to an emergency room, and you DO NOT take a laxative or otherwise try to force a bowel movement - the pressure/stimulation of bowel contractions can cause the appendix to rupture.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-U]]
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: The amount of time you need to spend to become an expert on something is, on average, around 10,000 hours. That time has come from ''somewhere'' - usually socialization.
* SafeSaneAndConsensual: The ethical approach to sexual activity, especially sexual activity that could involve risk beyond the usual.
* SafeWord: Yes, people do use them. And if people don't, you should probably not be doing BDSM play with them.
* TheSavageSouth: Until recent times, areas near the equator were seen by many Europeans and Americans as not only unpleasantly hot but also arid or sopping wet and full of dangerous large animals like panthers and lions. If the heat or animals did not kill you, the diseases borne by biting flies or mosquitoes would. Modern advances in dealing with disease and wild animals have resulted in a more "friendly" outlook on these places as the risks are more easily managed.
* SandBridgeAtLowTide: Mont Saint-Michel, a French islet near the coastline of Normandy.
* SavedByTheAwesome: Just like the CowboyCop and MilitaryMaverick can be found in RealLife, so can this; this being the reason they exist in the first place.
* ScamReligion: They have existed. No real life examples are allowed, but people throughout history have used religion or even created religions or sects with the express or at least secondary intent of separating followers from their money.
* ScareCampaign: How ''many'' political campaigns are run, because fear, uncertainty, and doubt appeals to low-information voters.
* SchoolgirlLesbians: If you're in high school or college, you probably know a few. Aka "[=LUGs=]" (Lesbian Until Graduation) or "Daddy's money lesbians". Bisexuality is the new "I'm soooo drunk".
* SecondaryFire: Many weapons have burst and autofire modes or even grenade launchers attached to the gun.
* TheScrappy: Bill collectors are one of the most hated professions out there largely in part due to their (justified) very bad reputation. Attorneys and estate agents, politicians, [[AcceptableProfessionalTargets the list goes on]].
* ScopeSnipe: Carlos Hathcock pulled this off during the Vietnam War, but it's near impossible to do unless under the ''exact'' conditions.
* ScrewPolitenessImASenior: Because of dementia, or sometimes because of feeling as if one has earned the right not to respect younger people.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: The reason why celebrities often get off the hook.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Because only the richest can [[BribingYourWayToVictory bribe their way to victory]].
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Freaking politicians...
* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful: Behind the DoubleStandard regarding student/teacher affairs and DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale - if the pedophile or ephebophile is female and hot, she often gets sympathetic treatment from the media and the victim is celebrated as somehow having "scored" rather than being a victim. If the pedophile/ephebophile is male, he is evil and the victim is seen as a tragic, DefiledForever victim.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: The only one here that isn't [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]].
* SealedEvilInACan: Any drug (legal or otherwise) with a serious potential for addiction or a fatal side effect.
* SeinfeldianConversation: It is arguable that there is ''nothing'' more realistic than this trope. Indeed, an argument over that would be the perfect example. Absolutely ''any'' conversation will turn into this if entered in the middle.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: There are many cases when it has happened. See the article.
* SenselessViolins: The 2008 Northern Illinois University shooter managed to bypass the campus security by packing a pair of shotguns inside a guitar case.
* SeriousBusiness: Unsung rule of life, the universe and everything: if it exists, somebody out there is taking it VERY seriously.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: As noted in the entry, Williams Syndrome. Some forms of autism and Asperger's Syndrome will cause this as well.
* SexIsInteresting: At least in the minds of advertising executives, who will happily the nebulous promise of it [[SexForProduct to sell anything.]]
* SexlessMarriage: For a variety of reasons: IncompatibleOrientation (or {{Asexuality}}) or simply falling out of love or interest in sex being some more common ones, but religion and long-term separation can also cause this.
* SexSlave: Unfortunately. If you suspect someone is one, there are often resources for human trafficking and it's a good idea to contact such a resource.
* SexTourism: Exists on a spectrum of {{squick}}, from couples resorts, cruises, and other ventures to connect consenting adults, all the way to pedophiles seeking children overseas.
* SexyWhateverOutfit: Rule34's SFW (or not as NSFW) version.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: At least four separate editors have had this happen to them. Check the page.
* ShoddyKnockoffProduct: All the knockoffs of real products. Mostly from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, or China (never Japan or Korea). During the Cold War, they came from Eastern Europe.
* ShowingOffThePerilousPowerSource: Don't look directly at the sun, a solar eclipse, a nuclear explosion, or something being welded, and wear your ski goggles. A lesser degree of this with easy recovery (as an example of why you shouldn't) can be induced by staring at any light source (from a match to a lightbulb) for a few minutes. And don't stand too close to a steam engine that is discharging steam either!
* ShrinkingViolet: Shy people exist.
* ShyBladder: It's called paruresis, and people have been fired because of it when they couldn't pee for a drug test. And yes, before you ask, there have been lawsuits.
* SilkHidingSteel: Any society that places a premium on property has had women who do this. An example would be the wives and daughters of ship captains in 19th Century New England.
* SingleMomStripper: Usually due to economic reasons, those being that stripping is one of the few careers that doesn't require extensive experience, has somewhat flexible hours, and pays far more than welfare or child support in general.
* SignsOfDisrepair: As a look around Fail Blog and occasionally where you live can tell you.
* SlaveMooks: Unfortunately so - conscription and drafting still happen in militaries throughout the world.
* SmiteMeOhMightySmiter: This is why many people are atheists.
* SnipeHunt: A very common form of hazing or practical joke is to send someone on a search for something nonexistent.
* SomethingsDifferentAboutYouNow: People change over time. That fat nerd you knew? Dropped the weight and became hot. That man you knew? Was actually [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} a woman.]], or vice versa. The HollywoodAtheist you remembered from college? Is now a devout churchgoer. Can be very difficult, especially if the changes make your relationship now incompatible.
* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: Unfortunately, for our six-legged friends.
* SolidGoldPoop: Ambergris is whale vomit. It's also extremely valuable for use in perfumes. Guano. Not as valuable now as it used to be. For centuries, it was used to make saltpeter and phosphorous, which was used for explosives and gunpowder. Now, it's mostly used for fertilizer, and some of the world's ''best'' coffees owe their rich flavor to this particular fertilizer.
* SorryOccifer: The reason why, if you are drunk or high, not talking to the police (if you live somewhere where you have this right) is the best legal advice you can possibly ever follow. And you got it here free.
* TheSpiny: Sea urchins.
* SpitTake: Yes, people often do this in reaction to a shocking image or piece of information.
* SpockSpeak: Asperger's Syndrome and legalese (though usually not [[{{Flanderization}} to this degree]]). Justified in the legalese case, when the document has to be airtight. Still funny, though.
* StageMom: See ICouldaBeenAContender.
* StarCrossedLovers: "Things just didn't work out."
* StealthHiBye: It happens when you're distracted and don't notice when someone is entering or leaving the room.
* StoneSoup: Taxes. Volunteering. There are many examples. The opposite of TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup.
* StoutStrength: Incredibly strong men often look more rotund than body-building. Just watch the weightlifting portion of the Olympics. Or sumo wrestling.
* StrangerInAFamiliarLand: Step 1: Go abroad for work/study/etc. Step 2: Stay there a couple of years, if not months. Step 3: Go back home and try to fit back in.
* StrawFeminist: They exist in RealLife, but they do ''not'' represent all feminists.
* StylishProtectionGear: Silk has properties that allow for diminished arrow penetration (there would still be ''non-lethal'' wounds). It was used by Mongol warriors and samurai. It's also fireproof.
* StraightGay: Contrary to historical portrayals, most gay people appear and act just like most straight people.
* StreetUrchin: One of the most serious social problems everywhere in the world.
* SuccessionCrisis: Plenty of historical examples. There was even a whole war called "The War of Austrian Succession".
* SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat: Since not everyone always lets you know everything they know.
* SuicideAttack: Kamikaze and suicide bombers.
* SuperPersistentPredator: Humans with their persistence hunting during the majority of the stone age.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: You've said it and you know it.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Everyone who's ever had a day job can attest to this. Or been in [[strike:Public]] [[strike:High]] School.
* SweetPollyOliver: Joan of Arc, Mulan (the REAL one).
* TailSlap: Even horses can makes use of it to an extent. With elephants, it can be fatal.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JetBlue_Flight_1052 The JetBlue flight attendant incident]] is a very recent example.
* ATasteOfTheLash: Flogging was a commonly used punishment in many real-world cultures.
* TaughtByExperience: You know that your mistakes have left a mark on you, probably a scar.
* TechnicalVirgin: It happens, ironically enough, often due to abstinence-only education.
* TeensAreMonsters: Some teens can be amoral and scary. Not all are, though.
* TelevisuallyTransmittedDisease: Strangely, many of the miraculous recoveries you see in medical dramas actually have happened.
* ThatPoorCar: Disasters will cause this.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: One of the most common passwords is... "password" or "password1" (since now most registrars require letters and numbers). The most common varies in length but is some form of ascending number sequence -- i.e., "12345."
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Teen suicide rates are much higher than they should be, but it's more because they don't WANT to see a therapist for fear of rejection. Also because since they think with their amygdalas, which is the emotional part of their brain, not the logical part.
** Bad experiences with therapy can lead people to ''never seek help again,'' even when it is urgently and severely needed. A bad therapist can be even worse than ''no'' therapist, for this reason.
* TheGlomp: Some people hug their friends like this.
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: There are quite a few.
* ThemeNaming: The Emperor Constantine's children. The Duggars' children all have names that start with J. Multiples (twins, triplets, etc) frequently get theme named. Retired heavyweight boxing champion/electric-grill pitchman George Foreman has named all of his children of both sexes "George".
* ThisIsNotADrill: Because of a phenomenon called "warning fatigue," sometimes it's very necessary to tell people that ''this'' alarm is for real and obeying it is important.
* ThoseTwoGuys: ThoseTwoGuys are in every high school, workplace, band... anywhere one doesn't remember people by name.
* TimeCapsule: More common in the past. Sometimes they last, other times they...don't. Or their contents are incomprehensible.
* TongueOnTheFlagpole: Yes, it does work. Check youtube if you don't believe it. Or, better yet, try it yourself! Be sure to carry come hot water with you, though.
* TooDumbToLive: Everyone has met them at some point. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG_Vbh8arNM Rad Girls.]] ({{NSFW}})
** The whole point behind the Darwin Awards website: [[http://www.darwinawards.com/ darwinawards.com]]
* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: The opposite of StoneSoup.
* TooMuchInformation: Eventually, you will hear something or see something you wish you could erase from ever having been aware of.
* TheTourney: While it tends to stick to jousting, there were historical eras when that was the commonest form of fighting in tourneys.
* ToxicFriendInfluence: As many juvenile delinquents can attest to, and why people who are trying to stay abstinent from alcohol or drugs are often advised to no longer spend time with those who actively use the substance.
* TransparentCloset: Sometimes those of us who are LGBTQIA are the last to know for real. Other times, we just don't really care about creating a "closet" or have been lucky enough to have lived in a situation that has never imposed or demanded one.
* TrashOfTheTitans: As you can see in [[http://www.squalorsurvivors.com/ this site]], and any episode of ''Hoarders'' or ''Clean House'' or similar shows. It's called "hoarding" or "Collyer Brothers Syndrome."
* {{Trigger}}: Almost everyone has them in some form. Some far, far more distressing than others. See it's [[UsefulNotes/{{Trigger}} Useful Notes]] page for details.
* TriggerHappy: The reason a lot of shootings (whether by police or civilians) happen. Especially if one feels as if one is in mortal danger, it is an instinct borne of paranoia that can be ''very difficult'' to override.
* {{Troll}}: An undeniable [[TruthInTelevision Truth In New Media]]. If you spend any amount of time on the internet, you will see them, and you will likely interact with some even if it's just trying to banhammer them or keep them out - or you may be one yourself.
* TrueArtIsAngsty: Angst tends to make art be seen as "more serious." OscarBait is usually angsty.
* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: This is one of those annoying ones that reinforces itself.
* TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty: Street fighting, capoeira, and some forms of "no holds barred" fighting ''rely'' on dirty tricks.
** On the other hand, knowing and calling out dirty tricks in formal dueling/fighting styles with no tolerance for them often wins the fight for the person who called out the dirty trick.
* TVTropesWillRuinYourLife: You ''will'' go on a wiki walk sooner or later. It ''will'' last longer than you expect.
** Chances are, you are on a WikiWalk RIGHT NOW.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Note: Being funny and unique will not get you chicks... until you turn 21. Money and influence also helps.
* UltimateJobSecurity: Having a relative at the company will make your coworkers hate you, but at least you'll never be fired.
** Tenure for education professionals is very close to this - it is ''very'' hard for a tenured educator to get fired.
** If your bank is "too big to fail" and you are "too big to jail," your work in the financial industry is this.
** Police unions are generally relatively strong. This means that firing police officers or demoting them aside from being KickedUpstairs is often ''highly'' difficult, even for officers caught in PoliceBrutality or in being absolutely useless or corrupt.
* UndisclosedFunds: Swiss bank accounts. Also, talking about money was once viewed as crass, so people used these methods to do so.
* TheUnpronounceable: Indians working in call centers with American customers typically use adopted "American" names. It's also very common for immigrants to have an Americanized nickname, especially if they're from the Middle East or Asia. This is also associated with Eastern European consonant clusters, such as "Bydgoszcz." And good luck trying to say something if you don't know the pronunciation rules of the language.
* UpperClassTwit: Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and any socialite. Buddha was also one of such before leaving his castle.
* UnitedWeChant: Can happen often in sports arenas or anywhere many people gather; Barack Obama's US presidential run was littered with "yes we can!" and sports arenas often get "U!S!A!" or chant a player/team name.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: TD dances.
* UrbanSegregation: The Independencia Avenue in Guadalajara, Mexico divides the city in two: the West side is the rich side, home to all the trendy malls, while the East side is the poor side, filled with gritty factories and impoverished ghettos.
* UsefulNotes: Useful ''because'' they're true.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Stalin, Mao, Robespierre, Pol Pot...
** Subjective. It's not clear who really fits this trope and who was just pretending to fit it -- as part of an EvilPlan, or because WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:V-Z]]
* VerbalTic: It happens, just not with every single person. Francophone Canadians often say "lá" ("there") at the end of each sentence, Mexicans do the same with "wey" and "ese" ("dude" and "this", respectively), Argentinians start their phrases with "che", and Americans use "like", like, every five words. And not just, like, the ValleyGirl types (thanks to MTV). [[CanadaEh Most famously...]]
** It's become a pastime of many Canadians to use [[CanadaEh their verbal tic]] when around Americans.
* VindicatedByHistory: More than a few people. There are several politicians who were widely hated during their term but are now fondly remembered by history books, for example.
* ViolationOfCommonSense: Happens quite often in RealLife.
* ViolentGlaswegian: Glasgow is the murder capital of Western Europe.
* VisualKei: Some artists and fans dress in the style and/or even maintain complete personas offstage.
* VirtualCelebrity: A few of them are around like [[{{Vocaloid}} Vocaloids]].
* VirtualGhost: Programmers working with the band Music/XJapan made a hologram of a late member (lead guitarist [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto hide]]) that was both a VirtualCelebrity and very, very close to this idea from the realism INA and the other programmers achieved with the image. Programmers also did this to bring Music/TupacShakur to Coachella 2012.
* VocalDissonance: Radio [=DJs=], Mike Tyson, SteveBlum, and several others do ''not'' look how you would expect them to based on their voice, and vice versa. This was a very real problem back in the days when "talkie" movies were new, and many actors lost their jobs because their voices were so silly.
* WackyMarriageProposal: Geeks love asking their soulmates in ways like that. And people take great lengths (e.g.: ball games, fireworks, et cetera)
* WalkingTheEarth: Being a hobo is about Walking The Earth for a while, finding all sorts of small jobs, with nothing but a backpack, enough money to stay fed, groomed and with a place to sleep. Pre-war Gypsies and modern Travellers also are similar. Touring bands or artistic acts are similar, though their WalkingTheEarth is generally planned and limited to the tour. Some journalists do this on purpose, as well.
** The concept of "location independent living" is this, albeit with more comforts, and once someone reaches a certain level of wealth, they are free to walk the earth in as much comfort and pleasure as is possible.
* {{Wangst}}: Because not all angst is appropriate to age or situation. Often a frequent cause of conflict when someone suffering from {{wangst}} expresses it in a way that insults more legitimate angst (e.g. someone posting to a forum to whine about a thief stealing their [=IPod=] and how that makes them understand someone whose house just burned down) or is extremely inappropriate (threatening suicide over a broken toe or common cold).
* WaterIsBlue: But only a ''very'' slight amount. Go look at pictures of tropical beaches. It's either blue or green.
* WeaponForIntimidation: The reason most people in RealLife that have weapons do. On a larger scale, nuclear weapons are this.
* WeAREStrugglingTogether: The political spectrum is a line, not a circle. A very ''long'' line. But still a line.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The real world version is a lot scarier, actually.
* WeSellEverything: Wal-Mart and Target and other wholesellers, who were steamrolling the competition for a while, until they began to destroy their own markets and lose space to online and home shopping... as shopping malls, which had been another example, and the department store, which had been another example before that, had done before them. (And ironically enough, it was the first department store, Sears-Roebuck, that first popularized the same home shopping using catalog and post/phone that Amazon and Ebay now dominate using the internet.) It is only a good business model in the short term, and as you can see from the pattern, cyclically.
* WildChild: There's a few examples: Kaspar Hauser, Genie, and a feral French boy. None of them ended up that well off.
* WhammyBid: People make these in auctions. Sometimes, because they really, really want what's for sale and are willing to pay any price. Other times, it is done as a form of {{trolling}}, to ''ruin the auction,'' or being a ManipulativeBastard to drive down bids when the fake is found and everything is reset.
* WhatTheFuAreYouDoing: The usual result of someone trying to invoke IKnowMortalKombat.
* WhatTheHeckIsAnAglet?: Cruciverbalists of the world have been through this all too much. Which is why there's a huge market for [[http://www.amazon.com/Million-Word-Crossword-Dictionary/dp/0060517565 Crossword Puzzle-specific dictionaries]].
* WhoaBundy
* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Many parents of special needs children often feel this way, especially if it's their first child. This trope is why 4 out of 5 parents of autistic children divorce. Even if they don't outwardly say it to the degree it's portrayed in fiction, they often feel this way inside, because, yes, life ''would'' be a lot simpler and cheaper if their kid were different. Or if society changed so that autistic children and otherwise disabled children were valued for themselves rather than seen as problems or burdens...
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Phobias are common, even silly ones (like [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Az10dr0xZY peaches]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjJVN_RkbTw balloons]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-FGE7QELQ pickles]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf8FQYv9lD4 chickens]]), etc. If it exists, someone in the world has a phobia of it.
* WikiWalk
* WillNotTellALie: Very uncommon, but definitely real. This was ostensibly true in ancient Persia, since it was a religious edict of Zoroastrianism. They throw around the word "truth" like Americans do with "freedom".
** Might also be your experience of cultures where the idea of little white lie does not exist.
* WindTurbinePower: Wind turbines sprout like mushrooms all over the planet because they work.
** The real question is: do they work good enough? Also, lots of lobbying tends to muddy the issue.
* WiperStart: To the embarrassment of many a new driver.
* WishfulProjection: Another Freudian trope.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Turkmenbashi was a very... eccentric ruler. Yes, he was a dictator. But he didn't have gulags and didn't violate any human rights. He was just weird.
* WizardNeedsFoodBadly: The need for food is universal among animals and humans, and larger amounts of and specific kinds (more nutritious in specific ways, or providing of certain ingredients) of food are needed for those whose occupations or hobbies are physically (and in some cases mentally) demanding.
* WolverineClaws: Ninjas used the [[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/D0510121-0-large.jpg Nekode]] and Indians used the Tiger's Claw for fighting
* TheWorfEffect: Used by police to break up fights and riots before they really start.
* WorthlessForeignDegree: Sadly true.
* WouldNotHurtAChild: Common in gangs and mafias.
* WouldNotShootACivilian: See ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Happens a fair bit online, more rarely but scarily in real life.
* WretchedHive: Somalia. The slums of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Lagos. West Africa. A few very bad neighborhoods in the United States. Look hard enough, and you ''will'' find them all over the world.
* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: What kind of schmuck needs this one explained, anyhow?
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Examples can range from personal to those which affect the entire countries.
* YouCanPanicNow: Locked-In Syndrome. [[strike:Global Warming]] Climate change. Nuclear war. Leprosy. Jack the Ripper. ''The goblin's gonna getcha if you don't... watch... OUT!''
* YouMustBeThisTallToRide: Safety regulations require that you be tall enough and large enough to be secure in the safety harnesses and not risk injury or death.
* YourOtherLeft: The bane of those giving directions over a mobile phone.
* ZettaiRyouiki are a very popular fashion item among girls and young women in Japan.
[[/folder]]

*

* IdleRich: Because for some people, being rich ''is'' their life's accomplishment. Aversions, however, do exist.
* IfItTastesBadItMustBeGoodForYou: Several good foods are actually quite bitter or almost disgustingly bland.

* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Anyone with a younger sister has said this.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The reason the FBI has the Witness Protection Program.

* HauledBeforeASenateSubcomittee: Happens to all sorts of people, from high-level government operatives to musicians and writers among others.

* BankRobbery: Happens, though the incidence of them has been greatly reduced by surveillance cameras, greater penalties, tracking of cash, and similar moves to reduce their popularity as a crime. After TheNineties, generally only committed by StupidCrooks who are caught very fast.