History Main / WeaponsGradeVocabulary

-->-- ''SchlockMercenary'', [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-05-20 20 May, 2003]]

There's a saying that sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Well, with a weapons-grade vocabulary, you can actually physically hurt people. This does not apply if it's done by magic, or by sheer loudness. The vocabulary doesn't have to be utilized out loud, because it can be read as trope naming example shows. This could apply if it's hurtful knowledge, like a long-held secret, as long as the recipient is physically hurt by mere spoken or written words.

If the damage is done by magic, it's {{Words Can Break My Bones}}. If it's convicting other character or monster to hurt/kill themselves it's {{Talking The Monster To Death}}. Compare with {{Brown Note}} which is merely sound or image, not content. If it's a visual metaphor for the words hurting people (usually psychologically), then it's closer to {{Harsh Word Impact}}.

There's a saying that sticks and stones hurts but words don't, but with this weapons-grade vocabulary, this person can actually physically hurt people. Does not apply if its done by magic or sheer loudness. Don't have to be spoken, because it can be read as trope naming example shows. Could apply if its hurtful knowledge, like long held secret, as long as person is physically hurt by mere spoken or written words.

If the damage is by magic, its {{Words Can Break My Bones}}. If its convicting other character or monster to hurt/kill themselves it's {{Talking The Monster To Death}}. Compare with {{Brown Note}} which is merely sound or image. If it's visual metaphor for the words hurting people (usually psychologically), then it's closer to {{Harsh Word Impact}}.

* [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-05-20 This]] ''SchlockMercenary'' comic named this trope.

* ''Vexxarr'': [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071906 Weapons grade pleading?]]

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* The Toon expansion Toon Tales (in the Way-Out West section) includes an optional rule for Punslingers, whose puns actually do damage.
* The ''{{Munchkin}}'' card "Cutting Remark".
* The unusual example of hurting yourself by speaking: The supplement ''Book of Vile Darkness'' also contains "dark speech" - a language so vile, it is impossible to actually communicate with it; with proper preparation you can tie it into magical effects but trying to just straight utter the words would make your mouth bleed.
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* ''Vexxarr'': [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=071906 Much nicer version of Vogon poetry.]] It is more effective on killing intelligent robots.

* The ''What's New with Phil and Dixie'' strip in Dragon magazine #72 (April 1983) was about jesters. The middle of [[http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20071014 this page]] has a jester killing a monster with bad puns. The next panel shows the danger of unintended side effects.

** Turned around on the knights, later. {{spoiler:They are drained of their will by the word "it".}}

* [[MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Ni!]]

* TheHitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxy has Vogon poetry, which makes the listeners seriously ill or worse. It is advised to take some other option than that.

* The Munchkin card game card "cutting remark"
* The unusual example of hurting yourself by speaking: The supplement Book of Vile Darkness also contains "dark speech" - a language so vile, it is impossible to actually communicate with it; with proper preparation you can tie it into magical effects but trying to just straight utter the words would make your mouth bleed.

* There is a Megaphone weapon in {{Parodius}} where the attack is words coming out of your spaceship.

* Also, in ''PhoenixWright'', particularly clever counterpoints apparently have the ability to hit opposing attorneys like a gale-force wind, throwing them back, making them flinch and, in one particularely CrowningMomentOfAwesome case, tearing all the hair off a person's head, leaving him mostly bald.

* This [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-05-20 Schlock Mercenary]] webcomic named this trope.

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-->''Tagon:I see you've just been exposed to Ennesby's weapons-grade vocabulary.''
-->''Jevee Ceeta:My stomach is in my throat right now. It's trying to spit acid on the parts of my brain that remember reading his message.''
-->-- [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-05-20 ''Schlock mercenary'']]

* On ''TheMuppetShow'', guest star Avery Schreiver engages in a duel with Sweetums. The weapon of choice: insults.

** Does Ni! mean anything though?

** EightBitTheater had bad puns being just as lethal against Astos.

* There's several sound-based attacks in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' series, varying in type between MakesMeWannaShout, BrownNote and this. **An example of this type is 'Snarl', a dark-type attack that seemingly involves the pokémon ranting and shouting at the target for a while, inflicting damage and lowering their attack-power.

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* The "World's Funniest Joke" sketch from the Flying Circus. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM People died by a JOKE.]]
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** Another example is this is this = they gave a truth serum to someone and, in court, told them to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Everyone in the courtroom died and a special SWAT team had to deal with the problem.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Deadly_Puns2_6096.png]]