Basic Trope: A character uses a negative comparison to say that the person involved gives the object of comparison a bad name.
- Straight:
- "I'd call this movie a flop, but that would be an insult to the rest of the flops!"
- "I'd say you're useless, but that would do useless people a disservice."
- Exaggerated:
- "I'd call this movie a disaster, but I don't want to offend Holocaust survivors, to say nothing of victims."
- "I'd say you're worse than useless, but there is no noun, image, or adjective for how counterproductive you are."
- Person A lets out a long, exaggerated venomous version of Person B's name, because they couldn't think of a worthier insult ... before individually apologising to every single body part Person B owns as well as the name itself.
- Downplayed:
- "This movie is at the absolute bottom of the barrel, right beneath the cracks."
- "You've displayed the very worst behaviour I have ever encountered from anyone."
- Justified:
- "[...]the train never intended to wreck, but here, I'm not so sure..."
- "Every other bad person I've ever known had some redeeming qualities, but I don't see them in you, based on our period of acquaintance."
- Inverted:
- "Calling this movie a flop makes all the other flops look better by comparison."
- "This movie is such a masterpiece, it puts The Mona Lisa to shame."
- "Calling you an angel would be insulting you."
- "Calling you a bad person would make other bad people take it as a compliment" (Compliment To Rocks)
- "The best thing I can say about you is you're not as bad as Hitler."
- Subverted:
- "I could call this movie a flop ... so I will!"
- "I could say you're bad, so I will."
- Double Subverted:
- Parodied:
- "This movie is no better than a piece of shit. ...I-I didn't mean it like that, Mr. Piece of Shit! S...sorry..."
- "And I thought that movie I saw was a waste of time, but you make me want to watch it again."
- Zig-Zagged:
- "This movie is somewhere between the worst flop ever made, and the worst thing ever made."
- "Sure, there's a lot more people worse than you, but you're nothing memorable compared to them."
- Averted:
- "This movie's a flop."
- "You're a bad person."
- Enforced: The line is a Catchphrase of Bob, the Caustic Critic.
- Lampshaded: "And I know that's overused, but if the shoe fits..."
- Invoked: "The question is if this movie is a flop or something worse."
- Exploited: "What's wrong with giving flops a bad name?"
- Defied: "There's a joke here about this movie giving flops a bad name, but it's beneath me."
- Discussed: "On tonight's episode: We debate whether this movie is a flop or worse than a flop!"
- Conversed: "I've heard that line so many times and it never gets old..."
- Implied: After Bob compares the movie to a filthy porta-potty, he receives an envelope from the Porta-Potty Trade Association.
- Deconstructed:
- The comparison isn't very apt. It's hard to tell what Bob means when he says the movie doesn't deserve to be called a movie since, well, it is.
- The insult lacks power either because it's overused (all of the awful films in the world cannot be the "worst film of all time“) or it makes the insulting person look worse than the person being insulted (sure, go ahead and try to say something that gives praise to Adolf Hitler in any way. See where that leads ya).
- Reconstructed:
- Bob clarifies his position: "This is not a movie. A movie implies something made with at least some effort to entertain some audience. This ... thing does neither."
- Though, through some expert weaving around words, the insulting person manages to use an insult that both has power (even if it's overused) and makes the insulting person not worse than the insulted person.
- Played for Laughs:
- The insulted person actually feels pleased: "So you're saying that you are willing to declare, under oath, that my movie is the worst film of all time? Whoo! In your face, Ed Wood!"
- The insulted person doesn't gets the point of the insult: "I… think you're gonna have to explain me a little more how this works."
- Played for Drama: "You give your people a bad name." A member of an Always Chaotic Evil group is the addressee and feels deeply ashamed.
- Played for Horror:
- "You give your people a bad name. I hope you die a horrible death." A Misanthrope Supreme says this to underscore their mix of contempt and disregard for human life.
- The insulted person really, and violently, showcases they did not liked being called "worse than Hitler/baboons/bacteria/whatever".
- It sounds like a stupid insult if it's said aloud, but it nevertheless accurately (and severely) underlines how much of a monster the insulted person is. Yes, someone who actually manages to completely exterminate approximately 99.9% of the human race (and with it every single ethnicity and creed that are different from the man who performed this atrocity) can be called "worse than Hitler".
This link to Insult to Rocks is an insult to links to Insult to Rocks!
