Playing With / Lame Comeback

Basic Trope: Bad comebacks.

• Straight:
  Alice: [after Bob's attempt at making popcorn sets his house on fire] Bob, you're such a careless moron!
  Bob: Well... you suck.
• Exaggerated: Alice gives Bob a poorly-put "The Reason You Suck" Speech that leaves him with plenty of opportunities for snappy comebacks. He misses them all and calls Alice a big meanie instead.
• Downplayed:
  • Bob's comeback is lame, but so was Alice's insult.
    Alice: You're a Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head!
    Bob:; No, you're a doodoo head!
  • Bob hesitates for ten seconds before making a clever remark. Alice begrudgingly admits that it's a good comeback, but points out that it took too long.
• Justified:
  • Bob is The Ditz — of course he can't think of a good comeback in a few seconds.
  • Bob has poor social skills and thus isn't well-rounded with verbal scuffles.
• Inverted:
  • Bob has a snappy comeback to Alice's terrible attempt at an insult.
  • Bob has a really good comeback... except he uses it too late for it to be a comeback.
• Subverted: Bob hesitates a little before making an okay comeback.
  Alice: [after Bob's attempt at making popcorn sets his house on fire] Bob, you're such a careless moron!
  Bob: Well... you... didn't even finish high school!
• Double Subverted: Bob's comeback seems okay, but then Alice explains why it doesn't work.
  Alice: Says the guy who got an F-- in every subject!
• Parodied:
  • Not only is Bob's comeback lame, it makes no sense whatsoever.
    Alice: Bob, you're such a careless moron!
    Bob: No, That's What She Said!
  • Bob's lame comeback is somehow perceived as witty.
    Alice: Bob, you're such a careless moron!
    Bob: Really? Oh, yeah? Well, as a matter of fact, I'll have you know that you... you... you're just... you're... uh... you're not... you... you're... you're not being very nice to me!
    A hitherto unseen crowd cheers for Bob, and Alice walks away with her head hung low.
  • Bob's comeback is a compliment. He's completely oblivious to this.
    Alice: Bob, you're such a careless moron!
    Bob: Well, you're very attractive and intelligent!
    Alice: Do you really think you can get off the hook by just flirting with me?
    Bob: [confused] What? That was an insult, stupid!
    [Beat]
    Bob: Wait. Oh, crap. Can I try again?
• Zig-Zagged: Bob fires a flurry of comebacks with varying quality.
• Averted:
  • Bob doesn't try to make a comeback.
  • Bob's comeback is alright, if not good.
• Enforced: The writer couldn't think of a good comeback either.
• Lampshaded:
  Alice: Bob, you're such a careless moron!
  Bob: Well... you... stink. I've got nothing.
• Invoked: The conversation between Alice and Bob is a staged one. Alice makes fun of a certain group, and Bob, pretending to be a member, makes petty comebacks to make the group look bad.
• Exploited: Attack ads poke fun at the awful comebacks Senator Bob keeps making in heated debates.
• Defied: The only comeback Bob can think of is "Well... you suck", so he decides to shut up instead of saying it.
• Discussed: "Some people seem to have no idea what a comeback is supposed to be."
• Conversed: "Does he really think that "You're a Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head!" is the best he can come up with?"
• Implied: Bob's comeback is never revealed, but Alice asks him "Is that really the best you got?"
• Played For Laughs: Bob genuinely thinks "Well... you suck" was a good comeback.
• Played For Drama: Bob's attempt to stand up to the verbally abusive Alice backfires because he failed to think through his comebacks.

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You think this Playing With page is lame?! Well... you... you need to be more considerate of the effort people put into this kind of thing, you know?

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