G to I / Truth In Television

Visit entries from: Main Page || A to C || D to F || You are here || J to L || M to O || P to R || S to U || V to Z

open/close all folders

G.I.R.L.: 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.
Gadget Watches: Some companies are trying to invent these, in response to, as of The New '10s, the smartphone and tablet being far more popular personal accessories than the watch.
Gag Nose: Not only can elephants' extremely long noses pick up and manipulate various items, they can also suck up water and spray it into their mouths.
The Gambling Addict: Truth in Television that became a trope.
Game of Nerds: America's pastime (Baseball) is popular among the genius set, what with its love of statistics and all.
Gangbangers: Along with White Gangbangers. Most street gangs are only really known in the areas they call home, while some (such as the Crips and the Bloods) are notorious enough to be known internationally and have sets outside the U.S.
Gargle Blaster: 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 Truth in Television. Engaged in by abusive partners, cults, 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.
Gasshole: Some people have trouble holding it in, particularly men. It especially happens as a result of excess carbonated beverage consumption or bizarre food combinations.
Gay Cowboy: Though it may upset some people to know this, many cowboys were gay men who moved to the country to avoid persecution in the city
Gay Moment: Quite a few people have these, often overlapping with Attractive Bent-Gender (just go look at the comments on Miyavi videos on Youtube for some fine examples) or with Even the Guys Want Him / Even the Girls Want Her.
Gayborhood: Quite a few of them exist in the US and around the world. California alone has Hillcrest in San Diego, West Hollywood in Los Angeles and Castro Street in San Francisco.
Gayngst: Less common in more accepting areas as of The New '10s, but quite a large amount of angst (and even suicides) have originated from this throughout history...
Gender-Blender Name: Very common, especially among transgender people, but plenty of cisgender people have them too.
"Gender-Normative Parent" Plot: Gender stereotypes are still very much a thing in many places, so it's entirely common for sons to have interests that clash with the expectations of more traditional fathers (with other gender combinations also occurring). The situation can go several different ways, but in at least some cases, the parent will realize that loving their child means wanting them to be happy, and accept their choices.
General Failure: Rare nowadays, but in the mid-19th century there was (more room for) nepotism, and military ranks and jobs had to be bought and were only available to people of the right class/social standing.
General Ripper: Many, but they probably shouldn't be listed.
Genius Bruiser: Sumo wrestlers and technical wrestlers. Some US NFL players, before chronic traumatic encephalopathy sets in (or if it does not).
Genius Ditz: 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 Dee Snider's testimony regarding the PMRC - a Hair Metal 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 while also implying that Tipper Gore was a closeted sadomasochist.
Genocide Backfire: Why genocide isn't only 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...
Gentle Giant: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer famous after his hit "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". André the Giant. A great many others.
Gentle Giant Sauropod: Though not quite as peaceful as you think, sauropods were generally much less aggressive towards other living things due to their massive size rendering it unnecessary the majority of the time.
Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand: This philosophy is applied in situations where a person wants to accomplish something out of others, whether it's discouraging undesired behavior or guiding others to a desired path. Sometimes, the "Firm Hand" is often used when the "Gentle Touch" isn't effective enough, while sometimes the "Gentle Touch" is often used when the "Firm Hand" can do more harm than good.
George Jetson Job Security: Oklahoma, Indiana and an increasing number of other states now have "fire-at-will" laws which allow employers to fire employees without explanation or advance notice, except as mandated by federal laws.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: It's common for artwork that is not appreciated in one place to be appreciated in another.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Commonly used by abrasive individuals when dealing with people going through depression or sadness. In some cases, however, this can do more harm than good.
Getting Sick Deliberately: Examples of scientists deliberately infecting themselves with a disease. This is usually so that they can try antibiotics on themselves or to otherwise prove a theory that they suspect is in play.
Ghastly Ghost: Most people find the very concept of a ghost unsettling. Ghosts are also portrayed with various horrifying/grotesque forms by all kinds of cultures, to say nothing of actively malevolent spirits. This is why phasmophobia (an intense fear of ghosts) exists.
Ghost Town: Any town or city with a population of zero is officially classified as a ghost town in the United States. Unofficially, there are a great number of towns with fast-dwindling populations. Centralia, PA is one notable example, with a population in only the low double digits in the wake a disastrous coal mine fire.
Giant Flyer: Quetzalcoatlus, the largest pterosaur of all time, which has a 39-foot wingspan, and it lands on solid ground, it also stands exactly as tall as the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex.
Giant Poofy Sleeves: 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.
Giant Spider: Goliath Birdeaters, the largest spiders of all time, sport legspans as wide as dinner plates, and as their name suggests, they're also big enough to hunt and eat birds.
Gift-Giving Gaffe: 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), Too Much Information (e.g. gift certificates for colonics or waxing), or outright homophobic/racist/sexist.
Gigantic Adults, Tiny Babies: Virtually all invertebrates, reptiles, and bony fishes have their offspring like this until they grow up to maturity to become larger. When it comes to dinosaurs, as even the largest of the long-necked herbivores were no bigger than puppies upon hatching (though they did grow very quickly).
Gigantic Gulp: Huge drinks are quite common in some places. Anti-obesity advocates seek laws to reduce them in some of those places.
Gilded Cage: 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 on Girl Is Hot/Yuri Fan/Guy on Guy Is Hot/Yaoi Fangirl: Quite a few people find the idea of same-sex couples hot, even if they are themselves straight-identified.
Girl Posse: These tend to form in some situations, generally high schools and fandom communities.
Girlfriend in Canada: Manti Teo, and quite a few less famous cases.
Girlish Pigtails: Some girls (and some boys) do style their hair like this.
Girls Have Cooties: Anyone who remembers their childhood accurately can attest that many in elementary school avoided striking friendships with the opposite sex due to childish reasons. It also carried into junior high and high school, but moreso due to personality reasons (the only exceptions being those who were in a relationship).
Girls With Mustaches: Some women can in fact grow facial hair - and it might get more likely as they get older. Bearded women are a common freak show attraction.
Give the Baby a Father: In the past or in places where single motherhood is still shunned, this was demanded. Not Truth in Television after The '80s or so in most of the first world, except for Japan and South Korea.
Glad I Thought of It: Why patents and copyrights (and documenting your ideas outside of them) exist - people are willing to do this.
Glasses Curiosity: Wanting to try on other people's glasses is quite common among both grade-schoolers and even college students.
The Glomp: Some people hug their friends like this.
Glorified Sperm Donor: They exist with one term being "dead-beat dads".
Go Mad from the Isolation: Very true as it concerns prisoners in solitary confinement.
God and Satan Are Both Jerks: The view of some variants of non-theistic Satanism.
God-Emperor: The Imperial Japanese believed this as part of their version of fascism. It did not end well. Post World War II, the divinity of the imperial family remains an important part in some strains of 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.
God Is Evil: In combination with "and doesn't exist," and you get the beliefs of some atheists. In combination with Satan Is Good, you have the beliefs of some theistic Satanists and left-hand-path followers, as well as some Gnostics. In combination with God and Satan Are Both Jerks and "don't exist," see above. Strangely enough, the actual beliefs of some types of The Fundamentalist, Knight Templar, and Soulsaving Crusader such as Westboro Baptists, Jack Chick, and Muslim terrorists — though they don't consider their God evil and instead celebrate the things 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 Neo-Paganism.
God Is Good: Most forms of Christianity believe this and all will profess this (even the above kinds that accidentally imply God Is Evil will proclaim that it 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 Neo-Paganism.
God Save Us from the Queen!: There have been a few real life examples, though not as many as fiction would have you think.
Godwin's Law: Try to find one comment section on a controversial topic without one Nazi comparison. On a long enough timeline, expect that THE ATTEMPT WILL FAIL.
Godzilla Threshold: 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...
Goggles Do Nothing: Steampunk fashion, cosplay.
Going by the Matchbook: 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.
Going Cosmic: The result of the use of some types of recreational drugs.
Going Native: 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.
Going Postal: We have a word for this: "massacre".
Going to See the Elephant: 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.
Gold Makes Everything Shiny: Golden items are a status symbol.
Gone Horribly Right: Most weapons, from guns to nukes. They're made to threaten people and to kill people - and that they do.
Good Bad Girl: There are plenty of women who are open with their sexuality but still kind and moral people.
Good Behavior Points: This system of discipline is indeed used by many parents and teachers in reality.
Good Cop/Bad Cop: 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.
Good Is Not Nice: 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.
- Sometimes, doing good to others doesn't always require one to be nice; this involves being harsh to the other (i.e, a good parent must punish their child and a good friend must rebuke the other if they're following to the wrong path). One way or another, this doesn't say that people won't enjoy doing this to their loved ones.
Good Is Not Soft: 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.
Good Old Fisticuffs: 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 Combat Pragmatists or being unpredictable.
Good Parents: There are many good parents out in the world, but real life examples are not allowed.
Good Versus Good: 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 females behaving and having masculine qualities and intersets and males behaving and having feminine qualities and instrests, 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."
Googling the New Acquaintance: It has become common for employers to check potential employee’s social medias.
Goomba Stomp: Quite a few animals can actually be killed when jumped on, although that applies to mostly smaller animals. Though, most people on such an attack would use one foot, rather than jump with two.
Gosh Dang It to Heck!: 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.
Gossip Evolution: Especially in small communities and on the Internet.
Got Volunteered: Being signed up as a volunteer for something one actually doesn't want happens quite often, especially in military and office settings.
Gotta Kill Them All: 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.
Gotta Pass the Class: Sadly, plenty of students across all age groups have this as a motive.
Government Drug Enforcement: 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.
Government in Exile: There are a lot of examples of entire national governments that end up in another friendly country after a successful invasion by a hostile nation.
Grail in the Garbage: 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.
Granola Girl: 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.
Grass is Greener: Why people try to change their place in life. Sometimes it's not, per 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 Real Life.
Gravity Is Only a Theory: Flat earth and hollow earth theorists and homeopaths, among many other cranks and quacks.
Gray Rain of Depression: 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.
Great White Hunter: 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.
Grey-and-Gray Morality: Practically universal in all forms of conflict. 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.
Grievous Harm with a Body: 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.
Groin Attack: Attacks to the genitals are indeed paralyzingly, fetal-position-inducingly painful and will knock most any guy (and sometimes gal) out of commission.
Group Hug: Occasionally, certain groups of friends and blood relatives will all hug one another simultaneously for various reasons.
Group-Identifying Feature: Just about every organized group be it sports teams, the Boy Scouts or the military will wear distinct costumes and uniforms so that the average person will recognize them.
Groupie Brigade: 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.
Growling Gut: The stomach makes noises when empty or digesting.
Grows on Trees: Quite a lot of food does grow on trees. Tree nuts, almost all fruits that aren't tomatoes, berries, or melons, and avocados.
Grumpy Old Man: 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.
Guide Dang It!: Learning a foreign language. Cooking. Almost anything involving computers, though this may change. Anything related to repairs.
Guilty Until Someone Else Is Guilty: Many people will not be convinced of a suspect's innocence until the real criminal is brought to justice. You may have gone through this experience yourself at one point.
Guns Are Worthless: Most definitely not Truth in Television 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.
Guns in Church: The open carry movement invokes this on occasion. Obviously, anyone committing a crime with a gun also invokes it.
Guys are Slobs: In cultures that accept or 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.

Hacker Cave: As a form of defictionalization and Life Imitates Art, some people in geek culture want to build these and have built them.
Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook: 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.
Hair Memento: It was popular, especially in Victorian Britain, to keep a strand of a loved one's hair put inside something like a jewellery. Just like the trope page says, this was made to remember a person better - especially after they have passed away - as the hair was considered a living thing left behind.
Hair-Trigger Temper: 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 Flame War 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.
Hairy Girl: Some females really don't shave.
Halfway Plot Switch: Real Life takes some wild, surprising, 90 degree turns due to both tragedy and luck.
Handicapped Badass: Quite a few of them through history.
Handy Feet: People who have either lost their hands or were born without them, along with arboreal creatures, tend to use their feet and toes for certain daily tasks.
Handy Mouth: Many animals do utilize their jaws to pick up something (such as a mother cat carrying her kittens,) although they can't usually write letters or fence very well.
Hanging Judge: 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.
- The criminal justice system in Japan is particularly notorious, with a conviction rate of 99%: getting an acquittal in a Japanese court is practically a miracle.
Happily Adopted: Lots of people.
Happily Married: Many, MANY couples.
Happy Marriage Charade: 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.
Hard-to-Light Fire: If you're trying to create heat through friction, it could take hours to get a fire going.
Harmless Villain: 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.
Has a Type: Some people just have a specific type of person they like (i.e., race, specific body type, holds the same beliefs/interests as them, strong/tough, specific eye/hair color, etc.)
Hash House Lingo: Waiters can and will use wacky names as mnemonic devices, and customers use slang for the convenience (like in many other transactions).
Hate Plague: 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.
Hates Baths: The entire feline species lives this trope. Some small children also despise taking baths often due to irresponsibility, but this can be subverted in one way or another. They eventually transition to showers once they enter their pre-teens.
Hates Rich People: This is a trope rooted in real life; so many wealthy people have been disliked and vilified for hoarding insane amounts of money and evading paying taxes, and for other reasons.
Hates Small Talk: Introverted people in general are not fans of small talk.
Hates Their Parent: Sadly, not all children grow up loving their parents, mainly due to those parents being abusive, neglectful, or even a bit strict.
Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: 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.
Hauled Before A Senate Subcommittee: Happens to all sorts of people, from high-level government operatives to musicians and writers among others.
Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: Sometimes necessary for gay people who avert All Gays are Promiscuous 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.
Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Baseball player Mike Piazza once called a press conference to announce he's not gay.
Have I Mentioned I Am Sexually Active Today?: 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.
Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?: Ahh, the Coming-Out Story...
Heads, Tails, Edge: Hey man, it can happen!
Headbutting Heroes: 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.
Healing Potion: In the downplayed 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 downplayed 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 The Alcoholic or anyone else who can't stop at one glass per day/per every other day.
Healing Shiv: 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).
Healthy Country Air: Residing in the country has historically been a treatment for many illnesses and disabilities.
Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Sometimes Truth in Television for mentally well people, much more often truth for binge-and-purge bulimics and those who suffer from binge eating disorder.
Heartwarming Moments: Just as normal life has many sad moments, so it has many happy ones.
Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: Used by quite a few metal bands, though phasing out of interest because of overuse.
Heavy Voice: Can happen due to thicker vocal folds in overweight people, or due to testosterone whether as therapy or as illicit steroid use.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: 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. For a less extreme case, Reformed Bullies and the like will sometimes try to make it up to their victims, only to be told to fuck off.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: Mercenaries, private armies, and others whose allegiance to any side is bought. Also very common in Grey-and-Gray Morality 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.
- Could also apply to people who genuinely try to reform from crime or to change their life in order to stop some other form of bad behaviour that's harmful to those in their life, but who repeatedly fall back into those bad, destructive habits again.
Heel–Face Turn: People who have left racist and other hate groups, or violent sects.
Heel–Faith Turn: Getting into religion can sometimes make someone a better person instead of converting them into The Fundamentalist or a Knight Templar.
Heel Realization: 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.
Height Insult: If you're too short or too tall, chances are you've heard at least one comment about it, from a joke by a friend to a mean remark by some stranger; it happens a lot.
Heir Club for Men: Inheritance in many parts of the world until the 20th century. In a combination of Older Than They Think and Fair for Its Day, Islamic sharia law was actually one of the first legal systems to buck the tradition of male-only inheritance, by demanding women receive at least some direct inheritance.
Hereditary Hairstyle: 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.
Hereditary Suicide: There is a genetic competent for mental illnesses that can cause suicidal ideation, as documented here.
Held Back in School: Not always a bad thing, but avoid it if you can.
He Knows Too Much: The reason the US FBI has the Witness Protection Program.
Heroic Resolve: 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.
Heroic BSoD: Unfortunately, even the most optimistic people go through times when they lose their confidence.
Heroic RRoD: 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.
Heroic Sacrifice: 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.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: 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.
Heroic Vow: These are a required part of some organizations and the like.
He's Back!: Lots of people recover from trauma and mental illness.
He's Got a Weapon!: If you hear any of the variants of this, immediately flee as far as you can in the other direction while trying to stay out of sight, and call for Emergency Services if you possibly can.
Hesitation Equals Dishonesty: 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, sociopaths, and someone who believes their own lies. This doesn't stop people from believing it is, though, per The Coconut Effect.
Heteronormative Crusader: In the nonviolent sense, Moral Guardians and some political organizations. In the violent sense, gay-bashers and people that attack transgender people claiming "gay panic."
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Known in North America as "bromance".
He Who Fights Monsters: 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.
Hidden Depths: 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."
Hide-and-Seek Horror: There have been incidents where children (and even adults) have suffocated from hiding in airtight spaces while playing hide-and-seek. This trope is also why modern refrigerators have magnetic closures so they can be opened from the inside: old-fashioned (1920s-1950s) refrigerators closed using mechanical latches, and children sometimes hid in abandoned refrigerators while playing hide-and-seek, which caused them to suffocate.
Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: 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.
High-Class Call Girl: 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 Sex Slave.
High-Class Gloves: Characters wearing these are usually either old money affluent or aspire to be.
Hint Dropping: 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.
Hired on the Spot: If a business is especially desperate for workers for whatever reason — it's peak season in a tourist area, they're abruptly understaffed, there's high turnover rates at the job — some may hire immediately after the interview and do processes such as onboarding or drug testing at a later date. However, this could be considered a red flag for the person being hired; if they're that desperate for workers, what's the job itself like?
His and Hers: Such items exist.
Historical Character Confusion: Often served with a side of Beam Me Up, Scotty! or Malaproper, it is incredibly common in education settings and in life in general.
Historical Hero Upgrade: 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.
Historical Villain Upgrade: Biased rumors, historical revisionism, and needing to depict someone as "worse" than they were can lead to this.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Happens, because people who hurt other people become or are stupid, overly self-assured, or greedy.
Holier Than Thou: 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.
Holiday Volunteering: Charities see a massive boost of interest over the festive season; most of it is welcome, but they can't help but feel a bit annoyed about the lack of support the rest of the year.
Hollywood Style: Most of these tropes have a germ of truth somewhere in them. The inaccuracy lies in taking a narrow definition and assuming that it's universal.
Holy Pipe Organ: Many Christian churches feature impressive pipe organs that are played during religious services.
Home by Christmas: Overconfidence in war-fighting ability and/or the ability to quickly bring a war to an end has happened in many wars and conflicts. In fact, it is often how many get started - the people starting the war are certain it will be an immediate, quick victory with none of their own killed.
Home Field Advantage: Sports teams generally do well in the place they are most familiar performing. Wars fought on the combatants' home turf are often ones the invaders lose (or that have a way of degenerating into Forever War and Hopeless War). Storm chasers that know a particular area and its road/weather quirks often have far better a chance of getting good pictures and of surviving to chase tornadoes another day than people unfamiliar to the area, who often end up with the tornado chasing them.
Home Sweet Home: Nesting instinct in most people kicks in around the late 20s to early 30s.
Homosexual Reproduction:
- Can happen with a gay or lesbian couple if one partner is transgender and still has the needed anatomy (e.g. a trans man who has a uterus and functional ovaries, a trans woman who has functional testicles and penis).
- Even in cases where both members are biologically female or biologically male, many scientists think reproduction for same-sex couples is on the way.
Honest Corporate Executive: As hard as it is for some people to believe, there are indeed many CEOs and businessmen out there who aren't corrupt white-collar criminals.
Honorable Marriage Proposal: In the past or in places where female virginity is still valued, this was demanded. Not Truth in Television after The '50s or so in most of the first world.
Honor Before Reason: Historically not uncommon, though what counted as "honor" and to what degree of which varied from culture to culture. Today, it's rare but not nonexistent. More likely to show up in societies that are very traditional. Also happens in the military as well, since failure to follow the rules there can results in someone getting seriously injured or even killed.
Honor-Related Abuse: Unfortunately common among extreme fundamentalist Muslims and extreme fundamentalist Islamic cultures.
Honor Thy Parent: In some people and cultures, especially traditionalistic ones, it's common for people to assert that parents are deserving of deferential treatment and it's also common for people to criticize others who don't give it to them, even if said parents were abusive or neglectful.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Prostitutes are still people and no different from anyone else.
Hookers and Blow: Musicians, actors, artists, rich people, and their parties.
Hope Is Scary: 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.
Hopeless War: They have happened. They are happening. They are perhaps the saddest example of the Sunk Cost Fallacy: 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 Hopeless War is created and drags on and on with no end. Wars on concepts or objects or services that a large amount of people want to use often get dragged down in this very quickly - without dragging in the flamewar-causing examples, just imagine if someone declared a war on "objective reality" (a concept) or on "potatoes and all products containing them" (something people want to consume even if it's not healthy to eat french fries and potato chips...).
Hopeless with Tech: There are many individuals (especially older) who have trouble learning new technology. And let's be honest, even most people who know how to use these devices have no idea how to repair them.
Hope Spot: 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.
Hormone-Addled Teenager: There are spades of teenagers out there who think about nothing but sex and desire to get laid, even if they haven't yet reached the age of consent.
Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: 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.
Hospital Hottie: Some people in the medical profession are attractive, and 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.
Hot-Blooded: 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.
Hot for Student: They're far from good people in most cases, but Debra La Fave◊ and Mary Kay LeTourneau come to mind.
Hot Guy, Ugly Wife: This happens when some guys care about a girl with personality, ignoring how she looks.
Hot Skitty-on-Wailord Action: Male Donkey + Female Horse = Mule; Female Donkey + Male Horse = Hinny.
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 Starving Artist or day laborer or such) this happens sometimes.
House Squatting: People do occupy houses that aren't their even though it's dubiously legal at best (and, in most places, illegal).
Housewife: Especially in more conservative places, it's very common for women to stay at home to raise children and do domestic work.
Human Aliens: For humans to be able to survive on a planet without terraforming or protective technology the planet needs to have the correct conditions for humans to have evolved there. Some scientists believe that this means that if we find any human-inhabitable words there will probably be aliens there that look just like us!
Humanity Is Infectious: Not with robots, but with some AI programs, which can be trained to post and appear as human beings.
Human Popsicle: Cryonics companies such as Alcor and the 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.
Human Traffickers: Sadly, they do exist in real life and often go after those who can't always help themselves.
Humans Are Bastards: Not Truth in Television in the most literal sense, but several people think so, and this is reflected in many works of fiction. Also, it is not uncommon for people to blame the entire human race when individuals do horrible things.
Humans Are Diplomats: 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.
Humans Are Flawed: Perfect is subjective to the point that some do not believe it exists. Real life people have flaws.
Humans Are Special: The only Earth species to use technology, for instance.
Humans Are Warriors: Humans are, often enough, scavengers who eat meat provided and some would never try to hunt. Still, hunting has proved that enough human beings have been 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.
Humiliation Conga: 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. Read the full story here!
Hybrids Are a Crapshoot: Two different species of animals can sometimes produce offspring if they're similar enough (such as a mule, a cross between a horse and a donkey, or a liger, a lion-tiger hybrid). However, their offspring will by definition be infertile.
Hypocrite: People who don’t practice what they preach are extremely common.

I Always Wanted to Say That: Because offline, at least, your brain comes up with that great quip far too late.
I Am Not Pretty: Some guys and girls are just fishing for compliments when they say this, but a lot of them (especially in minority groups) genuinely feel this way. Body Dysmorphic Disorder is a mental disease that causes a person to obsesses over their flaws and view themselves as immeasurably hideous, even though they look perfectly normal, often well-above average, to most others.
I Ate WHAT?!: 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.
I Call Her "Vera": People tend to name (and sometimes gender) inanimate objects. Musical instruments, vehicles, and weapons attract this a lot.
I Call Him "Mister Happy": 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)
I Can Change My Beloved: Many people think they can do this, but trying it in real life can have disastrous results. Building a relationship with someone you do not see as "good enough" leads to turmoil and resistance from the partner. It can also lead to accepting abuse, whereas if you think you can change an abusive partner, you don't leave and free yourself from the situation. For examples of how badly trying this can go, just consult your nearest advice column.
I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: 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.
I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Capsaicin (the stuff that makes chili peppers hot) is very addictive.
Ice Crystals: Large amounts of ice can and do form irregular shapes due to how water freezes, and smaller and thinner occurrences such as frost or snowflakes do form crystalline patterns.
I Coulda Been a Contender!: Bill Butterfield was so bitter about his football career ending in high school that he tried to push his son into athletic success. The results weren't pretty. Also mothers of beauty pageant girls, and parents trying to push kids into careers or better academic levels.
Identical Grandson: And granddaughter. Whatever the genes are, some people resemble their grandparent.
Idiot Ball: Some situations tend to be this because of all of the emotional involvements and fallacies they invoke, making critical and intelligent thinking nigh-impossible.
Idle Rich: Because for some, being rich is their life's accomplishment. Aversions, however, do exist.
I Don't Know Mortal Kombat: Skills for Real Life situations do not generally transfer to simulations of such.
If I Can't Have You…: 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.
If It's You, It's Okay: 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.
If It Tastes Bad, It Must Be Good for You: Several good foods are actually quite bitter or almost disgustingly bland. On the other hand, some very bad foods also taste bad.
If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Anyone with a younger sister has said this.
If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: This is a common argument against the death penalty, vigiliantism, and self-defense.
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: 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...
If You Taunt Him, You Will Be Just Like Him: This is what school teachers and parents keep telling victims of social bullying, quite often because they don't want to deal with the problem and prefer the victim to take the bullying silently.
Ignored Epiphany: 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.
I Got Bigger: It's quite common for children who were once small and short to grow up as tall adults, possibly taller than those older than them.
I Hate Past Me: While some people may have no shame, or others just somehow have not felt this way, more than enough people, at one point or another, have looked back on their lives and asked at different points "What was I thinking?!".
I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: There have been instances of attractive women using their impressive assets to get whatever they want.
I Have No Son!: It's very common for parents to disown their child, especially when the child is a spendthrift, a sociopath, a homosexual/transgender when their parents disapprove, a substance abuser or criminal, staining the family name and reputation, or even going against their religious or political beliefs.
I Have to Wash My Hair: Bad excuses are often the best - especially if the date or event is itself not worthy of a good excuse.
I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Every 12 seconds, a kid accidentally fires a gun and hurts someone.
I Just Want to Be Normal:
- Anyone will have this feeling if fame and heavy responsibilities are too much for them.
- People with a form of autism and Aspergers usually feel this way. Ditto for people with depression.
I Just Want to Be Special: This is why people try to become celebrities or try to get involved with celebrities. More importantly, this is why people aspire to do anything, in many cases, other than to live an ordinary life.
I Just Want to Have Friends: Very, very common in real life.
IKEA Erotica: Bad, boring, bland sex happens, even for people who'd otherwise be passionate about it and have a matching orientation with their partner.
I Kiss Your Foot: Common with foot fetishists.
I Know Karate: Because some people do, indeed, know karate and other martial arts.
I Know Madden Kombat: Sports skills can be easily transferrable to combat.
I Know Mortal Kombat: Because even more people know no martial arts but think they do. The reason Bullshido and the What the Fu Are You Doing? trope exist.
I Let You Win: Sometimes, letting other people win things is a very good idea.
The Illegal: Illegal immigrants are a large portion of many populations, and a hot-button political issue for nativists in said countries.
Immune to Bullets: Seriously, how did Andrew Jackson shrug off getting shot in the chest in a duel?
I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: Said by many real life heroes.
I'm Not Here to Make Friends: Became a trope from reality TV, but happens everywhere, especially in business and with people with No Social Skills or interest in staying. Rarely, these people succeed. More often, they fail badly because, at least in their circles, everyone either hates or doesn't notice them.
Impeded Communication: Messages can very easily be intercepted, lost, sabotaged or prevented altogether in real-life, and it can be done intentionally with devices like signal jammers.
Impersonating an Officer: This is very much illegal in every jurisdiction on the planet, but that doesn't stop it from happening.
Implausible Deniability: Bad excuses are common everywhere.
Implausible Synchrony: The increase in internet and cellular-connected devices is leading to most of them always showing the same (correct) time, as many of them periodically connect to, and adjust their own clocks by, atomic clocks that provide time accurate to less than a second. GPS devices also connect with the GPS satellites which each have an atomic clock on board (which is necessary for their function).
Impoverished Patrician: 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.
Improbable Food Budget: 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.
Improvised Weapon: If you're desperate to end a fight as soon as possible and by any means necessary, there's a good chance you'll grab anything you can get your hands on that you can hit your opponent with.
Incompatible Orientation: Often one of the most tragic forms of Love Hurts.
Incompetence, Inc.: 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. WCW is another infamous example.
Inconvenient Itch: At least most people have had it at one point or some others.
Incredibly Lame Fun: There are people that enjoy things most people would consider boring.
Incredibly Obvious Bug: 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.
Incurable Cough of Death: Many dangerous and potentially fatal diseases have coughing as a symptom. Tuberculosis is one of the most well known examples in both fiction and history, while modern times has COVID-19.
Induced Hypochondria: Dr. Google is often to blame, along with their accomplice, Dr. WebMD. Spend time reading around either and you will believe yourself to be ill, possibly dying.
Industrial Ghetto: 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.
Ineffectual Death Threats: Admit it, you've made these. It's also a good idea to be very wary of making them, even in jest, after The Noughties in the US, due to post-9-11 terrorism paranoia, because they can lead to your arrest.
Inelegant Blubbering: It's cute and charming when Hugh Grant does it. Not so much in real life.
I Never Said It Was Poison: Real criminals actually do this, and it's why police don't release all details of crimes to the media. It is also why if you are innocent and being investigated anyway, you do not try to offer speculation or guesses on who did it, how it happened, or anything else related to it, because if you hit on something by accident, you're likely getting arrested for the crime rather than thanked for your help and let go. If you really want to help an investigation or offer your speculations, especially after having been approached by the police and questioned, only do so via a lawyer or, somewhat riskier, via an anonymous tip.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: The reason why some (but not all) narcissists, bullies, and bigots abuse others is to cover up their insecurities from others.
Infinity +1 Sword: Nuclear weapons, at least from The '60s until The New '10s. First, you need a lot of highly educated scientists who are willing to create them. Then you need the laboratory facilities and parts and, of course, a supply of highly enriched uranium at the very least. Then you need a delivery system strong enough to deliver them at range without vulnerability to defenses. Then you need a major nuclear-armed nation to back your entry into the nuclear club (usually a member of NATO, though the Warsaw Pact was good enough until the end of the Cold War) and a convincing cause for why you need nuclear deterrence and aren't just going to nuke anyone for looking at you funny, so the existing members of the nuclear club don't see your nation as a "rogue state" and attack you or sanction you or both. Then, whether you are one of those major nations or a newbie to the club, you have to secure both your peacetime and military nuclear facilities and keep them secure. You also have to develop a strong warning system that informs you on when someone else has launched against you, and maintain intelligence on all other nuclear-armed nations or ally with them. Then there's the physical maintenance of the weapons and facilities themselves...
Infraction Distraction: Often done by criminals and others on the wrong side of the law or the system which they are in - for two reasons, to look "innocent but not too innocent", and to provide something lesser to be charged with if they are caught.
Injured Self-Drag: Many crime victims and war veterans have survived thanks to this action, however grueling and painful it was to do so.
Innocent Bigot: 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.
Innocent Fanservice Girl: 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.
Innocently Insensitive: Asperger's Syndrome, social isolation in general, and being a Fish out of Water 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. This can also be a problem with international communication including international media generally, since what is considered offensive in one country might not be considered offensive elsewhere. People in other countries might not even be aware a particular racial/ethnic stereotype exists at all, or that a particular word is considered a slur overseas.
Insane Troll Logic: Some test takers will use this to answer a difficult question and hope to get partial credit on the test. Case in point, "Squares are polygons. Triangles are polygons. So squares must be triangles!"
Insistent Terminology: Someone insisting upon using one specific word over others to describe something is FAR from unheard of in real life.
Inspector Javert: While it's probably not a good idea to list the Real Life examples, they have existed. Prosecuting attorneys are even more notorious for it than police officers.
Inspector Lestrade: This is what happens when cops are Kicked Upstairs. Not necessarily to the degree it is in fiction, but to the degree that many cases are closed too soon, investigated improperly, or otherwise handled in ways that get no one "justice."
Inspirational Insult: Probably many have happen in real life, so here's a few.
- This Tumblr post shows some women who chose a career in science specifically because people told them females can't be scientists.
- This is part of the controversial and seldom used "attack therapy". Success is not guaranteed.
- In 1976, on the eve of the West Indies Cricket team's tour of England, English captain Tony Greig (an expatriate South African) commented, "If they're down, they (the West Indians) grovel, and I (...) intend to make them grovel." The comment incensed the West Indians, who proceeded to annihilate England in the series. West Indies captain Clive Lloyd commented:
"The word 'grovel' is one guaranteed to raise the blood pressure of any black man. The fact they were used by a white South African made it even worse. We were angry and West Indians everywhere were angry. We resolved to show him and everyone else that the days for grovelling were over".
Instant Death Bullet: Any bullet or other projectile that hits the brain, a large portion of the time, especially if major brain damage has resulted. Bullets that pierce the heart and lung at the same time or cause major damage to the abdominal organs are also often this trope.
Instant Emergency Response: Happens sometimes out of luck - there is a fire station nearby, or there is a police officer or paramedic or emergency medicine doctor where an emergency is happening. That said, don't rely on it because the only time it happens is via being in the right place at the wrong time.
Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Although the chances of this happening are somewhat low, there is a possibility of someone being around to catch a humiliating moment with the intent of posting it on the internet, especially if the subject is being excessively or deliberately outrageous in public.
Instant Taste Addiction: It's entirely possible for someone to try a new food and love it immediately.
Insufferable Genius: Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and millions more. Chances are you've met at least one at your work/school.
Intelligence Equals Isolation: In communities where women or men (or both) are expected to be "dumb", those who are intelligent are often written off as unfeminine or unmanly.
Intelligent Primate: Primates are very intelligent animals, to the point in which they can solve complex puzzles and even be taught to use communication methods such as sign language. Many species of primate also have complicated social structures and hunting strategies.
The Internet Is for Porn: And/or downloading music. And/or, according to some, buying drugs.
Internet Jerk: Spend any time on the internet reading comments (especially on contentious issues such as sex or politics or religion) and you will find plenty of demonstrations of G.I.F.T. They exist everywhere, but news comments sections and weapons or military related discussions draw them like flies to feces.
Intimidating Revenue Service: Many will say, only two things in life are certain, death and taxes. Ask Al Capone.
Intimidating White Presence: Some white people really do intimidate black people, deliberately or otherwise.
Intrepid Reporter: Not as common after The '90s (though a few examples around the world do exist). Press consolidation, the desire for infotainment media, press clubs being about accepting press releases and official statements, the virtual collapse of the newspaper and magazine and TV news businesses, and more, led to this trope being very rare. Citizen journalism, however, via twitter and similar services, has began to somewhat reconstruct it - as have a few news outlets that are nonprofit and/or otherwise not having to worry about keeping the advertisers and Big Brother for a specific nation (except possibly their own) happy.
In-Universe Camera: Just look at YouTube videos of any disaster after around 2000. From 9-11 to 3-11, you will see any disaster from the inside.
Invading Refugees: Occasionally happens during wars where the refugees are fleeing a worse danger/war. Also happens during some types of major disasters.
I Reject Your Reality: The Chinese Communist Party, for example, will stubbornly insist that the entirety of South China Sea belongs to them simply because it has their name on it (and view Taiwan as their province instead of its own nation), evidence that points to the contrary be damned. They would even go so far as make their own version of the map that features the nine-dash-line, which would go on to ten later on, and apply a show of force to prove their view.
Is That Cute Kid Yours?: Check the discussion page for examples.
Is This Thing Still On?: Has led to a lot of embarrassment, a lot of laughs, and to the occasional Engineered Public Confession.
I Surrender, Suckers: The reason why police officers will keep one gun pointed at a dangerous suspect at all times until his arms are fully handcuffed.
It Amused Me: Motivation for everyone from silly pranksters to crazed killers, from the Left Fielder to the cruelest of trolls.
It Gets Easier: Militaries try to invoke this in kill training (specifically the US military but others do it too) - to try to get soldiers comfortable with the concept of killing. In general, often does happen with criminal activity, because once one knows how to shoplift or successfully complete a drug deal, for example, much of the nervousness and fear goes away - which actually can be a problem for criminals because once that goes away, they sometimes become Stupid Crooks.
It Makes Sense in Context: A lot of things in life are this - context is very important and the difference between many things.
It Meant Something to Me: Unfortunately, and one of the saddest "relationships" in the world.
It Never Gets Any Easier: Because some people remain empathetic and understanding of the gravity of injury and death and loss, even if they do have to deal with or have even caused it. Very common among doctors and people in the helping professions and firefighters, and among some police officers that view policing as social work rather than us versus them.
It Only Works Once: Condoms, and disposable items in general (in the sense that they are single-use products). Anything involving the exploitation of anything from a legal loophole software bug that will likely be patched on discovery (in the other sense of something never working again).
It Runs in the Family: Sometimes true in that some mental disorders that can lead to violent or "evil" actions are heritable (e.g. psychopathy possibly being one of such), that severe abuse and neglect and an environment Harmful to Minors can do the same, and that the combination of the two is almost always going to cause bad results (e.g. just look at how many pedophiles and serial killers were victims of child sexual abuse from a parent or relative, which indicates both.) Averted, though, almost as often with people who have equally horrible backgrounds and/or disorders, and who don't sexually abuse children or kill anyone.
It's All About Me:
- Narcissists and sociopaths on the more extreme end, individual survival and forgetfulness on the more benign. Children and teenagers as well, depending on their upbringing. If someone is constantly using personal pronouns like "me", "my", and "I" when there's no necessity for it and there's clearly someone else for them to care about besides themselves, it's usually a warning to stay away from that person.
- Celebrities in general who write a story or a song usually have the work revolved around their own mindset and not other people's. It's rather noticeable it's always based on their personal beliefs, and in regards to music, the lyrics always say personal pronouns like "me" and "I" because the writer is talking about themselves, not other people.
It's A Small Net After All: 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 from 2010–2013.
It's for a Book: People have used this as an excuse, making things much, much harder for actual journalists or creative writers who are writing a book.
It's Not You, It's Me: You'd be surprised how much this line gets said in Real Life breakups. You've probably used it (or will use it), too!
It's Probably Nothing: If you ever find yourself saying this, do whatever it takes to make sure it's nothing.
It Was a Gift: In some cultures, gifts are considered to have more value because they were given.
I Want Grandkids: Some parents can get really pushy with their married children. Sometimes to the extent of destroying the family relationships.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Yes, there are people in the world who care about the feelings of others.
I Was Beaten by a Girl: Some people actually feel embarrassed over this.
I Was Just Passing Through: In real life, often used out of humility rather than distaste for saving someone.
I Was Told There Would Be Cake: The easiest way to get people to show up to an event is to provide free food.
I Work Alone: Some people actually do work better alone and relatively unsupervised.

Truth In Television / G to I

Previous

Index

Next

Truth In Television / G to I

Edit Locked

Previous

Index

Next