# Dead or nearly dead tropes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797 "2025-02-25T23:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/201 "2025-02-27T20:52:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Modern Family did exactly that. Even down to Mitch feeding the birds (and playing chess with a retired guy in the park). > > So, not dead. The Hulu streaming series _[Ramy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramy_(TV_series))_, about an Egyptian-American family living in New Jersey, did that one, too. Although in that one the father takes his laptop down to a coffee shop to fill out job applications every day. A big source of conflict in that show centers on how much more socially conservative the parents are compared to their American-born (adult) children, which is probably why they used that trope. The father still believes that as the man he’s supposed to be in charge and his family’s provider, which is why he’s embarassed to admit he got fired. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/202 "2025-02-27T20:59:16Z")
When I brought up spit-takes, I wasn’t talking about someone laughing while drinking and merely spitting/coughing/snorting liquid. I am referring to an all-out, table and wall spraying, liquid explosion. This is how it’s done on the telly and at the picture show. I, for one, have never done nor seen a _real_ spit-take. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/McSK6sa.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/McSK6sa) mmm ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/203 "2025-02-27T21:08:11Z")
I read somewhere that one possible origin for the slipping on a banana trope is the fact that it used to be somewhat common to use a banana peel as a cheap shoe polish. (If you google around, you can find people still recommending such a use for banana peels.) There was thus an association between shoes and banana peels in the public mind, and since banana peels are indeed pretty slippery, this led to the slipping trope. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/204 "2025-02-27T21:11:14Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Several sitcoms from the dawn of television into the '70s – the last one I recall having one of these episodes was Brady Bunch – had a “small town speed trap from heck!” episode. You’ve basically described the “pilot” for _Andy Griffith_ as shown on _Danny Thomas_. Later reused in an episode of the series, but okay because Andy was doing it. In my recentish rewatches (aside from the mentioned _I Dream of Jeanie_) there is a _Mister Ed_ episode that does it in Mexico and [one of my favorite episodes of _The Rockford Files_](https://imdb.com/title/tt0688031/). ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/205 "2025-02-27T21:12:11Z")
You’ve brought up a traumatic memory for me. In high school, my family, my grandmother, and my brother’s girlfriend were out for supper and I was at one end of the table. Someone made a joke right when I had just taken a mouthful of tea. I didn’t just spit take. They claimed that I got everyone all the way down to the other end of the table. I never lived that down ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/206 "2025-02-27T21:25:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > People still do it. Littering was more common in the past. When this trope started a different species of banana was common and it was much oilier and slippery than modern banana peels. A number of past threads discuss this. Oh, the irony! I went to the gym for lunch and what was laying on the sidewalk ready for a pratfall ? Yup, a banana peel. Go figure… ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/207 "2025-02-27T21:54:48Z")
Nevermind, link broken by source site ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/208 "2025-02-27T22:13:44Z")
Opening a package that turns out to be an inflatable raft. As seen on [Dick Van Dyke](https://youtu.be/x-HsXBPWH3Y?t=1312), [I Married Joan](https://youtu.be/aEcVorIb4wY?t=636), [WKRP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y71fMun-Gns) and many others. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/209 "2025-02-27T22:23:42Z")
Or a cut to a fireplace as parodied here (at the end of the clip) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/u68Tdbdl-Z0/maxresdefault.jpg "Parachute confessions | Top Secret") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68Tdbdl-Z0) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/210 "2025-02-27T22:44:43Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Opening a package that turns out to be an inflatable raft. Reminded me of the “ticking package” trope, usually (or always) played for laughs, where a delivered package is heard to be ticking and everybody panics because it’s assumed to be a bomb. Typically the package is destroyed, and it turns out to be an expensive watch somebody sent as a present or something similar. This trope is pretty dead because nobody would really expect a hidden bomb to tick anymore. Speaking of bombs, there’s the old “do I cut the red wire or the blue wire?!?” trope. There are a million iterations of this one, and if it exists at all anymore, it’s pretty much only as parody. And of course the bomb always has a big red digital number display showing exactly how much time is left. Very thoughtful of the bad guys. And if the good guy trying to disarm the bomb accidentally does cut the wrong wire at first, does the bomb immediately blow up? No, the countdown just accelerates. What fun is it if you don’t give the good guys a sporting chance to disarm the bomb? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/211 "2025-02-27T22:48:33Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Opening a package that turns out to be an inflatable raft. As seen on [Dick Van Dyke](https://youtu.be/x-HsXBPWH3Y?t=1312), [I Married Joan](https://youtu.be/aEcVorIb4wY?t=636), [WKRP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y71fMun-Gns) and many others. That one was used in the 2013 film [Grown Ups 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v16Vq0AO98), from Adam Sandler and his friends. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/212 "2025-02-27T23:01:28Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Asking someone who’s spending a long time in the bathroom “Did you fall in?” That one is alive and well in our house ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/213 "2025-02-27T23:22:05Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That one was used in the 2013 film [Grown Ups 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v16Vq0AO98), from Adam Sandler and his friends. So is there a name for tropes that aren’t really dead, but just asleep, waiting for the next generation of viewers? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/214 "2025-02-27T23:24:14Z")
The trope is simply pining for the fjords. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/215 "2025-02-28T00:01:15Z")
Trope van Winkle? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/216 "2025-02-28T00:45:22Z")
> [@solost](#): > > And of course the bomb always has a big red digital number display showing exactly how much time is left. When James Bond gets into this situation, the only mystery is whether he disables the device with one second left on the clock or stops the countdown at 0:07. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/217 "2025-02-28T02:13:23Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > When James Bond gets into this situation, the only mystery is whether he disables the device with one second left on the clock or stops the countdown at 0:07. I’m not too big on Bond trivia. Has that actually happened in a Bond movie- stopping the timer at 0:07? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/218 "2025-02-28T02:31:07Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > > Asking someone who’s spending a long time in the bathroom “Did you fall in?” > > That one is alive and well in our house Or saying you were getting ready to send in a search party. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/219 "2025-02-28T02:44:08Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I’m not too big on Bond trivia. Has that actually happened in a Bond movie- stopping the timer at 0:07? Yes. As I recall, it happened in _Goldfinger_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/220 "2025-02-28T03:17:09Z")
**Fun Fact:** It originally stopped at 0:03, but the producer or director (I don’t remember which) ordered it to be changed. The laughter from the audience made Bond’s subsequent unedited comment (“Three more clicks and Mr Goldfinger would have hit the jackpot.”) inaudible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=12)