# 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:** 23
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/441 "2025-05-22T14:36:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > When I looked it up it says the show is set in 1991. I know many no smoking laws came after that but I never once worked anywhere that allowed smoking indoors (restaurants certainly did). It makes the show seem older than 1991 to me. I worked in places that allowed smoking indoors up until 2002 or 2003 or so. I remember how it changed - when I started working in 1985 , people just smoked at their desks. By 1994, there were designated indoor areas where smoking was allowed and by 2002 or 2003, no more indoor smoking. Of course, different workplaces banned smoking at different times - I remember that courthouses banned indoor smoking around 1990 while the local jails banned it somewhere around 2003. ( Those were two of the places I worked in those time periods) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/442 "2025-05-22T14:38:32Z")
American Family Publishers closed down in 1999 and Publishers Clearing House just this year closed down. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/443 "2025-05-22T16:14:30Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Publishers Clearing House just this year closed down. Well that’s news to me, because I enter their sweepstakes regularly, and I just entered last night. It’s possible that they stopped selling magazines this year, or stopped sending out their mailers, but they definitely still exist in some form. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/444 "2025-05-22T16:37:59Z")
They filed for bankruptcy on April 9th of this year: [https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/publishers-clearing-house-bankruptcy/](https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/publishers-clearing-house-bankruptcy/) ---
**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:** [May 22, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/445 "2025-05-22T16:41:22Z")
Fair enough. I did not know that, however filing for bankruptcy is not the same thing as closing down. Their website is still up and it’s still possible to enter their sweepstakes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/446 "2025-05-22T17:11:53Z")
Publishers Clearing House pays the winners of its sweepstakes in payments for the rest of their life. It it goes bankrupt, that means that the people who buy the company have to do those payments. I suspect that what will happen to the people who won the sweepstakes in previous years will have to go to court saying that the new owners of of company owe them money for the rest of their life. I suspect that the new owners will say that they don’t owe the winners money and keep them in court filing cases for the rest of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/447 "2025-05-22T17:15:50Z")
Now that would would be quite the ending for a sitcom episode! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/448 "2025-05-22T17:21:01Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > that what will happen to the people who won the sweepstakes Replace that with “that the people who won the sweepstakes”. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/449 "2025-05-22T18:17:28Z")
Sort of like having a guaranteed pension from a Detroit automaker. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/450 "2025-05-22T19:35:51Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Fair enough. I did not know that, however filing for bankruptcy is not the same thing as closing down. True, not the same thing at all. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Publishers Clearing House pays the winners of its sweepstakes in payments for the rest of their life. IIRC they simply buy an annuity. BUt I could be wrong. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Sort of like having a guaranteed pension from a Detroit automaker. Backed by the Government. In theory. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/451 "2025-05-22T23:32:32Z")
If you mean by the city government of Detroit, that’s not very helpful. Or even the government of the state of Michigan is problematic. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/452 "2025-05-23T00:10:05Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > f you mean by the city government of Detroit, that’s not very helpful. Or even the government of the state of Michigan is problematic. The Feds- thru the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/453 "2025-05-31T13:03:00Z")
You don’t see too many characters hyperventilating and having to breathe into a paper bag anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/454 "2025-05-31T14:30:46Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > hyperventilating and having to breathe into a paper bag I put “hyperventilating” and “breathe into a paper bag” each into Google Ngram. > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=hyperventilating&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3)** > > Google Ngrams: hyperventilating, 1800-2022 > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=breathe%2Binto%2Ba%2Bpaper%2Bbag&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3)** > > Google Ngrams: breathe into a paper bag, 1800-2022 They both seem to be almost unknown before about 1930. “Hyperventilating” is still pretty common. “Breathe into a paper bag” peaked in 2013. It’s still pretty common though. I don’t know of any way to measure how common those acts are in movies, television shows, and videos though. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/455 "2025-10-24T02:17:30Z")
Agred. I never actually saw anyone use the water. But I vaguely remember hearding that it was used for sterilizing instruments. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/456 "2025-10-24T02:41:09Z")
Agreed. I don’t remember seeing anyone ever using the water. But I vaguely remember hearing that it was used to sterilize instruments. PS: I posted this a few minutes ago, and then noticed a spelling error. When I learned it was too late to correct, and it asked whether I wanted to discard the post, I clicked ‘yes’, only to learn that it discarded the _whole_ post. Apologies for the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/457 "2025-10-24T02:44:00Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Agreed. I don’t remember seeing anyone ever using the water. But I vaguely remember hearing that it was used to sterilize instruments. > > PS: I posted this a few minutes ago, and then noticed a spelling error. When I learned it was too late to correct, and it asked whether I wanted to discard the post, I clicked ‘yes’, only to learn that it discarded the _whole_ post. Wow, talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater… ---
**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:** [January 24, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/458 "2026-01-24T17:45:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > An ostrich burying it’s head in the ground. Here’s an animal trope so dead I’ve never heard it before. [![](https://i.ibb.co/ympt95X4/Screenshot-20260116-235247.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/ympt95X4/Screenshot-20260116-235247.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/459 "2026-01-24T17:57:25Z")
Never heard that one at all; and it really doesn’t make much sense. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797/460 "2026-01-24T18:20:08Z")
I saw an oldie but a goodie watching a rerun of “My Name is Earl” the other day: the ‘comedy treasure hunt / wild goose chase’. Main character (I’ll call him Earl) goes to Fred and asks him for [item or favor X]. Fred agrees, but only on the condition Earl gets Sam to provide [item or favor Y] for Fred. Sam agrees only if Earl gets Joe to provide [Z] for Sam and so on, with comedy complications ensuing. ETA: I was feeling a bit of deja vu after I posted that- so I checked and, sure enough, I ninja’d myself. Maybe I need to take one of those cognitive tests….😖 > [@solost](#): > > I saw this old comedy trope recently (don’t remember exactly where though) and I thought ‘huh, haven’t seen that trope in awhile’. > > Basic setup is, main character goes to person (A) to ask a favor. Person (A) says "fine, I’ll help you if you can get person (B) to do me (favor). Person (B) only agrees if person (C) will do some other favor for them, and so on and on in a round-robin wild goose chase. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-or-nearly-dead-tropes/1014797.md?page=24)