Tropescilloscope: Insult Backfire

Your insult isn't one. At least not to your target. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes The '50s An Aesop Wham Shot Suddenly SHOUTING! Dropped a Bridge on Him What Happened to the Mouse? Australian Movies Annoying Younger Sibling Genre Shift An Axe to Grind Married to the Job Only in It for the Money Ambiguous Disorder Ms. Fanservice Captain Ersatz Word of God Our Vampires Are Different Imagine Spot Diabolus ex Machina No OSHA Compliance Maybe Ever After Mama Bear For Want of a Nail Character Development Developing Doomed Characters Fate Worse than Death Jerkass Has a Point The Smurfette Principle Historical Villain Upgrade The Big Guy Bland-Name Product Sassy Black Woman Male Gaze Pet the Dog Funny Foreigner Cool Car Wham Line Smug Snake All Men Are Perverts Music Stories Award-Bait Song Dumb Blonde Action Genre The Alleged Car The Lost Lenore As the Good Book Says... Curse Cut Short Horror Comedy Motor Mouth Loads and Loads of Characters Cowboy Cop The Bully Lighter and Softer Animal Motifs Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Face Death with Dignity Damsel in Distress Military and Warfare Films Crapsack World Based on a True Story Failed a Spot Check The Ghost Friend to All Children Adaptational Badass Double-Meaning Title Animated Credits Opening Freeze-Frame Bonus Dirty Old Man Sole Survivor Training Montage timeperiod Badass in a Nice Suit You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Author Avatar Daddy's Girl Creator Cameo Frame-Up From Bad to Worse Amoral Attorney Sci-Fi Horror Logo Joke Brick Joke The Stinger Immune to Bullets 20 Minutes into the Future Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Those Two Guys Would Hit a Girl Kids Are Cruel Camera Abuse Expy Affectionate Parody Grey and Gray Morality Fainting Better to Die than Be Killed Eldritch Abomination Defrosting Ice Queen Informed Ability Film Noir Index Ironic Echo The Great Depression For the Evulz Room Full of Crazy Exactly What It Says on the Tin Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Intergenerational Friendship Made of Explodium My Beloved Smother Manic Pixie Dream Girl Papa Wolf Faking the Dead Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Car Fu Reality Has No Subtitles Bolivian Army Ending Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Meaningful Background Event Cool Shades Rousing Speech Parental Abandonment Determinator aka: The Determinator Artistic License – Geography The Film of the Book Dies Wide Open Rule of Funny Sealed Evil in a Can Awesome, but Impractical Heroes Want Redheads Almost Kiss Call-Forward Took a Level in Badass Made of Iron Title Drop Actor Allusion Exact Words Male Frontal Nudity The Quiet One Advertised Extra Earn Your Happy Ending Affably Evil Ghost Fiction Cassandra Truth Properly Paranoid Woman in White Needs Wiki Magic Love Children Are Innocent Dual Wielding Blood from the Mouth Didn't Think This Through Catapult Nightmare Line-of-Sight Name Half the Man He Used to Be Police Brutality Artistic License – Military The X of Y Crazy-Prepared Fantasy Films Adult Fear Death Glare Hope Spot Blatant Lies Loophole Abuse I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Chekhov's Gun The Musical The Cameo Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Disproportionate Retribution Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Serious Business Action Survivor Works Set in World War II Serial Killer The Hero Dies Crucified Hero Shot Christmas Movies Index Adaptation Distillation Trailers Always Spoil Pimped-Out Dress Race Lift Rule of Symbolism Dirty Coward Taking You with Me The '70s Artistic License – Biology Pay Evil unto Evil Bullying a Dragon Your Cheating Heart Fun with Acronyms Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Only a Flesh Wound Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Death by Adaptation Hollywood Darkness Action Girl Disappeared Dad Auto Erotica Manipulative Bastard Shower Scene Bowdlerise Historical-Domain Character Humiliation Conga Wrong Genre Savvy Sir Swears-a-Lot Evil Is Petty Match Cut The Sociopath Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Antagonist Title Poor Communication Kills Kick the Dog Hair-Trigger Temper Attempted Rape Peek-a-Boo Corpse My Greatest Failure Would Hurt a Child Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Mythology Gag Roaring Rampage of Revenge Stylistic Suck Worthy Opponent Alpha Bitch All There in the Script Villain Protagonist What the Hell, Hero? Break the Haughty Asshole Victim Men Are the Expendable Gender Final Girl Deus ex Machina Amusing Injuries '80s Hair War Is Hell I Just Shot Marvin in the Face NO INDOOR VOICE Hollywood Law In Medias Res Film Noir And the Adventure Continues Five-Man Band Make It Look Like an Accident Belligerent Sexual Tension Happily Married Recycled IN SPACE! Ugly Guy, Hot Wife After the End Retirony Black Best Friend A Date with Rosie Palms Those Wacky Nazis Bunny-Ears Lawyer Guns Akimbo Bald of Evil Blood Knight Non-Indicative Name Suspiciously Similar Substitute Dogged Nice Guy Sports Stories Contrived Coincidence Creepy Child Anachronic Order Adorkable Improvised Weapon Aside Glance World of Ham Eagleland Your Head A-Splode Show Within a Show Product Placement Daylight Horror Reality Ensues Humans Are Bastards Left the Background Music On Romantic False Lead The Faceless Leitmotif Bond One-Liner Faux Affably Evil Overprotective Dad It's All About Me Tranquil Fury It Can Think Silence Is Golden I Need a Freaking Drink Soundtrack Dissonance Wicked Cultured Deliberately Monochrome Setting Update Dark and Troubled Past Fingore Fourth Date Marriage Foregone Conclusion Only Sane Man Heroic BSoD Groin Attack Mood Whiplash Unusually Uninteresting Sight A God Am I Karma Houdini Riddle for the Ages Evil-Detecting Dog Dirty Cop Femme Fatale Jerk with a Heart of Gold Meaningful Echo He Who Fights Monsters Chewing the Scenery Downer Ending Gilligan Cut Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Hong Kong Films What You Are in the Dark Spiteful Spit Dissonant Serenity Bring My Brown Pants Mercy Kill Canadian Movies And I Must Scream Instant Death Bullet Fan Disservice She Cleans Up Nicely Leaning on the Fourth Wall Once More, with Clarity! Flashback Heterosexual Life-Partners The Ditz Dutch Angle No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Moment Killer Not So Different Rasputinian Death Coming-of-Age Story Dying Moment of Awesome Throwing Your Sword Always Works Punny Name Dwindling Party Country Matters Drugs Are Bad All Just a Dream Bare Your Midriff Refuge in Audacity "The Reason You Suck" Speech Take That! Ambiguously Gay Chekhov's Gunman Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene The Dragon Hate Sink Unusual Euphemism As Long as It Sounds Foreign Playing Gertrude Bottomless Magazines Heel Realization Hooker with a Heart of Gold Italian Films Wretched Hive Corpsing Death by Sex Chekhov's Skill Gorn The Dreaded Credits Gag Black Comedy Back from the Dead Honor Before Reason No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Index of Film Westerns This Is Gonna Suck Villain Opening Scene Laughing Mad Crazy Jealous Guy Insistent Terminology Costume Porn Black and Gray Morality Only One Name Extremely Short Timespan Lock and Load Montage Mr. Fanservice Heel–Face Turn Morality Pet Tap on the Head Large Ham Together in Death All There in the Manual The Mafia In the Back Not Quite Dead Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Obviously Evil Darker and Edgier Translation Convention Villainous Breakdown The Oner Documentary Canon Foreigner The Alcoholic Hidden Depths N-Word Privileges Not So Above It All Woman Scorned Gone Horribly Right La Résistance Insane Troll Logic Face–Heel Turn Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Romantic Comedy Cain and Abel The Brute Time Skip Does This Remind You of Anything? Kick the Son of a Bitch Idiot Ball Brainless Beauty Composite Character Took a Level in Jerkass Retcon Sexy Discretion Shot Calling the Old Man Out Villain Song Taking the Bullet Politically Incorrect Villain Comically Missing the Point Only Known by Their Nickname Pragmatic Adaptation Evil Counterpart Historical Hero Upgrade Artistic License – Law BFG Even Evil Has Loved Ones Becoming the Mask Even Evil Has Standards Batman Gambit Storming the Castle Boom, Headshot! Cloudcuckoolander Laser-Guided Karma There Is No Kill Like Overkill The Bad Guy Wins Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Green-Eyed Monster Pre-Mortem One-Liner Mugging the Monster Parental Neglect Adaptational Villainy Neck Snap Big Fancy House Badass Boast Early Installment Weirdness Flipping the Bird B-Movie Improbable Aiming Skills Arc Words Mistaken for Gay Mexican Standoff Interrupted Suicide Fish out of Water Beard of Evil Public Domain Feature Films Television Movie Index One Steve Limit Tagline Big Bad Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Gratuitous English More Dakka Greater-Scope Villain Race Against the Clock Spell My Name with an "S" Big "NO!" Rich Bitch Japanese Films Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Double Entendre Madness Mantra Red Eyes, Take Warning Danny Peary Cult Movies List The Chick She's Got Legs The Place Scenery Gorn Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Heroic Sacrifice Destination Defenestration Naïve Newcomer German Films Card-Carrying Villain Fanservice Extra Conspicuous CG Fatal Family Photo Really Gets Around Karmic Death Break the Cutie Continuity Nod Pragmatic Villainy I Have Your Wife Meet Cute Death by Irony Drives Like Crazy No Name Given Posthumous Character Martial Arts Movie Genre Throwback Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Alliterative Name Suspiciously Specific Denial Bloodless Carnage A Father to His Men Cat Scare Enemy Mine Evil Brit Handicapped Badass Market-Based Title Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Betty and Veronica You Have Failed Me Getting Crap Past the Radar Chase Scene Sadistic Choice Vampire Fiction Jerkass Love at First Sight Accidental Misnaming "Well Done, Son!" Guy Shut Up, Hannibal! Adaptation Expansion Narrator Red Shirt A Minor Kidroduction Red Herring Hell Is That Noise Darkest Hour Mind Screw Anguished Declaration of Love Gainax Ending Be Careful What You Wish For Adults Are Useless Psycho for Hire The Remake Pretty Little Headshots Killed Mid-Sentence Stock Footage Broken Pedestal Implacable Man Twist Ending Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Death of a Child Extreme Doormat Brutal Honesty The Chessmaster Arranged Marriage Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Truth in Television Monumental Damage Vomit Indiscretion Shot Super Strength Adaptational Attractiveness Homage Dramedy The Stoic Bad Boss Evil Is Hammy True Companions The Vamp Despair Event Horizon Hypocrite Reality Is Unrealistic Paper-Thin Disguise Naked People Are Funny Stuff Blowing Up Bond Villain Stupidity Foreshadowing Easily Forgiven The Dog Bites Back Hoist by His Own Petard The Voiceless Bury Your Gays Fatal Flaw Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Stealth Pun Horror Films Cold-Blooded Torture Big Bad Duumvirate No Ending Pretty in Mink Reasonable Authority Figure The Load Everyone Has Standards Smoking Is Cool Rule of Cool The Reveal Our Zombies Are Different Catch-Phrase Domestic Abuse Mr. Exposition An Arm and a Leg Central Theme Death Seeker The Mole Defiant to the End Establishing Character Moment Book-Ends Improbable Weapon User The Power of Love Big Damn Heroes One-Word Title Victoria's Secret Compartment Genre Savvy Mooks Nice Hat Slashed Throat Framing Device He Knows Too Much Kubrick Stare Deadpan Snarker Knife Nut Hero of Another Story Ass Shove French Films Deliberate Values Dissonance Red Oni, Blue Oni Parental Substitute Not What It Looks Like Up to Eleven Biopic Same Language Dub Stalker with a Crush Brother–Sister Incest Ambiguous Ending The Starscream Bittersweet Ending Star-Crossed Lovers Sacrificial Lion Not Even Bothering with the Accent Missing Mom Shirtless Scene Funny Background Event Neck Lift Drill Sergeant Nasty Dark Reprise Small Name, Big Ego Sequel Hook The Casanova Novelization Names to Run Away from Really Fast From Nobody to Nightmare Beware the Nice Ones Animal Title Index Intrepid Reporter Bad "Bad Acting" Artistic License – Physics Epic Fail The '80s Kill It with Fire Silent Movie Foil Badass Bookworm Never My Fault Ship Tease How We Got Here Slap-Slap-Kiss Plot Hole No-Sell Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Jump Scare Berserk Button All Girls Want Bad Boys May–December Romance Department of Redundancy Department It Will Never Catch On Abhorrent Admirer Due to the Dead Slasher Smile Totally Radical Drowning My Sorrows Video Credits "Shaggy Dog" Story Adaptation Name Change Soft Glass Fat Bastard As Himself Shoot the Shaggy Dog Mystery and Detective Films As You Know Covers Always Lie Well-Intentioned Extremist Token Minority In Name Only Parental Incest Fake Shemp Vitriolic Best Buds Beta Couple Bi the Way Distracted by the Sexy Action Prologue Malevolent Masked Men No Antagonist Pyrrhic Victory Unspoken Plan Guarantee Unresolved Sexual Tension Corrupt Corporate Executive Bait-and-Switch Rape as Drama The End... Or Is It? Guile Hero folderlabel Those Two Bad Guys Major Injury Underreaction You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Beauty Is Never Tarnished Evil Sounds Deep Light Is Not Good Have a Gay Old Time Abusive Parents Police are Useless You Killed My Father Disney Death Broken Aesop Noodle Incident Shipper on Deck Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Bar Brawl The Atoner Facial Horror I Did What I Had to Do Very Loosely Based on a True Story Villain with Good Publicity Unwitting Instigator of Doom Offscreen Moment of Awesome Take a Third Option Science Fiction Films "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Camp Gay Cruel and Unusual Death Get Out! Overly Long Gag Reckless Gun Usage Empathic Environment Too Dumb to Live Manly Tears Plucky Comic Relief Evil Plan Blackmail Badass Longcoat Eiffel Tower Effect Bavarian Fire Drill Body Horror The '90s The Ace Cool Old Lady Evil Laugh Stealth Hi/Bye Combat Pragmatist O.O.C. Is Serious Business Demonic Possession Undying Loyalty Rated M for Manly Superhero Captain Obvious Evil vs. Evil The Lancer Redshirt Army Breaking the Fourth Wall Obstructive Bureaucrat Zombie Stories Famous Last Words Irony Driven to Suicide Visual Pun Early-Bird Cameo Cool Guns A.I. Is a Crapshoot Fantastic Racism Running Gag Badass Grandpa Offscreen Teleportation The Smart Guy Mundane Made Awesome Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Scare Chord Not Using the "Z" Word Dull Surprise Thriller Big Eater Gold Digger Anyone Can Die Vomit Discretion Shot Psychopathic Manchild Age Lift Unreliable Narrator Epic Movie Anti-Hero Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! British Films No Celebrities Were Harmed Expository Hairstyle Change Cat Fight Put on a Bus Did Not Get the Girl Arch-Enemy Precision F-Strike Meaningful Name Sequel Escalation Adaptation Dye-Job Nice Guy Knight Templar Let's Get Dangerous! Ripped from the Headlines Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Ominous Latin Chanting Every Car Is a Pinto Fire-Forged Friends Ungrateful Bastard Real Life Here We Go Again! Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Good Is Not Nice Anti-Villain Artistic License – History Apocalypse How Slasher Movie Rewatch Bonus Outrun the Fireball Air-Vent Passageway Gender Flip Casting Gag Important Haircut Big-Bad Ensemble The Un-Reveal Does Not Like Shoes Manchild Adaptational Heroism Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Curb-Stomp Battle Deal with the Devil Rule of Three Butt-Monkey "Awesome McCool" Name I'm a Humanitarian Hero Antagonist MacGuffin Shown Their Work Bound and Gagged Hypocritical Humor Nothing Is Scarier Toplessness from the Back Russian Films Wounded Gazelle Gambit Four-Temperament Ensemble Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Leave the Camera Running Bloody Hilarious Demoted to Extra Punch-Clock Villain All for Nothing Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Real Life Writes the Plot Whole Plot Reference Redemption Equals Death Author Appeal Eyepatch of Power Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Never Found the Body Cool Old Guy Man on Fire Say My Name The Cavalry Love Triangle The '60s Disney Villain Death Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Scary Black Man Random Events Plot Dramatic Gun Cock Bilingual Bonus And Starring Actually Pretty Funny Celebrity Paradox Psychological Thriller The Stoner Insult Backfire Film Series Black Comedy Rape Broken Bird Grievous Bottley Harm Retired Badass Anachronism Stew Creative Closing Credits Decoy Protagonist Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Girl-on-Girl Is Hot One-Man Army Disguised in Drag Last-Name Basis Off-into-the-Distance Ending Spanner in the Works Jitter Cam Fiery Redhead Determinator Big Brother Instinct Historical In-Joke Alas, Poor Villain It's Personal My God, What Have I Done? Ascended Extra Tempting Fate Closed Circle Spiritual Successor Babies Ever After Black Dude Dies First Dramatic Irony Freudian Excuse Dark Is Not Evil Artistic License – Gun Safety Dressing as the Enemy Oh, Crap! Jerk Jock Dark Action Girl Not So Stoic Scenery Porn Eye Scream Protagonist Title Spared by the Adaptation Red Right Hand Authority Equals Asskicking Shell-Shocked Veteran Badass Normal Bloodier and Gorier Sinister Minister Adapted Out Big Applesauce Gory Discretion Shot Villain Ball Armor-Piercing Question Yandere Older Than They Look Stepford Smiler Call-Back Agony of the Feet Straight Gay Mad Scientist Eureka Moment Re-Cut Depraved Bisexual Ax-Crazy Skewed Priorities Accidental Murder Aluminum Christmas Trees Lampshade Hanging Off with His Head! Deconstruction Sanity Slippage The Hero Fanservice The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Self-Deprecation Henpecked Husband Obfuscating Stupidity Vacation Films Revenge Kill 'em All Chiaroscuro Never Trust a Trailer Mighty Whitey Shout-Out Cluster F-Bomb