the absolute worst dialogue tic / writing crutch infesting modern media

[Uncle]

when a character corrects themselves in the middle of their own sentence 

"unless you can stop him in time, lord evil is going to destroy the castle!  We...no, I need you!"

"we need to activate the shield grid, or else that meteor is going to land directly on the capital city, causing thousands...no, millions to die!"

"these people, they look up to you!  the thought of losing you would be too much for them to bear, they're not...no, I'm not strong enough!"

 

seen in every modern mmo dialogue, or anywhere with melodrama like mass effect or dragon age

no one talks like this

and when you see it once you will start noticing it everywhere

 

[Potato]

no one talks like this

What are you taking about? People do this all the time. It's normal for people to think while they speak and change tack or rethink their examples.

[Uncle]

no one talks like this

What are you taking about? People do this all the time. It's normal for people to think while they speak and change tack or rethink their examples.

but not in the extremely specific, rote way it shows up in media

usually people will say "let me rephrase that"

not "we...no, I"

[jorma]

no one talks like this

What are you taking about? People do this all the time. It's normal for people to think while they speak and change tack or rethink their examples.

but not in the extremely specific, rote way it shows up in media

usually people will say "let me rephrase that"

not "we...no, I"

"unless you can stop him in time, lord evil is going to destroy the castle!  We...no, let me rephrase that: unless you can stop him in time, lord evil is going to destroy the castle!  I need you!"

yeah, much better! 

[Joe Molotov]

We...no, I....have to fart.

[Dickie Dee]

no one talks like this

What are you taking about? People do this all the time. It's normal for people to think while they speak and change tack or rethink their examples.

but not in the extremely specific, rote way it shows up in media

usually people will say "let me rephrase that"

not "we...no, I"

Nobody says "let me rephrase that" and then restate from the beginning their train of thought 

People stammer, stutter, and often decide on changing words mid-word

[Uncle]

"unless you can stop him in time, lord evil is going to destroy the castle!  We...no, let me rephrase that: unless you can stop him in time, lord evil is going to destroy the castle!  I need you!"

yeah, much better! 

people rethink and rephrase sentences because they speak faster than they think, it's part of communication and not meant to sound or read well in dialogue

the way to improve your game dialogue is not to lean on corny dialogue tics and just say what needs to be said instead of pulling this vulnerable/unsure signifier


it's like when you notice how every japanese game/anime has the characters saying each others' names constantly, especially when they're like walking away or can't hear it


"Jorma..." 

[Dickie Dee]

usually people will say "let me rephrase that"

This does remind me of a specific dialogue tic I always notice whenever I watch Animu. (I've seen some but I'm far from the biggest fan)

So often a character will state something then say:
"let me rephrase that..."
"put another way..."
"you could say that..."
"another way to state it..."
"in fact you could say..."
etc.
Then rephrase the original point.

Is this some common grammatical structure in Japanese that translators unnecessarily carry over?

[Uncle]

usually people will say "let me rephrase that"

This does remind me of a specific dialogue tic I always notice whenever I watch Animu. (I've seen some but I'm far from the biggest fan)

So often a character will state something then say:
"let me rephrase that..."
"put another way..."
"you could say that..."
"another way to state it..."
"in fact you could say..."
etc.
Then rephrase the original point.

Is this some common grammatical structure in Japanese that translators unnecessarily carry over?

yes actually

in japan it's customary and polite to repeat exactly what the other person said to demonstrate that you're paying attention, which turns out to be really fucking annoying in english


this is why snake says "metal gear...!"

[Nintex]

That's annoying yes.
In the Marvel films they also repeat everything or explain everyone to eachother so people in the audience don't go: "Hey psst, what did he say? What just happened? Who is she again?"
Wonder Woman 1984, did this a lot. To a point that the movie basically repeated itself 3 times in a different location.

However, the great Christopher Nolan does not bother to accomodate such simple minds and instead zooms in on a piece of string while you can hardly hear the dialogue over the thumping soundtrack

[Potato]

That's because the main audience for movies about people who wear silly capes is generally mouth breathing idiots who can't remember basic plot points...no wait, let me rephrase that...super hero movies are for dumdums.

[Don Rumata]

I just hate the recent trend of ironically explaining the joke.

Or if it's an edgy joke, having the other character go "first off, that's racist.." or "Uh, you know that's sexist right?".
What kind of a shitty insurance cop out is that? Either do it or don't, don't hide behind your meta shit.

[recursivelyenumerable]

before I opened this thread I knew it was going to be about some mildly annoying thing that doesn't break the top 1000 of bad dialogue tics/writing crutches, and I was right.

[Tasty]

before I opened this thread I knew it was going to be about some mildly annoying thing that doesn't break the top 1000 of bad dialogue tics/writing crutches, and I was right.

I want that list of top 1000 bad dialogue tics/writing crutches. It could be useful to me.

[Great Rumbler]

This thread is like a luau at Mel Blanc's house.

[skullstorm]

"Jorma..." 

[Transhuman]

I haven't spoken a word to her since;  I didn't want anything to do with her.  But it was likely for attention and yes to sort of absolve her pre-marital sex to her super-Christian parents;  here's the kicker.. her older sister, who was like 25 or something at the time.. had supposedly been raped, by the guy she was married to.. who was like, a pastor.  You can't make this shit up; well I guess you can.

I reflect on these words often

[Himu]

We...no, I....have to fart.

I feel like it's true people clarify themselves in real life, but the some American writers do use it makes me cringe. Joe got it right here.

[Don Rumata]

I find in general almost all non live action material; be it animation or games, has really corny melodramatic writing as well as voiceovers.

I always tell people I just generally don't like watching animation, and they appear shocked by this.. but it boils down to just feeling like I'm watching a corny play or something.  It can be particularly bad when you have adults doing speaking parts in kid voices.. ugh lol

This is awful, i agree.
On the former point, it's true (generally speaking) but i think it's partly because of the limited emotional range animation cen deliver, when it comes to expressing subtle human emotions.
As amazing an animator as you may be, there's no way to replicate the spectrum a live action close up, for example, can deliver, even by rotoscoping every frame (which would look awful) you just don't get there.

This is well understood and accepted though, and you have to look at animation just as another form of artistic abstraction: You look at a Picasso, and don't expect it to convey human emotion the same way a John William Godward does (RIP, lol), but it works on a very different level, nonetheless.

Animation, similarly, should just focus on playing to its own strengths, many of which live action cannot replicate (see EveryFrameAPanting video on Satoshi Kon for some examples of this).