Shaggy Dog Story

Can have three meanings:
1. A simple joke about a boy and his Shaggy Dog, which is made to have no punchline to invoke some kind of laughs
2. A joke that goes on and on just for a bad or boring ending
A movie or a book that is just like (Definition) 2 but for books/movies
1. "I said the shaggy dog story to a couple of fellows, funny to think they actually laughed"
2. "I can't believe I wasted my money just to see a wannabe comedian say a shaggy dog story"
3. "After 757 pages of build-up, the treasure was just a rubber chicken. Talk about a shaggy dog story."
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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Heinleinian

Referring to the works of Robert A. Heinlein, or particularly his style of integrating scientific and technical detail into his stories.
"His writing was so Heinleinian, by page ten I knew how to build a spaceship from a toaster and some duct tape."
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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Zeppo

A character who is part of the main cast but often sidelined and given little to do.
"The dog was the Zeppo of the show, but hey, you can't blame the writer, a use for a guard dog left in it's kernel all day except for once in two weeks has almost no part in a family time traveling to stop Titanic sinking"
by DictionaryDecimator July 07, 2024
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The ideology that states pillows should be manufactured without a cold side
"The essay was full of mistakes, but not as much as the Anti-schmimagtanimonstralequedepestrikilovoquiertuhghskiqiqiconologianism manifesto"
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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Bathos

An abrupt, quick and often ridiculous shift from a serious manner to a trivial or funny manner in writing or speech, to invoke humour/humor (however you like it to be called)
"The hero gave a very strong-worded and passionate speech about the fate of humanity, only to trip over his shoelaces right afterward. Classic bathos."
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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Canon Sue

A character in fan fiction (typically the author themselves) who is inserted into an existing universe and is unrealistically perfect. A fan-fiction version of Mary Sue: A term for a character who is unrealistically perfect without any flaws in (original) novels (Male of Mary Sue: Gary Stu)
"When she wrote herself into Harry Potter as the best witch ever, becoming the headmistress of Hogwarts while being a student, defeating Voldemort with itching powder and a single sponge, she created a canon sue."
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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Chekov's Gun

The principle that every element introduced in a story should be necessary and used later.
"When it was said in Chapter one that Timmy's hamster used to only eat the tail fur of the Namaqua chameleon found in Southwestern areas of Namib desert. I knew it was Chekov's gun waiting to go off"
by DictionaryDecimator July 06, 2024
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