finale

From Italian finale (“ending”), from Late Latin fīnālis, from Latin fīnis (“end; boundary, limit”). Doublet of final.

(narratology) The chronological conclusion of a series of narrative works.


prequel

Patterned after sequel using pre- (“before”).

'Prequels' are sequels that relate the story that preceded the original film.

1980, Patrick Robertson, Movie Facts and Feats: A Guinness Record Book, New York: Sterling Publishing, page 43:

2008, 26 February, Andrew Pierce, "JRR Tolkien's estate to sue Lord of the Rings filmmakers New Line Cinema over profits, in The Daily Telegraph
They are also threatening to block the production of the long-awaited prequel, The Hobbit, which may now be cancelled.

(narratology) In a series of works, an installment that is set chronologically before its predecessor, especially the original narrative or (perhaps improper usage) any narrative work with at least one sequel.

preqüela

in a series of works, an installment that is set chronologically before its predecessor


prequel

prequel (nominative singular)
prequle (nominative plural)
prequela (genitive singular)
prequelu (genitive singular)
prequli (genitive plural)
prequlowi (dative singular)
prequlom (dative plural)
prequel (accusative singular)
prequle (accusative plural)
prequlem (instrumental singular)
prequlami (instrumental plural)
prequlu (locative singular)
prequlach (locative plural)
prequlu (singular vocative)
prequle (plural vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English prequel.


sequel

→ Catalan: seqüela (semantic loan)

→ Polish: sequel

→ Russian: си́квел (síkvel)

From Middle English sequele, sequelle, sequile, from Middle French sequele, sequelle and its etymon, Latin sequēla, from sequī (“to follow”). Doublet of sequela.

(narratology) A narrative that is written after another narrative set in the same universe, especially a narrative that is chronologically set after its predecessors, or (perhaps improper usage) any narrative that has a preceding narrative of its own.

продължение

a narrative written after another narrative set in the same universe

продолже́ние

кни́ги, фи́льма


sequel

sequel (nominative singular)
sequle (nominative plural)
sequela (genitive singular)
sequelu (genitive singular)
sequli (genitive plural)
sequlowi (dative singular)
sequlom (dative plural)
sequel (accusative singular)
sequle (accusative plural)
sequlem (instrumental singular)
sequlami (instrumental plural)
sequlu (locative singular)
sequlach (locative plural)
sequlu (singular vocative)
sequle (plural vocative)

Unadapted borrowing from English sequel, from Middle English sequele, sequelle, sequile, from Middle French sequele, sequelle and its etymon, Latin sequēla, from sequī.


interquel

Patterned after prequel, as pre- meaning "before" and inter- meaning "between."

(narratology) An installment in a series of works set chronologically between two of its predecessors.

(narratology) Any middle sequel with an earlier and a later installment. This usage may not be proper.


hook

sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”).
Cognates
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.

The hook of Good Boys, Hollywood's latest odyssey of comic adolescent mischief, is that the kids behaving badly are, for once, truly kids.

2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-03-04:

(narratology) A gimmick or element of a creative work intended to be attention-grabbing for the audience; a compelling idea for a story that will be sure to attract people's attention.


arc

→ Irish: arc

→ Maltese: ark

→ Welsh: arc

Inherited from Middle English ark, from Old French arc, from Latin arcus (“a bow, arc, arch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erkʷos (“bow, arrow”). Doublet of arch, arco, and arrow.

der

For while most comics have designated entry points into the story in the form of arcs, Homestuck is one elaborate, self-referencing inside joke collapsed inside its own funhouse mirror reflection.

2015 February 24, Lilian Min, “How the Internet Invented a New Kind of Storytelling”, in The Atlantic:

I'm hitting the gym three times a week or more at the moment. I'm in my gym bro arc.

I miss my drawing arc. I feel like I was much more creative back then.

(by extension, Internet slang) A period or phase in a person's life.

Ellipsis of story arc
A period or phase in a person's life.


reveal

From Middle English revēlen, from Old French reveler, from Latin revēlāre (“to reveal, uncover”), from re- (“back, again”) + vēlāre (“to cover”), from vēlum (“a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning, sail”) (whence also English veil, English unveil, English voile, Russian вуаль (vualʹ), Russian завуали́ровать (zavualírovatʹ, “to veil”) (compare typologically)).
Also compare typologically English uncloak, unmask, Russian разобла́чать (razobláčatʹ) (akin to облаче́ние (oblačénije), срыва́ть покро́вы (sryvátʹ pokróvy) (покро́в (pokróv, “cover, covering”)).

cog

завуали́ровать

m+

разобла́чать

The comedian had been telling us about his sleep being disturbed by noise. Then came the reveal: he was sleeping on a bed in a department store.

A simple dolly or crane move can be used for an effective reveal. A subject fills the frame, then with a move, something else is revealed.

2002, Blain Brown, Cinematography, →ISBN:

Once you find out what’s going on—the girl is a “hungry,” this film’s term for zombies—it’s still interesting enough, if not quite as powerful. That’s basically what you’re in for with this British postapocalyptic survival horror tale, which starts off strong but dilutes its impact with every consecutive reveal.

2017 February 23, Katie Rife, “The Girl With All The Gifts tries to put a fresh spin on overripe zombie clichés”, in The Onion AV Club:

Even Westworld—based on a science-fiction novel where robots run amok—ended its second season with the ultimate reveal: human beings are simpler and more predictable than the artificial intelligences we create.

2019, Douglas Rushkoff, “Survival of the Richest”, in Extinction Rebellion, editor, This Is Not A Drill, London: Penguin, →ISBN:

(cinematography, narratology, comedy, usually informal) A revelation; an uncovering of what was hidden in the scene or story.


non sequitur

en-noun

non sequitur (plural non sequiturs or non sequuntur)

non sequiturs (plural)
non sequuntur (plural)
non-sequitur (alternative)
nonsequitur (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin phrase nōn sequitur (“it does not follow”).

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

Having a costumed superhero abduct the vicar was an utter non sequitur in the novel.

Non sequiturs, gratuitous acts, frustrating ellipses, ambiguities, a dearth of emotion: Miss [Lillian] Hellman avails herself of all these current techniques in telling a story that she keeps telling us may not be a story at all.

1980 May 13, Anatole Broyard, “Books of The Times”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(narratology) Any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence.

Gedankensprung

any abrupt and inexplicable transition or occurrence


reboot

(narratology) The restarting of a series' storyline, discarding all previous continuity.

reboot

the restarting of a series' storyline, discarding all previous continuity


deus ex machina

deus ex machina (plural dei ex machina or dei ex machinis or deus ex machinas)

dei ex machina (plural)
dei ex machinis (plural)
deus ex machinas (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-deus ex machina.wav

Unadapted borrowing from Latin deus ex māchinā (literally “god from a machine [i.e., a device, scaffolding, contrivance]”), a calque of Ancient Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós).

ubor

god from a machine 􂀿i.e., a device, scaffolding, contrivance􂁀

calque

ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός

The women who merge in the final pages leave me unsettled and depressed. Their future is grim. There is no deus ex machina to save them.

1975 December 13, Regina Kahney, “Sister Gin (review)”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 24, page 13:

The repeated tactic of deus ex machina (without a deus) has a deplorable effect on both the plot and the dialogue.

2007 August 12, Christopher Hitchens, “Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived”, in New York Times:

Despite the government shutdown, at the end of the last season Knope is able to put on a children's concert in the abandoned lot she's been trying to turn into a park due to a quick deus ex machina.

2011 January 20, Dave Thier, “‘Parks and Recreation’: Comedy Imitates Life (Sort Of)”, in The Atlantic:

Compared to that, the season-four finale “Server Error” felt comparatively tame, focusing mostly on Richard’s maniacal efforts to create a new kind of internet, which were helped along by a confusing deus ex machina.

2017 June 26, David Sims, “How Will ‘Silicon Valley’ Work Without T.J. Miller?”, in The Atlantic:

suspension of disbelief
suspension of disbelief

(narratology) Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author, director, or developer to end the story in the way that they desired.


deus ex machina

Unadapted borrowing from Latin deus ex māchinā, calque of Ancient Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós, literally “god from the machine”).

calque

ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός


deus ex machina

Unadapted borrowing from Latin deus ex māchinā, itself a calque of Ancient Greek ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός (apò mēkhanês theós).

der

ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός

(literary, narratology) deus ex machina (contrived plot resolution)


deus ex machina

pt-noun

deus ex machina m (plural deuses ex machina or dei ex machina)

deuses ex machina (plural)
dei ex machina (plural)

(narratology) deus ex machina (contrived plot resolution)


plot

From Middle English plot, plotte, from Old English plot (“a plot of ground”), from Proto-Germanic *plataz, *platjaz (“a patch”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Middle Low German plet (“patch, strip of cloth, rags”), German Bletz (“rags, bits, strip of land”), and possibly Gothic 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (plat, “a patch, rags”). See also plat. See also complot for an influence on or source of sense 5.
Sense 9 is a back-formation from for the plot.

cog

If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.

c. 1725, Alexander Pope, View of the Epic Poem:

(narratology) The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.


narrator

(narratology) The person or the "voice" whose viewpoint is used in telling a story.


narrator

pl-noun

narrator m pers (female equivalent narratorka, related adjective narratorski)

narratorka (feminine)
narratorski (adjective)
narrator (nominative singular)
narratorzy (nominative plural)
narratory (derogatory nominative plural)
narratora (genitive singular)
narratorów (genitive plural)
narratorowi (dative singular)
narratorom (dative plural)
narratora (accusative singular)
narratorów (accusative plural)
narratorem (instrumental singular)
narratorami (instrumental plural)
narratorze (locative singular)
narratorach (locative plural)
narratorze (singular vocative)
narratorzy (plural vocative)

(narratology) narrator (one who narrates or tells stories)


parabola

parabola (nominative singular)
parabole (nominative plural)
paraboli (genitive singular)
paraboli (genitive plural)
parabol (genitive plural)
paraboli (dative singular)
parabolom (dative plural)
parabolę (accusative singular)
parabole (accusative plural)
parabolą (instrumental singular)
parabolami (instrumental plural)
paraboli (locative singular)
parabolach (locative plural)
parabolo (singular vocative)
parabole (plural vocative)

Learned borrowing from Latin parabola. Doublet of parol.


catastrophe

en-noun

catastrophe (countable and uncountable, plural catastrophes)

catastrophes (plural)
catastrophë (alternative archaic)

From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “I overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “I turn”).

Pat : he comes like the Cataſtrophe of the old Comedie : my Cue is villanous Melancholly, with a ſighe like Tom o’ Bedlam.

c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 286, column 2:

(narratology) The dramatic event that initiates the resolution of the plot; the dénouement.

catàstrofe

Ancient Greek tragedies: the solution of the plot


diegesis

Ancient Greek διήγησις (diḗgēsis, “narration”), from διηγέομαι (diēgéomai, “I narrate”)

uder

A novel like Sterne′s Tristram Shandy, however, simply embeds a number of different diegeses on the play-within-a-play model.

1985, Bill Nichols, Movies and Methods: An Anthology, page 504:

The standard distinction between mimesis and diegesis is usually referred to as that between showing and telling, between iconic and indexical signs on the one hand and symbolic signs on the other, between drama and recitation.

1991, Christopher Collins, The Poetics of the Mind's Eye: Literature and the Psychology of Imagination, page 4:

Extradiegetic music is a matter of pure convention. It constitutes an exception within Hollywood classical cinema, in which everything is to belong to diegesis in order to elaborate a fictive, realistic universe.

2004, Sarah Hatchuel, Shakespeare: From Stage to Screen, page 89:

(narratology) A narration or recitation.


climax

en-noun

climax (countable and uncountable, plural climaxes or (rare) climaces)

climaxes (plural)
climaces (plural rare)

From Latin clīmax, from Ancient Greek κλῖμαξ (klîmax, “ladder, staircase, [rhetorical] climax”), from κλίνω (klínō, “I lean, slant”).

bor

As a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontations, I had outlined the Dresden story many times.

1969 March 31, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., chapter 1, in Slaughterhouse-Five […] (A Seymour Lawrence Book), New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →OCLC, page 4:

(narratology) The culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point.

кулминация

turning point in a plot or dramatic action


cliffhanger

cliffhangers (plural)
cliff hanger (alternative)
cliff-hanger (alternative)

From cliff + hanger, evoking the image of someone left hanging from a cliff, thereby having an uncertain fate.
The term "cliffhanger" is considered to have originated with the serialised version of Thomas Hardy's "A Pair of Blue Eyes", published in Tinsley's Magazine in the 1870s, in which the character Henry Knight is left hanging off of a cliff. It was inspired by a real life story from his wife Emma's childhood, when she had to rescue one of her school friends from a similar position.

Back in the early 80s, the hit series Dallas kept the nation guessing with its season-ending cliffhanger "Who Shot J.R.?"

2007 July 2, Hilary Hylton, “Filming Texas in a Good Light”, in Time, archived from the original on 2009-03-15:

(narratology) An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense.

cliffhanger

(narratology) an ending or stopping point


cliffhanger

nl-noun

cliffhanger m (plural cliffhangers, diminutive cliffhangertje n)

cliffhangers (plural)
cliffhangertje (diminutive neuter)


resolution

en-noun

resolution (countable and uncountable, plural resolutions)

/ˌɹɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/

Recorded since 1412, as Middle English resolucioun (“dissolution”), either from Anglo-Norman resolucion or directly from Latin resolūtiō (“a loosening, solution”), from resolvō (“to loosen”), itself from the intensive prefix re- + solvō (“to loosen”).

der

Near-synonym: dénouement

(narratology) The moment in which the conflict ends and the outcome of the action is clear.

развръзка

moment when the outcome of action is clear


conscience

en-noun

conscience (countable and uncountable, plural consciences)

From Middle English conscience, from Old French conscience, from Latin conscientia (“knowledge within oneself”), from consciens, present participle of conscire (“to know, to be conscious (of wrong)”), from com- (“together”) + scire (“to know”).

der

(chiefly fiction, narratology) A personification of the moral sense of right and wrong, usually in the form of a person, a being or merely a voice that gives moral lessons and advices.


poetic justice

/pəʊˌɛtɪk ˈd͡ʒʌstɪs/

From poetic + justice, a variant of poetical justice, coined by the English literary critic Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 1713) in the work The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d and Examin’d (1678): see the quotation.

coinage

For though historical Juſtice might reſt there; yet poetical Juſtice could not be ſo content. It vvould require that the ſatisfaction be compleat and full, e're the Malefactor goes off the Stage, and nothing left to God Almighty, and another VVorld.

[1678, Thomas Rymer, “The Tragedy of Rollo Duke of Normandy”, in The Tragedies of the Last Age Consider’d and Examin‘d […], London: […] Richard Tonson […], →OCLC, page 26:

Poetic Juſtice, vvith her lifted ſcale; / VVhere in nice balance, truth vvith gold ſhe vveighs, / And ſolid pudding againſt empty praiſe.

1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the First”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 3, lines 40–42:

[T]he great object [of a comedy] is to cauſe a hearty laugh, in the accompliſhment of vvhich, the rules of the drama and the exerciſe of reaſon are often held in defiance; at the ſame time that poetic juſtice is carefully adminiſtered, and the vices of human nature are held up to merited execration.

1798 December, “Theatre. [Review of Laugh When You Can by Frederic Reynolds.]”, in The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure: […], volume CIII, London: […] W. Bent, […], →OCLC, page 424:

[W]e cannot expect, nor does poetic justice allow, that a man shall act contary to his own nature through any force of will.

1894, Charles W. Hodell, “Shakespeare’s Opening Scenes as Striking the Key-note of Dramatic Action and Motive”, in Charlotte Porter, Helen A[rchibald] Clarke, editors, Poet Lore: A Magazine of Letters, volume VI, numbers 6–7, [Philadelphia, Pa.: Poet-Lore Co.]; New York, N.Y.: AMS Reprint Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 345:

Literary history, not to mention countless Grade B movies and television serials, teaches us that poetic justice is a standard formula for popular entertainment. […] Since very few people learn their morality from the theater, the enduring appeal of poetic justice must come from the fact that it satisfies needs that go much deeper than simple moral improvement. We can begin to get an insight into these needs by recognizing that poetic justice is a conscious or unconscious imitation of ideal justice.

1969, O[sborne] B[ennett] Hardison [Jr.], “Three Types of Renaissance Catharsis”, in Renaissance Drama, volume 2 (New Series), Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, section II, page 9; republished in Arthur F. Kinney, editor, Poetics and Praxis, Understanding and Imagination: The Collected Essays of O. B. Hardison Jr., Athens, Ga., London: University of Georgia Press, 1997, →ISBN, part 2 (Poetics), page 83:

poetical justice
poetical justice#English

(narratology) Synonym of poetical justice (“the idea that in a literary work such as a poem, virtue should be rewarded and vice punished”)


anagnorisis

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀναγνώρισις (anagnṓrisis).


anagnorisis

Det tredje ledet, anagnorisis, återuppståndelsen eller igenkännande som vid årsfesterna symboliseras av att trädet med sin nyutspruckna lövprakt bärs in som bevis på att livet ännu en gång återvänt, omtalas ofast enbart i mysteriespelen och ageras inte ut.

1986, Gunilla Domellöf, “Kapitel IV. Karin Boye och prosamodernismen”, in I oss är en mångfald levande, page 221:

The third element, anagnorisis, the resurrection, or recognition, which is symbolized at the annual festivals by the tree being carried in with its newly sprung foliage as evidence that life has once again returned, is most often mentioned only in the mystery plays and is not acted out.

I slutet får vi bevittna hur Fjalar, då han på höjden av sin självtillit får veta sanningen om sina barns öde, når fram till insikt om sin egen identitet. Detta sker genom yttre »anagnorisis», i Hjalmars berättelse, men främst genom inre: Avklädd sin rustning kommer Fjalar till insikt om sin maktlöshet. »Anagnorisis» kommer tematiskt och strukturellt också till uttryck som ett förhållande mellan att se och att inse.

2004, Kjell-Arne Brändström, et al., “Kung Fjalar. Kommentar av Kjell-Arne Brändström”, in Samlade skrifter XII:2, page 294:

In the end, we witness how Fjalar, when at the height of his self-confidence, learns the truth about his children's fate and comes to realize his own identity. This occurs through an outer "anagnorisis," in Hjalmar's narrative, but primarily through inner revelation: Stripped of his armor, Fjalar becomes aware of his powerlessness. "Anagnorisis" thematically and structurally also expresses a relationship between seeing and realizing.


continuity

en-noun

continuity (countable and uncountable, plural continuities)

Borrowed from Middle French continuité, from Latin continuitas. By surface analysis, continu(e) + -ity.

In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.

2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(narratology) A narrative device in episodic fiction where previous and/or future events in a series of stories are accounted for in present stories.


anticlimax

anticlimax (countable and uncountable, plural anticlimaxes)

anticlimaxes (plural)
anti-climax (alternative)

A failed or reverse climax, particularly:

(narratology) An unsatisfying resolution to a narrative, usually owing to a deus ex machina or similarly trivial resolution of the main conflict.


gancho

Ultimately from Proto-Celtic *ganskyos (“branch, twig”).


prolepsis

prolepsis (countable and uncountable, plural prolepses)

From Latin prolepsis, from Ancient Greek πρόληψις (prólēpsis, “preconception, anticipation”), from προλαμβάνω (prolambánō, “take beforehand, anticipate”).

der

[…] [Edmund] Plovvden being of the Romiſh perſvvaſion, ſome Setters trapanned him (pardon the prolepſis) to hear Maſſe: But aftervvards Plovvden underſtanding, that the pretender to Officiate vvas no Prieſt, but a meer Lay-man (on deſigne to make a diſcovering) Oh! The caſe is altered quoth Plovvden: No Priest, no Maſſe.

a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, “Shrop-shire”, in The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC, page 3:

(narratology) The practice of placing information about the ending of a story near the beginning, as a literary device.


comic relief

The sequence where Sam carves off Jorah’s infected tissue in secret, stopping every few moments to shush his patient, is presented as comic relief why? Jorah reels back into a diagonal close-up whimpering like a dog. Yellow pus oozes to get those good gross-out laughs. Is the substance of this operation funny to anyone on its face?

2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:

(narratology) The inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.


series original

en-noun

series original (plural series originals)

(narratology) The first published narrative in a series of works; a narrative from which later narratives are written after. It serves as the chronological core of the series.


flashback

Unadapted borrowing from English flashback.

ubor

(narratology) flashback (earlier event inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative)


threequel

threequels (plural)
three-quel (alternative)

When last seen, the “Poseidon” had been blown into small pieces. With any luck, this means Mr. Allen can’t possibly make a threequel.

1979 May 25, Janet Maslin, “Inside a Floating Hulk”, in The New York Times:

On the contrary, last summer saw two jocular parodies of 1970’s blaxploitation films: the minor hit Undercover Brother and Beyonce Knowles’s portrayal of Foxxy Cleopatra, a character in the Austin Powers “threequel.”

1999 June 30, Katherine Anne Ackley, Perspectives on Contemporary Issues, Readings Across the Disciplines, Harcourt, fourth edition, Thomson Wadsworth (2006), page 267

This may be the year of the threequel, but not all the franchises will be successful, predicts Mr. Gray.

2007 January 5, Stephen Humphries, “At theaters in 2007, the year of the 'threequel'”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

THE biggest threequels to date have included some great films.
The third part of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi (1983), then Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) were huge hits.

2007 April 16, Brian Mciver, “Return of the Threequel”, in The Daily Record:

(narratology) The chronologically third part of any series of works, especially a movie trilogy.


sequela

sequelas (plural)
seqüela (alternative)
seqùela (alternative)

(narratology) sequel (a following release in a series of films, books etc.)


lampshade

en-verb

lampshade (third-person singular simple present lampshades, present participle lampshading, simple past and past participle lampshaded)

lampshades (present singular third-person)
lampshading (participle present)
lampshaded (participle past)
lampshaded (past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lampshade.wav

From lamp + shade. The verb sense comes from the idea of making something more conspicuous by hanging a lampshade on it.

Only one short bit of humor is endearing, lampshading the ridiculousness of an eye-mask being able to conceal a superhero's identity.

2011 June 21, Corinne Gaston, “Adapted comic book flick has the ring, but no power”, in Daily Trojan:

Rewriting a whole character is one heck of a chore but the editor/writer must either bite the bullet or indulge in some clever trickery like lampshading.

2013, Heide Goody, Iain Grant, How to Write a Collaborative Novel, →ISBN:

Just as the push by writers in season 4 to make Homer stupider (a trend so established it was lampshaded in "The 138th Episode Spectacular") created some of the best episodes before eventually birthing an unlikable buffoon unaffectionately called "Jerkass Homer", so too is it less the episode itself as much as what it represented.

2019 April 30, Alex Leadbeater, “Did "Marge Be Not Proud" Start The Simpsons' Decline In Season 7?”, in Screen Rant:

(narratology, fandom slang) To intentionally call attention to the improbable, incongruent, or clichéd nature of an element or situation featured in a work of fiction within the work itself.


fabula

From Latin fabula (“story”). Doublet of fable.

(narratology) A series of events forming the basis of a story or narrative.


femme fatale

Unadapted borrowing from French femme fatale.

ubor

(idiomatic, narratology) femme fatale (attractive and seductive but ultimately dangerous woman)


femme fatale

(narratology) femme fatale (seductive and dangerous woman)


bem

bens (plural)
bẽ (alternative abbreviation obsolete)

LL-Q5146 (por)-Juliano P. Junho (Jjunho)-bem.wav

LL-Q5146 (por)-Nelson Ricardo 2500-bem.wav

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese ben, from Latin bene (“well”).

inh+

Mais um conto sobre a luta do bem contra o mal.

Yet another tale about the fight between good and evil.

(chiefly narratology) good (the ensemble of forces that conspire for good, as opposed to evil)


reported speech

If we were to change "Fred says, 'I will do the housework'" into reported speech it would become "Fred said that he would do the housework."

(grammar, narratology) A form of speech used to express what another has said, often involving a change in tense.

ситләтелгән телмәр

a form of speech used to express what another has said


bà

Sino-Vietnamese word from 婆 (“grandmother”). In Chinese and Japanese, the same character actually corresponds to 爺 /爷 (yé, “grandfather”), as opposed to 翁 (“old man”) which yields Vietnamese ông.

vi-etym-sino

(narratology) she/her, an admirable/lovable old/deceased woman


enredo

“Enquanto o enredo capta a mecânica da narrativa e a estrutura permite que se concretize, neste trabalho analisámos o arco emocional que é invocado pelas palavras usadas”, explicam.

2016 November 28, Andrea Cunha Freitas, “Mais de mil histórias lidas e há apenas seis formas básicas de as escrever?”, in Público:

(narratology) plot (the course of a story)


高潮

/kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑʊ̯³⁵/

/kou̯⁵⁵ t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/kɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ tiau⁴⁴/

/kɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ tiau²³/

/ko⁴⁴⁻²² tio¹³/

/kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑʊ̯³⁵/

/kou̯⁵⁵ t͡sʰiːu̯²¹/

/kɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ tiau⁴⁴/

/kɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ tiau²³/

/ko⁴⁴⁻²² tio¹³/

The fifth scene was the climax of the play.

第五場是全劇的高潮。

第五场是全剧的高潮。

(figuratively, narratology) climax; turning point (Classifier: 個／个; 次)


chàng

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 郎 (“young person”, SV: lang). The same development of the initial can also be seen with chạp and possibly also chuồng (if the latter were indeed an early Chinese loan according to Alves, 2018).

der

SV: <i class="Latn mention" lang="vi">lang</i>

vi-etym-sino

(narratology, literary, endearing) he/him, that admirable or lovable young man


chú

(narratology, literary, endearing) he/him, that young fellow

(narratology, literary, endearing) he/him, that anthropomorphic male animal

(narratology, literary, endearing) Short for chú bé (“he/him, that little boy”).


narrative structure

en-noun

narrative structure (plural narrative structures)

(narratology) The structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer.


chod

chod (nominative singular)
chody (dual nominative)
chodi (nominative plural)
chodové (nominative plural)
choda (genitive singular)
chodu (genitive singular)
chodú (dual genitive)
chodóv (genitive plural)
chodu (dative singular)
chodoma (dative dual)
chodóm (dative plural)
chod (accusative singular)
chody (accusative dual)
chody (accusative plural)
chode (singular vocative)
chody (dual vocative)
chodi (plural vocative)
chodové (plural vocative)
chodě (locative singular)
chodu (locative singular)
chodú (dual locative)
chodiech (locative plural)
chodem (instrumental singular)
chodoma (dual instrumental)
chody (instrumental plural)

Czech: chod

(narratology) shift in a story, plot twist


novum

novum (countable and uncountable, plural novums or nova)

In his book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979), Suvin introduced a number of ideas that remain central in sf criticism: cognitive estrangement, the novum and sf's genetic link with utopia.[…]Even more influential in sf theory than cognitive estrangement is Suvin's concept of the novum.[…]Suvin adopts the concept of the novum from the work of Ernst Bloch, for whom the term refers to those concrete innovations of lived history that awaken human collective consciousness out of a static present to awareness that history can be changed. The novum thus inspires hope for positive historical transformations.

2003, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., “7: Marxist theory and science fiction”, in Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge University Press, page 118:

It seems that this ‘point of difference’, the thing or things that differentiate the world portrayed in science fiction from the world we recognise around us, is the crucial separator between SF and other forms of imaginative or fantastic literature. The critic Darko Suvin has usefully coined the term ‘novum’, the Latin for ‘new’ or ‘new thing’, to refer to this ‘point of difference’ (the plural is ‘nova’). An SF text may be based on one novum, such as [...]. More usually it will be predicated on a number of interrelated nova, such as [...]. This ‘novum’ must not be supernatural but need not necessarily be a piece of technology.

2006, Adam Roberts, Science Fiction, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), pages 6–7:

cognitive estrangement
cognitive estrangement

(narratology, science fiction) An innovation which is fictional, but, following the logic of cognitive estrangement (characteristic of science fiction), is afforded plausibility by the assumption that the fictional setting is scientifically consistent.


etiologia

etiologia (nominative singular)
etiologie (nominative plural)
etiologii (genitive singular)
etiologii (genitive plural)
etiologij (archaic genitive plural)
etiologii (dative singular)
etiologiom (dative plural)
etiologię (accusative singular)
etiologie (accusative plural)
etiologią (instrumental singular)
etiologiami (instrumental plural)
etiologii (locative singular)
etiologiach (locative plural)
etiologio (singular vocative)
etiologie (plural vocative)
ajtiologia (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin aetiologia.

aetiology (establishment of a cause, origin, or reason for something)

(anthropology, narratology) pourquoi story


nó

Probably originally a variant of nọ (“that yonder”).
For semantic relationship, compare French il, Spanish él (and other reflexes of Latin ille), Macedonian тој (toj), Japanese 彼 (kare), Turkish o.

(literary, fiction, narratology, disrespectful or familiar) he; him; she; her (used by the author when talking about a young person (especially the protagonist) or a non-human animal)


Enttäuschung

de-noun

Enttäuschung f (genitive Enttäuschung, plural Enttäuschungen)

Enttäuschung (genitive)
Enttäuschungen (plural)
Enttäuschung (nominative singular)
Enttäuschungen (definite nominative plural)
Enttäuschung (genitive singular)
Enttäuschungen (definite genitive plural)
Enttäuschung (dative singular)
Enttäuschungen (dative definite plural)
Enttäuschung (accusative singular)
Enttäuschungen (accusative definite plural)

/ɛntˈtɔɪ̯ʃʊŋ/


akcja

akcyjny (adjective)
akcja (nominative singular)
akcje (nominative plural)
akcji (genitive singular)
akcji (genitive plural)
akcyj (archaic genitive plural)
akcji (dative singular)
akcjom (dative plural)
akcję (accusative singular)
akcje (accusative plural)
akcją (instrumental singular)
akcjami (instrumental plural)
akcji (locative singular)
akcjach (locative plural)
akcjo (singular vocative)
akcje (plural vocative)
akcyja (alternative Middle Polish)
akcya (alternative)

→ Kashubian: akcjô

Learned borrowing from Latin āctiō (“act of doing or making”). Sense 1 and sense 6 are semantic loans from German Aktion or French action. First attested in 1553.


bohater

pl-noun

bohater m pers (female equivalent bohaterka)

bohaterka (feminine)
bohater (nominative singular)
bohaterowie (nominative plural)
bohaterzy (nominative plural)
bohatera (genitive singular)
bohaterów (genitive plural)
bohaterowi (dative singular)
bohaterom (dative plural)
bohatera (accusative singular)
bohaterów (accusative plural)
bohaterem (instrumental singular)
bohaterami (instrumental plural)
bohaterze (locative singular)
bohaterach (locative plural)
bohaterze (singular vocative)
bohaterowie (plural vocative)
bohaterzy (plural vocative)
bohatyr (alternative obsolete)

Borrowed from Old East Slavic богатꙑрь (bogatyrĭ), from a Turkic language. First attested in 1606. Doublet of bogatyr. Compare Kyrgyz баатыр (baatır), Mongolian баатар (baatar) and Persian بهادر (bahâdor).

główny bohater

tytułowy bohater

filmowy bohater

bohater literacki

pierwszoplanowy bohater

telewizyjny bohater

bohater baśni

bohater dramatu

bohater powieści

bohater utworu

bohater filmu

bohater książki

bohater epopei/eposu

bohater serialu

dzieje bohatera

losy bohatera

przygody bohatera

śledzić losy bohaterów

(film, literature, narratology) character, protagonist


happy ending

And how was this happy ending to be brought about? Why, by this very eaſy and trite expedient; to wit, by reforming Lovelace, and marrying him to Clariſſa.

1784, The Novelist's Magazine, volume XV, London: Harrison and Co., page 1263, column 1:

The heroine was killed, and since then the happy ending has only been preserved in an appendix in the play.

1827 June 8, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, page 4, column 3:

Life is not to be conceived on the analogy of a melodrama in which the hero and heroine go through incredible misfortunes for which they are compensated by a happy ending.

1930, Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness:

Death ends all things and so is the comprehensive conclusion of a story, but marriage finishes it very properly too and the sophisticated are ill-advised to sneer at what is by convention termed a happy ending.

1944, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter 1, in The Razor’s Edge […], 1st American edition, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co., →OCLC, section i, page 1:

Well, what did you expect in an opera? A happy ending?

1957 July 6, What’s Opera, Doc?, spoken by Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc):

Modern romance, like Greek tragedy, celebrates the mystery of dismemberment, which is life in time. The happy ending is justly scorned as a misrepresentation; for the world, as we know it, as we have seen it, yields but one ending: death, disintegration, dismemberment, and the crucifixion of our heart with the passing of the forms that we have loved.

1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 25:

And she said: / "Don't you know that storybook loves, / Always have a happy ending."

1987, “Storybook Love”, Willy DeVille (music):

(narratology) A conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.


happily ever after

en-noun

happily ever after (plural happily ever afters)

happily ever afters (plural)
happily-ever-after (alternative)

/ˈhæpɪli ˌɛvəɹ‿ˈɑːftə/

/ˈhæpəli ˌɛvəɹ‿ˈæftəɹ/

The adverb is derived from happily (adverb) + ever after (adverb), used as a formulaic ending in works for children especially since the 19th century. The noun is derived from the adverb.

But this is 1979: marriage once again is on a lot of minds and romantic comedies, complete with tradition and happily-ever-afters, are back in style.

1979 January, “Marriage ’79: Sara & Ted”, in Edith Raymond Locke, editor, Mademoiselle, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 136, column 1:

(narratology) A story, or a conclusion to a story, in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness.


alternative universe

alternative universe (plural alternative universes)

alternative universes (plural)
alternate universe (alternative US)

This mirroring was marked out by the way in which the Federation of Planets, a voluntary association of different worlds, never existed in the alternative universe; instead we find ourselves confronting a vicious militaristic Terran empire.

2022 June 13, S. Sayyid, Recalling the Caliphate – Decolonization and World Order:

(literature, narratology) An imaginary realm, often a variant form of the real world, depicting a different way events could have unfolded or the universe could have functioned.


MacGuffin

MacGuffins (plural)
McGuffin (alternative)

Alfred Hitchcock
MacGuffin#History_and_use
Ulster

Used by Alfred Hitchcock, as an arbitrary Scottish surname. The actual name comes from Ulster: Mc- (“son of”) + Irish dubh (“black”) + Irish Fionn (literally “fairheaded”).
See also Wikipedia's MacGuffin § History and use.

af

" […] But we wound up realizing you really can't top yourself. You just tell a different story and hope the new MacGuffin is as compelling as the last MacGuffin."

2000, Steven Spielberg, Lester D. Friedman, Brent Notbohm, Steven Spielberg: Interviews:

A paleontologist lately returned from an expedition to Wyoming, where he unearthed the bones of the first brontosaurus (and supplied guns to the Indians on behalf of the Foreign Office, which had succeeded in its policy of balkanizing the North American continent) Mallory comes into possession of the MacGuffin during a Derby Day encounter with Byron's daughter (and Babbage's protégée) Ada. Thereafter he is hounded by a whole rogue's gallery of villains bent on reclaiming the MacGuffin.

(narratology) A plot element or other device used to catch the audience's attention and maintain suspense, but whose exact nature has fairly little influence over the storyline.


flashforward

flashforwards (plural)
flash-forward (alternative)

This "Lone Ranger" begins and ends in a flash-forward, with an elderly Tonto installed in a carnival diorama behind a sign that reads "The Noble Savage."

2013, “Depp’s Tonto: an upgrade on a stereotype or just an updated stereotype?”, in The Washington Post:

(narratology) A dramatic device in which a future event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.


postać

postaciowy (adjective)
postać (nominative singular)
postacie (nominative plural)
postaci (nominative plural)
postaci (genitive singular)
postaci (genitive plural)
postaci (dative singular)
postaciom (dative plural)
postać (accusative singular)
postacie (accusative plural)
postaci (accusative plural)
postacią (instrumental singular)
postaciami (instrumental plural)
postaci (locative singular)
postaciach (locative plural)
postaci (singular vocative)
postacie (plural vocative)
postaci (plural vocative)

Inherited from Old Polish postać (noun). Compare Russian стать (statʹ) (noun), Ukrainian стать (statʹ) and постать (postatʹ).

Near-synonym: figura

(narratology) character (agent within a story)


sinestesia

(narratology) synaesthesia (description of a sensation in the terms of another)


heterodiegetic

(narratology) Of or relating to a narrator that does not take part in the plot.


ông

→ Khmer: អុង (ʼong)

Sino-Vietnamese word from 翁 (“old man”). In Japanese, the same character corresponds to 嫗 (“old woman”). The character for bà (which corresponds to ông in Vietnamese), 婆 (pó, “grandmother”), actually corresponds to 爺 /爷 (yé, “grandfather”) in Chinese and Japanese.

ôông (alternative)
ôn (alternative)
ô (alternative)

(narratology) he/him, an admirable/lovable old or deceased man


wątek

wątek (nominative singular)
wątki (nominative plural)
wątku (genitive singular)
wątków (genitive plural)
wątkowi (dative singular)
wątkom (dative plural)
wątek (accusative singular)
wątki (accusative plural)
wątkiem (instrumental singular)
wątkami (instrumental plural)
wątku (locative singular)
wątkach (locative plural)
wątku (singular vocative)
wątki (plural vocative)

Inherited from Old Polish wątek, from Proto-Slavic *ǫtъkъ.

(narratology) subplot (separate chain of events within a plot of the story)


suspens

Learned borrowing from Latin suspēnsus. Doublet of suspès. The narratological sense is a semantic loan from English.


tragédia

tragédias (plural)
tragedia (alternative obsolete)

[tɾaˈʒɛ.d͡ʒɪ.ɐ]

/tɾaˈʒɛ.d͡ʒjɐ/

[tɾaˈʒɛ.d͡ʒɪ.ɐ]

/tɾaˈʒɛ.d͡ʒjɐ/

/tɾɐˈʒɛ.djɐ/

[tɾɐˈʒɛ.ðjɐ]

Borrowed from Latin tragoedia, from Ancient Greek τραγῳδῐ́ᾱ (tragōidĭ́ā).

(narratology) tragedy (work in which the main character is suffers negative consequences)

(narratology, uncountable) tragedy (genre of such works, and the art of producing them)


deuteragonist

From Ancient Greek δευτεραγωνιστής (deuteragōnistḗs, literally “second actor”), originally in Greek drama, from ἀγωνιστής (agōnistḗs, “a combatant, pleader, actor”).
By surface analysis, deuter- (“second”) + agonist (“combatant, participant”).

der

δευτεραγωνιστής

surf

The issue is no longer about the artistic representation of woman going on within the story: rather, the art object, now unrelated to the actual woman (at a literal level, at any rate), becomes her deuteragonist and antagonist, and the opposition thus settled becomes further complicated by reversal, exchanges, shifts in their respective positions.

2001, Donatella Izzo, Portraying the Lady: Technologies of Gender in the Short Stories of Henry James, University of Nebraska Press, page 58:

(narratology) A secondary character; specifically, the second most important character (after the protagonist).


metabola

metabola (nominative singular)
metaboli (genitive singular)
metaboli (dative singular)
metabolę (accusative singular)
metabolą (instrumental singular)
metaboli (locative singular)
metabolo (singular vocative)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek μεταβολή (metabolḗ).

lbor

(narratology) a sudden change in character or plot


bohaterski

pl-adj

bohaterski (comparative bardziej bohaterski, superlative najbardziej bohaterski, derived adverb bohatersko)

bardziej bohaterski (comparative)
najbardziej bohaterski (superlative)
bohaterski (masculine nominative singular)
bohaterska (feminine nominative singular)
bohaterskie (neuter nominative singular)
bohaterscy (nominative plural virile)
bohaterskie (nominative plural)
bohaterskiego (genitive masculine singular)
bohaterskiej (feminine genitive singular)
bohaterskiego (genitive neuter singular)
bohaterskich (genitive plural)
bohaterskich (genitive plural virile)
bohaterskiemu (dative masculine singular)
bohatersku (archaic dative masculine singular)
bohaterskiej (dative feminine singular)
bohaterskiemu (dative neuter singular)
bohatersku (archaic dative neuter singular)
bohaterskim (dative plural)
bohaterskim (dative plural virile)
bohaterskiego (accusative animate masculine singular)
bohaterski (accusative inanimate masculine singular)
bohaterską (accusative feminine singular)
bohaterskie (accusative neuter singular)
bohaterskich (accusative plural virile)
bohaterskie (accusative plural)
bohaterskim (instrumental masculine singular)
bohaterską (feminine instrumental singular)
bohaterskim (instrumental neuter singular)
bohaterskimi (instrumental plural)
bohaterskimi (instrumental plural virile)
bohaterskim (locative masculine singular)
bohaterskiej (feminine locative singular)
bohaterskim (locative neuter singular)
bohaterskich (locative plural)
bohaterskich (locative plural virile)
bohatyrski (alternative obsolete)

From bohater + -ski. First attested in the middle of the 17th century.

etydate

(film, literature, narratology, relational) hero; heroic


narrador

pt-noun

narrador m (plural narradores, feminine narradora, feminine plural narradoras)

narradores (plural)
narradora (feminine)
narradoras (feminine plural)

Learned borrowing from Latin nārrātōrem. By surface analysis, narrar + -dor.

(narratology) narrator (person or the voice whose viewpoint is used in telling a story)


premake

From pre- + make. Sense of "prequel to a remake" patterned after remake.


archvillain

archvillains (plural)
arch-villain (alternative)

/ˌɑːtʃˈvɪlən/

/ˌɑɹt͡ʃˈvɪlən/

From arch- (“chief, most extreme”) + villain.

Madoff is the season's archvillain, accused of having run a Ponzi scheme so vast that future generations may well describe similar swindles as Madoff schemes.

2009 January 6, Clyde Haberman, “We Know About the Mess. Please, Clean Up Carefully.”, in New York Times:

(chiefly narratology) A supreme villain; the most evil or powerful villain.

arkkivihollinen

a supreme villain; the most evil or powerful villain


secuela

(narratology) sequel (a narrative that is written after another narrative set in the same universe, especially a narrative that is chronologically set after its predecessors, or (perhaps improper usage) any narrative that has a preceding narrative of its own)


midquel

(narratology) A work that is set during the timeframe of a previous work, rather than before or after it.


charakter

pl-noun

charakter m inan (related adjective charakterowy)

charakterowy (adjective)
charakter (nominative singular)
charaktery (nominative plural)
charakteru (genitive singular)
charakterów (genitive plural)
charakterowi (dative singular)
charakterom (dative plural)
charakter (accusative singular)
charaktery (accusative plural)
charakterem (instrumental singular)
charakterami (instrumental plural)
charakterze (locative singular)
charakterach (locative plural)
charakterze (singular vocative)
charaktery (plural vocative)
charakter (nominative singular)
charaktry (nominative plural)
charaktru (genitive singular)
charaktrów (genitive plural)
charaktrowi (dative singular)
charaktrom (dative plural)
charakter (accusative singular)
charaktry (accusative plural)
charaktrem (instrumental singular)
charaktrami (instrumental plural)
charaktrze (locative singular)
charaktrach (locative plural)
charaktrze (singular vocative)
charaktry (plural vocative)
harakter (alternative Middle Polish)
karakter (alternative Middle Polish)

→ Kashubian: charakter

→ Old Ruthenian: характеръ (xarakter)

Belarusian: хара́ктар (xaráktar)

Ukrainian: хара́ктер (xarákter)

→ Russian: хара́ктер (xarákter)

desc

→ Silesian: karakter (through Middle Polish "karakter")

Learned borrowing from Latin charactē̆r. First attested in 1557. Compare Czech charakter and Slovak charakter.

ref

Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “karakter, charakter”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]

(narratology) character (being that can act in a work of fiction)


حكاية

ar-noun

حِكَايَة • (ḥikāya) f (plural حِكَايَات (ḥikāyāt))

حِكَايَة (canonical)
ḥikāya (romanization)
حِكَايَات (plural)
حِكَايَة (ar-infl-a indefinite informal singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَة (ar-infl-a definite informal singular triptote)
حِكَايَة (ar-infl-a construct informal singular triptote)
حِكَايَةٌ (ar-infl-a indefinite nominative singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَةُ (ar-infl-a definite nominative singular triptote)
حِكَايَةُ (ar-infl-a construct nominative singular triptote)
حِكَايَةً (accusative ar-infl-a indefinite singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَةَ (accusative ar-infl-a definite singular triptote)
حِكَايَةَ (accusative ar-infl-a construct singular triptote)
حِكَايَةٍ (ar-infl-a genitive indefinite singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَةِ (ar-infl-a definite genitive singular triptote)
حِكَايَةِ (ar-infl-a construct genitive singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْن (ar-infl-a dual indefinite informal singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَتَيْن (ar-infl-a definite dual informal singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْ (ar-infl-a construct dual informal singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَانِ (ar-infl-a dual indefinite nominative singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَتَانِ (ar-infl-a definite dual nominative singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَا (ar-infl-a construct dual nominative singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْنِ (accusative ar-infl-a dual indefinite singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَتَيْنِ (accusative ar-infl-a definite dual singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْ (accusative ar-infl-a construct dual singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْنِ (ar-infl-a dual genitive indefinite singular triptote)
الْحِكَايَتَيْنِ (ar-infl-a definite dual genitive singular triptote)
حِكَايَتَيْ (ar-infl-a construct dual genitive singular triptote)
حِكَايَات (feminine indefinite informal plural sound-form)
الْحِكَايَات (definite feminine informal plural sound-form)
حِكَايَات (construct feminine informal plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتٌ (feminine indefinite nominative plural sound-form)
الْحِكَايَاتُ (definite feminine nominative plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتُ (construct feminine nominative plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتٍ (accusative feminine indefinite plural sound-form)
الْحِكَايَاتِ (accusative definite feminine plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتِ (accusative construct feminine plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتٍ (feminine genitive indefinite plural sound-form)
الْحِكَايَاتِ (definite feminine genitive plural sound-form)
حِكَايَاتِ (construct feminine genitive plural sound-form)

→ Armenian: հեքիաթ (hekʻiatʻ)

→ Azerbaijani: hekayə

desc

→ Bashkir: хикәйә (xikəyə), әкиәт (əkiət)

→ Chagatai: حکایه

Uyghur: ھېكايە (hëkaye)

Uzbek: hikoya, hikoyat

→ Kazakh: хикая (xikaä)

desctree

→ Ottoman Turkish: حكایه (hiḱaye), حكایت (hiḱayet)
Turkish: hikâye

→ Crimean Tatar: hikâye

→ Persian: حکایت (hekâyat)
→ Hindustani:
Hindi: हिकायत (hikāyat)
Urdu: حِکایَت (hikāyat)
→ Punjabi: حِکایَت (ḥikāyat)
→ Russian: хикая́т (xikaját)
→ Ukrainian: хікая́т (xikaját)

→ Classical Malay: حكايت

Malay: hikayat

→ Swahili: hekaya

→ Tatar: хикәя (xikäya), әкият (äkiyat)

→ Turkmen: hekaýa, hekaýat


antiheroic

en-adj

antiheroic (comparative more antiheroic, superlative most antiheroic)

more antiheroic (comparative)
most antiheroic (superlative)

“Monsieur Verdoux” may once again be timely, but the audacity of its statement derives less from Chaplin’s antiwar polemic than from his antiheroic pose.

2008 June 8, J. Hoberman, “When Chaplin Became the Enemy”, in New York Times:

(narratology) Of, pertaining to or typical of an antihero.


eucatastrophe

From eu- + catastrophe, coined by English author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien in 1944 as part of a letter: see quotation.

coinage

But at the story of the little boy (which is a fully attested fact of course) with its apparent sad ending and then its sudden unhoped-for happy ending, I was deeply moved and had that peculiar emotion we all have – though not often. […] For it I coined the word ‘eucatastrophe’: the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears (which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce).

[1944 November 7, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “88. From a Letter to Christopher Tolkien[,] 28 October 1944 (FS 58)”, in Humphrey Carpenter with the assistance of Christopher Tolkien, editors, Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1981, →ISBN; The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien, Houghton Mifflin paperback edition, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000, →ISBN, page 100:

Let us hymn the small but journal wonders
of Nature and of households, and then finish
on a serio-comic note with legends
of ultimate eucatastrophe,
regeneration beyond the waters.

1969 June 5, W. H. Auden, “Epistle to a Godson”, in The New York Review, issue:

The "problem" of T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot comes partly from our post-Christian sense of a world where Tolkien's eucatastrophes never happen, and partly from the way we write biography.

1988, Alzina Stone Dale, “Prologue: J. Alfred Prufrock among the Prophets”, in T. S. Eliot: The Philosopher Poet (The Wheaton Literary Series), Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw, →ISBN; T. S. Eliot: The Philsopher-Poet, Authors Guild Backprint.com edition, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, 2004, →ISBN, page 5:

Literary unity demands that once a eucatastrophe happens it must be accepted as part of the story rather than as an arbitrary whim of the author.

2015, John J. Davenport, quoting Eleanor Helms, “The Virtues of Ambivalence: Wholeheartedness as Existential Telos and the Unwillable Completion of Narravives”, in John Lippitt, Patrick Stokes, editors, Narrative, Identity and the Kierkegaardian Self, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, →ISBN, page 159:

(narratology) A catastrophe (dramatic event leading to plot resolution) that results in the protagonist's well-being.

eucatastrophe

catastrophe that results in the protagonist's well-being


anticlímax

pt-noun

anticlímax m (plural anticlímaxes or anticlímaces)

anticlímaxes (plural)
anticlímaces (plural)

(narratology) anticlimax (break in the final climax)


focalization

en-noun

focalization (countable and uncountable, plural focalizations)

From focal + -ization or focalize + -ation.

(narratology) The perspective through which a narrative is presented.


focalize

en-verb

focalize (third-person singular simple present focalizes, present participle focalizing, simple past and past participle focalized)

focalizes (present singular third-person)
focalizing (participle present)
focalized (participle past)
focalized (past)

The protagonist of The Monkey Wrench foGang, George Washington Hayduke […] is a smelly, "hairy, bawdy, independent loner" (Barber 1996, 133) and disillusioned ex-Green Beret who acts as crass as the third-person narrator who often focalizes through him.

2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 211:

(narratology) To switch to a particular perspective (focalization).


direct speech

(grammar, narratology) the writing of speech, using the exact words of the speaker, usually between quotation marks


klimaks

klimaks (nominative singular)
klimaksy (nominative plural)
klimaksu (genitive singular)
klimaksów (genitive plural)
klimaksowi (dative singular)
klimaksom (dative plural)
klimaks (accusative singular)
klimaksy (accusative plural)
klimaksem (instrumental singular)
klimaksami (instrumental plural)
klimaksie (locative singular)
klimaksach (locative plural)
klimaksie (singular vocative)
klimaksy (plural vocative)

(narratology) climax (the culmination of a narrative's rising action, the turning point)


throughline

throughlines (plural)
through line (alternative)
through-line (alternative)

From through (“passing from one side of something to the other”, adjective) + line. Compare Middle English thurghline (“a brail or buntline”).

cog

Produced by none other than Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Good Boys again most closely resembles a kind of junior-varsity tryout for that duo's Superbad, down to its modestly affecting emotional through-line: an acceptance of the fact that childhood friendships, forged out of proximity and convenience, aren't always destined to last.

2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-03-04:

The Russian rockets fell on Babyn Yar, 80 years after the Nazi atrocities it commemorates; Zelenskiy’s face was enough to hammer home the gravity of the thematic throughline.

2022 March 8, Zoe Williams, “Zelenskiy brings down the house with his speech to the Commons”, in The Guardian:

(narratology) In full through line of action: a theme that runs through the plot of a book, film, or other narrative work, or a series of such related works.

fil conducteur

theme that runs through the plot of a narrative work, or a series of such related works


tục

[tʊwk͡p̚˧˨ʔ]

[tʊwk͡p̚˨˩ʔ]

[tʊwk͡p̚˨˩˨]

Sino-Vietnamese word from 俗 (“custom; vulgar”).

vi-etym-sino

tục truyền rằng

(narratology, only in fixed expressions) legend


rozwiązanie

pl-noun

rozwiązanie n (related adjective rozwiązaniowy)

rozwiązaniowy (adjective)
rozwiązanie (nominative singular)
rozwiązania (nominative plural)
rozwiązania (genitive singular)
rozwiązań (genitive plural)
rozwiązaniu (dative singular)
rozwiązaniom (dative plural)
rozwiązanie (accusative singular)
rozwiązania (accusative plural)
rozwiązaniem (instrumental singular)
rozwiązaniami (instrumental plural)
rozwiązaniu (locative singular)
rozwiązaniach (locative plural)
rozwiązanie (singular vocative)
rozwiązania (plural vocative)

Inherited from Old Polish rozwiązanie. By surface analysis, rozwiązać + -anie. Compare Kashubian rozwiązanié.

(countable, narratology) resolution (moment in which the conflict ends and the outcome of the action is clear) [with genitive ‘to what’]


antinarrative

(narratology) A narrative, as of a play or novel, that deliberately avoids the typical conventions of the narrative, such as a coherent plot and resolution.

antinarrativa

a narrative that deliberately avoids the typical conventions of the narrative


alegoria

alegoryjka (diminutive)
alegoria (nominative singular)
alegorie (nominative plural)
alegorii (genitive singular)
alegorii (genitive plural)
alegoryj (archaic genitive plural)
alegorii (dative singular)
alegoriom (dative plural)
alegorię (accusative singular)
alegorie (accusative plural)
alegorią (instrumental singular)
alegoriami (instrumental plural)
alegorii (locative singular)
alegoriach (locative plural)
alegorio (singular vocative)
alegorie (plural vocative)
alegoryja (alternative Middle Polish)
alegorja (alternative)

Learned borrowing from Latin allēgoria, from Ancient Greek ἀλληγορία (allēgoría). First attested in 1583.

ref

Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “alegoryja”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]

(narratology, rhetoric) allegory (narrative in which a character, place, or event is used to deliver a broader message about real-world issues and occurrences)


Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu

the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu (canonical)

law (“rule”) + of + conservation (“preservation”) + of + ninjutsu (“a martial art used by ninjas”)
The law implies that each team of ninjas has the same finite amount of "power" of martial arts, therefore a team with fewer ninjas has more powerful ninjas.

> The more creativity and ingenuity you give your aliens, the less is
> available for your humans, generally the protagonists, which means
> things will end poorly for Our Heroes. [...]
Sort of like a SCIENCE application of the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu?

2007 December 3, sw <sw@eyrie.org>, “Re: Why so few creative aliens?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <slrnfl8dbu.6gg.sw@haven.eyrie.org>:

In other words, if I can tweak the minion->normal->elite->solo system into a^([sic]) in-game representation of the Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu, there will be much win.

2008 May 19, Nockermensch <ralgomes@gmail.com>, “Re: Ampersand: The Scoop on D&D Insider”, in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet), message-ID <11398510-50ce-4342-a223-ca68b86c8b89@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com>:

The Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu was working in the main characters' favor, but even so, it was hard going.

2011 February 19, Andrew Perron <pwerdna@gmail.com>, “LNH/RACCies: Just Imagine Saxon Brenton vs. Andrew Perron in the Return of the RACCies! #10: Poledancing Phantoms of Limbo”, in rec.arts.comics.creative (Usenet), message-ID <1hmvlegtnnkih$.1p14289mto1ro.dlg@40tude.net>:

(narratology, fiction, informal, humorous) The ability of one or few people to win fights against many opponents.


сюжет

ru-noun+

сюже́т • (sjužét) m inan (genitive сюже́та, nominative plural сюже́ты, genitive plural сюже́тов, relational adjective сюже́тный)

сюже́т (canonical)
sjužét (romanization)
сюже́та (genitive)
сюже́ты (nominative plural)
сюже́тов (genitive plural)
сюже́тный (adjective relational)
сюже́т (nominative singular)
сюже́ты (nominative plural)
сюже́та (genitive singular)
сюже́тов (genitive plural)
сюже́ту (dative singular)
сюже́там (dative plural)
сюже́т (accusative singular)
сюже́ты (accusative plural)
сюже́том (instrumental singular)
сюже́тами (instrumental plural)
сюже́те (prepositional singular)
сюже́тах (plural prepositional)

→ Kazakh: сюжет (süjet)

Borrowed from French sujet, from Latin subiectum/subjectum. Doublet of субъе́кт (subʺjékt).


сюжет

uk-noun

сюже́т<genu>

сюже́т • (sjužét) m inan (genitive сюже́ту, nominative plural сюже́ти, genitive plural сюже́тів, relational adjective сюже́тний)

сюже́т (canonical)
sjužét (romanization)
сюже́ту (genitive)
сюже́ти (nominative plural)
сюже́тів (genitive plural)
сюже́тний (adjective relational)
сюже́т (nominative singular)
сюже́ти (nominative plural)
сюже́ту (genitive singular)
сюже́тів (genitive plural)
сюже́тові (dative singular)
сюже́ту (dative singular)
сюже́там (dative plural)
сюже́т (accusative singular)
сюже́ти (accusative plural)
сюже́том (instrumental singular)
сюже́тами (instrumental plural)
сюже́ті (locative singular)
сюже́тах (locative plural)
сюже́те (singular vocative)
сюже́ти (plural vocative)

uk-ndecl

сюже́т<genu>

Borrowed from French sujet, from Latin subiectum/subjectum. Doublet of суб'є́кт (subʺjékt).


sequel hook

(narratology, informal) A plot device where information or characters are placed into a plot that can provide the basis for subsequent sequel stories.


self-insertion

en-noun

self-insertion (countable and uncountable, plural self-insertions)

(narratology) A literary device in which the author writes himself or herself into the story as a character.


meet cute

meet cutes (plural)
meet-cute (alternative)

Claudette Colbert
Ernst Lubitsch
Gary Cooper

Accidentally coined by German-American film director Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947), who had difficulty speaking English, to describe the encounter between the characters played by Claudette Colbert and Gary Cooper in the 1938 film Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife.

If this is a distortion of reality, it is a knowingly utopian gesture, and the wit of such conceits lies in placing in tension the ideal with the real and so being more than a series of fancy ‘meet cutes’: […]

1989, Bruce Babington, Peter William Evans, Affairs to Remember: The Hollywood Comedy of the Sexes, Manchester, New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 11:

The hunt for love saturates Western culture. […] Romantic comedies have characters discover one another serendipitously, called "meet-cutes." The lead clumsily spills a drink on his future love interest, setting off a chain of events to love. Meet-cutes affirm the idea that possibility is all around us: love can happen anywhere, at anytime, and with anyone.

2013, Jaime Woo, “How to Find Love on Grindr (if You Hafta)”, in Meet Grindr: How One App Changed the Way We Connect, Canada: [Lulu.com], →ISBN, page 108, column 1:

In some respects, it might be too faithful to the genre it savages; as in many real rom-coms, the energy flags during the plot’s backstretch, and audiences may share the drifting interest of Kyle (Bill Hader) and Karen (Ellie Kemper), who come to regret ever asking Joel and Molly to chronicle their meet-cute.

2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2017-12-07:

When Wade first crosses paths with Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), the ass-kicking fellow “gunter” (or egg hunter) with whom he becomes infatuated, the pair’s meet cute is predicated on the swapping of favorite pop-culture quotes.

2018 March 26, A. A. Dowd, “Steven Spielberg Finds Fun, and maybe even a Soul, in the Pandering Pastiche of Ready Player One”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2018-05-31:

Café Pick Me Up was a cosy little place with a low pressed-metal ceiling, crammed full of tiny tables, with French cafe chairs and mellow lighting. If you were to write a romcom featuring a meet cute, you’d set it there.

2021 December 26, Alys Fowler, “My winter of love: I was homesick in New York. The quiet Danish poet was just what I was longing for”, in The Guardian:

(narratology, informal) A situation in a film, television series, etc., in which a potential romantic couple meet for the first time in a way that is considered adorable, amusing, or cute.


framing device

The attack sequence dissolves to the present, back to the circus sideshow of the first reel and the curious onlookers, awaiting a glimpse of the creature in the pit, the framing device all but forgotten during the past seventy minutes of full immersion in freakdom.

1999, Thomas Doherty, Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934, Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 317:

“Treehouse Of Horror III”’s framing device finds the good folks of Springfield telling stories during a Halloween party.

2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

There’s a framing device in which we see an elderly Rafiki telling the story to Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), the young daughter of Lion King protagonist Simba

2024 December 18, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “Disney's taxidermized IP is brighter and livelier in Mufasa: The Lion King”, in AV Club:

(narratology) An introductory or main narrative that provides a framework for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories.


catastróf

head

catastróf f (genitive singular catastróife, nominative plural catastrófa)

catastróife (genitive singular)
catastrófa (nominative plural)
catastrófatastróife (indefinite nominative singular)
catastrófatastróifea (indefinite nominative plural)
a catastrófatastróife (indefinite singular vocative)
a catastrófatastróifea (indefinite plural vocative)
catastrófatastróife (genitive indefinite plural)
catastrófatastróife (dative indefinite singular)
catastrófatastróifea (dative indefinite plural)
an catastrófatastróife (definite nominative singular)
na catastrófatastróifea (definite nominative plural)
na catastróf{{{3}}} (definite genitive singular)
na catastrófatastróife (definite genitive plural)
leis an catastrófatastróife (dative definite singular)
don catastrófatastróife (dative definite singular)
leis na catastrófatastróifea (dative definite plural)
catastróf
chatastróf
gcatastróf

From Ancient Greek καταστροφή (katastrophḗ), from καταστρέφω (katastréphō, “I overturn”), from κατά (katá, “down, against”) + στρέφω (stréphō, “I turn”).


cậu

From Proto-Vietic *guːʔ, from Old Chinese 舅 (OC *[ɡ](r)uʔ) (B-S) (SV: cữu).

(narratology) he/him, a young boy or man


trequel

(narratology) A work following a sequel; the third in a series, particularly of films.


続編

[d͡zo̞kɯ̟̊hẽ̞ɴ]


UST

en-noun

UST (countable and uncountable, plural USTs)

Being a hard-core "noromo" (parlance for "no romancer," someone who believes the show's UST, or unresolved sexual tension, is the key to its vitality), I have also flamed "shippers" ("relationshippers," those who want Mulder and Scully to get it on in the film) with now embarrassing vituperations, such as, "Why don't you just go get the lame job you're destined for at the state budget office?"

1998 June 22, John Cloud, “Cinema: An X-Phile Confesses”, in Time:

Fanny has to be wooed with tenderness and humility - cue much UST (Hollywoodese for Unresolved Sexual Tension) as their slow-burn romance creates an incredible chemistry between Russell and Marion.

2006 October 20, Maureen Paton, “Self-made Marion”, in Daily Mail:

Oyelowo is a fashion victim and trots around her new patch in pretty stilettos. She changes her outfit and hair at least four times in each episode and spends a lot of time bickering with her new boss. Oh, did I mention they were an item long ago? Hence all that UST.

2008 June 7, Rosalie Higson, “Light touches add amusement to crime”, in The Australian:

(narratology) Initialism of unresolved sexual tension.


Watsonian

en-adj

Watsonian (comparative more Watsonian, superlative most Watsonian)

more Watsonian (comparative)
most Watsonian (superlative)

From Watson + -ian. "In-universe" sense formed in reference to Dr. John Watson, the fictional author within the text of the Sherlock Holmes stories, in contrast to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the real author of the stories. Started in Sherlock Holmes fandom before spreading to other fandoms. Possibly originating in the "Baker Street Irregulars" fan club and entering the science fiction fandom usage (fanspeak) via the Lois McMaster Bujold mailing list.

I would accept that many of them behave like humans born on earth would, but that must be an artefact of poor translation or our poor understanding of their motives and objectives [Watsonian] or lack of vision on the writers part [Doylist - to borrow some terms from the Bujold mailing list - think 'as written by' Dr Watson or by Arthur Conan Doyle].

2000 October 6, Martin Bonham, “Banks was Re: Multi-culturalism in space?”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <970804830.406747@hermes>:

IIRC, Wells specifically described the choice of Southern England as being as much about "bridgehead" as about "decapitation strike". I think he said something about settling in to the island and building up strength before spreading out to the continent and planet.¶ That's the Watsonian explanation of course, the Doyleist explanation is that he was writing an allegory of white men wiping about the Tasmanians, from the point of view of the Tasmanians. He needed to set it where his English readers would be horrified by the destruction, and the Martian invasion of Korea or Florida or Sri Lanka, or even Ireland, wouldn't have had as much of an impact.

2005 May 30, Del Cotter, “Re: The past as a foreign country”, in rec.arts.sf.written (Usenet), message-ID <oZTd7a9563mCFw2X@branta.demon.co.uk>:

While fans recognize and do engage in Doylist readings, they tend to find Watsonian readings more engaging. Fan fiction writers in particular engage with the text intradiegetically.

2012, Laurie Cubbison, “Russell T Davies, 'Nine Hysterical Women,' and the Death of Ianto Jones”, in New Media Literacies and Participatory Popular Culture Across Borders, →ISBN:

I think the best Watsonian explanation is that shopkeepers aren't quite right in the head. They know that most players intend to rob them blind, but don't understand how the successful ones are doing it.

2014 March 28, Michael Deutschmann, “Re: WhichDevTeam-enabled actions seem like cheating to you?”, in rec.games.roguelike.nethack (Usenet), message-ID <%gcXNTpsfY@bagheera.talosis.ca>:

(fandom slang, narratology) From an in-universe perspective; of or relating to an explanation within the text; internal to the narrative.


alívio cómico

pt-noun

alívio cómico m (plural alívios cómicos)

alívios cómicos (plural)
alívio cômico (alternative Brazil)

(narratology) comic relief (inclusion of a humorous character or scene)


jump scare

jump scares (plural)
jump-scare (alternative)
jumpscare (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-jump scare.wav

They'd do something horrible, maybe kill off a few protagonists, and then make people sit around waiting for the next terrible thing to come along. They called it “setting up a jump scare.”

2011, Mira Grant, Deadline, Orbit, published 2011, →ISBN:

Drag Me to Hell capitalizes on the jump scare, scattering it liberally throughout the film to the point where it becomes almost numbing.

2011, John Rosenberg, The Healthy Edit: Creative Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie, Focal Press, →ISBN, pages 80–81:

This quiet is broken suddenly with an initial jump scare of the puppet's iconic laughter.

2013, Jeffrey Bullins, “Hearing the Game: Sound Design”, in James Aston, editor, To See the Saw Movies: Essays on Torture Porn and Post-9/11 Horror, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 188:

(narratology) The technique, typically used in horror films and video games, of having something occur suddenly and without warning to frighten the audience.

säikäytys

a technique to suddenly scare the audience


przypowieść

pl-noun

przypowieść f (diminutive przypowiastka)

przypowiastka (diminutive)
przypowieść (nominative singular)
przypowieści (nominative plural)
przypowieści (genitive singular)
przypowieści (genitive plural)
przypowieści (dative singular)
przypowieściom (dative plural)
przypowieść (accusative singular)
przypowieści (accusative plural)
przypowieścią (instrumental singular)
przypowieściami (instrumental plural)
przypowieści (locative singular)
przypowieściach (locative plural)
przypowieści (singular vocative)
przypowieści (plural vocative)

/pʂɘˈpɔ.vjɛɕt͡ɕ/

/pʂɨˈpɔ.vjɛɕt͡ɕ/

Inherited from Old Polish przypowieść. By surface analysis, deverbal from przypowiedzieć.


happy ever after

en-noun

happy ever after (plural happy ever afters)

happily ever after
happily ever after#English

happily ever after

(narratology) Synonym of happily ever after (“a story, or a conclusion to a story, in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness”)


фабула

ru-noun+

фа́була • (fábula) f inan (genitive фа́булы, nominative plural фа́булы, genitive plural фа́бул)

фа́була (canonical)
fábula (romanization)
фа́булы (genitive)
фа́булы (nominative plural)
фа́бул (genitive plural)
фа́була (nominative singular)
фа́булы (nominative plural)
фа́булы (genitive singular)
фа́бул (genitive plural)
фа́буле (dative singular)
фа́булам (dative plural)
фа́булу (accusative singular)
фа́булы (accusative plural)
фа́булой (instrumental singular)
фа́булою (instrumental singular)
фа́булами (instrumental plural)
фа́буле (prepositional singular)
фа́булах (plural prepositional)

Такова́ го́лая фа́була зага́дочной дра́мы, столь неожи́данно омрачи́вшей ми́рное тече́ние да́чной жи́зни.

1884, Михаил Салтыков-Щедрин [Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin], “Письмо II”, in Пёстрые письма; English translation from (Please provide a date or year):

Taková gólaja fábula zagádočnoj drámy, stolʹ neožídanno omračívšej mírnoje tečénije dáčnoj žízni.


фабула

uk-noun

фа́була • (fábula) f inan (genitive фа́були, nominative plural фа́були, genitive plural фа́бул)

фа́була (canonical)
fábula (romanization)
фа́були (genitive)
фа́були (nominative plural)
фа́бул (genitive plural)
фа́була (nominative singular)
фа́були (nominative plural)
фа́були (genitive singular)
фа́бул (genitive plural)
фа́булі (dative singular)
фа́булам (dative plural)
фа́булу (accusative singular)
фа́були (accusative plural)
фа́булою (instrumental singular)
фа́булами (instrumental plural)
фа́булі (locative singular)
фа́булах (locative plural)
фа́було (singular vocative)
фа́були (plural vocative)


play of words

1683, William Atwood, Three Letters to Dr. Sherlock Concerning Church-communion, Jonathan Robinson, page 16,
Great is Diana of the Epheſians, and great is the uſe of the word Church, when good Crafts-maſters have the handling of it; and of all Men thoſe of Rome have ſucceeded beſt at this play of words.

1988, Span, Issue 26, University of Queensland, page 104,
At the outset the reader is fascinated by the complex surface play of words. In the poem 'Paraphrase' the play of words is likened to the play of imagery on the surface of a lake; words 'beckon' and 'whisper', luring the reader towards an undisclosed meaning or goal.

The components of that analysis will be: characterization of a main figure in the narrative, the use of time and the patterning play of words.

2000, John A. Beck, Translators as Storytellers, Peter Lang, page 81:

2000, Stephanie Quinn, Why Vergil?, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, page 3,
In addition, the selections are organized to make a case for the value of the play of words and for their power, about ideas and history, and art.

(narratology, rhetoric) The ordering of words in a text, speech, etc., taking regard for both the individual words (their meanings, sounds, etc.) and the interplay between them.


Doylist

en-adj

Doylist (comparative more Doylist, superlative most Doylist)

more Doylist (comparative)
most Doylist (superlative)

From Doyle + -ist, with reference to Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories.
Adjective formed by analogy to Doyle as the real author of the text, as opposed to Dr. John Watson as the fictional author within the text. Started in Sherlock Holmes fandom before spreading to other fandoms. Possibly originating in the "Baker Street Irregulars" fan club and entering the science fiction fandom usage (fanspeak) via the Lois McMaster Bujold mailing list.

Roddenberry's official explaination^([sic]) was "They always looked like that. We just didn't have the budjet^([sic]) in the 1960's to show them properly."¶ This is one case where I prefer the Doylist explaination^([sic]).

2001 September 30, Rob Wynne, “Re: OK, Enterprise...”, in rec.music.filk (Usenet), message-ID <74Jt7.875$oL3.24397@eagle.america.net>:

(fandom slang, narratology) From a real-world perspective; of or relating to an explanation outside the text; external to the narrative.


hypodiegetic

hypodiegetic (comparative more hypodiegetic, superlative most hypodiegetic)

more hypodiegetic (comparative)
most hypodiegetic (superlative)

In Jane Eyre this hypodiegetic level is only attained four times again, first in chapter fifteen, in which Rochester tells Jane about his mistress Celine Varens, second in chapter twenty-seven [...]

1999, Esther Schönberger-Schleicher, Charlotte and Emily Brontë: a narrative analysis of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, →ISBN, page 182:

Gretta's story, by contrast, has all the force of an authentic performance, a spontaneous speech-act that recreates its own referential validity. As such, it is the most coherent and integrated hypodiegetic act of narration in Dubliners.

2004, Gerald Doherty, Dubliners' Dozen, page 132:

Continuing this issue of depth: backgrounds are also used throughout some issues of Sandman, for example in Sandman #6 (“24 Hours”) where they provide mood, or Sandman #3 (“Dream a Little Dream of Me”) where a hypodiegetic dream story underlies the pages (see for example page 22), with the diegetic narrative sequence overlaid.

2014, Julia Round, Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels, page 71:

(narratology) Pertaining to a secondary narrative embedded within the primary narrative (a story within a story).


metadiegetic

metadiegetic (comparative more metadiegetic, superlative most metadiegetic)

more metadiegetic (comparative)
most metadiegetic (superlative)

A particularly striking example appears in Hawthorne's next romance, The House of the Seven Gables, in which Chapter 13 consists entirely of a metadiegetic narrative entitled "Alice Pyncheon," composed and read by the diegetic character Holgrave.

1995, Michael Dunne, Hawthorne’s Narrative Strategies, page 87:

The diegetic and metadiegetic aspects of the Joker's use of music also persist. Prince's "Trust" features diegetically in the festival parade as the Joker rides on his birthday-cake float, while the Straussian waltz reappears metadiegetically in the cue "Waltz," for the battle between Batman and the Joker's henchman as the Joker waltzes with a semiconscious Vicki in the background. This, and his comment, "shall we dance?" to Batman just before the cue starts again positions this as music that the Joker has control cover: it is more than simply heard in his head.

2004, Janet K. Halfyard, Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide, page 108:

Sound effects are often enlisted to externalize a characters' inner thoughts, nightmares, hallucinations, dreams, or wishes. We might hear, for example, the laughter of a child as a woman picks up a doll from childhood. This gives the scene a surreal feeling. This effect is often called meta-diegetic.

2005, Jennifer Van Sijll, “Sound Effects”, in Cinematic Storytelling, →ISBN, page 90:


tiền truyện

[tiən˨˩ t͡ɕwiən˧˨ʔ]

[tiəŋ˦˩ ʈwiəŋ˨˩ʔ]

[tiəŋ˨˩ ʈ⁽ʷ⁾iəŋ˨˩˨]

Bảo Liên Đăng tiền truyện

(literary, narratology) prequel; prelude


tục biên

[tʊwk͡p̚˧˨ʔ ʔɓiən˧˧]

[tʊwk͡p̚˨˩ʔ ʔɓiəŋ˧˧]

[tʊwk͡p̚˨˩˨ ʔɓiəŋ˧˧]

Đại Việt sử kí tục biên

Sequel to the Historical Records of the Great Viet


tiền biên

[tiən˨˩ ʔɓiən˧˧]

[tiəŋ˦˩ ʔɓiəŋ˧˧]

[tiəŋ˨˩ ʔɓiəŋ˧˧]

Đại Việt sử kí tiền biên

Prequel to the Historical Records of the Great Viet


akká:ra’ (first-person possessive singular)
onkeniká:ra’ (dual first-person possessive)
onkwaká:ra’ (first-person plural possessive)
saká:ra’ (possessive second-person singular)
seniká:ra’ (dual possessive second-person)
sewaká:ra’ (plural possessive second-person)
raoká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
akoká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
aoká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
raotiká:ra’ (plural possessive third-person)
aotiká:ra’ (plural possessive third-person)
tewakká:ra’ (first-person possessive singular)
teionkeniká:ra’ (dual first-person possessive)
teionkwaká:ra’ (first-person plural possessive)
tesaká:ra’ (possessive second-person singular)
teseniká:ra’ (dual possessive second-person)
tesewaká:ra’ (plural possessive second-person)
tehoká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
teioká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
teiakoká:ra’ (dual possessive third-person)
tehotiká:ra’ (plural possessive third-person)
teiotiká:ra’ (plural possessive third-person)

(narratology) account, narrative, story or tale


analepse

(narratology) analepsis (flashback in which earlier parts of a narrative are related to others that have already been narrated)


analepticamente

(narratology) analeptically (by means of analepsis)


anti-heroicamente

pt-adv

anti-heroicamente (comparable, comparative mais anti-heroicamente, superlative o mais anti-heroicamente)

mais anti-heroicamente (comparative)
o mais anti-heroicamente (superlative)

[ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.eˌɾɔɪ̯.kaˈmẽ.t͡ʃi]

[ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.eˌɾɔɪ̯.kaˈmẽ.t͡ʃi]

(narratology) antiheroically (in an antiheroic manner)


anti-heroico

pt-adj

anti-heroico (feminine anti-heroica, masculine plural anti-heroicos, feminine plural anti-heroicas)

anti-heroica (feminine)
anti-heroicos (masculine plural)
anti-heroicas (feminine plural)

[ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.eˈɾɔɪ̯.ku]

[ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.eˈɾɔɪ̯.ku]

[ˌɐ̃.t͡ʃi.eˈɾɔɪ̯.ko]

From anti- + heroico or anti-herói + -ico.

(narratology) antiheroic (pertaining to or typical of an antihero)


antinarrativa

(narratology) antinarrative (a narrative that deliberately avoids the typical conventions of the narrative)


arquivilão

(chiefly narratology) archvillain (a supreme villain)


licença poética

pt-noun

licença poética f (plural licenças poéticas)

(narratology) poetic licence (the figurative right to embellish a story)


prequela

(narratology, Portugal) prequel (in a series of works, an instalment that is set chronologically before its predecessor)


focalizer

focalizers (plural)
focaliser (alternative)

(narratology) A character through which the story is told, and whose perspective the story is told from.


前編

[d͡zẽ̞mpẽ̞ɴ]


metadiegetisch

de-adj

metadiegetisch (strong nominative masculine singular metadiegetischer, not comparable)

metadiegetischer (masculine nominative singular strong)
metadiegetisch (masculine predicative singular)
metadiegetisch (feminine predicative singular)
metadiegetisch (neuter predicative singular)
metadiegetisch (plural predicative)
metadiegetischer (masculine nominative singular strong without-article)
metadiegetische (feminine nominative singular strong without-article)
metadiegetisches (neuter nominative singular strong without-article)
metadiegetische (nominative plural strong without-article)
metadiegetischen (genitive masculine singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischer (feminine genitive singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischen (genitive neuter singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischer (genitive plural strong without-article)
metadiegetischem (dative masculine singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischer (dative feminine singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischem (dative neuter singular strong without-article)
metadiegetischen (dative plural strong without-article)
metadiegetischen (accusative masculine singular strong without-article)
metadiegetische (accusative feminine singular strong without-article)
metadiegetisches (accusative neuter singular strong without-article)
metadiegetische (accusative plural strong without-article)
der metadiegetische (definite includes-article masculine nominative singular weak)
die metadiegetische (definite feminine includes-article nominative singular weak)
das metadiegetische (definite includes-article neuter nominative singular weak)
die metadiegetischen (definite includes-article nominative plural weak)
des metadiegetischen (definite genitive includes-article masculine singular weak)
der metadiegetischen (definite feminine genitive includes-article singular weak)
des metadiegetischen (definite genitive includes-article neuter singular weak)
der metadiegetischen (definite genitive includes-article plural weak)
dem metadiegetischen (dative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
der metadiegetischen (dative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
dem metadiegetischen (dative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
den metadiegetischen (dative definite includes-article plural weak)
den metadiegetischen (accusative definite includes-article masculine singular weak)
die metadiegetische (accusative definite feminine includes-article singular weak)
das metadiegetische (accusative definite includes-article neuter singular weak)
die metadiegetischen (accusative definite includes-article plural weak)
ein metadiegetischer (includes-article indefinite masculine mixed nominative singular)
eine metadiegetische (feminine includes-article indefinite mixed nominative singular)
ein metadiegetisches (includes-article indefinite mixed neuter nominative singular)
metadiegetischen (indefinite mixed nominative plural)
keine metadiegetischen (includes-article indefinite mixed negative nominative plural)
eines metadiegetischen (genitive includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer metadiegetischen (feminine genitive includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
eines metadiegetischen (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
metadiegetischen (genitive indefinite mixed plural)
keiner metadiegetischen (genitive includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einem metadiegetischen (dative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
einer metadiegetischen (dative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
einem metadiegetischen (dative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
metadiegetischen (dative indefinite mixed plural)
keinen metadiegetischen (dative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)
einen metadiegetischen (accusative includes-article indefinite masculine mixed singular)
eine metadiegetische (accusative feminine includes-article indefinite mixed singular)
ein metadiegetisches (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed neuter singular)
metadiegetischen (accusative indefinite mixed plural)
keine metadiegetischen (accusative includes-article indefinite mixed negative plural)


hồi

Sino-Vietnamese word from 回 (“to return; occurrence classifier; chapter classifier”).

vi-etym-sino

Hồi 1, Cảnh 1

cấu trúc 3 hồi


discours direct

fr-noun

discours direct m (usually uncountable, plural discours directs)


discours indirect

discours indirect m (usually uncountable, plural discours indirects)

(grammar, narratology) reported speech, indirect speech


origin story

More unsettling was the origin story of the infamous tell-all book Princess in Love. Diana claimed to be outraged in 1994 when Daily Express journalist Anna Pasternak spilled the beans of her affair with former army officer James Hewitt[…]

2022 April 5, Tina Brown, “How Princess Diana’s Dance With the Media Impacted William and Harry”, in Vanity Fair:

Premiering July 10, The Anarchists[…]circles loosely around these dilemmas throughout six episodes that alternate between origin story, character study, true crime, and trend report.

2022 July 8, Judy Berman, “The Anarchists Is a Messy, Gripping Anarcho-Capitalist Saga”, in Time:

George Miller returns to direct an origin story for the character that Charlize Theron played in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” with Anya Taylor-Joy in the Furiosa role.

2024 January 1, Holland Cotter, Alissa Wilkinson, Mike Hale, Salamishah Tillet, Jesse Green, “What Our Critics Are Looking Forward to in 2024”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(narratology) An account of how a fictional character or characters became a protagonist or antagonist.


pourquoi story

en-noun

pourquoi story (plural pourquoi stories)

(narratology) A fictional narrative that explains the cause or reason for something the way that it is.


ngày nảy ngày nay

Từ láy formation of ngày nay (“nowadays”), jocularly inspired by ngày xửa ngày xưa.

(narratology, humorous) nowadays; in this day and age


dialogue tag

Not every paragraph of dialogue needs to have a dialogue tag attached to it.

Sometimes inexperienced writers will discover the useful tool of tacking on detail to a dialog tag with a present participal or adverbial phrase: "It's too late," she said, closing the door.

2000, Tom Romano, Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers, →ISBN, page 63:

A dialogue tag has to indicate sound

2004, Leslie Wainger, Writing a Romance Novel For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons:

An alternative style forsakes italics altogether and assigns a dialogue tag: This is going nowhere, he thought.

2011, Deborah Halverson, Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons:

A line of dialogue followed by a dialogue tag looks like this: “Nothing suits me better than a fried egg on toast early in the morning,” Billy said.

2015, Kris James with Laura E. Koons and Stefanie Spangler Buswell, Beyond the Style Manual: Bundle #1, Red Adept Publishing:

(narratology, authorship) A sentence part that attributes a piece of written dialogue to its speaker. (e.g. In "Get out of here," he said, "he said" is a dialogue tag.)


alegoryczny

pl-adj

alegoryczny (comparative bardziej alegoryczny, superlative najbardziej alegoryczny, derived adverb alegorycznie)

bardziej alegoryczny (comparative)
najbardziej alegoryczny (superlative)
alegoryczny (masculine nominative singular)
alegoryczna (feminine nominative singular)
alegoryczne (neuter nominative singular)
alegoryczni (nominative plural virile)
alegoryczne (nominative plural)
alegorycznego (genitive masculine singular)
alegorycznej (feminine genitive singular)
alegorycznego (genitive neuter singular)
alegorycznych (genitive plural)
alegorycznych (genitive plural virile)
alegorycznemu (dative masculine singular)
alegorycznej (dative feminine singular)
alegorycznemu (dative neuter singular)
alegorycznym (dative plural)
alegorycznym (dative plural virile)
alegorycznego (accusative animate masculine singular)
alegoryczny (accusative inanimate masculine singular)
alegoryczną (accusative feminine singular)
alegoryczne (accusative neuter singular)
alegorycznych (accusative plural virile)
alegoryczne (accusative plural)
alegorycznym (instrumental masculine singular)
alegoryczną (feminine instrumental singular)
alegorycznym (instrumental neuter singular)
alegorycznymi (instrumental plural)
alegorycznymi (instrumental plural virile)
alegorycznym (locative masculine singular)
alegorycznej (feminine locative singular)
alegorycznym (locative neuter singular)
alegorycznych (locative plural)
alegorycznych (locative plural virile)

From alegoria + -yczny. First attested in 1583.

ref

Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “alegoryczny”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]

(narratology, relational, rhetoric) allegorical


alegorycznie

pl-adv

alegorycznie (comparative bardziej alegorycznie, superlative najbardziej alegorycznie)

bardziej alegorycznie (comparative)
najbardziej alegorycznie (superlative)

/a.lɛ.ɡɔˈrɘt͡ʂ.ɲɛ/

From alegoryczny + -ie. First attested in 1743–1745.

ref

Barbara Rykiel-Kempf (06.05.2009) “ALEGORYCZNIE”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]

interpretować alegorycznie

odczytywać alegorycznie

przedstawić alegorycznie

rozumieć alegorycznie

mówić alegorycznie


có hậu

[kɔ˧˦ həw˧˨ʔ]

[kɔ˨˩˦ həw˨˩ʔ]

[kɔ˦˥ həw˨˩˨]

kết thúc có hậu


deutéragoniste

fr-noun

deutéragoniste m or f by sense (plural deutéragonistes)

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δευτεραγωνιστής (deuteragōnistḗs).

lbor

δευτεραγωνιστής


cognitive estrangement

Coined by Yugoslav-born academic, writer and critic Darko Suvin in his 1979 book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction.

In his book Metamorphoses of Science Fiction (1979), Suvin introduced a number of ideas that remain central in sf criticism: cognitive estrangement, the novum and sf's genetic link with utopia. In the notion of cognitive estrangement, Suvin conflate two distinct, but related, ideas of estrangement from earlier literary theory: ostranenie (de-familiarization) from the Russian Formalists, and Berthold Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect).[…]Even more influential in sf theory than cognitive estrangement is Suvin's concept of the novum.

2003, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., “7: Marxist theory and science fiction”, in Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn, editors, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, Cambridge University Press, page 118:

Cognitive estrangement can therefore be seen as defining the textual effects of such work: the text faces its audience with something that will not fit into the existing patterns of verisimilitude, yet is being asserted and explored as fact.

2005, Jan Johnson-Smith, American Science Fiction TV: Star Trek, Stargate and Beyond, I.B. Tauris, page 26:

Darko Suvin, the eminent theorist of science fiction, defined science fiction as a literature of cognitive estrangement, a genre in which the reader enters an imaginative world different or estranged from his or her empirical world, but different in a way that obeys rational causation or scientific law: thus, it is estranged cognitively.

2011, Roger Luckhurst, “1: In the Zone: Topologies of Genre Weirdness”, in Sara Wasson, Emily Alder, editors, Gothic Science Fiction 1980-2010, Liverpool University Press, page 21:

(literature, narratology) A narrative logic, characteristic of science fiction, whereby devices used in the story are afforded plausibility by their being placed in the context of the fictional setting, which is envisioned to be scientifically consistent.

spoznajnog očuđenja

narrative logic characteristic of science fiction