Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

About

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat is a slang expression and catchphrase primarily used as a tag on fanfiction websites, such as Archive of Our Own, and is used to indicate that pieces with the tag contain disturbing imagery or content and those proceeding will be reading at their own risk. The term comes from the I Don't Know What I Expected gag from Arrested Development.

Origin

On April 14th, 2015, Tumblr^[1] user mostlyvalid proposed using "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" as a fanfiction tag to alert users that other tags alerting readers to potentially objectionable content will, in fact, appear in the work "exactly as said."

"There will not necessarily be any subversion, authorial commentary condemning problematic aspects, or meditation on potential harm. this fic contains dead dove. if you proceed, you should expect to encounter it."

The user referenced the "I Don't Know What I Expected" scene from Arrested Development as inspiration for the tag in which Michael Bluth opens the fridge and finds a bag labeled "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat!" that he proceeds to open and says, "I don't know what I expected" after finding a dead bird. The post gained over 17,000 notes in nearly nine years.

Spread

As of December 6th, 2023, over 63,000 works on Archive of Our Own^[2] feature the tag "Dead Dove Do Not Eat," and many pieces that were written before the introduction of the tag were given the tag after it was introduced.

Users of the site began inquiring about the meaning of the term shortly after it was introduced. For example, on September 29th, 2016, Tumblr user whatisthehydratrashdayparty^[3] explained its meaning to an anonymous asker, gaining over 6,400 notes in over seven years.

On May 15th, 2019, Urban Dictionary^[4] user nopseudoavailable posted a definition for the term, gaining over 1,300 likes in four and a half years (shown below).

The Fanlore^[5] wiki covered the spread of Dead Dove: Do Not Eat and noted that confusion arose when writers began simply implying their works had disturbing sections and imagery with the tag "Dead Doves," a usage that differed from the original definition.

In the 2020s, there has been some debate over the proper usage of "Dead Dove," as some have continued to use it as originally intended and others have used it to warn readers that there will be generally disturbing content in their piece. Others have begun to criticize "Dead Dove" writers and have begun using it as an insult, equating their pieces with problematic behaviors and kinks.

A uQuiz^[6] personality quiz referencing the term titled "Which Dead Dove Trope Are You?" by user wingedburden has gone viral several times in the fanfiction community.

Search Interest

External References