It Didn't Help That X

From Tv Tropes

"It Didn't Help That ..." is a phrase similar to Nevermind That X. On TV Tropes, it's often Pot Hole'd as Understatement, as it seems to devalue the importance of the explanation after it, which in other contexts would be bigger.

It is often used as a Justification to a previous idea.

The Inversion is "It helps that", although more rarely used.

Examples in media

• Warhammer 40,000 novels dwelv into this:
  • In Soul Drinkers:

    No doubt it had been an artistic marvel in its day, but now it was dark and sinister. The way the mandrakes could occasionally be seen, bleeding from one shadow to the next, didn't help.

  • Horus Heresy book The First Heretic:

    The captain had never heard the layer of unease in Xaphen's voice before. It was not helping his own fragile calm.

• Doctor Jenner from The Walking Dead uses this line at the beginning of his introduction episode.