As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Difference between revisions

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** And then there's Rolo, which could be a candy bar or a character from ''[[Sanford and Son]]''.
** And then there's Rolo, which could be a candy bar or a character from ''[[Sanford and Son]]''.
* ''[[FLCL]]'', or ''Fooly Cooly," was thus entitled because the meaningless phrase, according to the design staff, "sounded English."
* ''[[FLCL]]'', or ''Fooly Cooly," was thus entitled because the meaningless phrase, according to the design staff, "sounded English."
** The character "Atomsk". [[Word of God]] says the director chose that name because he saw it in English on a book cover (presumably [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomsk_(novel) this one]) and thought it looked cool.
** The character "Atomsk". [[Word of God]] says the director chose that name because he saw it in English on a book cover (presumably [[wikipedia:Atomsk (novel)|this one]]) and thought it looked cool.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'''s Walter Dollneas has a surname consisting of two Welsh words that don't often appear together, let alone appear in a surname. Hirano has all but admitted that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing with the foreign names.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'''s Walter Dollneas has a surname consisting of two Welsh words that don't often appear together, let alone appear in a surname. Hirano has all but admitted that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing with the foreign names.
* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'':
* ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'':
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* In ''[[Stripes]]'', the Soviet soldiers of Czechoslovakia all speak with vaguely Russian-sounding grunts.
* In ''[[Stripes]]'', the Soviet soldiers of Czechoslovakia all speak with vaguely Russian-sounding grunts.
* A [[Lzherusskie]] flavoured example would be "general Radek", a minor antagonist from the movie ''[[Air Force One (Film)|Air Force One]]''. Radek sounds like an awfully Russian name, da? Well... nyet! "Radek" is not a Russian name - in fact, it's not even a (usual) surname in any Slavic language. It's a given name, specifically a typical Czech diminutive of the male name Radoslav (as a certain [[Stargate Atlantis|Dr. Radek Zelenka]] will tell you).
* A [[Lzherusskie]] flavoured example would be "general Radek", a minor antagonist from the movie ''[[Air Force One (Film)|Air Force One]]''. Radek sounds like an awfully Russian name, da? Well... nyet! "Radek" is not a Russian name - in fact, it's not even a (usual) surname in any Slavic language. It's a given name, specifically a typical Czech diminutive of the male name Radoslav (as a certain [[Stargate Atlantis|Dr. Radek Zelenka]] will tell you).
** On the other hand, there was an actual person named [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Radek Karl Radek], who was a genuine Communist at the time of [[Red October]]. On the other hand, it was a self-selected name; he was born Karol Sobelsohn.
** On the other hand, there was an actual person named [[wikipedia:Karl Radek|Karl Radek]], who was a genuine Communist at the time of [[Red October]]. On the other hand, it was a self-selected name; he was born Karol Sobelsohn.
** Of course, had Radek actually spoken a word in the film, he would've sounded more German than Russian, given that he was played by Jürgen Prochnow, although the actor's English is pretty good.
** Of course, had Radek actually spoken a word in the film, he would've sounded more German than Russian, given that he was played by Jürgen Prochnow, although the actor's English is pretty good.
* In [[Transformers Dark of the Moon]], Agent Simmons' "German" is simply a string of meaningless consonants and vowel sounds that sounds closer to Geonosian than German. So bad it was probably intentional. If not...
* In [[Transformers Dark of the Moon]], Agent Simmons' "German" is simply a string of meaningless consonants and vowel sounds that sounds closer to Geonosian than German. So bad it was probably intentional. If not...
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** Meanwhile ''CSI: NY'' features some odd choices for character names from time to time, like that one girl named Risa Calaveras ("Laugh Skulls" in Spanish).
** Meanwhile ''CSI: NY'' features some odd choices for character names from time to time, like that one girl named Risa Calaveras ("Laugh Skulls" in Spanish).
* ''[[The Fast Show]]'''s "Channel 9" sketch, inspired by baffling Central European televison, has monologues like "Et-eth-etth-thethet-Chris Waddle." (A British footballer, chosen for no good reason.) It started out as a [[Kent Brockman News|news broadcast]], and expanded into adverts, dramas and a nativity play ("SPROG!").
* ''[[The Fast Show]]'''s "Channel 9" sketch, inspired by baffling Central European televison, has monologues like "Et-eth-etth-thethet-Chris Waddle." (A British footballer, chosen for no good reason.) It started out as a [[Kent Brockman News|news broadcast]], and expanded into adverts, dramas and a nativity play ("SPROG!").
** The lottery skit - where the "random" numbers were clearly visible before being light up, and the sequence went something like: 9 - Tosis, 20 - Myxama, 29 - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxamatosis Myxama-Tosis.]
** The lottery skit - where the "random" numbers were clearly visible before being light up, and the sequence went something like: 9 - Tosis, 20 - Myxama, 29 - [[wikipedia:Myxamatosis|Myxama-Tosis.]]
** "Scorchio!" Brrrr.
** "Scorchio!" Brrrr.
** Boutros-Boutros-Ghali!
** Boutros-Boutros-Ghali!
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* You don't seriously think the lyrics of [[The Arrogant Worms]]' "Gaelic Song" actually ''mean'' anything, do you?
* You don't seriously think the lyrics of [[The Arrogant Worms]]' "Gaelic Song" actually ''mean'' anything, do you?
* Request-a-Song's [http://www.request-a-song.com/songs/viewsong.php?songid=99 "Ancient Chinese Secret (from Japan)"] contains a line of pseudo-Japanese and two lines of pseudo-Chinese, but it's all genuine gibberish.
* Request-a-Song's [http://www.request-a-song.com/songs/viewsong.php?songid=99 "Ancient Chinese Secret (from Japan)"] contains a line of pseudo-Japanese and two lines of pseudo-Chinese, but it's all genuine gibberish.
* Somewhat inverted with Adiemus. The language for this series of albums was deliberately stylized, 'not'' to be in any recognizable tongue. Instead, the intent was for the listener to percieve the voices as instruments, as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiemus The Other Wiki] explains.
* Somewhat inverted with Adiemus. The language for this series of albums was deliberately stylized, 'not'' to be in any recognizable tongue. Instead, the intent was for the listener to percieve the voices as instruments, as [[wikipedia:Adiemus|The Other Wiki]] explains.
* [[Billy Joel]]'s song "Don't Ask Me Why" inexplicably drops "parlez-vous francais" ("Do you speak French?") for no other reason than it rhymes with the word "away".
* [[Billy Joel]]'s song "Don't Ask Me Why" inexplicably drops "parlez-vous francais" ("Do you speak French?") for no other reason than it rhymes with the word "away".
{{quote| Yesterday you were an only child<br />
{{quote| Yesterday you were an only child<br />
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* [[David Bowie]] uses the phrase "Ouvre le chien" in two different songs. The literal translation from French is "Open the dog."
* [[David Bowie]] uses the phrase "Ouvre le chien" in two different songs. The literal translation from French is "Open the dog."
* The [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] song ''Around the World'' has parts of the chorus sung in a fake stereotypical Chinese sounding language.
* The [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] song ''Around the World'' has parts of the chorus sung in a fake stereotypical Chinese sounding language.
* Played for humor in the Angry Salad cover of Nena's "99 Red Balloons": their version is mainly in English (based on the translated version released as a single), but towards the end vocalist Bob Whelan starts throwing in stock German phrases, as a tongue in cheek nod to the original German version: "99 o tannenbaum, weinerschnitzel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrvergn%C3%BCgen Fahrvergnügen...]"
* Played for humor in the Angry Salad cover of Nena's "99 Red Balloons": their version is mainly in English (based on the translated version released as a single), but towards the end vocalist Bob Whelan starts throwing in stock German phrases, as a tongue in cheek nod to the original German version: "99 o tannenbaum, weinerschnitzel [[wikipedia:Fahrvergn%C3%BCgen|Fahrvergnügen...]]"
* Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" features some African-sounding gibberish in its breakdown section. Richie originally wanted an authentic translation, but after learning there were literally thousands of languages spoken in Africa, he decided it was easier to just make something up.
* Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" features some African-sounding gibberish in its breakdown section. Richie originally wanted an authentic translation, but after learning there were literally thousands of languages spoken in Africa, he decided it was easier to just make something up.
* As part of the satire, the "Inuit" chanting in [[The Residents]]' ''Eskimo'' is actually strangely enunciated English: Most famously the track "Festival Of Death" includes a garbled chant that is actually "Coca-cola adds life!".
* As part of the satire, the "Inuit" chanting in [[The Residents]]' ''Eskimo'' is actually strangely enunciated English: Most famously the track "Festival Of Death" includes a garbled chant that is actually "Coca-cola adds life!".
* [[Lady Gaga (Music)|"I don't speak German,]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sNi9nIXxVo but I can if you want."]
* [[Lady Gaga (Music)|"I don't speak German,]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sNi9nIXxVo but I can if you want."]
* Sophie B. Hawkins' "As I Lay Me Down" has the exotic-sounding but nonsensical syllables "ooh la kah koh" as backing vocals. She once claimed it meant "wash your feet before you sleep" in "an indigenous language of the Ballantine tribe", and this joke tends to get taken at face value.
* Sophie B. Hawkins' "As I Lay Me Down" has the exotic-sounding but nonsensical syllables "ooh la kah koh" as backing vocals. She once claimed it meant "wash your feet before you sleep" in "an indigenous language of the Ballantine tribe", and this joke tends to get taken at face value.
* Stephen Stills (who attended a school in Costa Rica during his youth) has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite:_Judy_Blue_Eyes#Final_section supposedly claimed] the "Spanish" at the end of "Suite:Judy Blue Eyes" is meant to be incomprehensible even to Spanish speakers, and that he arranged the "doo doo doo doo doo, dat doot doo doo doo dit"s over them to obscure it and make it even more difficult to decipher.
* Stephen Stills (who attended a school in Costa Rica during his youth) has [[wikipedia:Suite: Judy Blue Eyes#Final section|supposedly claimed]] the "Spanish" at the end of "Suite:Judy Blue Eyes" is meant to be incomprehensible even to Spanish speakers, and that he arranged the "doo doo doo doo doo, dat doot doo doo doo dit"s over them to obscure it and make it even more difficult to decipher.
* The [[Cocteau Twins]] built pretty much their entire career around this. Sometimes, in Elizabeth Fraser's euglossolalic vocalizations, you can hear fragments of actual words in English or some other languages (supposedly odd bits of obscure Scottish slang). Robin Guthrie says the Japanese audiences, when they played shows there, sort of inverted the trope in that they'd all actually thought she was singing in Japanese.
* The [[Cocteau Twins]] built pretty much their entire career around this. Sometimes, in Elizabeth Fraser's euglossolalic vocalizations, you can hear fragments of actual words in English or some other languages (supposedly odd bits of obscure Scottish slang). Robin Guthrie says the Japanese audiences, when they played shows there, sort of inverted the trope in that they'd all actually thought she was singing in Japanese.


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** They are the first, to this troper's knowledge, to correctly use the phrase" do svidania", which is normally used in movies to mean "good bye". To be fair, that is what it means, but in the context of "see you later". Literally it means "until (our) meeting". Which means you wouldn't say it to a guy you're about to shoot (unless you're very religious). The proper word in this case would be "proshchai" (a final goodbye). [[Tim Curry|Premier Cherdenko]] uses it correctly.
** They are the first, to this troper's knowledge, to correctly use the phrase" do svidania", which is normally used in movies to mean "good bye". To be fair, that is what it means, but in the context of "see you later". Literally it means "until (our) meeting". Which means you wouldn't say it to a guy you're about to shoot (unless you're very religious). The proper word in this case would be "proshchai" (a final goodbye). [[Tim Curry|Premier Cherdenko]] uses it correctly.
{{quote| '''Cherdenko''': I will not say "do svidania", commander, for I can assure you... we will never meet... again! }}
{{quote| '''Cherdenko''': I will not say "do svidania", commander, for I can assure you... we will never meet... again! }}
* ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'' features a case with a defendant and witness who speak Borginese, a "language" which consists of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingbat dingbats].
* ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'' features a case with a defendant and witness who speak Borginese, a "language" which consists of [[wikipedia:Dingbat|dingbats]].
** Netopian in ''[[Megaman Battle Network]]'' is also written in dingbats, as is Melnics in [[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]].
** Netopian in ''[[Megaman Battle Network]]'' is also written in dingbats, as is Melnics in [[Tales of Eternia (Video Game)|Tales of Eternia]].
*** Melnics is actually a cipher language with the font based very loosely on the latin alphabet and [http://tales.namco.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47985 can be translated].
*** Melnics is actually a cipher language with the font based very loosely on the latin alphabet and [http://tales.namco.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=47985 can be translated].
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** Used in-universe in the earlier Khan episodes to show how little the guys knew very little about asian cultures, which is in contrast to Cotton, who can tell Khan's nationality just by looking at him due to having fought asians in the war.
** Used in-universe in the earlier Khan episodes to show how little the guys knew very little about asian cultures, which is in contrast to Cotton, who can tell Khan's nationality just by looking at him due to having fought asians in the war.
* Any signage shown in ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' is either English in a [[Foreign Looking Font]] or meaningless scribbles that resemble Arabic. (There's a possible exception in a sign above Jafar's door that ''might'' possibly have his name and the word ''wazir'' on it, which leads to a bit of [[Fridge Logic]]; why would he need a sign that nobody else sees to just have his name and title on it?)
* Any signage shown in ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' is either English in a [[Foreign Looking Font]] or meaningless scribbles that resemble Arabic. (There's a possible exception in a sign above Jafar's door that ''might'' possibly have his name and the word ''wazir'' on it, which leads to a bit of [[Fridge Logic]]; why would he need a sign that nobody else sees to just have his name and title on it?)
* There is an ethnically Hawaiian character in ''[[Rocket Power]]'' named Tito. [[Did Not Do the Research|there is no letter "T" in the Hawaiian alphabet!]]) And while "Tito" is an actual name, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito it is a Serbo-Croatian one], [[They Just Didn't Care|not a Hawaiian one.]]
* There is an ethnically Hawaiian character in ''[[Rocket Power]]'' named Tito. [[Did Not Do the Research|there is no letter "T" in the Hawaiian alphabet!]]) And while "Tito" is an actual name, [[wikipedia:Josip Broz Tito|it is a Serbo-Croatian one]], [[They Just Didn't Care|not a Hawaiian one.]]
* There is an African character in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', a zebra named Zecora. In her first episode, she speaks a few lines of what is supposed to sound like Swahili. [[Word of God|Lauren Faust]] explained that they were originally going to find someone who actually knew Swahili, but due to time constraints, Zecora's voice actor was told to just say some Swahili-sounding jibberish instead. Points for trying.
* There is an African character in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', a zebra named Zecora. In her first episode, she speaks a few lines of what is supposed to sound like Swahili. [[Word of God|Lauren Faust]] explained that they were originally going to find someone who actually knew Swahili, but due to time constraints, Zecora's voice actor was told to just say some Swahili-sounding jibberish instead. Points for trying.
* [[Played for Laughs]] on ''[[South Park]]'' when Chef joins the Nation of Islam.
* [[Played for Laughs]] on ''[[South Park]]'' when Chef joins the Nation of Islam.
* The alien [[Bounty Hunter]] Embo from ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'' speaks the fictional Kyuzo language, which is really just Dave Filoni speaking intentionally bad French. Interviews say that he mostly just read it out of some French ''[[Smurfs]]'' books, but at least once (in the episode "Crisis on Naboo"), Embo actually says an intelligible French word that fits the situation he's in ("Allez", when telling the other bounty hunters to move).
* The alien [[Bounty Hunter]] Embo from ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'' speaks the fictional Kyuzo language, which is really just Dave Filoni speaking intentionally bad French. Interviews say that he mostly just read it out of some French ''[[Smurfs]]'' books, but at least once (in the episode "Crisis on Naboo"), Embo actually says an intelligible French word that fits the situation he's in ("Allez", when telling the other bounty hunters to move).
* Given an interesting spin in the previous [[Star Wars Clone Wars|Clone Wars]] series. The Nelvaan language is a mix of Russian and Hungarian, read phonetically by voice actors who don't speak the language, to give it a non-natural "alien" sound.
* Given an interesting spin in the previous [[Star Wars Clone Wars|Clone Wars]] series. The Nelvaan language is a mix of Russian and Hungarian, read phonetically by voice actors who don't speak the language, to give it a non-natural "alien" sound.
* [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/VivaPinata Viva Piñata] had a scene with sumo hippos who are implied to be japanese. The words they spoke were japanese alright, but they spoke it completely out of context, especially since the words were like "Sushi" and "Sashimi" that most western audiences would know anyways. It's a funny steath pun considering what comes out of a pinata, but given that they speak perfect english, it's a bit of a [[Mood Whiplash]].
* [[Viva Pinata (Animation)|Viva Piñata]] had a scene with sumo hippos who are implied to be japanese. The words they spoke were japanese alright, but they spoke it completely out of context, especially since the words were like "Sushi" and "Sashimi" that most western audiences would know anyways. It's a funny steath pun considering what comes out of a pinata, but given that they speak perfect english, it's a bit of a [[Mood Whiplash]].


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** In an aversion, German car company Mercedes-Benz uses a "Kompressor" (German for "turbocharger" or "supercharger") badge to designate its turbocharged or supercharged car models.
** In an aversion, German car company Mercedes-Benz uses a "Kompressor" (German for "turbocharger" or "supercharger") badge to designate its turbocharged or supercharged car models.
** The "Deora", Chrysler's concept pickup from 1965, was given that name because they thought it was the female form of "golden" in Spanish (it's actually "Dorada"). Maybe they got confused when they heard "de oro", which means "(made) of gold", and simply exchanged an "o" for an "a".
** The "Deora", Chrysler's concept pickup from 1965, was given that name because they thought it was the female form of "golden" in Spanish (it's actually "Dorada"). Maybe they got confused when they heard "de oro", which means "(made) of gold", and simply exchanged an "o" for an "a".
* In the [[Canis Latinicus|Latin language]], hardly any words at all end in a long E, an "o" isn't masculine, and "-orum" signifies possession. Adding "-us" and "-um" at the the end of every word also does not make it Latin. On the subject of those Sses-yeah, double letters are pronounced as both letters side by side, and they DID have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_profanity obscenities] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgar_Latin slang] (whole book's worth, in fact).
* In the [[Canis Latinicus|Latin language]], hardly any words at all end in a long E, an "o" isn't masculine, and "-orum" signifies possession. Adding "-us" and "-um" at the the end of every word also does not make it Latin. On the subject of those Sses-yeah, double letters are pronounced as both letters side by side, and they DID have [[wikipedia:Latin profanity|obscenities]] and [[wikipedia:Vulgar Latin|slang]] (whole book's worth, in fact).
** On this topic, ''mandamus'' is a Latin verb form conjugation; it means "we order". Omnibus is a dative plural (meaning "for all"). A lot of [[Delusions of Eloquence]] involve omnibi, mandami, and other idiocy.
** On this topic, ''mandamus'' is a Latin verb form conjugation; it means "we order". Omnibus is a dative plural (meaning "for all"). A lot of [[Delusions of Eloquence]] involve omnibi, mandami, and other idiocy.
*** Shouldn't the plurals of ''caveat'' and ''imprimatur'' be ''caveant'' and ''imprimantur''?
*** Shouldn't the plurals of ''caveat'' and ''imprimatur'' be ''caveant'' and ''imprimantur''?
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* Adding "-iau" at the end of every word and speaking bad English in a heavy accent doesn't make you sound Welsh. (for example 'I is Welsh-iau, bruv')
* Adding "-iau" at the end of every word and speaking bad English in a heavy accent doesn't make you sound Welsh. (for example 'I is Welsh-iau, bruv')
** Also, many people believe that simply going 'chhhhggghahhhghahhgggh' sounds like Welsh.
** Also, many people believe that simply going 'chhhhggghahhhghahhgggh' sounds like Welsh.
* Häagen-Dazs ice cream is famous for having chosen a name which sounds... Danish? Hungarian? Foreign -- no matter what your native language is, but doesn't mean anything. In a bizarre and funny legal case, Häagen-Dazs tried to sue another American Ice Cream brand, Frusen Gladje (which is--aside from one missing umlaut--entirely correct Swedish for "frozen joy"), because the name was intended to fool consumers into thinking the ice cream was actually made in Sweden. Häagen-Dazs lost because of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unclean_hands "clean hands" doctrine] - i.e., they were themselves equally guilty of using fake Scandinavian to sound old-timey and exotic, so couldn't blame others for using the same trick.
* Häagen-Dazs ice cream is famous for having chosen a name which sounds... Danish? Hungarian? Foreign -- no matter what your native language is, but doesn't mean anything. In a bizarre and funny legal case, Häagen-Dazs tried to sue another American Ice Cream brand, Frusen Gladje (which is--aside from one missing umlaut--entirely correct Swedish for "frozen joy"), because the name was intended to fool consumers into thinking the ice cream was actually made in Sweden. Häagen-Dazs lost because of the [[wikipedia:Unclean hands|"clean hands" doctrine]] - i.e., they were themselves equally guilty of using fake Scandinavian to sound old-timey and exotic, so couldn't blame others for using the same trick.
* There's also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europanto Europanto], a "language" comprising random words and syntax of various European languages, depending on what languages the speaker happens to know. A sample sentence: "Europanto want nicht informe aber amuse." It started as a journalist's joke, but now there are forums dedicated to its use.
* There's also [[wikipedia:Europanto|Europanto]], a "language" comprising random words and syntax of various European languages, depending on what languages the speaker happens to know. A sample sentence: "Europanto want nicht informe aber amuse." It started as a journalist's joke, but now there are forums dedicated to its use.
** Swedish humour magazine ''Grönköpings Veckoblad'' uses a similar Esperanto parody, Transpiranto, which uses [[Bilingual Bonus|bilingual puns and Swedish words phonetically translated into German, French, Italian, English or other European languages.]]
** Swedish humour magazine ''Grönköpings Veckoblad'' uses a similar Esperanto parody, Transpiranto, which uses [[Bilingual Bonus|bilingual puns and Swedish words phonetically translated into German, French, Italian, English or other European languages.]]
* In ''[[Dave Barry]] Does Japan'', Barry notices that many signs and t-shirts in Japan feature English text. However, this text is usually completely meaningless, and people apparently just like the way it looks. He also notices that Japanese rock bands seem prone to choosing bizarre English names, with some very interesting results.
* In ''[[Dave Barry]] Does Japan'', Barry notices that many signs and t-shirts in Japan feature English text. However, this text is usually completely meaningless, and people apparently just like the way it looks. He also notices that Japanese rock bands seem prone to choosing bizarre English names, with some very interesting results.
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** Spanish and Portuguese names actually have significant overlap, so many Brazilians do have "Spanish names," or more precisely, Portuguese names that are also common in Spanish, like Pedro. And to complicate the issue, a minority of Hispanics have distinctly Portuguese (or Galician) last names.
** Spanish and Portuguese names actually have significant overlap, so many Brazilians do have "Spanish names," or more precisely, Portuguese names that are also common in Spanish, like Pedro. And to complicate the issue, a minority of Hispanics have distinctly Portuguese (or Galician) last names.
* One of the biggest reasons that some people have a backlash against anime and manga fans is due to the fact that, a good percentage of them, think adding "-umi" or "-aki" or "-oni" at the end of a bunch of garbled letters equals a Japanese name. Leading to character names like ''Tsashi Chizuru'', ''Aeashi Tomeoko'' and ''Heashmi Concaro''. Because if it's got a lot of colliding vowels in it, it ''must'' be Japanese! Also, while "-san" is an actual Japanese term, there are rules for using it.
* One of the biggest reasons that some people have a backlash against anime and manga fans is due to the fact that, a good percentage of them, think adding "-umi" or "-aki" or "-oni" at the end of a bunch of garbled letters equals a Japanese name. Leading to character names like ''Tsashi Chizuru'', ''Aeashi Tomeoko'' and ''Heashmi Concaro''. Because if it's got a lot of colliding vowels in it, it ''must'' be Japanese! Also, while "-san" is an actual Japanese term, there are rules for using it.
** Even when the names are made up of real kanji, they're often used wrong. Japanese names follow ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name rules]'', and they're not actually hard to use.
** Even when the names are made up of real kanji, they're often used wrong. Japanese names follow ''[[wikipedia:Japanese name|rules]]'', and they're not actually hard to use.
* Comedian Sid Caesar has gotten much mileage out of this technique. He shows it off on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dlr8fj4Y00 this guest appearance] on the American ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (TV)|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]?''
* Comedian Sid Caesar has gotten much mileage out of this technique. He shows it off on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dlr8fj4Y00 this guest appearance] on the American ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (TV)|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]?''
* Many "Spanish" place names in the American Southwest were actually invented by English speakers who wanted them to ''sound'' Spanish. In some cases, because these folks didn't actually know Spanish well at all, they turn out to be gibberish. For example, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Vista Isla Vista, California], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Vista,_Los_Angeles Mar Vista, Los Angeles] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Vista,_Arizona Sierra Vista, Arizona] are [[Blind Idiot Translation]]s of "Island View", "Sea View" and "Mountain View" respectively that [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign|sounded foreign enough]] to their English-speaking christeners. So for example, in Spanish "Isla Vista" literally means the little-sensical "Seen Island" (i.e., "island that somebody has seen at some point in history"). Same goes for basically any American placename with "Vista" in it; the idiomatic way of naming places like that in Spanish would be [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miramar ''Miramar''] for "Sea View" or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miramonte ''Miramonte''] for "Mountain View."
* Many "Spanish" place names in the American Southwest were actually invented by English speakers who wanted them to ''sound'' Spanish. In some cases, because these folks didn't actually know Spanish well at all, they turn out to be gibberish. For example, [[wikipedia:Isla Vista|Isla Vista, California]], [[wikipedia:Mar Vista, Los Angeles|Mar Vista, Los Angeles]] and [[wikipedia:Sierra Vista, Arizona|Sierra Vista, Arizona]] are [[Blind Idiot Translation]]s of "Island View", "Sea View" and "Mountain View" respectively that [[As Long As It Sounds Foreign|sounded foreign enough]] to their English-speaking christeners. So for example, in Spanish "Isla Vista" literally means the little-sensical "Seen Island" (i.e., "island that somebody has seen at some point in history"). Same goes for basically any American placename with "Vista" in it; the idiomatic way of naming places like that in Spanish would be [[wikipedia:Miramar|''Miramar'']] for "Sea View" or [[wikipedia:Miramonte|''Miramonte'']] for "Mountain View."
** Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is guilty of this. Before marrying Corina Raigosa he was just Tony Villar. He added his name to his wife's name to come up with the far more ethnic-sounding (but utterly meaningless) "Villaraigosa" when he went into politics (and re-adopted his ethnic birthname "Antonio" rather than the anglicized diminutive "Tony"), to appeal to the large Hispanic population in Los Angeles.
** Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is guilty of this. Before marrying Corina Raigosa he was just Tony Villar. He added his name to his wife's name to come up with the far more ethnic-sounding (but utterly meaningless) "Villaraigosa" when he went into politics (and re-adopted his ethnic birthname "Antonio" rather than the anglicized diminutive "Tony"), to appeal to the large Hispanic population in Los Angeles.
*** It gets worse. The correct way of mixing both last names is Villarraigosa (with two r's), not Villaraigosa.
*** It gets worse. The correct way of mixing both last names is Villarraigosa (with two r's), not Villaraigosa.
*** It gets even worse. Villar is a perfectly good Spanish surname (it does exist in Spain). Villarraigosa sounds like a ''town'' name.
*** It gets even worse. Villar is a perfectly good Spanish surname (it does exist in Spain). Villarraigosa sounds like a ''town'' name.
* According to some scholars, the name of the US state of Idaho was invented as part of a hoax. It supposedly was chosen as a nonsense word that sounded vaguely Native American (never mind that that doesn't really make any linguistic sense). Wherever the name came from, a hundred and fifty years later, it became the basis for innumeral variations on the same [[Pun]].
* According to some scholars, the name of the US state of Idaho was invented as part of a hoax. It supposedly was chosen as a nonsense word that sounded vaguely Native American (never mind that that doesn't really make any linguistic sense). Wherever the name came from, a hundred and fifty years later, it became the basis for innumeral variations on the same [[Pun]].
** Pasadena sounds Spanish, but it's actually [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Pasadena,_California#Etymology a prepositional phrase in a language spoken by a Native American tribe who lived thousands of miles away.]
** Pasadena sounds Spanish, but it's actually [[wikipedia:History of Pasadena, California#Etymology|a prepositional phrase in a language spoken by a Native American tribe who lived thousands of miles away.]]
* In Melbourne, Australia, there is an annual festival called ''Moomba'', which was suggested as a name by local Indigenous Australians, who translated it as something along the lines of "let's get together and have fun". In reality, 'Mum' (pronounced 'moom') means 'buttocks/anus' and '-ba' is a suffix meaning 'on, in, at' in several Aborigial languages of the area. The result means, roughly, "Up yours."
* In Melbourne, Australia, there is an annual festival called ''Moomba'', which was suggested as a name by local Indigenous Australians, who translated it as something along the lines of "let's get together and have fun". In reality, 'Mum' (pronounced 'moom') means 'buttocks/anus' and '-ba' is a suffix meaning 'on, in, at' in several Aborigial languages of the area. The result means, roughly, "Up yours."
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum Lorem ipsum] is an inversion of the trope. It's originally a slice of random text from Cicero, modified from proper Latin to approximate the standard letter distribution of English. It's supposed to ''look'' like English, but not be distracting by actually meaning anything.
* [[wikipedia:Lorem ipsum|Lorem ipsum]] is an inversion of the trope. It's originally a slice of random text from Cicero, modified from proper Latin to approximate the standard letter distribution of English. It's supposed to ''look'' like English, but not be distracting by actually meaning anything.
* A variant of this trope happens in [[Ron White]]'s recounting of when he got thrown out of a bar. The telegraph in Fritch, TX starts transmitting, which he indicates by making a bunch of beeps, as long as they sound like Morse code. [[Rule of Funny|The "shorthand" bit does give it away, but who cares?]]
* A variant of this trope happens in [[Ron White]]'s recounting of when he got thrown out of a bar. The telegraph in Fritch, TX starts transmitting, which he indicates by making a bunch of beeps, as long as they sound like Morse code. [[Rule of Funny|The "shorthand" bit does give it away, but who cares?]]
* The ''Tapestry of Dreams/Nations'' parade and [[Disney Theme Parks]] uses chanting that is meant to give an African feel, but it's completely meaningless.
* The ''Tapestry of Dreams/Nations'' parade and [[Disney Theme Parks]] uses chanting that is meant to give an African feel, but it's completely meaningless.
Line 637: Line 637:
* "Arem shem beth sedal sacravalian ahad." According to Sylvia Browne this is Aramaic for, "Blessed be this Queen on high who is sacred to all who come to her." Meanwhile, [http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/novusspiritus_anaramaicprayer.shtml back on planet Earth], it does not even ''resemble'' Aramaic and means nothing whatsoever.<ref>"Shem" and "ahad" (or rather, "echad") are legitimate words in Hebrew--a close relative of Aramaic--but mean "name" and "one" respectively.</ref>
* "Arem shem beth sedal sacravalian ahad." According to Sylvia Browne this is Aramaic for, "Blessed be this Queen on high who is sacred to all who come to her." Meanwhile, [http://www.stopsylvia.com/articles/novusspiritus_anaramaicprayer.shtml back on planet Earth], it does not even ''resemble'' Aramaic and means nothing whatsoever.<ref>"Shem" and "ahad" (or rather, "echad") are legitimate words in Hebrew--a close relative of Aramaic--but mean "name" and "one" respectively.</ref>
** "Sacravalian", which is probably supposed to be "blessed", or possibly "sacred", is rather plainly mangled Latin. The Levantine Semitic languages pretty much all use "baruch" for "bless" and something like "qodesh"/"qadosh" for "holy/sacred", and, at least in Hebrew, "may it be blessed" is "baruch hu", as in "haQadosh, baruch hu" (the Holy One, Blessed Be He, a Jewish epithet for God). "Blessed be this holy queen" would probably be something like "Molechet qodesh baruch hu", if Aramaic follows the usual "stick a -t on the end to make it feminine" rule ("Molech" is the usual word for "King"; "Moloch" was a Canaanite deity simply known by his title, much as the Jews called ''their'' god simply "The Lord").
** "Sacravalian", which is probably supposed to be "blessed", or possibly "sacred", is rather plainly mangled Latin. The Levantine Semitic languages pretty much all use "baruch" for "bless" and something like "qodesh"/"qadosh" for "holy/sacred", and, at least in Hebrew, "may it be blessed" is "baruch hu", as in "haQadosh, baruch hu" (the Holy One, Blessed Be He, a Jewish epithet for God). "Blessed be this holy queen" would probably be something like "Molechet qodesh baruch hu", if Aramaic follows the usual "stick a -t on the end to make it feminine" rule ("Molech" is the usual word for "King"; "Moloch" was a Canaanite deity simply known by his title, much as the Jews called ''their'' god simply "The Lord").
* The hacker jargon term "blinkenlights" refers to the blinking lights on any computer. It comes from a sign that would be hung up in server rooms, which was written in mock-German designed to be perfectly understandable to a native English speaker (because geeks are weird, that's why). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinkenlights Full text and more details] at [[Wikipedia]].
* The hacker jargon term "blinkenlights" refers to the blinking lights on any computer. It comes from a sign that would be hung up in server rooms, which was written in mock-German designed to be perfectly understandable to a native English speaker (because geeks are weird, that's why). [[wikipedia:Blinkenlights|Full text and more details]] at [[Wikipedia]].
* The San Diego Wild Animal Park's monorail ride is called "Wgasa", a name that's ostensibly supposed to sound Swahili or something. In reality it's just the plain ol' acronym "who gives a shit anyhow?" http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wgasa.asp
* The San Diego Wild Animal Park's monorail ride is called "Wgasa", a name that's ostensibly supposed to sound Swahili or something. In reality it's just the plain ol' acronym "who gives a shit anyhow?" http://www.snopes.com/business/names/wgasa.asp
* "Asian" tattoos have become a a fashionable fad (not Vietnamese though, Latin-based text is not exotic enough) that will later embarrass whoever thought it was a good idea to permanently paint a word they don't know on their arm.
* "Asian" tattoos have become a a fashionable fad (not Vietnamese though, Latin-based text is not exotic enough) that will later embarrass whoever thought it was a good idea to permanently paint a word they don't know on their arm.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/As_Long_as_It_Sounds_Foreign"