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As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Difference between revisions
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'''CMOT Dibbler''': It's [[Qurac|Klatchian]], isn't it?
'''Sol Dibbler''': Well technically, but I think it's [[Darkest Africa|the wrong part of Klatch]] and maybe "effendies" or something...
'''CMOT Dibbler''': Just so long as it's foreign.
|'''''[[Discworld/Moving Pictures|Moving Pictures]]'''''}}
Many shows and movies don't bother getting a foreign language right when they portray them. The incidence of this increases along with the obscurity of the language. It is easily explained as native speakers are hard to get, especially if the country of origin is on the other side of the globe and the language is fairly obscure. And that's assuming any native speakers are still living, as many languages have died out for one reason or another.
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See also [[Foreign Looking Font]], [[Fictionary]], [[Black Belt in Origami]]. See also [[Speaking Simlish]]. [[Canis Latinicus]] and [[El Spanish-O]] are subtropes specifically dealing with Latin and foreign affixes, respectively. Also consider [[Esperanto, the Universal Language]]
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* An ad for Bertolli features an "Italian" chef lamenting that Bertolli is stealing his business, to the tune of the Habanera from Bizet's ''Carmen'', a French opera that's set in Spain (and a Spanish form of music).
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* ''[[Batman]]'' example: Ra's Al-Ghul's daughter, Talia, uses the "surname" Al-Ghul, despite the Arabic patronymic [[Did Not Do the Research|not working that way]], but kind of makes sense as her name would thus be "Talia, of the Demon". The trouble is that she then uses the "Anglicized" variant, "Talia ''Head''", which [[Did Not Do the Research|translates the wrong word]]. Maybe "Talia Demon" wasn't subtle enough.
* The time displaced DC character Manitou Raven is said to be from the native American tribe that eventually became the Apache. Manitou (meaning "spirit") is actually an Algonquin word. For Europeans and others who may not know where the Apaches and Algonquins live relative to each other, [[Critical Research Failure|this is about the equivalent of assuming a Norwegian word or myth can equate to a Georgian one]].
** [[It Gets Worse]]: Manitou Raven's power word for becoming a giant is the same as the ''[[Superfriends]]'' character he's an [[Expy]] for, Apache Chief: "Inukchuk". There ''is'' a word that is very similar to this, "inukshuk", which in its language means "something that substitutes for a human", and is applied to giant stone columns and statues. So it would ''almost'' be viable as a symbolic magic word, in the vein of "make me as big as an inukshuk", if it weren't for the fact the language in question is Inuktitut, an Inuit language. To carry on the example above, this would be like taking that Norwegian-Georgian mythological mix and throwing in a dash of Swahili. Then there's the fact that Inuit did not build giant stone columns or statues: inukshuks are only a few feet high. "Becoming as big as an inukshuk" would cause the average human to ''shrink''.
* Hendy of the [[Blackhawk]] squadron is a nice example too, Hans is OK, Hendrickson is slightly un-Dutch, fitting a Dutch-American better than an unhyphenated Dutchman, "Hendricksen" is genuinely Dutch, but "Ritter" is the German word for "Knight", Dutch would be "Ridder", a title, not a name.
* Marvel Comic's character Silver Samurai's real name is Kenuichio Harada. You won't find a single person in Japan called Kenuichio.
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*** [[It Got Worse|Could be worse]], Hudlin [[What an Idiot!|had him utter]] [[Critical Research Failure|"Lieberstesh"]].
** Blackwing (previously known as Beak) is a mutant who was said to be from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His real name is Barnell Bohusk, which isn't much of a Dutch name at all. Marvel has since changed his official birthplace to Maryland, USA, though that doesn't exactly solve the problem, either.
** ''[[New Mutants]]''{{'}} Roberto da Costa sometimes says sentences in Spanish... even though he came from Brazil, where the language is Portuguese.
* In-media example: In one ''[[Lucky Luke]]'' album, the Daltons disguise as Chinese. Jack decides to make his disguise by speaking "Chinese". Which means that he says "ching chang chong" all the time. A crowning moment of funny is when he is talking to a Chinese man who dislikes Rin-Tin-Can very much:
{{quote|'''Averell:''' Ching chang chong.
'''Chinese man:''' While I agree, I would not use such words even about someone as horrible as Rin-Tin-Can. }}
* In ''[[X-Men]]'', Colossus' real name is Piotr Nikolaivitch Rasputin. Rasputin is a common surname in the area of Russia where he's from, which is fine. And the patronymic is correct, even better. Then his sister Ilyana Rasputin is introduced. Slight oops; her last name ought to be Rasputina. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe eventually gives her full name as "Ilyana Nikolaivitch Rasputina (Anglicized to Rasputin)."
** And even ''that'' isn't right - Nikolaivitch is a masculine middle name, literally translating as "son of Nikolai." Since Ilyana's a girl, her middle name should be "Nikolaivna" (daughter of Nikolai).
* Gabby Rivera was hired for ''America'' because she was ethnically Hispanic. She does not actually know Spanish yet made frequent use of [[Poirot Speak]]. The result is a horribly broken mess noticeable to those whose entire proficiency in Spanish is a single middle-school course. This is made worse by Marvel claiming the comic was an attempt to appeal to Hispanics.
== Fan
* In ''[[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]]'', the only vaguely Japanese name is a character based off the author's best friend Danny. The character's name, Tadashiharakumaie, clearly falls into this trope.
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