Gratuitous Spanish: Difference between revisions

Often, what occurs is that a Spanish ''hablante'' will only use Spanish terms that most English users know (such as "sí" meaning "yes", or "amigo" meaning "friend") but otherwise speaks in ''perfecto'' English, as noted in the above quote. It's a way for the writers to remind us that the character is from a Spanish-speaking ''país'' and therefore exotic, but exactly ''why'' the character needs to slip back into Spanish for such simple terms is ''nunca'' quite explained. There is a little bit of [[Truth in Television]] here -- ashere—as anyone who's bilingual will tell you, sometimes you will say automatic responses (such as "yes") in your ''materna'' tongue without even thinking about it -- butit—but this trope generally extends far beyond normal levels of this. See also [[Poirot Speak]].

If a series featuring '''Gratuitous Spanish''' is ''doblada'' into Spanish, the Spanish terms [[Keep It Foreign|often become]] [[Gratuitous English]].

** Kind of a case of [[Did Not Do the Research]]. Chad's half-Mexican and raised in Mexico. And yet apparently he--likehe—like everyone else in the series--canseries—can't get simple phrases right.

* One episode of ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' had Il Pallazzo suddenly making a speech in [[Gratuitous English]] that was changed to [[Gratuitous Spanish]] in the [[ADV Films]] dub. Also, That Man's final words are "Adiós, amigos!"

* ''[[Sol Bianca]]'' has several examples of [[Gratuitous Spanish]]: the name of the show itself and the eponymous space ship is an incorrect attempt to say "white sun" in Spanish (the correct phrase would be "sol blanco"; "bianca" is Italian and "bLanca" is the feminine form of the adjective); some characters have the surname Delapaz ("of peace"); and there are two planets named Uno and Tres.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', [[Chessmaster|Sir Crocodile]] and Nico Robin both use [[Gratuitous Spanish]] in their [[Calling Your Attacks|attack names]]; though Crocodile likes to switch it up with the occasional [[Gratuitous Italian]], and Robin's combines ''Spanish'' numbers (or body parts), the ''French'' word for flower, and ''[[Gratuitous English|English]]'' words like "clutch".

* The children in ''[[Good Omens]]'' use [[Gratuitous Spanish]] (along with an assortment of stereotypically Spanish props, like onions and a straw donkey) to give their re-enactment of [[The Spanish Inquisition]] extra authenticity. They use such inquisitorial phrases as ''olé'' and ''viva España''.

* In season 1 of ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' there was an episode where Claire, Rudy and several guest characters go into [[Gratuitous Spanish]], ending in the characters laughing at Cliff who says''[[Overused Running Gag|Just listening for my name...]]'' to the point where it just gets annoying.

* In fact, this trope has spread like a virus through most Public Television kids' shows. ''Arthur'' gained some pseudo-Hispanic neighbors, and the already Hispanic main characters on ''[[Dragon Tales]]'' gained a recent immigrant pal with a heavy accent and lots more [[Gratuitous Spanish]].

* Catalina's rambling, untranslated speeches on ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' are actually [[Easter Egg|Easter Eggs]]s for the bilingual audience.

* On [[Cedric The Entertainer]]'s show, he had a skit called "Que Hora Es?" which parodies [[Gratuitous Spanish]] describing it as "a soap opera for people who Spanish for 2 weeks". The phrase means "What time is it?" for those of you curious.

* Want [[Gratuitous Spanish]]? Look no farther than [[Lady Gaga|Lady Gaga's]] "Alejandro". The only Spanish is the line "en su bosillo".

* The German NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle -- GermanWelle—German New Wave) band Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF) recorded a song called "El Que" which features refrains in German and a chorus in Spanish; this could be somewhat justified by the fact that lead singer Gabi Delgado-López and his family emigrated from Spain to Germany when Gabi was a little boy:

* "I Am Easily Assimilated" from [[Leonard Bernstein]]'s ''Candide'' is about learning to sing in [[Gratuitous Spanish]].

* This line from ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]: San Andreas'', which combines [[Gratuitous Spanish]] with [[Poirot Speak]]:

* Secundo in ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' sprinkles his speech with several [[Gratuitous Spanish]] terms...and at least one incidence of [[Gratuitous Italian]] ([[Gratuitous French]], too), leaving one to wonder [[Poirot Speak|exactly where he's supposed to be from.]] There's all the race announcer, who inexplicably counts down in Spanish (despite not sounding Spanish at all), and the song "Fun and Mini-Games," which combines several lines of random Spanish with several lines of what sounds like [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|nonsense]].

* Croco in ''Super Mario RPG'' spouts "Adios amigos!" when he runs away during the first battle. Cortez in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door also speaks in [[Gratuitous Spanish]].

* Zevran periodically does this in ''[[Dragon Age]]'' when you select him out in the world--providedworld—provided he likes you, anyway. ("Sí, amor?", among one or two others.)