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'''Mr. Jinx''': No, sir, it is not. My name is unpronounceable in your language.
'''Cutter''': Say it anyway.
'''Mr. Jinx''': It is also unpronounceable in my language.
|[http://starslip.com/2005/07/01/starslip-number-30/ This] ''[[Starslip]]'' comic. }}
{{quote|''The proper pronunciation of "[[Cthulhu]]" [[Some Call Me... Tim|is]] [[Everything's Better with Bob|"Bob"]]''.}}
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Ayano's boyfriend, Shimotakatani, from ''[[High School Girls]]''. In episode 10 of the series, his name is mispronounced several times.
* The [[Big Bad]] demon in ''[[Captain Harlock|Captain Harlock: Endless Odyssey]]'' is canonically stated to have a literally unpronouncible name. For convenience's sake, it's refered to as The Noo.
* Parodied in a ''[[Lupin III]]'' [[Christmas Episode]], with the chief constantly getting Inspector Zenigata's name wrong: "Inspector Pennsylvania", "Inspector Epiglottis"...
== Comedy ==▼
* The bicyclist from a sketch by Bavarian Karl Valentin.▼
{{quote|'''Policeman (Liesl Karlstadt in drag)''': What's your name?▼
'''Bicyclist (Valentin)''': Wrdlbrmpfd.▼
'''Policeman''': What?▼
'''Bicyclist''': Wrdlbrmpfd.▼
'''Policeman''': [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skuQKwhszvA/SmZB1kv6EoI/AAAAAAAAABI/KH0ThTlDsgk/s1600/Summer%2B09%2B225.JPG Wadlstrumpf]?▼
'''Bicyclist''': Wr-dl-brmpfd!▼
'''Policeman''': Talk understandably, don't mumble into your beard!▼
'''Bicyclist''': ''(pulls down fake beard)'' Wrdlbrmpfd.▼
'''Policeman''': [[The Comically Serious|What a stupid name!]] Get away!▼
'''Bicyclist''': ''(while leaving)'' Oh, by the way, officer -- my sister wants me to tell you soem greetings!▼
'''Policeman''': Your sister? But I don't know your sister at all!▼
'''Bicyclist''': You don't? She's such a short, dumpy one...▼
'''Policeman''': No, I don't know your sister -- what's her name?▼
'''Bicyclist''': Her name is also Wrdlbrmpfd... }}▼
== Comics ==▼
* Also parodied in [http://web.archive.org/web/20070419044345/http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2007041261835.jpg this ''Dilbert'' comic strip].▼
{{quote|'''Elbonian''': Hello, how may I help you? My name is Kruphnehdahpheweundikaniswalyniaphorganopop... I mean, Carl. }}▼
* In the [[DCU]], Quislet of the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]] has a real name which is an unpronounceable glyph.
** Phantom Girl's home planet is named Bgztl. During the 2005 reboot, Karate Kid remarked that he wasn't sure if that was the planet's name or if she just sneezed.
** Also technically, Mr. Mxyzptlk would be on this page, if it weren't for the fact that we're given a good pronunciation for his name (and, as a result, a good way to tell how to pronounce any name that's all consonants)
*** In post-1986 continuity, "Mxyzptlk" is no longer his actual name. His real name is literally unpronounceable by humans (or, apparently, Kryptonians) so when he made his debut, he came up with a more human-friendly handle by conjuring up a giant typewriter and hitting the keys at random.
*** And to make things worse, in order to make him go away, you have to say his name
*** Oddly enough, there was a second version of his name — the original spelling was "Mxyz'''tp'''lk," which was eventually [[Ret Conned]] into a second entity entirely.
** Detective Chimp's real name is in chimpanzee language, and is best transcribed as "mostly three grunts and an incoherent shriek". It translation is much more understandable, meaning "Magnificent Finder of Tasty Grubs".
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** On the subject of Starjammers, the team doctor is called Sikorsky due to his resemblance to a helicopter. But as he's insectoid, his real name is unpronounceable by humanoid tongues.
* In "The Badger", the full name of the Badger's ally Ham the Weather Wizard is Hammaglystwythkbrngxxaxolotl. This name is intended as, not alien, but fourth-century Welsh.
* In ''[[Doonesbury]]'', the country of Berzerkistan is led by Trff Bmzklfrpz. As explained in one comic, "Bmzklfrpz" is actually pronounced "Ptklm."▼
* In ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', "Mtigwaki" is the First Nations village Liz once lived and taught in. The actual pronunciation (m-tigwak-eh) appears nowhere in the strip itself, leaving most not to even attempt spelling it, let alone saying it. People would refer to it as "Liz's village". The snarkier commenters would simply run with the unpronounceable nature ("Mtitikitavi", "Mtimtibangbang", etc.)▼
* In "Fall of Cthulhu", one of the gods speaks his name to a human, and this is represented with a jet-black speech bubble and "wind" coming from behind the god. (As for the human who heard it, he goes into the fetal position and cries.)
* In ''Halo and Sprocket'', Katie and Sprocket convince Halo (an angel) to tell them his real name. Cue a page of kaleidoscopic images followed by the two of them unconscious on the floor "..but you can continue to call me 'Halo' if you wish."
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* When Buffy asks a fairy who she is in issue 5 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' season 9, she answers Buffy couldn't pronounce her name.
{{quote|'''Fairy''': [[Psychic Dreams for Everyone|Even on this side of dreaming]].}}
* [[Lobo]]'s actual Czarnian name cannot be pronounced by humans. A rough translation it, "He Who who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it". Clearly a [[Meaningful Name]] in his case.
▲== [[Fanfic]] ==
* Notorious ficcer [[Ultamite Nineball]], among other [[So Bad It's Good|bizarre style choices]], named one of his supporting characters "Thrnos". If, as many suspect, he's actually a [[Troll]], it's possible that this is a homage of sorts to [[The Eye of Argon|Grignr]], or something similar.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series
* Fred Yerfburger's demon familiar in the [[Original Flavor]] ''[[Ranma ½]]'' fic ''[[Girl Days]]'' by Rob "Kenko" Haynie, whose name is so far outside the ability of humans to speak that it appears as a different string of random consonants every time it shows up in the text.
* Both used and parodied at the same time by ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' with the Twins, identical aliens that maintain the MIB database. One has a name that is completely incoherent (to one editor, it sounds like "beedlebeelep"; to another, it sounds more like "vrrweep".) [[Aerith and Bob|The other is "Bob"]] .
** It uses the infamous Welsh gurgle-sound, technically called a [[wikipedia:Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative|voiceless alveolar lateral fricative]].
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* The Poleepkwa/Prawns' language in ''[[District 9]]'' is literally unpronounceable by human tongues, so when some of them landed in South Africa, they were given human names such as Christopher Johnson, Oliver and Paul (no, not [[Paul|that one]]). Given the nature of the movie, this is also meant to recall the practice of giving slaves European names as to erase their identity.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the Ents' real names would take hours to say, if humans could even vocalize some of the sounds.
** In a few cases, Treebeard used Elvish words and strung them together as he would in his own language, like Lorien = ''laurelindórenan lindelorendor malinornélion ornemalin''. Another example: Fangorn (transliterated into Elvish) = ''Taurelilómëa-tumbalemorna Tumbaletaurëa Lëmeanor'', "Forestmanyshadowed -- deepvalleyblack Deepvalleyforested Gloomyland". [https://web.archive.org/web/20130408032048/http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/entish.htm Actual Entish was probably impossible to render into any human language].
* Another ''[[Star Trek]]'' example; every single representative of the Q refers to himself as Q — the 17th letter of the alphabet apparently being the closest approximation of their names that the English language is capable of rendering.
** In one of the ''Spock vs. Q'' audiobooks, Q further states that his true name is about two light years long, [[Did Not Do the Research|which is a measure of ''distance'', not time]]. Whether he meant distance or time, both font size and speech tempo vary considerably, but even so, it's clearly still a long name.
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** Another character gives his name as Pak Nfbnm* ("* ?" "Exactly."), but asks [[Some Call Me... Tim|to be called Freddie]].
* [[Roger Zelazny]]'s fantasy novel ''The Changing Land'' features a demon named Melbrinionsadsazzersteldregandishfeltselior. The long name is necessary for the invocation ritual, and if the sorcerer attempting it were to get as much as one syllable wrong, the demon would kill him. Understandably, wizards are reluctant to attempt it. Subverted inasmuch as one of the antagonists is a wizard named Baran, whose native tongue is a horribly complicated agglutinative language, so he has no problem pronouncing the name and using the demon for errands.
* On the [[Discworld]], demons are given names that look like they were selected by headbutting a keyboard; when the demon WxrtHltl-jwlpklz introduces himself in ''[[
* "Sir" in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' has a name that's "very long and complicated" when written down, and which is apparently so illegible that attempts at pronunciation seem entirely random -- "Mr. Bek-", "Mr. Sho-".
* An ancient [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] in Phillip Reeve's [[Steampunk]] [[Space Opera]] ''[[Larklight]]'' has a real name in a musical-sounding languages which the narrator says he can't possibly transcribe. And that's not even getting into names such as Ph'Ahrpuu'xxtpllsprngg, and the truly epic example from the third book that takes up almost five lines.<ref>It's KrxckKckarrakkkaclkkx akka Xkaggoxka-akx Klllxklplx-atgnsl'xkkanklxlk'abhz nhahmak'k'k'k'k'a-akkamkajrkrkkrkrkrkwkllukk KrxckKckarrakkkaclkkx akka Xkaggoxka-akx Klllxklplx-atgnsl'xkkanklxlk' abhz nhahmak'k'k'k'k'a-akkamkajrkrkkrkrkrkwkllukk, barring errors in transcription.</ref>
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* The aliens who show up in book three of the ''[[Captain Underpants]]'' series discuss using [[Applied Phlebotinum]] to make the students "grow to the size of Xlequispf<ref>or something to that effect</ref> trees."
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' examples:
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
** In one episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', Spock claimed that his family name was unpronounceable by humans; in a different episode, his human mother said she could do so, but only "after a fashion, and after many years of practice". (The actress who played his mother, however, [[Word of God|once told conventioneers]] that "Spock" was his surname. His real first name? Harold. OK, he's half-human.)
*** Story editor D.C. Fontana wrote a letter to a ''Trek'' fanzine saying that an English approximation of Spock's family name was "Xtmprsqzntwlfb", and much early fanfic ran with it.
** In ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'', the Vulcan Master—speaking in the Vulcan language—pronounces his name as "Spoch" (with a long "o" followed by [[Yiddish as a Second Language|the "ch" sound in "chutzpah"]]). Maybe when Spock told Kirk that "you wouldn't be able to pronounce it", he meant that Iowa-born Kirk never learned how to make a "ch" sound properly.
** In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' New Frontier books, the main character changes his name from M'k'n'zy to Mackenzie to make it easier to pronounce. His brother keeps the name Dn'dai.
*** He doesn't change it, the guy at Starfleet Academy registration refused to learn how to pronounce and spell it properly. He arbitrarily assigned Mac the name of Mackenzie Calhoun (Calhoun was the name of his tribe, "M'k'n'zy of Calhoun") to avoid having to figure out the real name.
** The [[Mysterious Backer| enigmatic Traveler]] from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' goes by that moniker because his name is unpronounceable by humans.
*
* ''[[The Fast Show]]'' featured a spoof of ''The Untouchables'' called "The Unpronounceables", in which both the mobsters and "good guys" struggle with each other's long and complicated names.
* From ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'', and taken by a political person in real life, Mr. Tarquin fim-tim-lim-bim-win-bim-lim-bus-stop-f'tang-f'tang-olé-biscuitbarrel.
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*** SG-1 and other members of the SGC later started shortening the Goa'uld (Go-ah-ooh-l-duh) to "Gould" (goo-ld).
** The fact that many Goa'uld (alien) terms are hard to pronounce or are very/overly long is lampshaped in the Season 3 episode "Deadman Switch":
{{quote|'''O'Neill:''' So, Teal'c, how does one Goa'uld fire weapons from several directions?
'''Teal'c:''' Taks.
'''O'Neill:''' Tak'nik'tels?
'''Teal'c:''' (very fast) Takunitagaminituron. (Pause) Taks. }}
* ''[[The Day Today]]'' expanded the name of real-life reporter Brian Hanrahan for the character Peter O'Hanraha-Hanrahan.
* Canadian comedy team [[Wayne and
* The mermaid in ''[[Sanctuary]]'' has a name, but Will and Henry consider it unpronounceable, and have instead christened her Sally.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Xander and Spike are tracking a demon that's poisoned Buffy when it suddenly leaps out at them.
{{quote|'''Spike:''' [[Oh Crap|Oh, balls!]] You didn't say the thing was a Glarghk Guhl Kashma'nik.
'''Xander:''' That's 'cause I can't say Glarma-- ''(demon [[Talk to the Fist|hits him]])'' }}
* ''[[Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger]]'' seems to be toying with this, giving names like Shibuyaseitakaawadachisouhidenagaaburamushi to the [[Monster of the Week]], and a villain whose name is written as "©Na"(subverted in that it's pronounced Marushina/ Malseena).
== [[Music]] ==▼
* For several years, recording artist [[Prince]] [[The Trope Formerly Known as X|changed his name to a glyph]]
▲== Music ==
* The band [[wikipedia:
▲* For several years, recording artist [[Prince]] [[The Trope Formerly Known as X|changed his name to a glyph]] resembling O(+ > in order to work around the terms of a record deal.
▲* The band [[wikipedia:chr(21)chr(21)chr(21)|!!!]]. It's supposed to be pronounced "click-click-click" like in Southern African languages.
* The Czech [[Grindcore]] band, !T.O.O.H.!
* Witch House, a microgenre with band names that look like they should have Zalgo as a frontman. More prominent acts include ~▲†▲~ and ▲⃝ ▲⃝ ▲⃝
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** Totally pronouncable! Lawl happy-kirby hug!
* The fourth [[Led Zeppelin]] album's name consists of the four band-members' symbols. It is sometimes called ''Zoso'', after the Latin letters the first symbol (that used by Jimmy Page) resembles, but more often simply ''Led Zeppelin IV''.
** Their
*** Further complicating the matter, "Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp'' was misspelled as 'Bron-Y-Aur Stomp' in the initial album release.
* The "Symbols" album by KMFDM. The five symbols supposedly represent a censored swear word; one of the fan nicknames for the album is "Curse". The symbols appear in the liner notes for "Down and Out", but the word is bleeped out in the recording.
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* Drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig of [[My Bloody Valentine (band)|My Bloody Valentine]]. The "Colm" part is easy, but it's best if you ask for help from your Irish friends when it comes to the family name.
* [[Lynyrd Skynyrd]]'s first album was titled ''(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)'' as an aid to pronunciation.
* Aphex Twin has a song whose title is a complicated calculus equation.
** [[The Other Wiki]] gives that track's name as "(
** His album ''Selected Ambient Works Volume II'' has the song "Blue Calx" and 24 other songs that use photographs as their titles.
* Autechre's later albums have a few songs that fit the bill: "Cep puiqMX", "P.:NTIL" and "O=0", for example.
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* The trance artist Trance[]Control.
▲*
▲{{quote|'''Elbonian''': Hello, how may I help you? My name is Kruphnehdahpheweundikaniswalyniaphorganopop... I mean, Carl. }}
▲* In ''[[Doonesbury]]'', the country of Berzerkistan is led by Trff Bmzklfrpz. As explained in one comic, "Bmzklfrpz" is actually pronounced "Ptklm."
▲* In ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', "Mtigwaki" is the First Nations village Liz once lived and taught in. The actual pronunciation (m-tigwak-eh) appears nowhere in the strip itself, leaving most not to even attempt spelling it, let alone saying it. People would refer to it as "Liz's village". The snarkier commenters would simply run with the unpronounceable nature ("Mtitikitavi", "Mtimtibangbang", etc.)
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
▲* The bicyclist from a sketch by Bavarian Karl Valentin.
▲{{quote|'''Policeman (Liesl Karlstadt in drag)''': What's your name?
▲'''Bicyclist (Valentin)''': Wrdlbrmpfd.
▲'''Policeman''': What?
▲'''Bicyclist''': Wrdlbrmpfd.
▲'''Policeman''': [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skuQKwhszvA/SmZB1kv6EoI/AAAAAAAAABI/KH0ThTlDsgk/s1600/Summer%2B09%2B225.JPG Wadlstrumpf]?
▲'''Bicyclist''': Wr-dl-brmpfd!
▲'''Policeman''': Talk understandably, don't mumble into your beard!
▲'''Bicyclist''': ''(pulls down fake beard)'' Wrdlbrmpfd.
▲'''Policeman''': [[The Comically Serious|What a stupid name!]] Get away!
▲'''Bicyclist''': ''(while leaving)'' Oh, by the way, officer -- my sister wants me to tell you soem greetings!
▲'''Policeman''': Your sister? But I don't know your sister at all!
▲'''Bicyclist''': You don't? She's such a short, dumpy one...
▲'''Policeman''': No, I don't know your sister -- what's her name?
▲'''Bicyclist''': Her name is also Wrdlbrmpfd... }}
== [[Theater]] ==
* In [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' (a satiric [[Prequel]] to [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''Antony and Cleopatra''), none of the Romans can pronounce the name of Cleopatra's nurse Ftatateeta.
{{quote|'''Ftatateeta''': Who pronounces the name of Ftatateeta, the Queen's chief nurse?
'''Caesar''': Nobody can pronounce it, Tota, except yourself. }}
* In ''Misalliance'', also by Shaw, there's a running joke of no one being able to pronounce (or spell) Lena Szczepalowska's last name—while Lena herself can't fathom why everyone's having so much trouble with it.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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* This is the logical conclusion of pre-recording equipment era Black Spiral Dancers in [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]. The Book of the Wyrm states that BSDs are named after the first sound they make after they exit the [[Mind Screw|Black]] [[Go Mad from the Revelation|Spiral]] [[Eldritch Location|Labyrinth]]. Since this was usually a pained, guttural and utterly insane [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|howl, sigh, scream, or giggle]], somebody best to have been listening ''really'' closely, otherwise the "name" would be lost as soon as it was uttered. Even then....
* The alien race the Kyz, described in the [[Role-Playing Game]] supplement ''[[GURPS]] International Super Teams'', have a language which is partially verbal and partially projective empathy, making not only their names but their entire language impossible to pronounce for anyone lacking the proper psionic gifts.
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* Nrvnqsr Chaos from ''[[Tsukihime]]''. Someone needed to buy that vampire some vowels.<ref>It's actually Greek ''neron kaisar'' ("Nero the Emperor") as spelled out in Hebrew letters, which in Hebrew numerology add up to [[Number of the Beast|666]].</ref>
* ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' has the Viera Mjrn (pronounced in-game as something like "me-ern"), Krjn, Ktjn, and Jote (pronounced "yo-tay").
* The La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo in the ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series is a Japanese attempt at this, as the lack of an L sound in Japanese (the source of the infamous "Ls replaced with Rs" stereotype of Asians) makes their name essentially unpronounceable in Japanese. Unfortunately, the English dub obviously has no difficulty with it and it just sounds [[Narm|dumb]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* The side-comic "Tempts Fate" from ''Goblins'' has a brilliant subversion. There is a dragon who's name coincides with the D&D dragons being unpronounceable, but to the point that if you utter it, any who hear it would be sent to the abyss. The dragon elects to des{{spoiler|troy}} him instead.
* The demon K'Z'K, also known as "'The Vowelless One" of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. Commonly called "Kizke" by the main cast of the strip, though he repeatedly indicates this is a completely wrong pronunciation.
** During the "Oceans Unmoving" Arc, this gets ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20160130123218/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=051103 subverted]'' and then ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100527161832/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=051207 played straight]''
* Subversion: in ''[[Starslip Crisis]]'', Jinx, a Cirbozoid, tells Cutter that his real name is unpronounceable in English. When Cutter says he'd like to hear it anyway, Jinx mentions that it is also unpronounceable in Cirbozoid.
* The names of the Demon and his brother in ''[[Friendly Hostility]]'' are depicted as random symbols and cause nosebleeds and spontaneous combustion, respectively.
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*** Actually it was more like a "spelling" problem than a "pronunciation" one. (the joke being that Xykon can "hear" the wrong spelling).
** Also from Start of Darkness there is a lizard man who Xykon calls "Scaly", who informs Xykon that his name is Ekdysdioksosiirwo, Viridian lord of—at which point Xykon zaps him with lightning, saying that it is too long to remember. This is what prompts Redcloak to give fake names for himself (Redcloak, of course) {{spoiler|and his younger brother, Right-Eye}}.
* [[Planet B]]: "Hexaditidom". [https://web.archive.org/web/20110908062353/http://djtrousdale.com/planetb/pb0141/ Everybody] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110901052348/http://djtrousdale.com/planetb/pb0137/ gets it] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110909094926/http://djtrousdale.com/planetb/refurbishments-05/ wrong]. Well, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110907174700/http://djtrousdale.com/planetb/zanko-for-playing-03/ almost everybody].
* ''[[Niklas And Friends]]'' has a character named Martin Czrnczinsky, although the issue of the pronounceability of his surname is never brought up in the comic itself. When asked about the correct pronunciation, [[Word of God|the author]] replied to "pronounce it any way you like".
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'': Tagon's Toughs employ a chef by the name of "Ch'vorthq."
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** Corporal "Legs" real name is Leelagaleenileeleenoleela.
* In ''[[Housepets]]'', [http://www.housepetscomic.com/2008/11/19/sylvan-glen/ Pete] was given the name for this reason.
* ''[[
* ''[[Slightly Damned]]'''s Angels tend to have difficult names. Case in point, one of the main characters is called Kieri Suizahn. The angelic disposition towards the common language is generally that it's something that happens to other people.
* ''[[Tamuran]]
* In ''[[Darken]]'', Mink's full name is revealed to be "Minknarperadnacles"
* ''[[Freefall]]'': [[All There in the Manual|Supposedly]],
* In ''[[Planescape Survival Guide]]'' [http://planescapecomic.com/42.html "Fred"] claims he can't pronounce his real name (Frd'gl'fn'd'pq'zter, after his mother's great-grand-uncle)
* ''Network Adventure Bugsite'', a lesser-known [[Mon]] game, has an entire evolution family of these: ***@, ***#, ***♪, and ***★. Keeping in mind that all the Bugs have computer-related names, the intention may have been for their names to resemble passwords.
== [[Web Original]] ==▼
▲== Web Original ==
* Lizardwoman "Hissy" in ''[[Tales of MU]]'' has a real name that's a combination of hisses and rattles. The nymphs in the same series are identified by sensory impressions of sun and wind; the pair who elect to go to college name themselves after their fields, becoming Amaranth and Barley.
* Vilhjalmur Sigurbjornsson from ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]''. Given that the medium is written, it might be more apt to call him 'The Unspellable'. Also notable in that his author intentionally picked a name that would be as obnoxiously difficult to spell and pronounce as possible.
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* Detective Randall from [[The Lazer Collection]] is made out the way, with his superior and a helicopter pilot trying and deciding to just call him Detective Randall.
** {{spoiler|It's revealed that his full name is Randall Octogonapus, as in [[Luke, I Am Your Father|the son of]] [[Big Bad|Doctor Octogonapus]]}}
▲* [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Marik]] can't pronounce the name of [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Akhnaten/Akunadan/Just Forget It]] [[The Lion King|(Hakuna Matata?)]]. He eventually decides to just call him [[Everything's Better with Bob|"Bob"]].
* Fhqwgads (full name fhqwhgadshgnsdhjsdbkhsdabkfabkveybvf) was the sender of the [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad Email]] [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail9.html i love you]. Strong Bad comments that in the time that it took him to say that, he could've painted a picture of a big guy with a knife.
* Although ''almost'' pronounceable with some effort, [[ToyHammer]] gives us 'Shas'ui Fi'rios Yon'anuk Eldi'myr' which means 'Fire cast veteran trooper of the Fi'rios colony, flying-hunter winged-knife'. AKA 'Sergeant Talon'.
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{{quote|'''Cthulu:''' Have you got nine tongues? Is your mouth eight feet wide? It's an alien language. Give it up. Your little skinflap of a mouth can't handle it.}}
* In ''[[Pay Me, Bug!]]'', one character is named "Ktkt'tkkt'kktt'tkkk'tktk'ttkt'tkkk'kktt'kktk'tk" ("Ktk" for short).
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Subverted in the Disney version of ''[[Hercules (1997 film)||Hercules]]'', where several characters have halfway-
* Subverted in the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Why Must I Be a Crustacean In Love", when an old acquaintance of Zoidberg's refers to him as "Dr. (unintelligible slurping/gurgling noise)."
{{quote|'''Fry''': Is that how you say "Zoidberg"? ''(The man runs off, crying.)''
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* Toys for [[Toy Story (franchise)||Buzz Lightyear's]] nemesis Zurg said his home planet was Xrghthung. But in ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'', it's just "Planet Z".
== [[Real Life]] ==
* As a general note for examples below: Slavic languages and languages from the Caucasus (Georgian, Chechyen, etc.) permit very long consonant clusters, which are often hard to pronounce for nonnative speakers, and are usually half-assed even by natives. Take, for example, the Russian word ''vzglyat''<ref>"look" or "glance", also "eyeglasses" in some dialects</ref> or Georgian ''gvprtskvni''.<ref>"you peel us"; as a metaphor it means "you're making us spend a lot of money".</ref> Even Germanic languages suffer from this from time to time, as many of them can slap words together; German "Angstschweiß" <ref>"sweating caused by fear"</ref> is an extreme example, jamming 8 consonants together, but the Dutch word ''slechtstschrijvend'' <ref>"writing the worst"</ref> tops it with 9 consonants!
** All of the are put to shame by Ubykh. It features a record high of 84 consonants without featuring click sounds. And as for how many vowels is has? A mere two. It is nothing but [[Shaped Like Itself|clusters of consonant clusters.]]
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** In the UK, there are the villages of Wymondham and Garbaldisham in Norfolk (That's Win-dam and Garb-ee-sham to you).
* Conflated phonemes can cause this without resorting to long names or strange characters. The most well known example is that Japanese contains neither L nor R sounds but rather a sound that is a mix of the two (though accepted to be closer to R) making words that contain Ls very difficult to pronounce.
* The Hmong language, due to a weird transliteration system, has a lot of these, including the name of the language itself in Hmong, "Hmoob", pronounced "mung". Just read [https://web.archive.org/web/20100528101256/http://forums.hmoob.com/showthread.php?t=47241 this thread]: there's someone on there named "Nkauj Xwb".
* Tibetan, in the Wylie transliteration, is pretty bad about this too: there is a Tibetan Buddhist sect named "Bka' brgyud", pronounced "Kagyu".
** That's a common problem in transcription, namely whether to follow the written or spoken language. Wylie preferred an accurate representation of Tibetan as written, there's another common transcription based on the usual pronunciation. See also Thai Prime Minister ''ABHISIT Vejjajiva''—second name pronounced "Whetta''chee''wa".
* [[wikipedia:Wolfe+585, Senior|Hubert Blaine Wolfe+
** Taking it apart and translating it, however, [http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/permalink/worlds_longest_surname/ makes it look like a hoax that got past the radar]. And anyway, wouldn't a name that cumbersome have been rejected by authorities?
* Even Irish people struggle to pronounce Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh ("blaw-nid nee khuffigh")
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