History Main / ArtisticLicenseLinguistics

* TheMalaproper: When someone's word choice ''sounds'' like the right word, but is actually the [[SelfDemonstratingArticle fright ward]].

* CanisLatinicus: Latin-sounding gibberish, or Latin words put together nonsensically (or [[AncientGrome mixed with Greek]]), because [[AltumVidetur everything sounds more dignified in Latin]].

* TranslationTrainwreck: What happens when a BlindIdiotTranslation is taken to extremes. Like an actual trainwreck, however, it can be [[GoodBadTranslation morbidly fascinating]].
* CanisLatinicus: Latin-sounding gibberish, or Latin words put together nonsensically (or [[AncientGrome mixed with Greek]]), because [[AltumVidetur everything sounds more dignified in Latin]].
* ConvenientlyPreciseTranslation: A perfect 1:1 translation achieved between disparate languages far more often than should be possible. (But see LuckyTranslation for legitimate, real-life examples.)

* JustAStupidAccent: A foreign character never speaks his own language, but speaks the local language like a native, only with an intractable accent.
* PoirotSpeak: A foreign character will occasionally grasp for the right word, and will revert to his native language when stumped. So far, so good, but the words in question will always be ones the ''audience'' is likely to understand in the other language, rather than the sort of vocabulary a non-native speaker would have difficulty with.

* {{Spoonerism}}: Accidentally wixing up the sirst founds of your mords.

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* GrammarNazi: Treating the rules of proper grammar as essential features of the language itself.

[-Many people assume "linguistics" to be all about correcting spelling, pronunciation and grammar "errors". In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usage[[note]]True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between '''descriptive''' and '''prescriptive''' linguistics with widely differing aims. Good rule of thumb is linguistics ''as a social science'' is by nature '''descriptive'''.[[/note]], as languages evolve over time - linguists concern themselves with studying actual usage, warts and all, rather than trying to be a GrammarNazi. The following tropes are not strictly linguistics failures, simply poor usage:-]

* HowDoIUsedTense

[-Many people assume "linguistics" to be all about correcting spelling, pronunciation and grammar "errors". In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usage[[note]]True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between '''descriptive''' and '''prescriptive''' linguistics with widely differing aims.[[/note]], as languages evolve over time - linguists concern themselves with studying actual usage, warts and all, rather than trying to be a GrammarNazi. The following tropes are not strictly linguistics failures, simply poor usage:-]

'''Author's Mistakes (General):'''
Basic mistakes in the way languages work, evolve, and differ from each other.

'''Author's Mistakes ([[TranslationTropes Foreign Languages]]):'''
Examples of these tropes ignore the differences between languages and assume they all translate perfectly 1:1. And then they get the translation wrong.

'''Mistakes with Usage:'''
Many people assume "linguistics" to be all about correcting spelling, pronunciation and grammar "errors". In fact there is no such thing as objectively correct usage[[note]]True, as far as it goes, but there is a recognized difference between '''descriptive''' and '''prescriptive''' linguistics with widely differing aims.[[/note]], as languages evolve over time - linguists concern themselves with studying actual usage, warts and all, rather than trying to be a GrammarNazi. The following tropes are not strictly linguistics failures, simply poor usage:

'''Audience's Misconceptions (Linguistic Dissonance):'''
While not made up of mistakes in itself, these tropes can cause difficulty with audiences who are unaware of the difference within languages over time and from place to place:

* GetTheeToANunnery: Wordplay and humo(u)r that's lost on modern audiences, who don't get the references.
* HaveAGayOldTime: Unintentional hilarity derived from originally harmless words becoming amusing or taking on [[InnocentInnuendo sexual connotations]] over time.
* PronounTrouble: GenderNeutralWriting can get lost in translation when one language is more strongly gendered than another-- so much for your character's AmbiguousGender.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Misunderstandings and (more) unintentional hilarity encountered across different dialects of the same language.

* CypherLanguage / {{Fictionary}} / {{Wingdinglish}}: When everything in your [[ConLang fictional language]] just so happens to be exactly the same as your real-life language, only with new words or symbols substituted. That's not inventing a ''language''; that's inventing a code.

* RecursiveTranslation: A second- or thirdhand (or more) translation that loses more and more nuance with each successive step.

* LanguageEqualsThought: Follows the controversial Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, that language dictates (and limits) the ideas people can have and how they experience the world. Note that this is not necessarily error, depending on time and opinions of author.

* EternalEnglish: Ignores the process of linguistic change, with people 1,000 years ago or 1,000 years hence speaking in the same dialect as the creators.

* CypherLanguage: When everything in your [[ConLang fictional language]] just so happens to be exactly the same as your real-life language, only with new words or symbols substituted. That's not inventing a ''language''; that's inventing a code.

* FromTheLatinIntroDucere: Just because an alleged etymology seems relevant to your point doesn't necessarily make it the word's true history.

** Somewhat justified for English, which has remained more or less stable since Shakespeare's days, but for the vast majority of languages, even a 50 year gap will be very noticeable.

* PronounTrouble: GenderNeutralWriting can get lost in translation when one language is more strongly gendered than another.