Line #140 Main/BilingualRhyme


1	Sometimes a poem or song uses [[BilingualBonus multiple languages]], and often poems or songs use words that [[SublimeRhyme rhyme]].
2
3	This trope is the logical conclusion of both of those facts: The rhyming of words or phrases in two different languages.
4
5	Can alleviate the LeastRhymableWord in some cases, such as there is no single word that rhymes with "orange" in English for example, but there are several in French. Also with ForeignCussWord if SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion is not enough to get crap past the censors.
6
7	Subtrope of BilingualBonus and Sister trope to GratuitousForeignLanguage.
8
9	This is also called a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaronic_language#Song macaronic song]].
10	----
11	!!Examples:
12
13	[[foldercontrol]]
14
15	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
16	* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Belle starts with this rhyme in English and French:
17	-->''Little town, it's a quiet village\
18	Every day like the one before\
19	Little town, full of little people\
20	Waking up to say...\
21	Bonjour! Bonjour!''
22	* Nutty French chef Louis from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}}'' sings "Les Poissons" as he prepares stuffed crab for Prince Eric and his guests, which mixes French and English liberally. Here's the first stanza rhyming "fish" with "délice."
23	-->''Les poissons, les poissons / How I love les poissons\
24	Love to chop and to serve little fish\
25	First I cut off their heads / Then I pull out their bones\
26	Ah mais oui, ça c'est toujours délice.''
27	* ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'': The chorus for "Why Should I Worry" does a rhyme in English and French.
28	-->''Why should I worry?\
29	Why should I care?\
30	I may not have it all\
31	But I've got street ''savoir faire.
32	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Winnie the Pooh\|2011}}'': At one point, Eeyore sings, "Found this anchor over there. Now it's on my derriere."
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
36	* From ''Film/MaryPoppins'', "The Life I Lead" gives us this rhyme in English and French:
37	-->''I'm the lord of my castle, the sovereign, the liege.\
38	I treat my subjects, servants, children, wife\
39	With a firm but gentle hand. Noblesse oblige.''
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Literature]]
43	* In "A Missouri Maiden's Farewell to Alabama", a composition from ''Prose and Poetry, by a Western Lady'' and cited in ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'', has the following last lines:
44	-->''And cold must be mine eyes, and heart, and'' tête[[note]]"head" in French[[/note]],\
45	''When, dear Alabama! they turn cold on thee!''
46	* ''Literature/{{Amphigorey}}'': One small couplet occurs in Creator/EdwardGorey's "The Gashlycrumb Tinies," wherein 26 children meet a gruesome demise in alphabetical order.
47	-->''"M" is for Maude, who was swept out to sea;\
48	"N" is for Neville, who died of ''ennui. (French for boredom)
49	* ''Literature/TheCanterburyTales'', the Pardoner's Prologue, gives us this passage in Middle English and Latin on lines 425-6:
50	-->''Therfore my theme is yet, and evere was\
51	Radix malorum est cupiditas.''
52	* ''Literature/DonJuan'' has several examples, most notably in canto 1, verse 42, lines 7-8 using English and Latin:
53	-->''But Virgil's songs are pure, except that horrid one\
54	Beginning with "Formosum Pastor Corydon."''
55	* The Song of Durin sung by Gimli in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' rhymes English with Khuzdul, the native Dwarven language:
56	-->''The shadow lies upon his tomb\
57	In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.''
58	* ''Oh No, Gotta Go!'' (a children's book) is mainly written in English, but with Spanish words scattered around. Most of the Spanish words are rhymed with other Spanish words, but at one point, "school" is rhymed with "azul" (blue), and a few pages later, "door" and "por favor" (please) are rhymed.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
62	* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'': "JAP Battle" is a rap between the two {{Jewish American Princess}}es Rebecca and Audra, who mix Hebrew and Yiddish phrases into their lyrics. At one point, Audra tells Rebecca, "Between your folks' divorce and that haircut on you / I'm really not sure which one's the bigger ''shondeh''." Rebecca translates the lyric in her next line for the "goys" in the audience (it essentially means "disgrace").
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Music]]
66	* Music/TheBeatles: The GratuitousFrench in "Michelle" gets rhymed with English at the beginning of the song. The following appearances of the hook use a French translation of the English line, which also rhymes.
67	-->Michelle, ma belle[[note]]my beauty[[/note]]
68	-->These are words that go together well
69	* Music/DelinquentHabits: "Tres Delinquentes" gleefully codeswitches throughout its verses as the rappers proudly flex their Latin heritage. Most rhymes remain within the same language, but not always.
70	-->''But we freak it this way sigue siendo un rey''[[note]]continue being a king[[/note]]
71	-->''O.G. freaks the beat the mariachis play''
72	* {{UsefulNotes/Senegal}}ese rap duo Music/DaaraJFamily's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPuwfkn0uLU Bayi Yoon]]" celebrates Pan-Africanism bilingually. Though the first verse is in French and the other parts Wolof, the Wolof verse works the French words for "Pan-Africanists," "mixed-race," and "grandson" into the mainly Wolof rhyme scheme.
73	-->Dougnou fatte fignou joge ndakh ''panafrica'''nistes''''' delo sougnou xel demb kanamou mame gnou '''giss'''
74	-->Dimbali jam yi '''biss'''--gnoul ''mé'''tisses''' ''dekkil osi'''ris'''--carbone14 souliwaat gnou '''giss'''?''histoire'' bindaat ''grand-père'' ba ''petit '''fils'''''
75	* In all refrains of Creator/EkinCheng[='=]s "Until Heaven and Earth Disappear" (a cover of Creator/{{Voice}}[='=]s "Anata no Koe ga Kikitai") have the word "Stay", which is from the original song, rhymed with several Cantonese lines: (While "Anata no Koe ga Kikitai" has multiple foreign covers that keeps all the "Stay" in the refrain, this cover is the only one that makes a rhyme)
76	-->Main Refrain:
77	-->''Stay!''
78	-->''Wùt jèut bāt hó chān ne̋i lìng ngő sāng yȕ séi''[[note]]Living without you makes me living death[[/note]]
79	-->''Stay!''
80	-->''Ne̋i na̋a chín siu lìng ngő hūk siu jèuk wȕimèi''[[note]]You shallow smile makes me to reminiscence [[CryLaughing in tears and smiles]][[/note]]
81	-->''Stay!''
82	-->''Dàansì jīksí só oi mùt faat hó lȁu héi''[[note]]Even if our love could not be kept[[/note]]
83	-->''Stay!''
84	-->''Ngő ya̋a léun ne̋i, [[TitleDrop jìkji sīusāt tīn yű dèi]]''[[note]]I will love you [[TitleDrop until heaven and earth disappear]][[/note]]
85	-->[[ChangingChorus Final Chrous]]:
86	-->''Stay!''
87	-->''Wùt jèut bāt hó chān ne̋i lìng ngő sāng yȕ séi''[[note]]Living without you makes me living death[[/note]]
88	-->''Stay!''
89	-->''Ne̋i na̋a chín siu yèung ngő fūensiu yìk sēungbèi''[[note]]You shallow smile makes me happy yet sad[[/note]]
90	-->''Stay!''
91	-->''Dàansì jīksí só oi mùt faat hó lȁu héi''[[note]]Even if our love could not be kept[[/note]]
92	-->''Stay!''
93	-->''Ngő ya̋a léun ne̋i, [[TitleDrop jìkji sīusāt tīn yű dèi]]''[[note]]I will love you [[TitleDrop until heaven and earth disappear]][[/note]]
94	* Flanders and Swann's ''All Gall'', a song about Charles De Gaulle, mixes French with English:
95	-->Come back President, govern by decree!
96	-->Referendum: Oui! Oui! Oui!
97
98	-->This old man, sept et huit!
99	-->"NATO give me back my fleet!"
100	* Music/HackenLee's "One Thousand and One Nights" (which is a cover of Music/AnzenChitai[='=]s "Juliet") has the refrain rhyming between the word Juliet--pronounced in French like "Julié" in English--and several Cantonese lines:
101	-->Oh, Juliet
102	-->Yi̋ yātchīn go yè[[note]]It's already on thousand nights[[/note]]
103	-->Juliet
104	-->Joi dáng géi go yè[[note]]Maybe a few nights more[[/note]]
105	* The song "Je Suis Désolé" by Mark Knopfler from Music/DireStraits, the word "way" is rhymed with the word "désolé":
106	--> And I will do that which I must do, love
107	--> And now we're underway
108	--> All that I can say to you is
109	--> Je suis désolé
110	* Downplayed with Music/TheEraserheads' "Ang Huling El Bimbo", where the singer mixes Tagalog and Tagalized Spanish as he reminisces of his long lost friend, with the last verse grimly talking about her fate:
111	-->Pagkalipas ng maraming taon, 'di na tayo ''nagkita''
112	--->(The years go by, and we haven't seen each other)
113	-->Balita ko'y may anak ka na, ngunit walang asawa
114	--->(I heard you had a kid, without a husband)
115	-->Tagahugas ka raw ng pinggan sa may ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermita Ermita]]''
116	--->(I heard that you were a dishwasher at Ermita)
117	-->At isang gabi, nasagasaan sa isang madilim na ''esquinita''
118	--->(And one night, you were hit-and-run at a dark alley.)
119	* Music/FiveIronFrenzy features a bit of GratuitousFrench in "Oh, Canada", as a joke about the country being officially bilingual.
120	-->Let's go to Canada
121	-->Let's leave today!
122	-->Canada, oh, Canada,
123	-->I ''s'il vous plaît!''
124	* Music/{{Jhariah}}: "Whose Eye Is It Anyway???" contains the lines:
125	-->''An arm and a leg, my friend, les yeux d'la tete'' (French for "to cost an arm and a leg")
126	-->''I never give as much as I get''
127	* Music/MikiMatsubara's "Stay With Me", a song about begging her lover to stay for the night, has this GratuitousEnglish rhyming in Japanese:
128	-->Stay with ''me''
129	-->Mayonaka no doa o ''tataki''
130	--->(Knocking on Midnight's door)
131	-->Kaeranaide to naita...
132	--->(Begging you not to go home...)
133	* Music/RoupaNova's "Whisky a Go Go" rhymes the name of the titular nightclub with "sonhou", which is Portuguese for "dreamed".
134	* Music/{{Sabaton}}:
135	** The chorus of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvP-qhjfvsc "Hearts of Iron"]] contains the couplet "''Nicht ein Schlacht, ein Rettungsaktion''[[note]]"It's not a battle, it's a rescue operation"[[/note]] / Holding their ground 'til the final platoon".
136	** The second verse of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1snEYPg8TXs "The Red Baron"]] rhymes "red squadron leader" with "Rote Kampfflieger"--literally "the red fighter pilot", the German-language title of Manfred von Richthofen's memoir.
137	* The Spanglish version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFxOj8TaGi4 Corazon Espinado]], a LoveHurts song by by Music/{{Santana}} and Mana has this gem:
138	--> Corazon abandonado (Abandoned Heart?)
139	--> Nobody hears, just my shadow
140	* Music/{{Shakira}}'s "Waka Waka" mixes English with Spanish in the first verse after the chorus.
141	-->Listen to your God
142	-->This is our motto
143	-->Your time to shine, don't wait in line
144	-->Y vamos por todo
145	* Creator/AllanSherman has several examples, the most famous of which is rhyming the title of "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" with "Camp Granada", named for a Spanish city and/or pomegranate. His song "America's A Nice Italian Name" is built upon mixing existing Italian terms into its lyrics and rhymes.
146	* Music/{{Stromae}}: "Ave Cesaria" honors the late great {{UsefulNotes/Cape Verde}}an songstress [[Music/CesariaEvora Cesária Évora]]. In the rap verse, he rhymes the Portuguese word for "thank you" with the following French that compares her legions of fans to soldiers she recruited.
147	-->''Obrigado'', tu ''embrigades'' des millions de soldats dans ta patrie[[note]]Thank you, you enlist millions of soldiers in your homeland[[/note]]
148	* [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica South African]] musical comedian Robbie Wessels. His song of praise to the [[UsefulNotes/RugbyUnion Bokkies]]' obsessive fan Jan, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brC52jXDMMw Player 23]]'', alternates lines and passages between Afrikaans and English.
149	-->They checked each other's boerewors, to see who is the man.
150	-->(Elton en Jan, is die siel van die span!) [[note]] "boerwors" is a sort of sausage. This sets up a visual double entendre in the video. The Afrikaans line translates as "Elton and Jan are the soul of the team!"[[/note]]
151	* Every Music/WeirdAlYankovic that revolves around a foreign language will find ways to rhyme its words with English in amusing ways. Prominent examples include "Lasagna", "Taco Grande", "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi" and "Genius in France".
152	-->No gracias, yo quiero jalapeños, nada más
153	-->You can toss away the hot sauce
154	* Udo Jürgens' song "Ich will, ich kann – I Can, I Will" mixes German with English.
155	-->Mit Blick ins Märchenland
156	-->Geh'n wir zu zweit durchs Ziel [[note]]Looking into fairytale land, we cross the finish line as a pair[[/note]]
157	-->'Cause knowing you means I can - I will
158
159	-->Ein Leben voller Sinn [[note]]A life full of meaning[[/note]]
160	-->Together we will win
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Poetry]]
164	* "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Possum Carmen Possum]]" is a Latin/English poem.
165	-->The nox was lit by lux of Luna,
166	-->And 'twas a nox most opportuna
167	-->To catch a possum or a coona;
168	-->For nix was scattered o'er this mundus,
169	-->A shallow nix, et non profundus.
170	-->On sic a nox with canis unus,
171	-->Two boys went out to hunt for coonus.
172	* "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motor_Bus The Motor Bus]]" is a macaronic poem using Latin and English, though using the traditional English pronunciation of Latin.
173	-->What is this that roareth thus?
174	-->Can it be a Motor Bus?
175	-->Yes, the smell and hideous hum
176	-->Indicat Motorem Bum!
177	[[/folder]]
178
179	[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
180	* ''Series/SesameStreet'': In the song "I Love Words", there's one lyric "French words like 'chapeau' and 'tete', music words like 'clarinet'."
181	[[/folder]]
182
183	[[folder:Theatre]]
184	* ''Theatre/AChorusLine'': In "Dance 10, Looks 3", Val sings about how she auditioned well but kept losing roles to dancers with [[ACupAngst more assets]]. After a visit to a plastic surgeon, she found that getting bigger parts was all a matter of getting bigger parts.
185	-->'''Val:''' Tits and ass!\
186	Bought myself a fancy pair.\
187	Tightened up the derriere.
188	* ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'':
189	** "Take a Break" gives us this rhyme using English and French:
190	--->''My daddy's trying to start America's bank,''
191	--->''Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq!''
192	** Frenchman Lafayette rhymes English 'afar' with several French words in "Aaron Burr, Sir":
193	--->I came from afar just to say "Bonsoir!"
194	--->Tell the King "Casse toi!" Who's the best? C'est moi!
195	* ''Theatre/InTheHeights'' is a musical about a Dominican community living in Washington Heights, and thus features a lot of Spanish phrases. Some of the song lyrics rhyme English words with Spanish words. For example, the title song rhymes "café" (Spanish for "coffee") with "away":
196	-->''In the Heights, I can't survive without café (I serve café)''
197	-->'Cause tonight seems like a million years away!
198	* In ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}'', Sir William Gilbert enjoys himself far too much with this trope:
199	-->FAIRIES: Your lordly style
200	-->We'll quickly quench
201	-->With base ''canaille''!
202	-->LORDS: That word is French!
203
204	-->FAIRIES: Distinction ebbs
205	-->Before a herd
206	-->Of vulgar ''plebs''!
207	-->LORDS: A Latin word!
208
209	-->FAIRIES: 'Twill fill with joy
210	-->And madness stark
211	-->The ''hoi polloi''!
212	-->LORDS: A Greek remark!
213	* There are a few in the musical ''Theatre/{{Six}}''. In the "Don't Lose Ur Head" number, "bonjour" is rhymed with "chore" and "everyday" is rhymed with "prêt-à-manger". The "Haus of Holbien" number rhymes "are" with "Wunderbar" and puns on fear/vier and nine/nein.
214	[[/folder]]
215
216	[[folder:Video Games]]
217	* ''VideoGame/BillieBustUp'' has Fantoccio the puppet, who constantly peppers his VillainSong, "I've Had Enough of You", with GratuitousFrench:
218	-->''But why stop there? Add a lion, a bear. What's wrong, my petite chère (French for "little dear")? Why don't you smile?''
219	[[/folder]]
220
221	[[folder:Web Video]]
222	* Music [=YouTuber=] Andrew Huang responded to a dare by releasing [[https://youtu.be/K_F2ByljLtc a rap in FIVE languages]] (English, French, Spanish, Swedish, and Mandarin), complete with ''quintilingual'' rhymes (and very helpful parallel subtitles).
223	-->''Je vois clairement, 你只有一个 dim fog\
224	let me illuminate, ge mig en trumslag\
225	también un micrófono, ces idiots 没有口\
226	他们喝太多久酒, try to succeed, they don't though''
227	* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'': In "Rasputin vs. Stalin," [[spoiler:Putin]] boasts about his rap skills, "Blow it up like a tuba / While I'm balling in Cuba / Doing judo moves and schooling every communist CYKA," the latter word being Russian for "bitch."
228	* Mori Calliope from ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'' is good at mixing English and Japanese together, as demonstrated in her debut song "Excuse My Rudeness But Could You Please RIP?"
229	-->''To my surprise, snatching lives toriaezu kinshi'' (forbidden for the time being)
230	-->''Nice try, stoppin' the motherfuckin' Da Vinci''
231	-->''Of human erasure, can't stop the pace, sir''
232	-->''Make sure when "standing off" my rhymes slay first''
233	* ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'': The last {{Limerick}} in Yahtzee's review of ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009'' goes as follows:
234	-->''Well, if you like starting beatups in bars,''
235	-->''Or your head has been lodged up your arse,''
236	-->Wolfenstein ''may give''
237	-->''at least some joie de vivre;''
238	-->''Otherwise, don?t bother. Two stars.''
239	[[/folder]]
240
241	[[folder:Western Animation]]
242	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'', the theme song rhymes "store" with "amor" (Spanish for "love").
243	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCatInTheHat'': When the Cat in the Hat is singing his name in different languages, he rhymes "chapeau" with "sombrero".
244	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbSummerBelongsToYou Summer Belongs to You]]," Isabella's song "City of Love," about how she wishes Phineas would notice her after they crash-landed in Paris, rhymes, "I wish that he would whisper ''ma chérie, je t'aime''"[[note]]French for "My darling, I love you"[[/note]] with "But all he wants to do is try to fix that plane."
245	* In ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheHalls'', Puss in Boots, while singing a parody of "Feliz Navidad" called "''Fleas'' Navidad", rhymes "Navidad" ("Christmas" in Spanish) with "sad".
246	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BilingualRhyme