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4[[quoteright:350:[[Film/RedHeat https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_heat.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:Who is this [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Lyaiold Ssnwlyazeieggeya]]?!]]
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10->'''Richie:''' It's in Russian.\
11'''Eddie:''' You just put the Rs the wrong way 'round!\
12'''Richie:''' THAT'S WHAT RUSSIAN '''IS!'''
13-->-- ''Series/{{Bottom}}''
14
15%% Don't put Cyrillic letters in potholes; they won't be rendered properly.
16
17In a lot of Western posters, you see something that could be called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux_Cyrillic "Faux Cyrillic"]] – replacing Latin characters with visually similar [[UsefulNotes/CyrillicAlphabet Cyrillic]] ones, to make something [[ForeignLookingFont look more Russian]]. Don't expect them to be consistent with it, though.
18
19This is because Cyrillic is based on medieval Greek completed with Glagolitic (sometimes inspired by Hebrew – ц, ш) letters, but due to reforms by UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat, it has the same basic design principles as the Latin alphabet (stroke thickness and placement, etc.). This has resulted in an alphabet with letters that range from deceptively familiar to the strikingly different. The Latin alphabet itself is based – via the Etruscan[=/=]Old Italic one – on the archaic (pre-classical) Greek one, and Hebrew and Greek scripts are based on Phoenician script, so they are all related. Where the (English form of the) Latin alphabet has twenty-six letters, the (Russian form of the) Cyrillic alphabet has ''thirty-three''.
20
21The perpetrators ignore the fact that these letters are, in actual Russian, pronounced completely differently from the Latin characters they are supposed to represent, which can result in a tricky reading task for those who [[BilingualBonus can read Cyrillic script.]]
22
23Below is a list of popular letters used with this trope, and their proper pronunciations:
24
25Latin letters and the Cyrillic letters incorrectly substituted for them:
26* R: 'Я' (ya). The TropeNamer.[[note]]This is a simplified form (via cursive) of “[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yus Little Yus]]” (Ѧ ѧ), an archaic Cyrillic letter that originally represented a nasalized front vowel (compare “ę” in Polish), but came to represent the sound “ya” in Russian.[[/note]]
27* r: 'Г' (g in Russian, h in Ukrainian and Belarusian) (as in Gamma)
28* N: 'И' (i), sometimes even 'Й' ("short И", equivalent of j/y)
29* n: 'П' (p) (as in Pi)
30* A: 'Д' (d)[[note]]even though (or more likely, because) the Cyrillic А is identical to the Latin A[[/note]]
31* O: 'Ф' (f)
32* W: 'Ш' (sh), 'Щ' (shch[[note]]The 'shch' pronounciation has been outdated in Russian for a century, but remains official in transliteration rules to English, and the Ukrainian and Polish languages in general (in the latter written as 'szcz'). Current Russian pronounciation is a soft 'sh' sound.[[/note]] [[note]]well, ''sht'' like in schtick in Bulgarian[[/note]])
33* X: 'Ж' (zh) (pronounced like 'plea'''s'''ure')
34* B: 'В' (v), 'Б' (b), 'Ь' (soft sign), 'Ъ' (hard sign)
35* E: 'Э' (æ), 'З' (z), 'е' (ye/e)
36* U: 'Ц' (ts)
37* Y: 'Ч' (ch) (said as in church)
38* Io: 'Ю' (yu)
39
40The number of Cyrillic letters that look similar or identical to Latin letters or numbers but represent slightly or entirely different phonemes doesn't help either:
41* "А": (always short a, as in father)
42* "В": (v)
43* "Н": (n)
44* "Р": ([[TrrrillingRrrs rolled R]])
45* "С": (s)
46* "У": (oo)
47* "Ё": (yo; not just a fronted/raised Е with a HeavyMetalUmlaut)
48* "Х": (guttural "kh", like the 'ch' in the Scottish 'loch', or the hard 'ch' in German 'Buch')
49* "Ъ": (hard sign / back yer, which historically made a vowel sound and still represents the schwa in Bulgarian, but now just marks a iotified vowel having a 'strong' phoneme [[note]]Letters Я, Ю, Е and Ё will have a 'strong' phoneme represented as a full 'y' consonant, unless they are after another consonant, which is the 'weak' phoneme and will mark that consonant soft; the presence of Ъ nullifies the post-consonant effect[[/note]])
50* "Ь": (soft sign / front yer, which historically made a vowel sound, but now just marks a consonant as soft, like silent E after C and G)[[note]]Slavic languages tend to have hard and soft versions of consonants with the soft versions typically adding a Y sound, with separate letters for each vowel for after a hard or soft consonant. Historically, they also had a rule that no syllable could end in a consonant, but as the short vowels represented by the yers vanished, the letters were repurposed to be hard or soft markers when there isn't a following vowel. However, because marking both hard 'and' soft consonants are redundant, the soft sign was kept, while the hard sign was relegated to extremely specific circumstances in most languages where you need a Y sound after a hard consonant, like in the Russian word 'съесть' (~ to have eaten)[[/note]]
51* "б": (b)
52And that's only the letters that exist in the Russian Alphabet[[note]]And the Bulgarian Alphabet,the nation where it is thought the Cyrillic alphabet originated which has all letters of the Russian one except for Ё, Э, Ы[[/note]] specifically. If you go to other languages written in Cyrillic, you'll find gems such as:
53* "І": (i in Ukrainian and Belarusian)
54* "Ј": ("y", like in "yes", in Serbian and Macedonian)
55* "Ѕ": (dz in Macedonian)
56* "Ү": (German Ü in Turkic Languages, such as Kazakh)
57* "Ғ": (French R in Turkic Languages)
58
59This can also happen with alphabets other than Cyrillic, such as the use of the Greek letter sigma (Σ) as an E or delta (Δ) or lambda (Λ) as an A, even though "Ε" and "Α" are actually perfectly good Greek letters themselves. (Sigma, delta, and lambda are actually the analogues of S, D and L, respectively, although delta is a "th" as in "'''th'''en" in modern Greek.) Sometimes Greek letters are also used more or less correctly to write English as a [[GratuitousGreek substitution of real Greek language]].
60
61Often overlaps with FakeRussian and/or PictorialLetterSubstitution. Compare HeavyMetalUmlaut, PunctuationShaker, GratuitousForeignLanguage, Letters2Numbers and XtremeKoolLetterz. See also RandomlyReversedLetters and SpoofsRUs.
62
63----
64!Examples:
65[[foldercontrol]]
66
67!!Суяіllіс:
68
69[[folder:Adveяtising]]
70%% The backwards R in Toys R Us has nothing to do with this trope, as it's an attempt to look childish rather than Russian.
71* There's a UK ''insurance ad'' featuring a Backwards R and ''Socialist Realism style art''.
72* A 2013 ad for Clorox features Bud, DiЯectoЯ of KitcheИ SaИitatioИ who has a stereotypical faux-Russian accent.
73* A 2009 Polish commercial for Raiffeisen Bank plays it straight and subverts it at the same time; the "revolutionary deposit" slogan is rendered into "Лokata Яewolucyjna" with the first word featuring the rather obscure (yet fitting in terms of pronunciation) "Л" character and the second one beginning with the [[TropeNamer Trope Namer]].
74* Dr. Jon's Shaving Soap Company has a fragrance called Propaganda. The label looks like a stereotypical Soviet propaganda poster and the product name has the backwards R as well as several faux-Cyrillic letters.
75* The UK bookshop Waterstones had a promotion on their website called "The Russian Revolutions". No backwards "R"s, but "Д" for "A", a backwards "Г" for "T" ''and'' "L", and something that ''almost'' looks like a "Ф" for "O".
76* The "sponsored by" advertising bumps at the beginning and end of every screening of ''Series/CoronationStreet'' feature an insurance company that uses pseudo-Russian meerkats to shill its product. The meerkat colony lives in a version of Coronation Street - but with all the shop and business names and show titles rendered in pseudo-Russian with lots of backwards letters.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
80* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', [[ShowWithinAShow the fictional manga]] ''Reversi'' has a logo spell it as ЯEVEЯSI. It's not implying any relation to Russia, just a pun on how the series is about one person using demonic power to MindControl people while another reverses it.
81* The anime adaptation of ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'' features a Witch named Маруся in its final season. The я in her name is represented by a backwards R [[CypherLanguage rune]]. As the other Cyrillic letters in the in the Witch's name are visually identical to Latin letters, regular runes are used for them.
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Audio Plays]]
85* Creator/TheFiresignTheatre's LP ''How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All'' displays this to comical effect, with its "All Hail Marx and Lennon" poster, as seen [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wvs0fdf1.jpg here]].
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Comic Books]]
89* Letterer Ken Bruzenak frequently used this trope on ''ComicBook/AmericanFlagg'' -- particularly in the second series (formally, ''Creator/HowardChaykin's American Flagg!''). In that series, set mostly in a wildly capitalistic future Russia, [[http://www.comics.org/series/3722/covers/ the series logo itself]] is in a Faux Cyrillic font.
90* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': In early issues of the 1987 series, Russian dialogue, spoken by characters such as Red Trinity, is just English spelled out in Cyrilic characters.
91* ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'' has this all over the place on the titles and the chapter headings (and the initial letter of Narrator!Superman's text boxes). But Cyrillic is used correctly in the background of scenes set in the Soviet Union; one popular image in the second and third books is Superman's face with ДOBEPИE (an actual Russian word meaning "trust" and pronounced approximately "doverie") written underneath.
92* ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' had this in "Spirou à Moscou". One character even explained that he ''spoke'' French pretty well, except for sometimes still reversing the R and the N.
93* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarmatians Sarmatians]] competing in "Asterix and the Chariot Race" invert their letters rather randomly.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Fan Woяks]]
97* The logo of ''VideoGame/RedAlert3Paradox'', a mod for ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'', switches the English letters of "paradox" with visually similar Cyrillic letters (including the backwards 'R'). The result is, obviously, gibberish, but hey, [[RuleOfCool it looks cool]].
98* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Sam Vimes of the City Watch describes the written script of Far Überwald as "that sort of strange backwards mirror-writing that makes your eyes water to look at and makes wizard-script look normal".
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Films — Animation]]
102* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'', the train's speedometer reads SPEEФОШЕТЕЯ ("sreyefosheteya").
103* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': In the ''Disney Sing-Along Songs'' version of "I've Got No Strings", the Russian puppet's verse is rendered with a few accented characters, and every R in the verse is written backwards.
104[[/folder]]
105
106[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
107* ''Film/ChernobylDiaries'': Or, as a person who can read Cyrillic would see, Sneyapovul Diayaies.[[note]]The correct Cyrillic for Chernobyl is Чepнoбыль[[/note]]
108* ''Film/{{Borat}}'' provides a particularly well-known use of the Cyrillic Д ('D') in place of A. ("Vordt"?) That was just the poster art. The titles in the movie itself used (mostly) correct Cyrillic. As opposed to the original TV show where the Cyrillic subtitles were nonsense ("Borat" was rendered as "Ishfke" for example) and made by simply typing on a Russian keyboard setting (which have a completely different layout than QWERTY).
109** The sequel's title downplays this: ''Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm'' uses an "И" in place of the single "N".
110* Likewise, in ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'', the fax-Cyrillic spelling on Bourne's fake passport was apparently achieved by typing out "Foma Kinaev" (not exactly a common Russian name on it's own) on a Russian keyboard, resulting in the memetic "Ascshf LSHTSHFUM".
111* The opening credits of ''Film/RedHeat'', where Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger plays a Soviet cop.
112* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' displays this, including a mislabeling of the sub itself.
113* Some of the signs in ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' use the 'Я' and the 'Д'.
114* The Creator/HistoryChannel's documentary [[http://www.newvideo.com/wp-content/uploads/boxart-hires-flat/AAE70894-06.jpg Russia: Land of the Tsars.]]
115%%* The film about the Dyatlov Pass Incident has a fairly incomprehensible name.
116%%* 'Siberian Education' uses it.
117* ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'' misappropriates Latin-looking Cyrillic letters to make Soviet propaganda posters and NKVD documents legible to English speaking audiences. As this is a farce, the intent is to reinforce the hilarity of the characters' backstabbing and political maneuvering.
118* ''Film/TheRussiansAreComingTheRussiansAreComing'', a satirical film about the comic hi-jinks that ensue after a Russian sub runs aground on an island in New England, uses a backwards R, a backwards N and a hammer-and-sickle G for the title in both the poster art and the title card in the credits.
119* As the film is set in Russia, this trope is used in the end credits of ''Film/DevilsPass''. One example is presenting the director credit as "Diяected by Reииy Harliи".
120* The poster for Gaspar Noe's ''Film/{{Irreversible}}'' has reversed R's, E's, and N's.
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Liteяatuяe]]
124* The Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/{{Wintersmith}}'' touches on a place where [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong bitter cold is seen as normal]] and murderously violent blizzards are commonplace. The elemental spirit of Winter, the wintersmith, is seen riding the snowstorm and singing in the region's native tongue, which is rendered in the text as Russian Cyrillic.
125[[/folder]]
126
127[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
128* Promotional materials for ''Series/TheAmericans'' often feature the show's title written in all caps with a backwards R. Notably averted within the show's opening titles, however, where the cast's names are accurately transliterated into Cyrillic.
129* ''Series/AYoungDoctorsNotebook'' used this effect for credits and location titles.
130* TV show ''Borat'' did the in-show titles by simply selecting Russian keyboard setting while still using a regular QWERTY keyboard. Since the keyboard layout is completely different the result is nonsense - for example Borat is rendered as "Ishfke". The latter movie subverts it by using correct Cyrillic titles.
131* From an episode of ''Series/{{Bottom}}'', where Eddie mocks the unconvincing nature of the fake birthday cards Richie sends himself every year:
132-->'''Eddie:''' ...And this one's from "The Peoples of the Soviet Union in grateful thanks to Comrade Richie"!\
133'''Richie:''' It's in Russian!\
134'''Eddie:''' You just put the R's the wrong way round!\
135'''Richie:''' That's what Russian is!
136* The Cold War Updates on ''Series/TheColbertReport'' use a title card with a mix of Latin and Cyrillic that would be transliterated as "Sold Shchaya Tsrdatz".
137* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': In the pilot episode, the team finds the letters Б. and И. on a medical case and translate them as B. I., the initials of one of their suspects, [[spoiler:who turns out to be guilty]].
138* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E8ColdWar Cold War]]", set on a Russian submarine in 1983, is called "COLD WAЯ" on the promotional poster.
139* The ''{{Series/Forever|2014}}'' episode "The King of Columbus Circle" features the Russian-speaking [[{{Ruritania}} Ruritanian]] country of "Urkesh". The signs in its consulate are in actual Russian, but on its passports the country's namepolier is written as "Цркесч" ("Tsrkestch").
140* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': Detectives find a watch in the possession of a killer's son. The son didn't bother to hide it because the watch was engraved with the initials "BP", not realizing that in the Russian language "BP" is the equivalent of "VR" which were the Russian victim's initials.
141* In an episode of ''Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}'' we see a bottle labeled in Cyrillic: it's supposed to say "Etil Alkogol" ( = "Ethyl Alcohol"); what it actually says is "Ztil Alkogop". If it was supposed to be Russian, then it should've said "Этиловый спирт" (''Etilovyy spirt'').
142** And "Alkogop" means something like "drunken gang banger", which adds an extra dose of Narm into the scene.
143* ''Series/RevolutionZ'' inverts this. The word for "Revolution" in the titular band's name is spelled "RЕVОЛЮЦИЯ", with a Latin R and V in a language that uses Cyrillic, instead of "РЕВОЛЮЦИЯ".
144* An episode of ''Series/{{SCTV}}'' had the premise of the station hacked by the Soviet Union, and re-branded '''''CCCP-1''''', pronounced "''three-see-pee-one''". The letter '''C''' in Cyrillic (pronounced "''es''") is the equivalent of Latin '''S''', while '''P''' in Cyrillic (pronounced "''er''") is equivalent to '''R'''. '''''CCCP''''' actually stands for ''Союз Советских Социалистических Республик'' [transliterated to Latin: ''Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik''], which is ''Union of Soviet Socialist Republics'' in Russian.
145* ''Series/NotNecessarilyTheNews'' dubbed over footage of ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vremya Vremya]]'' (Время, "Time") with Stuart Pankin's voice introducing the program as "Bupemmer".
146* One Cold War-themed episode of ''Series/TheTimeTunnel'' includes several signs in fake Cyrillic. Most are a nonsensical mix of Latin and Cyrillic letters, including a backwards У, an upside-down Q, and even a backwards 4. These are for flavor; the one sign meant to be comprehended reads ''РЯОᒐEꓘꓕ А-13'', with a flat-topped A probably meant to suggest a Д.
147* The Creator/DiscoveryChannel program ''Wild Russia'' uses backwards R's when displaying the title.
148%%* Early seasons of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' were fairly littered with this trope.
149* ''Series/{{XHDRBZ}}'' replaces all written R's with Я's for comedic effect. Its spinoff ''Series/LaFamiliaPLuche'' also does this, as it started off as a sketch for the show mentioned above.
150* In the ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' MadeForTVMovie ''A Story to Die For'', the English language edition of a HerCodeNameWasMarySue novel by the former head of the KGB gives the title as ''COLD WARRIOЯ".
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder:Music]]
154* Music/{{Korn}}'s logo is spelled with a backwards R.
155** Causes [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike unintentional hilarity]] for Kazakh people, who also use Cyrillic alphabet, since "коян" (koyan, the "Н" is read like "N") in Kazakh means "hare" or "rabbit".
156* Music/LinkinPark, or LIИKIИ PARK, in most of their early material.
157* Music/NineInchNails is often written as ИIИE IИCH ИAILS in different media. In addition, their logo mixed both reversed and non-reversed glyphs: NIИ
158* KYPCK, a Finnish metal band singing primarily in Russian, in an inversion, use the Volapuk encoding in it's name, pronounced Kursk.
159* Music/TypeONegative's final album ''Music/{{Dead Again|2007}}'' has all of the lyrics and liner notes written in Faux Cyrillic to go with the image of UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin on the cover. Just as an example, the band's name and album title are written as "TЧРЕ O ИЭGАТIѴЭ : DЭДD ДGДIИ," which – because Cyrillic doesn't have a letter shaped like "D" or "G"; "I" replaces "И" in Ukrainian and "Ѵ" is an archaic letter translatable as either "i" or "v" depending on the context – would read "TCHRYE O IE-ATIVE : -ED- D-DII."
160* The band ¡Forward, Russia! are in love with this trope.
161* So are the Music/LeningradCowboys a.k.a. Lɘиiиɢяad Cowʙoys who aren't even from Russia. The covers of their album ''Happy Together'' and their ''Total Balalaika Show'' live video mimic a Pravda front page complete with a font which borrows a lot from the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets plus some mirrored or upside-down letters and the German ß (sharp s) in lieu of the capital B. Only "Pravda" itself is written in real Cyrillic.
162* The Welsh band Music/ManicStreetPreachers had all of the R's backwards for their album [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BVRgsZQjfXo/R1BF3-qV1tI/AAAAAAAAAvk/bpOpZdorMq4/s1600-R/Manic+Street+Preachers+%281994%29+The+Holy+Bible-Frontal.jpg The Holy Bible]], perfectly fitting with the flavour of the release - this went back to normal for a few albums, then made a return for [[http://cronicasabsurdo.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/tigers1.jpg Send Away The Tigers]] and follow up [[http://condemnedtorocknroll.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/manic-street-preachers-journal-for-plague-lovers-2009.jpg Journal For Plague Lovers.]]
163* Music/FranzFerdinand did this very consciously in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haW_ruZ_Be8 the video for "This Fire"]] off their self-titled first album. That whole album they were going for a Soviet Constructivist look, which goes remarkably well with their sound.
164* BT's sixth album is titled ''THЭSЭ HOPЭFUL MACHINЭS''. The song titles also have their E's reversed.
165* Angelic Upstarts (or ДИ☭eLIC UФSTДRTS, which woud read as "DI*hammer and sickle*eLIC UFSTDRTS") did this on their ''[[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KWSD849DL._SL500_AA300_.jpg Anthems Against Scum]]'' album.
166* Norther, a Finnish band (Finnish uses the Roman alphabet, FYI, despite being part of Russia up until WWI), uses the Д as an A on their album ''N''.
167* [[http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51L1WQgaFkL.jpg Feind Hört Mit]] ("Enemy Eavesdropping") by Austrian band Stahlhammer uses this too: The title (keeping in mind each "M" is a flipped "Ш," "І" replaces "И" in Ukrainian and "Ѕ" is an archaic letter translatable as "dz," now only used in Macedonian) turns into "DZTDN-NASHSHYEYA : -YEIP- NFYAT SHIT" when transcribed.
168* DJ Vadim's name is usually written with a Д for the A and an inverted Щ for the M.
169* In the Romanian band TNT's video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9VIW5HHqM "Vodka, Vodka"]] has the words "Vodka Дямач" in the around a red star in the back throughout the video. This is a good example, because the sound for the actual Russian word for armies, армии, is basically like the English word army (though it refers to the plural in Russian), and even the singular word for army, армия (armiya) would be easily recognizable for English-speakers as referring to an army, whereas Дямч would sound like Dyamch (that is, if the word "army" is being used at all instead of "land forces". Of course, given the Soviet-style emblem, "army" makes a lot of sense [[RedsWithRockets in this context]]). Obviously, with reading a different alphabet the cognates often won't work for non-Cyrillic readers, so unless you want it to be [[GratuitousForeignLanguage meaningless for most people]], you need to do use this trope if you want to use Cyrillic in this case.
170** Also, the TИT in the middle of the emblem, for the band's name, TNT. TИT said out loud would sound like "teat" or "tit".
171* The Music/{{Bemani}} J-pop band TЁЯRA ("Tyoyara").
172* The Finnish DoomMetal band Курск, although their name is correct Cyrillic for Kursk, uses faux Cyrillic text on their website.
173* The cover for Music/{{KMFDM}}'s ''Opium'' has the band's name written KMFДM. F doesn't exist in Cyrillic, the equivalent would be Ф. Also, ''XTOЯT''.
174* [[Music/HelloProject Reina Tanaka]]'s rock band has the somewhat [[XtremeKoolLetterz bizarre]] name of [=LoVendo=]Я.
175* One recording of Modest Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is by an orchestra conducted by "SIMOИ RATTLE". What kind of a name is "Simoi"?
176* Music/{{Caparezza}}'s 2014 video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9tf49drPKY "Avrai ragione tu"]] is a tongue-in-cheek spoof of Soviet Russia and as such is all about this trope (it also substitutes U with V, which is more a Latin type of thing).
177* Future Perfect's ''ДFTЗЯ THЗ FДLL''.
178* Music/{{Front 242}} write the song title "KOMMДИdO ЯЭMЖ" this way. Interestingly, they also use correct GratuitousRussian at times.
179* South Korean girl group Music/BlackPink's name is often stylized as BLΛƆKPIИK. it is because the backwards C AND N are considered perfect for the group.
180* German rapper Olexesh (who has Slavic roots, so it's natural for him...or he really should know better!) has a logo ΦLΣЖΣSH (approximately). Call him Pflszhssh on your own risk...
181* There's a {{doujin}} album by ADIEU and [=UtAGe=] titled ''DЯЁADИOЦGHT HAЯVЁSTA''.
182* [=NothingButNoise=]'s ''Mutanten Maschine'' EP uses mock Cyrillic for the band name and title, but lists the tracks in legitimate Russian.
183* Zigzagged by Music/PigWithTheFaceOfABoy's video for ''Complete History of the Soviet Union, Arranged to the Melody of "Tetris"'', in that Lenin's name is correctly rendered in Cyrillic, but Siberia is rendered on a sign as "SIБERIД".
184* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LRCynXVxSU This video]] for the short-lived animated singer Rashni is set in Russia and features this trope, for example by having signs that say МЕПА ТФТАГ ЗЕСЯЕТ АЯЕА ("Mega Total Secret Area"). The comments are full of actual Russian speakers that mock the hell out of it. Also, keep in mind that this character is ostensibly Indian and was invented by Germans.
185[[/folder]]
186
187[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
188* The ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' supplement ''GURPS Russia'' uses the TS and D characters for U and A respectively, [[http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/Russia/img/cover_lg.jpg plus several other substitutions]], in various titles and headings -- in a book that's supposed to educate readers about the place...[[note]]Actually, it's reasonably useful as a source of info about UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia and UsefulNotes/KievanRus, occasional bloopers notwithstanding.[[/note]]
189* In ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'', there are a series of cards that have been subjected to TheCorruption, known as Reverse units. On the card, it is spelled out as Яeverse.
190* The two Soviet-created characters in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' use the backwards R on their character cards: the nefarious [[MesACrowd Pяoletaяiat]], and the heroic [[PoweredArmor Cold Waя]].
191[[/folder]]
192
193[[folder:Theatяe]]
194* The logo for the Broadway production of ''Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812'' uses the backwards R in its rendition of "PIERRE".
195[[/folder]]
196
197[[folder:Video Games]]
198* The logo for the computer game ''VideoGame/{{DEFCON}}'', which would actually be "DEFCOI" if the backwards N was read properly.
199* The adventure game ''VideoGame/{{KGB}}'' was released on CD as ''Conspiяacy''.
200* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' was styled as "TETЯIS" in several Western releases, particularly those by Mirrorsoft and [[Creator/{{Atari}} Atari Games/Tengen]], just to advertise that the game was developed by a Russian. If the Я were pronounced as in Russian, that would be "Tetyais". The early computer versions published by Spectrum Holobyte and ''Tetris Semipro-68K'' for the Platform/SharpX68000 use the proper Cyrillic spelling "ТЕТРИС", though with the C replaced with the Soviet hammer and sickle for the former case. Averted since the late 1990s, when Creator/RogerDean designed a new logo for the newly formed Tetris Company.
201** A [[http://popchartlab.com/products/every-piece-in-its-place faux propaganda poster]] featuring ''Tetris'' also invoked this with backwards R's and N's and the Cyrillic letter "er" for the p in "place".
202* The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' series generally avoided this, but it slipped in once, in the German release of the first RA game, which had its name written on the box as "ALAЯMSTUFE ЯOT". The actual game's main menu showed it correctly, though.
203* ''VideoGame/RepublicTheRevolution'' in addition to [[SpeakingSimlish speaking pseudo-Russian]] has all in-game signs and posters ''written'' in pseudo-Cyrillic. It also uses other symbols, such as the German "ß".
204* The ''VideoGame/IronGrip: The Oppression'' GameMod had a typical backwards R in its promotional logo.
205* The trope has gained notoriety on the Discovery (''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' GameMod) forums features this through MemeticMutation, as in 'ШHAT SIЯ?'
206** Shnat [[GratuitousHungarian Siya?]]
207* ''VideoGame/{{Singularity}}'' heavily used this trope, including in its logo. Almost excused, when they started using real Russian at the end credits. Infamous examples include: the game's title, which is written as SIИGULДЯITУ (Siiguldyaitu) and Katorga-12 being written as KДTФЯGД-12 (Kdtfyagd-12).
208* The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/{{Deception}}'' series, ''VideoGame/{{Trapt}}'', spells the title on the cover art as ''TЯAPT'' purely for cosmetic reasons, to achieve a mirrored look that the P partially fudges.
209* The 1997 version of ''VideoGame/WhereInTimeIsCarmenSandiego1997'' includes a scene where you meet Yuri Gagarin. The rocket carrying him has the letters CCCP on it, and your helpful friend indicates that it's an acronym... ''in English''. The instruction book for the game includes a section detailing all the historical inaccuracies introduced to the game in order to make it easier to understand and tells what it ''really'' stands for. (Isn't this game supposed to be educational, though?)
210* The Krivorozhstal Mill in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter: The Omega Strain'' has its name written on the smokestacks in faux Cyrillic, with Д for R and a reversed Г for T.
211* Blatantly featured in the first three entries of ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron''. Nations part of the Comintern (Soviet bloc) would feature faux Cyrillic names, which remains a source of much agony for Cyrillic-reading fans. However, there are mods that allow users to change the typeset. Averted ''IV'', however.
212* In the U.S. Gold-published computer ports of ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'', the title screens display the name as ''STЯIDER''. The game's first stages take place in Russia.
213* Inverted with the title of ''KOHCTPYKTOP: Engineer of the People'': the first word is a Latin-alphabet approximation to "КОНСТРУКТОР", a sequence of Cyrillic-alphabet characters that would be pronounced "constructor".
214* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
215** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV: Hand of the Heavenly Bride'', the main antagonist, Grandmaster Nizmo, has dialogue in faux Cyrillic.
216** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'': In the American release, treasure hunter Evgenya's text has a Cyrillic-looking font.
217* Adventure game ''[[VideoGame/NipponSafesInc The Big Red Adventure]]'' is set in a parody[=/=]satire of UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia and of various Russian tropes, and all of the in-game messages are written in a faux-Cyrillic alphabet. [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/big-red-adventure/screenshots/gameShotId,170507/ Example.]]
218* Mid-1990s British computer game publisher Rasputin Software had a logo which spelled out its name '''ЯASPUTIN'''.
219* ''[[http://www.theblackcube.fr/myha.html Myha]]'' is a rather weird example; its logo is written as '''Лyнa''' (which is, in fact, the Russian word for "Moon", pronounced as "Loona"), but its official title is spelled ''Myha'', which is what the Russian characters would look like when interpreted as Latin alphabet. Weirdness come not only with the fact that Л and M don't even look remotely alike, but with the mixed phonetical/visual similarity with the word "муха", which means "fly" – that is, as an insect. Furthermore in-universe it is something of an InvertedTrope as "Myha" is how the FantasyCounterpartCulture Russian main character attempts to write "Лyнa" with a Latin-alphabet-only keyboard and he notes in his diary that it's meant to be pronounced "Luna".
220* Used in the title of ''The Cold Heart of Hate'' episode of ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus''. Or more properly, ''Tне СФLD НеДЯT Фf НДTε.''
221* The 1987 PC strategy game of ''Trivia/TheHuntForRedOctober'' included displays reading soиaя and иucleaя.
222* ''VideoGame/{{Chernobylite}}:'' stylises its logo as CHERИOBYLITE, with a backwards N.
223[[/folder]]
224
225[[folder:Web Oяiginal]]
226* The USSR speaks like this in [[http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/art/World-War-Two-Simple-Version-73625561 World War Two: Simple Version.]] It's dropped in [[http://angusmcleod.deviantart.com/art/Cold-War-Simple-Version-189698383 Cold War: Simple Version]] because the author was sick of it.
227** That comic strip also has USSR say the line "ZД ЯОDIИU". This is clearly meant to be "за родину" (a bit of GratuitousRussian), but first transliterated ("za rodinu") and then converted to faux Cyrillic. (The result is pronounced "Zd yaodieeu".)
228* Parodied in ''WebSite/SFDebris'' when Chuck comments on the U.S.S. ''Tsiolkovsky''`s Cyrillic dedication plaque and, noting a letter that looks like 3 (the Russian Z), accuses Russia of being so poor they have to use numbers when they run out of letters. In a GeniusBonus he later subtly reveals he knows what it really means by spelling the word 'spaz' out loud as 'S, P, A, three!'
229* There is actually [[http://www.theworldofstuff.com/other/cyrillic.html a web page]] that will give you fake Cyrillic.
230* In the LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}} ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' challenge, LetsPlay/LewisBrindley is LЗЩІ? [[note]]the last letter, a backwards Z, doesn't seem to be part of the Latin or Cyrillic alphabets.[[/note]] of РОLДЙD, or Lzeshchi? of Roldyd. This is in spite of Polish using the Latin alphabet.
231* This trope is inverted by Russian gamers, most notoriously in ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike CS:GO]]''. The notorious phrase "cyka blyat" is an illiterate transliteration of "сука блядь" (''suka blyad`'') which has the meaning of "fucking bitch".
232* ''WebVideo/MapMen'':
233** "The world's oldest border" shows a Russian headline that says, "MOЯE IMPOЯTAИT STUꟻꟻ IS HAPPEИING ЯIGHT ИOW."[[note]]The backwards "F" isn't even a real Cyrillic letter.[[/note]] Averted with the newspaper's title, which is "Russian Newspaper" in genuine Russian ("Российская газета").
234** Played with in "Why every world map is wrong". Upset at the Gall-Peters map projection reducing its size on the maps, Russia exclaims, "Зис из булшит!" If you replace every Cyrillic letter in the quote with their Latin equivalents (without translating the sentence), it reads, "Zis iz bulshit!"
235[[/folder]]
236
237[[folder:Westeяn Animation]]
238* The ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Red October Sky" contains an odd inversion: close-ups of a propaganda poster containing the GratuitousRussian phrase ''ВЕАИКИХ РАБОТ'' (roughly, "the great work") render it in lookalike Latin letters: ''BEANKNX PAGOT''. Wider shots of the same poster show the phrase in Cyrillic letters.
239* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer test-drives a car from [[HonestJohnsDealership Crazy Vaclav's Place Of Automobiles]], a [[TheAllegedCar tiny, three-wheeled monstrosity]] made in a country that no longer exists with a Cyrillic dashboard. As Vaclav pushes the car to help it get going, he tells Homer to "put it in H" (for Neutral gear).
240* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': When Archer is captured by the KGB and held in the Lubyanka, [[https://www.imcdb.org/i001030011.jpg an establishing shot]] shows a sign pointing to it and the Kremlin, reading "KREMLIИ", and Lubyanka with a backwards K, which isn't even a Cyrillic letter. A later episode has Archer targeted by a KGB hit squad, who he identifies by the presence of backwards Rs on their clothing tags.
241[[/folder]]
242
243[[folder:Otheя]]
244* [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RedScare.jpg The image]] that formerly illustrates the RedScare trope. Literally, it reads: "d-- uftsya -yazz-fm dyaz ^e-fi- tf ts-" ("-" means "gobbledygook", i.e. not a Cyrillic letter, and "^" is an accent).
245[[/folder]]
246
247[[folder:Яeal Life]]
248%% The backwards R in Toys R Us has nothing to do with this trope, as it's an attempt to look childish rather than Russian.
249* The pre-reform orthography for Cuengh (pronounced "Shweng", but more commonly known by the Chinese name Zhuang), a language spoken in Guangxi, China, used a combination of the Latin alphabet, IPA symbols, and Cyrillic and pseudo-Cyrillic letters, including five "tone letters" whose shapes are based on Arabic numerals. The result looks a lot like mock Cyrillic. For example, Cuengh was written as "Cueŋƅ" and the full official name of Guangxi was written as "Gvaŋзsiƅ Bouчcueŋƅ Sɯcigiƅ."
250** Other RealLife example: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_syllabary Cherokee syllabary,]] which looks like the illegitimate child of the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Georgian alphabet and l33tsp33k. Sequoyah didn't know the Latin alphabet, so when he assigned sounds to symbols, he had no idea what these symbols meant, which probably explains the occurrence of a 4 (the syllable “se”).
251* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padonkaffsky_jargon Padonkaffsky jargon]], also known as Olbanian, the Russian version of LeetSpeak with a FunetikAksent, which originated in 2004 when an English [=LiveJournal=] user couldn't understand a post in Russian, and received the sarcastic reply "Learn Olbanian", joking that the post was written in Albanian. It is formed with the unstressed Cyrillic "o" replaced by an "a" or vice versa, and the Cyrillic "e", "i" and "ya" letters often interchanged for another, and has become a MemeticMutation, with then-President Dmitry Medvedev jokingly suggesting that Olbanian should be taught in schools. Since the end of 00's, it went out of fashion and is now a DeadHorseTrope.
252* Inverted with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volapuk_encoding Volapuk encoding.]] To write their language using ASCII computers, some Russians used a "faux Latin" transliteration. And yes, this included R as The Backwards Я.[[labelnote:*]]Although "91" is also used instead.[[/labelnote]]
253* Avoided by post-1993 Russian license plates, which use only the graphemes that look the same in the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, but they are not the same letters and the phonemes are of course different.
254* There are several words in Russian languages which look exactly the same both in Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, the most notable being KOMETA (comet).
255* Since so many early Soviet consumer electronics were direct ripoffs of Western designs, Russian-language pocket calculators (most notably the programmable [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektronika_B3-34 Elektronika B3-34]]) would frequently put "Error" in English if the calculator couldn't make a calculation, which to the Russians looked like a meaningless "ЕГГОГ" (YEGGOG). Because the letters looked so similar to Cyrillic equivalents with different values,[[labelnote:*]]E to "ye", r to "ge", o to... "o"[[/labelnote]] Russians would read the word as "yeggog", and the art of calculator hacking became known as "yeggogologiya"[[labelnote:*]]''yeggog''-ology[[/labelnote]] in Russian.
256** Ironically, this precise series of calculators had exactly ''nothing'' to do with any western designs. The designers probably did this out of habit and because the Russian word for error, "ошибка", is nigh impossible to represent on a calculator's 7-segment display.
257* "Khyber Pass Specials", hand-made guns (of sometimes [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns dubious quality]], due to a lack of quality materials) generally modeled after mass-produced weapons such as Lee-Enfields or AK-47s (both notably used by countries that previously fought in Afghanistan, the British Empire and the Soviet Union), will often feature engravings with Latin-Cyrilic character switches. This isn't so much that they can't tell the difference, but that they often work with incomplete engraving sets and use the closest match they can find.
258* British diplomats in Moscow had a running joke among themselves, based on the Russian spelling of the universal word "Restaurant". In Cyrillic letters, this is pronounced much the same way but written "PECTOPAH". The diplomats would amuse themselves by pronouncing it as it was apparently spelt and using it as verb and noun for "evening meal" , ie ''Shall we pectopah tonight?'' or ''I wonder what's for pectopah this evening''.
259* Some CIA employee thought the cafeteria "substituting a backward R, a 'Ya', for an R" was [[https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2014/jul/14/doc-note-cia-cafeteria-complaints/ tacky.]]
260* The February 1990 issue of ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}'' magazine featured a pictorial on "The Women of Russia", and the cover displayed the magazine's title as PLAYᗺOY with a backwards letter B -- although that character does not actually correspond to any letter of the Russian alphabet.
261* Game Revolution's latest logo is [[ItMakesSenseInContext a red backwards R circumscribed by a 5-point star]].
262* [[VanityPlate The VID mask]]; according to Wikipedia, the actual Russian spelling of "VID" is not "BИD". As we know and as [[Administrivia/ThereIsNoSuchThingAsNotability even Wikipedia noted]], that's not exactly what that logo is famous for. While no, this isn't the proper uppercase "D" (it's "Д"), this might be the most acceptable deviation on this page. This two (deceptively different) ways of writing represent the same letter (and it's quite apparent from the way proper handwritten "Д" looks, uppercase letter in the upper-right corner [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Russian_Cyrillic_handwriting_Flerov_1916.png?uselang=ru here]]).
263* [[http://www.peoplesrepublik.com/ The People's Republik,]] a Soviet Russia-themed bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reverses not only the R on its sign but also the L, K, and E in the same word.
264* A banner at Manchester United reads, "ЯEPUБLIC OF MAИCUИIA, ЯED AЯMY". Or, to put it another way, "Yaerublis of Maisuiia, Yaed Ayamy". (So at least they got the "Б" right.)
265* Due to the 2018 [[UsefulNotes/FIFAWorldCup FIFA World Cup]] being held in Russia, this appeared in various media for their graphics for the tournament (mostly swapping "R" for "Я"). British newspaper ''The Daily Star'' went one further by replacing the "O" with "Ф" (as well as the previously mentioned example), therefore meaning they were covering something called the "Wefyarld Cup".
266* A South Korean clothing store called [[https://store.musinsa.com/app/product/detail/537664/0 Mushinsa]] has a line of clothing called Johnny Carson, but it is often stylized for some reason as JOHИИЧ CДЯSOИ.
267* [[Creator/MarxBrothers Harpo Marx]] toured the Soviet Union in 1933 as a goodwill ambassador. There, he was billed using a Cyrillic transliteration of his name, ХАРПО МАРКС. Being unfamiliar with Russian, he pronounced it as "Exapno Mapcase" even though, being a transliteration, it's pronounced exactly the same as in English.
268* At least one production run of an Airfix model kit of the Russian Vostok/Soyuz launch vehicles came with a false-Cyrillic decal for the base, even though anybody building it as a serious model would at least recognize it as such, probably also recognize the correct Cyrillic orthography, and maybe even be able to spell Soyuz, Vostok, and perhaps even Sputnik in Cyrillic.
269* Century Arms, an American firearms manufacturer and importer sells a line of ammunition under the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Standard_Ammunition Red Army Standard]] brand. Because most of the calibers sold under this brand are usually associated with Russian and former Soviet-bloc guns, they hype up the Soviet aesthetic with a logo containing a hammer & sickle, a five point star, and the name stylized as RЭD АRMY STAИDARD ("Ræd Army Staindard"). Surprisingly, they did not flip the R's.
270[[/folder]]
271
272!!Иoи-Суяіllіс:
273
274[[folder:ΛLTΣRNΛTE RΣΛLITY GΛMΣS]]
275* ''ARG/OmegaMart'': The logo uses an Omega symbol in place of an O, rendering it as Ωmega Mart ("Ahmega Mart", or more humorously, "Omega-mega Mart").
276[[/folder]]
277
278[[folder:ΛNIMΣ & MΛNGΛ]]
279* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'':
280** [[https://dwgkfo5b3odmw.cloudfront.net/manga/thumbs/thumb-83924-AyakashieTriangle_DigitalGN01_C1_Website-3-VnNS1PDUCS8q6U_FNAnJ5A.jpg The English logo]] is a debatable example: [[LuckyCharmsTitle a triangle]] is used as a letter, but it could seen as the Greek letter delta, and thus "AYAKASHI TRIΔNGLE (TRITHNGLE)". This could be a reference to delta's use in math to denote change, as the protagonist of the manga [[GenderBender has his sex changed]]. [[http://editorialivrea.com/ESP/ayakashitriangle/ayakashitriangle01.jpg The Spanish logo]] does the same for all four [=As=], thus "ΔYΔKΔSHI TRIΔNGLE (THYTHKTHSHI TRITHNGLE)"
281** [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Um6BCwFWL._SX350_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg The French logo]] instead stylizes the same letter as a Greek lambda, making it "AYAKASHI TRIΛNGLE (TRILNGLE)".
282* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': Episode 14 is titled "YES", but it's spelled with the symbols for the Japanese Yen, the Euro, and the Dollar: ¥€$.
283* The language used by the countries of Anatoray and Disith in ''Anime/LastExile'' consists of transliterations of English words with Greek and some Cyrillic letters, i.e. the text on the book on the opening screen reads "λαστ εξιλε ιν τηε βοττλε" - "last exile in the bottle". Justified in that it's supposed to be a distant descendant of the languages of Earth rather than an a modern language. And letters are used correctly if you take into account that Latin H comes from Archaic Greek (h)eta.
284[[/folder]]
285
286[[folder:CØMIC ßØØKS]]
287* In ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'', Ancient Greeks talk like this "IN THΣ LДNDS ΘF ΘLIVΣ ДND LДURΣL, WHΣRΣ THΣ GΘDS WДLK"[[labelnote:*]]yes, that's an unholy combination of Latin, faux Greek (Σ for E, Θ for O) and faux Cyrillic (Д for A)[[/labelnote]]. Creator/DavidLangford [[http://www.ansible.co.uk/cc/cc41.html was scathing]] about this, and especially Creator/RogerZelazny's admiration for it in the introduction:
288-->Maybe it slips by an awful lot of the audience, but how can a savvy chap like Zelazny read this nonsense as other than, roughly, 'In ths ldnds thf thlivs dnd ldursl, whsrs ths gthds wdlk'?
289* Another Creator/VertigoComics book has a logo that reads ''GRΣΣK STRΣΣT''. ''Grssk strsst?''
290* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and the Great Crossing'', Viking speech uses Å and Ø instead of A and O. Asterix tries to speak it, but since the Vikings don't understand, he [[LampshadeHanging wonders]] if he put [[BreakingTheFourthWall his strikes and little circles]] over the wrong letters (he put them over E and U instead). Dogmatix, however, has little trouble understanding the "WØØF!" of a Great Dane, who also learns to bark without the accent marks.
291** In Finnish translation of Asterix, the Viking speech uses Å, [=Æ=], and Ø according to the letters' phonetic values instead merely replacing A and O. The corresponding Finnish letters would be O, Ä and Ö. Most Finns know perfectly well which phonems the Danish and Norwegian letters Å, [=Æ=] and Ø do represent and how to pronounce them.
292** Asterix once meets a Greek merchant. At least in the Brazilian Portuguese translation, whenever the latter speaks, Greek letters are substituted for Latin ones whenever possible (and all are in a different, Greek-ish font, to boot). However, both characters can understand each other perfectly.
293* Pat Lee earned his "Funana" nickname by trying to spell out "Patrick Lee" with Japanese characters that vaguely resemble the English letters therein, resulting in the mess of a name that his detractors use.
294[[/folder]]
295
296[[folder:FILMS – ANIMATIΘN]]
297* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' combines this with FunWithAcronyms, with some {{Pun}}s mixed in, for several fraternities and sororities' names. Examples include RΩR ([[RecursiveAcronym Roar Omega Roar]]), JΘX (Jaws Theta Chi) and ΣΣK (Slugma Slugma Kappa). Also, at the student involvement fair, the banner for the Greek Club is stylized as "GRΣΣK CLUB".
298* ''WesternAnimation/SitaSingsTheBlues'' does this several times with Devanagari, such as with the title card, the intermission screen, and the [[WrittenSoundEffect Written Sound Effects]] during the battle at Ravana's palace.
299[[/folder]]
300
301[[folder:FILMS — LIVξ-ΛζTIΘN]]
302* The poster for ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'' says "GRΣΣK" instead of "GREEK" - therefore meaning that the film was called "My Big Fat Grssk Wedding". Its two sequels both repeat this error.
303* The ''Film/{{Elektra}}'' film has a severe case of fake Greek. You try pronouncing "SLSKTRL" (ΣLΣKTRΛ).
304* Film/AirplaneIITheSequel's "ГrаηѕсεηδεηГаζ аіr".
305** Graisseideigaz Air?
306* The ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' title swaps a few assorted symbols for English letters.
307* ''Film/{{Alexander}}'' had some advertising posters where the title was written as "ΛLΣXΛNDΣR", i.e. "LLSXLNDSR". Moreover, "Alexander" is the Latinized version of the name, which was originally "Alexandros" (AΛEΞANΔΡOΣ).
308* ''Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' sprinkles text in the credits with Greek letters for added effect. This includes replacing A with Λ (lamda, sound "ll"), O with Θ (theta, sound soft "th"), and E with Σ (sigma, sound "ss") although in actual Greek the letters for A, O, and E are A, O, and E respectively. Some letters also get random crossbars, and € and ¥ (euro and yen signs) are even used for E and Y in other instances.
309* Early in ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' we see a ship named ΛTHENΛ - probably meant to be read as 'Athena'.
310* ''Quest of the Delta Knights'', featured on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]], had Archimedes' Red Book titled THΣ RIΘHT WAY (THE RIGHT WAY) which would actually be read as THS RITHHT WAY. Or something. Also note the use of Latin letters such as R and W...
311* [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13258918/mediaviewer/rm2160013057/?ref_=tt_ov_i The poster]] for ''Film/Cleopatra2025'' reads "CLΣOPΔ+RΔ".
312[[/folder]]
313
314[[folder:LITΞRΔTURΞ]]
315* ''Cloud Castles'' by Michael Scott Rohan has fake Greek: "Βυγγερ οφφ. Γετ τηισ φαρτινγ χλοχxωορx ηαρπψ οφφ μψ φυχxινγ δεχx. Γυεσσ τηε ωορδ Ι ωανθ ωιτη ψωυ.[[note]]Bugger off. Get this farting clockwork harpy off my fucking deck. Guess the word I want with you.[[/note]] Not so bad but what has Psi to do with Y? It didn't get translated (it was left as is, English written with Greek letters) in Polish translation...
316* Democritus in ''The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?'' sometimes speaks "Greek" or English in Greek letters.
317* ''Literature/{{Numbers}}'': One cover for book 2, ''The Chaos'', replaces the "E" in "The" with a "ε" (lower case epsilon).
318[[/folder]]
319
320[[folder:Liνe-Λctiση TV]]
321* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour "The Eleventh Hour"]] has a laptop with a logo that looks like "MΨTH". Again, presumably we're supposed to read this as MYTH, not MPSTÊ.
322* The official name of [[Series/{{Greek}} the college show on ABC Family]] is ''GRΣΣK''. Of course, in the Greek alphabet, the sigma represents S, not an E. How do you pronounce "Grssk" anyway?
323* The logo for ''Series/TheInnocents'' has a line across the "O", making it look like the faux-Norwegian "THE INNØCENTS".
324* The title card of ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' reads KAMEN RIDER AGITΩ, with an Omega instead of the O. Presumably as a reference to "Alpha and Omega" (Agito begins with an A, that could be read as an Alpha, and in each episode's closing shot, only the A and the Ω appear at first before morphing into AGITΩ), since the series is chockful of religious symbolism.
325* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'' uses the Scandinavian letter Å instead of A. Gåte is Norwegian for riddle. The reason for that is that, within the show, Earth's point of origin (the seventh symbol entered on the gate from Earth when dialing) looks like "Å" without the crossbar (it's supposed to represent a pyramid with the sun right above). It's also similar to the point of origin symbol for Abydos in the [[Film/{{Stargate}} original film]] (but with three circles) before the show changed how the dialing worked. For reference, "Å" is pronunced closer to the letter O in English, resulting in the Atlantis Expedition actually being the Atlontis Expedition.[[note]]For the curious, the Norwegian and Danish letter [=Æ=] actually matches the English pronunciation of A in most cases, but [=Ætlæntis=] doesn't look as cool[[/note]]
326[[/folder]]
327
328[[folder:Mμsiζ]]
329* Music/{{ABBA}}'s logo, commonly stylised as "AB𐐒A".
330* Music/{{Nickelback}} have also used a backwards B (NICKEL𐐒ACK), particularly on their album ''Silver Side Up''.
331* Music/{{Eminem}} uses a backwards E frequently: "EMINƎM"
332* Music/DreamTheater's logo, which looks almost like this: DREΛM·THEλTER
333* The cover for Noxious Emotion's ''Symbols'' depicts the band name and album title in faux Greek letters.
334* Music/EnterShikari's logo during their "Common Dreads" era, which was mostly Greek characters, appeared as ΣΠTΣ℞ SHᶲKΔ℞ᶲ.
335* The poster for {{Music/Madonna}}'s "Can't Stop Esther" tour was filled with faux-Hebrew, with many letters turned around or mangled in order to stand for latin characters.
336* The Score (the band behind motivational songs like ''Unstoppable'' and ''Revolution'') like this. The letter A in their 2017 album ''Atlas'' are replaced with Greek lambdas, which make the title spell out "[=LTLLS=]". This even continues in promotion of the single ''Legend'' from the same album, which replace both Es with sigmas, spelling out "[=LSGSND=]".
337* [[https://www.youtube.com/user/unchargedThunder µThunder,]] which according to his channel URL, is short for Uncharged Thunder.
338* The [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/CDs-Vinyl/FALL-REBEL-ANGEL-ENIGMA/B01JNIBMYC/ref=pd_rhf_schuc_s_cp_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01JNIBMYC&pd_rd_r=CG41HPKSGPPPY6FQBSC2&pd_rd_w=VQjfp&pd_rd_wg=k4dL1&psc=1&refRID=CG41HPKSGPPPY6FQBSC2 cover of the Enigma album "The Fall of a Rebel Angel"]] has the group's name rendered in a mixture of Greek and Cyrillic, as "ΣИΙGΜΛ" (the I could be Latin or Greek, the G is Latin, the M could be any of the three) -- or in Latin characters, "SIIGML".
339** On other albums, the group's name is simply "Snigma" (ΣNIGMA).
340* The B of the word Bach in [[http://www.festivalbachmontreal.com/ Montreal Bach Festival's logo]] is replaced with a musical clef that does look like a fancy letter B, but which actually is a C-clef, which is, as its name indicates, a letter C that has evolved into a stylised shape over the centuries. Welcome to Montreal Cach Festival!
341* The Norwegian comedy group Kollektivet has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f488uJAQgmw an entire song]] about the Norwegian (and Danish) letters Æ, Ø and Å.
342-->''Suck my Æ-Ø-Å\
343You ain't got the ÆØÅ''
344[[/folder]]
345
346[[folder:Гabletσρ ζames]]
347* ''Elysium'', a game based on Greek mythology, has its title rendered on the box art as "ΞLΨSΦUΜ", or "Kslpssfum". In this case, the designer was obviously going out of their way to use exotic-looking letters, since the Greek alphabet has letters Ε, Υ, and Ι that weren't used. The correct form would have been Ἠλύσιον.
348%%* In several games, the Spartan shield emblem, Λ, is referred as "Spartan V" instead of the correct name, Lambda. It denotes the phonem L, being the initial of Sparta's alternative name, Lakedaimon. %% In which games? If there are *several*, surely you can name at least *one*?
349[[/folder]]
350
351[[folder:Viδeσ ζames]]
352* The ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' logo uses the Greek letter lambda instead of an A. The lambda represents "L", so it would be read as "HLLF LIFE". This wasn't based on lambda's use as letter, but in science to represent the radioactivity decay constant. It also looks somewhat like an arm holding a {{crowbar|Combatant}}.
353* The Platform/{{Wii}} allows Greek letters when naming a Platform/{{Mii}}. Many players use the Greek letters for this trope. For example, a Mii going online for ''VideoGame/MarioKartWii'' might be named "ρlαγεr" (rlager) rather than "player". The Platform/Nintendo3DS and the Platform/WiiU allow both Greek and Cyrillic letters, though fewer players seem to be using them.
354* ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe''[='s=] cover art replaced the 'o' in 'tachyon' with the Greek letter omega (Ω).
355* ''VideoGame/BloodStone'' has Greek letters interchanged for English ones. For example, the opening sequences lists the city you're in as "ΛTHΣNδ", which would actually read "[=LTESNd=]" instead of "ATHENS." [[note]]If you're curious, the correct Greek spelling of "Athens" is "Αθήνα".[[/note]]
356* In ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga'' a mix of fake and real runes on the map to make it look Norse. The real runes are often misused, however, such as Ur (ᚢ) being used as an N and [[RandomlyReversedLetters Lögr (ᛚ) being reversed]]. This makes the text more readable without knowledge of Germanic runes than with it.
357* When Creator/{{Nintendo}} created Waluigi, they used the same trick when they created Wario, and flip the first letter of the original character's name for his cap. This means that Waluigi wears "Γ" (gamma) on his cap.
358* Probably this trope's only Hungarian Rovás (runic) alphabet example, ''Franchise/SilentHill'' has the Halo of the Sun with "Alessa Dahlia Incubas Alizer" written on it using Rovás. However, the Rovás letters directly correspond to sounds in Hungarian, rather than to Latin letters, so the inscription actually reads "Aleshsha Dakhlia Intsubash Alizer".
359* {{Implied|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' Chapter 2: During the {{Superboss}}' tirade that occurs after his defeat if you max out your inventory, he lets out a series of increasingly distorted BigWhy: "[Why] DID YOU DO THIS!? WHY!? [Y]!? [Yellow]!? [Gamma]!?" The lowercase Greek letter gamma ("γ") looks very similar to a "Y", which is likely why his speech devolved in that manner.
360* The 2020 PuzzleGame ''Reflection of Mine'', or ''[=ЯΣFLΣC†1ΘN ΘF M1ηΣ=]''.
361[[/folder]]
362
363[[folder:ωeß Ληimatiση]]
364* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' uses Ξ (Xi) in place of "e" for the title card of ''[[WebAnimation/RedVsBlueTheRecollection Reconstruction]]''. The series has [=AIs=] named after Greek letters throughout, but none of the ones mentioned are named Xi
365* Used with tongue firmly planted in cheek at [[http://kiotr.net/ Kiotr.net]], a fansite devoted to the ''ComicBook/XMen''[='s=] canon pairing of Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin.
366[[/folder]]
367
368[[folder:ωeßcσmics]]
369* ''Webcomic/ExterminatusNow'': Rodina, being an expy of the USSR, uses this font. The creators acknowledged several times that their Rodinian font probably looks like headache-inducing gibberish to actual Russian speakers.
370* The LanguageOfMagic in ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' is English written in Greek letters. However, it uses them more-or-less correctly (the most obvious exception being using "τͱ" for "θ"), since the purpose is to conceal what the {{Parody Magic Spell}}s are {{Shout Out}}s to, and is probably done by typing normally in the MS Symbol font.
371* ''Webcomic/FoundationThePsychohistorians'': The title page displays ''FOUNDATION'' as ''FOVNDATION'', replacing the '''u''' with a '''v''' to look Roman (the Roman alphabet was basically ours but without "U" or "W"). The "u"s of the University and Supreme Court are similarly replaced.
372[[/folder]]
373
374[[folder:ωeß Øriξinal]]
375* In the Antarctica episode of ''WebVideo/MapMen'', the country of Norway signs the Antarctic treaty by writing "Nöøo̊rway" on the bottom of the page.
376* The [[Website/{{Reddit}} Subreddit]] of [[https://www.reddit.com/r/grssk/ r/grssk]][[note]]GRΣΣΚ[[/note]] is dedicated to finding examples of this occurring out in the wild. Some of them are enough of a stretch to get pretty difficult to read, as well as frequently mixing and matching multiple alphabets, so including a transcription of what it apparently sounds like is required.
377[[/folder]]
378
379[[folder:ωesterη Åηimatiση]]
380* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'', in the episode "The Refund", attempts to do an Asian version with a FictionalVideoGame titled something similar to "Cyberground 丹太丁丁乚モ[[labelnote:*]]BATTLE[[/labelnote]] II", somewhat beyond a mere ForeignLookingFont. Unsurprisingly, nonsense when taken at face value.[[labelnote:To elaborate]]Google Translation: ''Dan too Tintin Yin holds an''
381** 丹 (Mandarin: dān, Japanese: tan/ni) = (medicine) tablet, pellet or pill; (color) red; (mineral) cinnabar
382** 太 (tài, tai/ta/futo) = big, great, grand; extremely; too, too much
383** 丁 (dīng, chou/tei/chin/tou/chi/hinoto) = man; population, members of a family; cube; the fourth of the ten Heavenly stems; a surname; fourth
384** 乚 (yǐn, in/on/kaku) = hidden, mysterious, secret; to conceal; small, minute; variant form of the KangXi radical 乙
385** モ (mo) = Japanese katakana for the syllable "mo"[[/labelnote]].
386[[/folder]]
387
388[[folder:尺乇卂乚 乚工下乇]]
389* You can find a number of frat-themed t-shirts out there which misuse Greek letters. How about a bottle of [[http://images0.cafepress.com/product/61059350v4_225x225_Front.jpg BSSG]]? [[http://tshirtgroove.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/does-this-shirt-make-me-look-frat-tshirt.jpg Dthss thphs shphrt mlks ms lththk grlt?]]
390* There is a beauty parlour on Wandsworth Road, London, which has rendered part of its sign in pseudo-Greek as "Ναιλσ" (Nails). However, whoever did this clearly doesn't know about Greek sigma cases; even if this is a Greek word, it should in any case be "Ναιλς".[[note]]Sigma has two lowercase forms, one for the end of a word.[[/note]]
391* [[http://www.rapoo.com The logo of electronics maker Rapoo.]] It barely looks like Latin script and more like Greek, in which case it reads "GLROO".
392* Some "Greek yogurt" products do this. Cue amusement at seeing "Peach" spelled as "PSLCH".
393* South Korea sells a variety of yogurt called [[http://english.bing.co.kr/upload/product/201711136S1Q5K.jpg γορα]], complete with TV commercials of people dancing around and yelling "Yopa" instead of "gora", which is what it would be in Greek.
394* The torrent client µtorrent is placed in folders called uTorrent. Depending on who you ask, it's pronounced "you-torrent" (the "official" pronunciation insofar as the one preferred by the creator), "micro-torrent" (as in the metric prefix), "mu-torrent" (as in the µ letter, pronounced "mu"), "my-torrent" (in Sweden, where µ is pronounced "my") or "me-torrent" (in Greece, where µ is pronounced "me").
395* Sequoyah invented the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee_syllabary Cherokee syllabary]] partially based on the English alphabet, but as he did not read English, he arbitrarily assigned Latin letters to sounds. It has characters such as Ꭰ (read "a"), Ꮋ (read "mi"), Ꮪ (read "du") and Ꮞ (read "se"). And the native name of the people and their language is ᏣᎳᎩ ("tsa-la-gi").
396* The nearly-extinct Coptic Language is written using the Coptic script. Like Cyrillic, it is based on Greek script, so it can be used for this trope too. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoryMemes/comments/kkp8q1/egypt_is_more_than_20_yrs_old/gh49q88?context=100 Here]] is an example from {{Website/Reddit}}:
397--> Ⲓ ⲥⲁⲛⲧ ⲝⲣⲉⲁⲕ ⲥⲟⲣⲧⲓⲥ, ⲃⲙⲧ Ⲓ ⲓⲟⲗⲉ ⲓⲧⲝ ⲁⲅⲣⲏⲁⲃⲉⲧ. Ⲯⲉⲝ Ⲓ ⲕⲛⲟϣ ⲧⲏⲓⲝ ⲓⲝ ⲡⲛⲣⲅⲟⲛⲟⲡⲛⲥⲁⲃⲓⲉ, ⲃⲙⲧ ⲏⲉⲯ ⲓⲧ ⲓⲟⲟⲕⲝ ⲥⲟⲟⲓ ⲁⲛⲇ ⲧⲏⲉ ⲁⲓⲣⲏⲁⲃⲉⲧ ⲏⲁⲝ ⲁⲛ ⲁⲙⲁⲍⲓⲛϥ ⲏⲓⲝⲧⲟⲅⲯ. Ⲧⲉⲥⲏⲛⲓⲥⲁⲓⲓⲯ ⲥⲟⲣⲧⲓⲥ ⲓⲝ ⲝⲧⲓⲓⲓ ⲁ ⲝⲣⲟⲕⲉⲛ ⲓⲁⲛϥⲡⲁϥⲉ, ⲃⲡⲧ ⲛⲟⲧ ⲥⲁ ⲛⲁⲧⲓⲗⲉ ⲓⲁⲛϥⲡⲁϥⲉ, ⲧⲓⲙⲉ ⲧⲟ ⲥⲏⲁⲛϥⲉ ⲧⲏⲁⲧ ⲓ ⲝⲁⲯ!
398* The [[http://www.mapo.go.kr Mapo District]] in Seoul redesigned their logo, but stylized Mapo as ΜΛΡΩ, which in Greek would be MLRO on them in Greek.
399* Nike can't even spell their namesake, the goddess of victory Νίκη, and produced the [[https://twitter.com/54thirtydesigns/status/1402244936678924289 PIKS Air]]. Needless to say, the Greek people (we mean the Ελληνική) were [[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9676009/Nike-misspelled-new-Ancient-Greek-themed-trainers.html not amused]].
400* A cafe in Thailand [[https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/24238616/ has text printed on its cups that use Japanese characters as if they are Roman script]]. What's meant to be read as "SOUL OF COFFEE" is written as "らロひレ ロチ てロチチモモ", or ''rarohire rochi terochichimomo''. If plain てロチチモモ is not to your liking, then would you like a レムナナモ (''remunanamo'')[[note]]LATTE[[/note]] or a ホロてカム (''horotekamu'')[[note]]MOCHA[[/note]] instead?
401[[/folder]]

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