->'''Brendan Shanahan:''' On [the Detroit Red Wings], we have Russians, Germans, Swedes -- you name it, we got it. And we're all one big happy family.\\
'''Sergei Fedorov:''' ''[in Russian, subtitled]'' Go to hell, Shanahan. You freak.\\
'''Brendan Shanahan:''' That means "Shanahan is a good and great man." ''[to Fedorov]'' I love you, too, my brother!
-->-- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yetl55p9LQY A mid-90s ESPN commercial.]]

Many comedic situations come out of foreign languages.

They may come when you insult someone in a language you assume they don't understand, and [[BilingualBackfire they respond with a smart-ass remark in that very same language]].

Then comes the poor foreigners and [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels their allegedly hilarious mangling of a second language]], be it an American trying a different tongue or an immigrant misusing English. Or they speak out a word that just so happens to [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike mean something entirely different to the locals]].

Hilarity may ensue when an American asks a foreigner to teach them a language, and the foreigner deliberately misleads them as to what phrases mean to prank the hapless English-speaker. They might say something means "I want to make a purchase," when it really means "God, I love sniffing airplane glue and abusing my underpaid immigrant servants."

Then there's the Non-Ironic Language Echo. There are two people, who speak different native languages. One supposes aloud what the other is talking about in their own language, not knowing the other is bilingual and can understand them; the other then repeats what the first was saying in their own language as a joke.

Of course, mutual speakers of a language might converse and share in-jokes, but lead their monolingual audience to think it's an entirely different (grave and important) conversation.

''Series/ILoveLucy'' started a joke that has been re-used several times. It involves a chain of translators, each of whom speaks two languages. Lucy's in a French jail. She needs to explain herself to a Magistrate (she unintentionally passed some counterfeit bills.) The Magistrate speaks only French, Lucy only English. Ricky speaks English and Spanish, another prisoner speaks Spanish and German, a policeman speaks German and French. So the conversation is passed back and forth through three intermediaries, including Lucy's signature whine and the Magistrate's dismissive "Huh!" (Eventually it's revealed she only needs to pay a small fine.)

See also FunnyForeigner, BilingualBonus, TactfulTranslation, LanguageFluencyDenial, EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* There is a hilarious ad where a very nice, homey looking Dutch family gets into a car - husband wife, and two kids. They turn on the radio and an English song comes on - a techno song (a real one, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9WVE2Ptbbk by the Outhere Brothers]]), singing "I wanna fuck you in the ass." The family looks at each other, smiles, and then gently starts rocking out. The caption comes on: "Engels Leren?" (Wanna learn English?) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3uJHTisUdE Rock out here.]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh5xu35bAxA The German Coast Guards]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', there are two brothers on the NASA Aliens football team that have kanji tattoos. The older brother has the kanji for "Big" and "Helpful", while the younger, smaller brother has the kanji for "Little" and "Helpful". What they don't know is that when put together, the kanji combine to form the words "Poop" and "Pee", respectively.
* In the original anime ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', they figured the best way to get an announcer that would breathlessly broadcast the outcome of children's card games was to get a guy who didn't know Japanese and get him to phonetically shout his lines at the top of his lungs. ''''. What's more, they got a bodybuilder and tae kwon do fighter, Bernard Ackah, to do it.
* In ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'', a mistake in translation between Korean Go pro Ko Yeong-ha and a Japanese reporter gives the titular character cause for anger- it had seemed that Honinbo Shusaku had been insulted. When the mistake is discovered, Yeong-ha decides not to correct it so as to piss Hikaru off even more.
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' has some of this kind of fun. In one episode, Kagura encounters an an American tourist and tries to express her intention to help carry his luggage, but draws a blank on her English lessons: "Help! Help ''me!''" Afterwards, the tourist thanks her in [[GratuitousEnglish Engrish]] ("That herped me a rot, thanks."), and the only response Kagura can think of is to give him the thumbs-up and shout "Yay!"
* In ''Literature/{{Slayers}} Premium'' most of the characters slowly lose the ability to speak anything other than "Octopese". Two key phrases are [[WillTheyOrWontThey "I love you"]] and [[BerserkButton "flat-chested",]] both said by [[IdiotHero Gourry]] to [[PersonOfMassDestruction Lina.]] Needless to say, HilarityEnsues.
* The first part of episode 4 of the second season in ''Manga/SquidGirl'' is mostly in English, and features a lot of misunderstandings based on [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike bilingual puns.]] There's a bit of good English there, as well as the complete opposite.
* One of the later storylines of ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}'' has Joe travel to Germany to help 004 with mysterious goings-on. On the airplane, he manages to thank the stewardess in German, prompting her to tell him (also in German) that he speaks the language quite well. After she leaves, a mildly embarrassed Joe admits he had no idea what she just said. (Note that this is a bit of LaterInstallmentWeirdness on the part of the series. The rest of the manga has the cyborgs able to understand anyone, regardless of what language they were presumably speaking, and Gilmore's diagram of Joe's cybernetic upgrades included a computer chip that acted as a universal translator.)
* In ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'', when Oga, Baby Beel, Furuichi and Hilda are in America, Oga, who doesn't know how to speak English at all, introduces himself as "Fuck". He is called like that for the rest of the arc.
* In ''Literature/WiseMansGrandchild'', the kingdom of Earlside decides to honor Shin's great feats with the title "King of the Magicians". Unfortunately for Shin, who has a lifetime of the Japanese language in his head, the words for that title in the local language are pronounced ''Maou''("Demon King").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Done in ''[[ComicBook/TheFlash Impulse]]'' when Bart Allen "teaches" his mentor Interlac.
--> '''Max Mercury''': A pleasure, Mrs. Allen. My name is Max Crandall. I'm Bart's guardian and kumquat-head. Make yourself at home in our dungeon.
* ComicBook/AtomicRobo, despite technically having the capacity to learn anything by uploading it directly into his brain, chooses not to. This results in his Japanese being absolutely ''horrible'', sometimes called by fans "Reverse Engrish."
-->'''Robo:''' \\
'''Mailman:''' \\
'''Robo:'''
* ''Schöner leben mit Pimperanto'' by Creator/WalterMoers (Pimperanto is a parody on UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage, and "pimpern" is German for "to shag") does this all the time, but one word takes the cake: "Főzelék" is a Hungarian name for a vegetable stew. For Germans, "Fötzelek" looks somewhat as if it meant "pussy licking". In Pimperanto, "Fötzelek" ''does'' mean "pussy licking".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Seems to be something ''Franchise/StarWars'' fans like to explore with Anakin, who apparently spoke Huttese fluenly along with Basic. In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8764319/1/Anakin-s-Annoying-Condition Anakin's Annoying Condition]]'', Anakin reverts to Huttese when he gets sick and a bit out of it, then keeps speaking it even after he's better just to annoy Obi-Wan, who only knows a few words of the language, more. He gets slashy at the end, telling Obi-Wan "Hot body, want to bite your neck."
* The ''Series/DeepSpaceNine'' Translators start flicking on and off in ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5703754 A Problem of Phonetics]]'', and because Cardassians can memorize better than humans, Garak accidentally gets himself stuck being the translator for everyone. It explores Kardasi vs Arabic, tonal Ferengi, that there is no one "Bajoran" any more than there is one "Earth", and what happens when Molly's dad speaks Irish Gaelic and her mom speaks Japanese and she speaks Molly Gibberish.
* ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/386084/chapters/632465 Courting a Malfoy]]'':
-->'''Neville:''' [Harry] told me a proper greeting was "Je suis un très vilain petit garçon."[[labelnote:note]]I'm a very naughty boy.[[/labelnote]] I said it for about a week with people giving me funny looks before someone kindly told me what it meant.
* ''Fanfic/IntoTheVeeshaVerse'': "My Treasure" has Vee mix up "Kannst du die Tür bitte schließen" [[note]] Can you please close the door? [[/note]] with "Kannst du die Tür bitte scheißen". [[note]] Can you please ''shit'' the door? [[/note]] This essentially turns a normal sentence into a profanity-laden poop joke.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* The remake of ''Film/ToBeOrNotToBe'' in which [[Creator/MelBrooks Bronsky]] and his wife perform ''Sweet Georgia Brown'' entirely in Polish, and continue to argue afterward, in Polish, before the announcer wearily declares, "In the interest of clarity, and ''sanity'', the rest of the film will be in English!" Both characters sigh, relieved, and continue to argue in English.
* ''Film/{{Kukushka}}'' (Cuckoo) was based around this trope: none of the three main characters (a Finn, a Sami [Laplander] and a Russian) speak each other's language, and end up talking at each other and misinterpreting each other's meanings. This includes names; the uncommonly gregarious Finn asks the taciturn Russian for his name, and when the Russian spits a curse at the Finn, the Finn [[AccidentalMisnaming starts innocently calling him by that]].
* Happened twice with the same prankster and victim in ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding''. Ian at one point told Toula's whole family that he had three testicles.
* ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains'': In Germany, Michael is pulled over for speeding by a police officer, who demands in German to see his driving license - the subtitles appear on the screen. When he learns that Michael speaks English, he reveals that he can ''also'' speak English and orders his colleague in the car to turn the subtitles off ("That's better - we have more room down here, yah?").
* ''Film/JohnnyEnglish'': Johnny just spits out what seems to be random Japanese-sounding gibberish, but it turns out he actually said "May all your daughters be born with three bottoms."
* Subverted in ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'', where Ben Affleck's character addresses the Russian president in flawless Russian, and ends his message of goodwill by indicating that, since the Russian President earned a degree in English, and speaks ''perfect'' English, there's no reason for Jack to speak Russian.
** Possibly a jab at UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, who didn't know any English when he was first elected (having been stationed in East Germany during his KGB days) and had to learn the language.
* Considering that it's a French film set in the Catalan-speaking part of Spain with most of the characters [[GratuitousEnglish using English all the time]], ''Film/TheSpanishApartment'' a.k.a. ''L'auberge espagnole'' (double entendre: it's literally about a Spanish apartment, but the title is an expression that means "mess" in French, which is also appropriate) occasionally delves into this territory. One particularly memorable moment is when the English girl misunderstands the French slang word "fac". It's short for ''faculté.''
* In ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'', while Wallace is meeting with the English princess (a native Frenchwoman), she speaks with her counsellors in front of Wallace... but does it in Latin, assuming that the Scotsman cannot speak the language. They advise her that Wallace is a barbarian and a liar... and Wallace snaps back angrily [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne that he NEVER lies]]. In Latin. And then, just to make sure they got his point, he switches to speaking in French.
* ''Film/AceVenturaWhenNatureCalls'': Ace tries to communicate with the members of a strange tribe. His translator, either because he doesn't speak their dialect as well as he thinks he does or just to get back at the annoying pet detective, warps his every phrase. "I bring a message from the princess", for example, becomes "I am a princess." It also irks Ace when he notices that his translator referred to him as "white devil" in the tribe's language. His defense is that it is how the tribe knows him.
* The Canadian film ''Film/BonCopBadCop'' frequently plays with both official languages. The Quebecois cop gratuitously makes fun of the Ontarian cop in French... until he finds out his counterpart is fluently bilingual. "You speak French?" "Pas vraiment, j'ai un petit gadget installé dans mon cerveau et je vois des sous-titres sous les personnes quand elles parlent." (Not really, I have a small gadget installed in my brain and I see subtitles under people when they speak.)
* The Non-Ironic Language Echo appears in ''Film/LoveActually'': when a monolingual Englishman is trying to converse with his monolingual Portuguese maid (with whom he is, needless to say, in love) they both end up saying exactly the same things. The story later goes on to partially subvert the LanguageOfLove trope by having him take a crash-course in Portuguese before they take the relationship further, although the subtitles reveal that he still speaks it pretty poorly at the end of the film when he proposes to her.
* Richard Curtis had a Fun With Sign Language gag in ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''. For example, when Serena is first signing to Charles' deaf brother David by spelling her words a letter at a time, she signs "I'm probably naking tols of nistakes", and when David takes the tactful route and indicates her signing is "perfect", then invites her to dance, she signs, "That would be... mice."
* ''Film/RushHour2'': Detective Carter tries to speak to a crowd in Chinese, but Inspector Lee tells Carter:
-->'''Lee''': You just asked everyone to pick up their samurai swords and shave your butt!
** He also fouls up other situations, for example he thought he asked two attractive Chinese ladies for coffee. He actually invited them to get naked and sacrifice a goat. They were not amused.
** In the first movie, Carter spends his first few scenes with Lee believing he can't speak English. Lee lets him believe this until it's convenient for him to reveal he's fluent.
* In the Ridley Scott thriller ''Film/BlackRain'' Nick (Michael Douglas) asks "Is there a single Nip in this place who speaks fucking English?" in front of a Japanese cop who proceeds to introduce his police boss before finishing "-- and I do speaking fucking English". Fortunately Nick's American partner, Charlie, is [[TactfulTranslation a lot wiser]].
-->'''Nick''': I want a Japanese cop who knows the street, speaks English, and can find his ass with both hands!
-->'''[[DaChief High Ranking Police Boss]]''': WHAT did you say?
-->'''Charlie''': He means 'a tough motherfucker'.
-->'''High Ranking Police Boss''': Ah, of course.
** This proves a RunningGag, as when Nick's bitter "I like to be kissed before I'm fucked!" is translated by Charlie simply as "Foreplay."
* In the comedy ''Film/{{Water 1985}}'', American oil executives land on the island of Cascara and come across the local radical liberation front -- all two of them (one of whom is Creator/BillyConnolly, whose character only communicates through [[DreadfulMusician bad singing]]).
-->'''Spenco Executive:''' ''(with exaggerated hand movements)'' DO -- YOU -- SPEAK -- EN-GL-ISH?
-->'''Cascaran:''' I do, but my comrade will not speak until he can say Cascara is free.
-->'''Executive:''' Is that a political posture or a speech impediment?
* ''Film/SpiesLikeUs''. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are dropped into Pakistan only to be captured by bandits.
-->'''Chevy Chase:''' ''[subtitles]'' If you let me go, you can [[SeveredHeadSports use my friend's head as a polo ball]].\\
''[bandits all laugh; one of them takes Dan's head in his hands, testing it for size]''\\
'''Dan Aykroyd:''' What's he doing?\\
'''Chevy Chase:''' Err, he's saying hello.\\
'''Dan Aykroyd:''' ''[taking hold of the bandit's head]'' Hello! Hello!
* In ''Film/CorkyRomano'', there's a particular amusing scene where Corky has to be the translator between a Thai and Vietnamese gangster. The problem? Corky doesn't actually speak either language, and just ends up repeating what ever was said to him back to the two others. It both confuses and eventually insults the gangsters, causing hilarity and violence to ensue.
** He also occasionally yells out the names of Asian dishes, such as moo goo gai pan (being the only Asian words that come to his mind).
* In ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'', the two "Irishmen" flip into perfect Russian to stick it to a Russian mobster.
* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. Sky Captain asks Kaji, his contact in Nepal, about his Tibetan language skills. Glancing at Polly Perkins, Kaji replies in Tibetan: "When cold, nipples hard."
* ''Film/EuroTrip'':
** The group of teenagers is trying to get a lift to Berlin:
--->'''Scott:''' Let me handle this, I speak bad German. Hello!\\
'''Truck Driver:''' Hello!\\
'''Scott:''' ''[in German]'' My German is ill, but I can understand on you if the speaking is slowly.\\
'''Truck Driver:''' ''[in German]'' German! I have been driving for 14 hours straight and I haven't slept in three days and I am wired on schnapps, benzedrine, and those little chocolate-covered peanuts.\\
'''Cooper:''' What did he say?\\
'''Scott:''' He said he's driving, something...\\
'''Scott:''' ''[in German]'' Do you know where is Berlin?\\
'''Truck Driver:''' [in German] Berlin? Yes, I know it well. I stabbed a woman in a bar in Berlin. But I am going nowhere near Berlin.\\
'''Scott:''' Berlin!\\
'''Truck Driver:''' ''[in German]'' Berlin! I also sexually assaulted a horse in Berlin.\\
'''Scott:''' He's going to Berlin.\\
'''Jamie:''' Awesome.\\
'''Truck Driver:''' ''[in German]'' Nowhere near Berlin.\\
'''Scott:''' All right, come on, let's go.\\
''[the group get in the back of the truck]''\\
'''Truck Driver:''' ''[to self, in German]'' I'll drive this truck off a cliff before I ever go back to Berlin.
** FunWithSubtitles: The driver never actually says that he sexually assaulted a horse. It's only in the subtitles. What he actually says is, "I was arrested near Berlin. I'm never going to Berlin again."
* In ''Film/WizardsOfWaverlyPlaceTheMovie'' Alex can't understand the locals, but uses a spell to create a literal caption floating in the air that translates for her, but while she is right about them talking about the cave, they also talk about how she's a strange girl and maybe if they just smile and nod she'll go away.
* In ''Film/{{Nadja}}'', after Nadja is injured but gets away, Edgar tries to figure out her location using TwinTelepathy, which causes him to revert to his native Romanian as he describes what he's picking up; Van Helsing provides a running translation for the others. Part of it goes like this:
-->'''Edgar:''' ''[speaks in Romanian]''\\
'''Van Helsing:''' She's in an airplane.\\
'''Edgar:''' ''[speaks in Romanian]''\\
'''Van Helsing:''' Dying.\\
'''Edgar:''' ''[speaks in Romanian]''\\
'''Van Helsing:''' ...for a cigarette.
* ''Film/TheTalentedMrRipley'':
-->'''Roverini:''' ''E possibile che Lei ha tendenze omosessuali?''\\
'''Peter:''' ''[translating]'' He wants to know if you're a homosexual.\\
'''Tom:''' No!\\
'''Peter:''' ''[translating]'' ''No.''
* In the Russian film ''Peculiarities of the National Hunt'', a young Finn wants to study Russian hunting traditions and arranges a hunt with his English-speaking Russian friend. The forest ranger who accompanies them speaks neither English nor Finnish, and the Finn does not speak Russian. When the two of them get drunk they suddenly discover that both of them speak nearly perfect German, but the ranger totally forgets that language once he sobers up. However, by the end of the "hunt" the Finn and the ranger are miraculously able to understand each other with each speaking his own language.
* In the Tamil film ''Mouna Raagam'', a Punjabi mechanic (he speaks Hindi, though) asks the protagonist (played by Revathy) to teach him a few Tamil phrases so as to impress a rich Tamil customer. Naturally, she teaches him various insults, which he then uses. Surprisingly, the customer leaves without too much fuss, only to return later on in the film and insult the mechanic in Hindi, after claiming to have paid a tutor 500 Rupees to learn said insults.
* In the Creator/AbbottAndCostello movie ''Lost In Alaska'', Costello sees some Eskimos communicating in sign language and makes a few random hand gestures of his own. The Eskimo chief starts laughing, telling Costello, "You just told a funny joke!" Later, when Costello meets an attractive Eskimo lady, he tries to impress her by creating the same hand gestures he used before. She slaps him in the face; apparently it was ''that'' kind of joke.
* In ''La Vita è Bella'' (''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''), Roberto Benigni's character, Guido, translates the Nazi officer's brutal instructions into Italian for his fellow prisoners, among whom is Guido's young son. To spare his kid's innocence, the version he offers in Italian is not exactly a literal translation.
--> The game starts now. You have to score one thousand points. If you do that, you take home a tank with a big gun. Each day we will announce the scores from that loudspeaker. The one who has the fewest points will have to wear a sign that says "Jackass" on his back. There are three ways to lose points. One, turning into a big crybaby. Two, telling us you want to see your mommy. Three, saying you're hungry and want something to eat.
** There's even a double payoff from this seemingly random speech: [[spoiler: not only does the son retain his innocence, but he "wins" the tank!]]
* In the 2011 film ''Film/{{Courageous}}'', the main character Adam has his friend Javier in the back seat of his patrol car. While Javier is still in the back seat, a call goes out for a warrant of a drug trafficker. As Adam arrests the trafficker, he tells Javier to act like a crazed man to freak out the trafficker. The trafficker is disturbed by the behavior of Javier, as Adam has told the trafficker they have the leader of the gang "The Snake Kings" in the patrol car and he is not to make eye contact if he values his life. When Javier starts speaking Spanish in a sinister tone, the trafficker starts freaking out. The translation captions shows us Javier's only listing his lunch plans.
* ''Film/{{Meteor}}'' (1979). A Russian scientist is meeting with a U.S. GeneralRipper to begin politically sensitive negotiations to aim nuclear missiles at the oncoming DeathFromAbove. Each side has their "English voice" and "Russian voice", both speaking at the same time to avoid accusations of duplicity. Eventually Creator/SeanConnery gets tired of the babble and just has them speaking English with the pretty female Russian translating -- at the end the general turns to his Russian voice and demands, "Is that what I said?" The translator just says, "[[TranslationYes Yes]]."
* In ''Film/{{Maverick}}'', the title character and his fellow travellers encounter a band of Indians. The chief just wants to catch up with Maverick and pay him back some money he owes him, but Maverick directs him in making the encounter look hostile in order to put one over on Miss Annabelle Bransford. ("Point all around and talk angry. Lots of words. Fire your gun in the air...")
* In ''Film/ConfessionsOfAShopaholic'', main character Rebecca Bloomwood spices up her resume by claiming, falsely, that she's fluent in Finnish. After she gets the job, her skills are put to test in a cocktail party with an actual Finnish person. Not ready to admit the truth, Rebecca [[TakeAThirdOption solves the situation]] by [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale slapping the man]] in front of everybody and claiming that men like him are the reason she left Finland. What the man was actually saying is not really that abusive: "Hi! So nice to meet another Finn in here! Ever since I've been here in Americ--"
* In ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', Lyle and the native guides do not get along too well, especially after Lyle accidentally injures one of them. Lyle mutters some suspicions on the intentions of the guides, who, unbeknownst to him, speak English as well as Swahili.
-->'''Lyle:''' [They're] probably saying I'm the biggest jerk they've ever seen in their lives. Probably trying to think of something evil to do to me.
-->'''Guide A: (''in Swahili'')''' This guy is the biggest jerk I've ever seen in my life!
-->'''Guide B: (''in Swahili'')''' Let's think of something evil to do to him.
* In ''Film/TheRundown'', Travis exploits this to convince the natives to kick [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Beck]]'s ass, as Beck doesn't speak Portuguese, telling Beck to keep a "fierce gaze" and maintain eye-contact, (knowing that to the natives, this is a major sign of disrespect) going while he tries to convince the natives to let them go. The natives also don't speak English, so when Beck starts suspecting that Travis "really sucks at Portuguese," Travis has to "translate" what Beck said.
-->"He says he pisses on your ancestors, and that you would make a very pretty bride!"
-->''(Natives all angrily cock their guns)''
* In ''Film/TheAirUpThere'', Jimmy's fellow bus passengers take advantage of the fact that he doesn't speak Swahili.
-->'''Man''': You are stupider than you are white.\\
'''Jimmy''': Thank you. Thank you very much.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/BulldogDrummond'' has a scene where Hugh Drummond attempts, with a "microscopic" knowledge of French, to explain to a customs official how he came to be in France. It goes on for a whole page before his sidekick, who does speak French, stops laughing long enough to straighten things out.
* This shows up in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. Based on guesswork about word frequency, Snicket translates "cul-de-sac" as "At the end of a dark hallway, the Baudelaire orphans found an assortment of mysterious circumstances."
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'': A Klatchian general insults an Ankh-Morpork general by slipping into his native tongue, and passing it off as an old Klatchian saying. (This has double comedic impact, because the usual apology for rough language in ''Discworld'' books is "Pardon my Klatchian", a la the real idiom "Pardon my French".)
** In the same book, a couple of Klatchians who have identified the bumbling Sergeant Colon as a spy tell him the army is meeting at En al Sams la Laisa, a huge location that Colon is practically on top of. When he reports this to Lord Vetinari, the Patrician tells him it's "The Place Where the Sun Shineth Not".
** In ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'', the "ancient dwarfish runes" on a magic wand translate as "Oh, what a wally is waving this".
** This could probably also work for hand-gestures. At one point in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', Commander Vimes gives the eponymous group a thumbs up, which prompts this confused exchange: "I think in Ankh-Morpork that means 'Jolly good.'" "I heard in Klatchian, it means, 'I hope your donkey explodes.'" "Why would he say 'Jolly good'?" "Or hate our donkey so much?"[[note]]IRL, the 'thumbs up' gesture can mean a lot of things in different cultures. In some Middle Eastern countries (including Iraq) it means 'Up yours!' which puts in context the crowds of thumb-waving Iraqis who greeted US troops...[[/note]]
** Later in the same book, in a deliberate nod to JFK, Vimes attempts to say "I am a citizen of Borogravia" and instead comes out with "I am a cherry pancake." Being Vimes, it doesn't bother him too much.
** In ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' he also tries to speak Dwarfish he's learned on the street, identifying himself as "Overseer Vimes of the Look" (Captain of the Watch) and not knowing that the word he's using as "you" literally translates as something similar to "punk".
** In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', it's mentioned that "Argh!" translates in certain Discworld languages as "Your wife is a big hippo", "Hello, thinks Mr. Purple Cat", or "I would like to eat your foot" depending on inflection. This becomes a running gag, where various characters' screams are literally translated into these phrases; at one point, Rincewind screams "Argh!" and another character responds "What's that about a hippo?"
** It also translates to "Quick! More boiling oil!" in yet another language. Considering one of the characters is an insane emperor, this has ''unfortunate'' consequences.
** In the ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'' there is a skill called Shouting At Foreigners, which roughly works like this.
* In ''Literature/MobyDick'', Stubb gets aboard the French vessel ''Rosebud'' and engages in a strange conversation with her captain, being the chief mate the translator. While Stubb insults the French captain, the chief mate misguides his captain to get rid of two rotten whales that are attached to the ship. This creates the mildly hilarious situation that the captain seems to be very pleased by Stubb's "advice".
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': At the Quidditch World Cup, the Bulgarian prime minister drives Cornelius Fudge crazy by making constant demands in Bulgarian, which Fudge does not speak. It is not until after the match that he reveals he speaks English very well; he just thought it was funny to watch Fudge flounder about trying to figure out what he wanted.
* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' two aliens conducting peace negotiations accidentally hear a comment in English by Arthur Dent, which unfortunately in their language sounds like a hideous insult. When they stop warring with each other long enough to realize where the insult came from, they decide to attack Earth [[spoiler:but due to a miscalculation of scale their war fleet is swallowed by a small dog.]]
** Likewise in ''Hitchhiker'' the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints Department (its only profitable division) used to have a sign in mile-high illuminated letters bearing their motto "Share and Enjoy", but the letters sank into the planet's crust and the upper halves now appear to read, in the local language, "Go Stick Your Head in a Pig". They're no longer illuminated, except at times of special celebrations.
** UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}!
* Averted in Anne Mccaffrey's ''Doona'' novels, specifically the first one where the Admiralty and other high holies of Earth are aware that the 'Doonan' language is complex and intricate enough that mispronouncing a syllable would be equivalent to insulting someone's ancestors to the 13th generation or so. Needless to say, the aforementioned high holies rely on the 5 year-old child who wears a tail and has been living with the 'Doonans' (later revealed to be a star-faring sentient race of their own) to translate between the two races/superpowers when they finally do meet in an official capacity.
* That's also the method used in Mary Doria Russell's ''Literature/TheSparrow''. A human exploration team make FirstContact with the Runa people of Rakhat, a planet circling Alpha Centauri. Their first efforts at communication are between the team's linguist and a little Runa girl. Runa are used to dealing with "foreigners" from other parts of their own world. Taking advantage of children's capacity for language learning and adaptability, Runa children are traditional interpreters. The girl addresses the linguist because he came forward first; also, he is smaller than the other team members, and she thinks he's a child, too.
* In the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Greek Interpreter", the titular interpreter is brought to translate for a Greek man who is being held prisoner. They manage to communicate by sneaking in extra words after the words the interpreter is asked to translate, which is how the interpreter learns the man's name and some details of his situation.
* ''The Peking Target'' by [[Creator/EllestonTrevor Adam Hall]]. Literature/{{Quiller}} has been captured by the Soviets, who force him to make a radio transmission giving a false report to his base. Unknown to the Soviet BigBad, his translator is on Quiller's side. So the BigBad tells what he wants Quiller to say in Russian, the translator tells Quiller what the actual Soviet plan is in English, and Quiller must then transmit that information to his base in a manner that still sounds plausible (if the false information contains the words Seoul or Peking, for instance, the BigBad would be suspicious if he didn't hear those words). Quiller describes the whole process as like navigating though a minefield.
* In Creator/KeithLaumer's ''Literature/{{Retief}}'' stories, the hero, Jame Retief, is often the only one who bothers to learn the native language on whatever world they're visiting, leading him to be the designated translator. This sometimes results in him carrying on two entirely different conversations with different sides who don't understand what the other side is saying, and each side assuming that he's just acting as a translator.
* In ''Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop'', Randy Disher tells Japanese tourists "Mune on sawaru na, shinu kakugo shiru." He thinks this means "Please forgive me for the inconvenience, I'm truly sorry." According to his Japanese-speaking partner, it actually means "Stop groping my breasts and prepare to die."
* In one ''Literature/{{Darkover}}'' novel it's mentioned that a particular Darkovan phrase, which translates literally as "friend and brother", is forbidden to diplomats from the Terran Empire. The everyday inflection would be acceptable, but it's too easy to say it with the inflection that makes it mean "brother" in the familial sense -- or the one that makes it mean "same-sex lover".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Tends to happen in episodes where French teacher Mr. [=LeBlanc=] appears.
* ''Series/MartialLaw'': Amy show up for martial arts lessons from Sammo in a new gi with Chinese writing down the right breast. After Sammo pin her down in one move, Amy mentions she ask for lessons in Martial Arts, not "kick my butt". Sammo responds that then you should never wear something you can't read. Amy looks down at her gi and asks, "Why? What does it mean?" Sammo's response? "Ching ti wo pi gu ''(Chinese)'', 'Please, kick my butt." The characters are accurate too. For her next lesson, Amy shows up wearing an all black gi, sans writing.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Elaine thinks the Korean women are making fun of her, which of course they are. She brings George's father, who secretly speaks Korean, to eavesdrop on their chatter, but his short temper leads him to blow his cover quickly.
** In "The Lip Reader" episode, George enlists Jerry's current deaf girlfriend to find out why his latest girlfriend dumped him by asking her to read her lips during her conversations at a party. Kramer, who knows ASL, is also present. Either the woman misreads the other woman's lips as her saying "sleep together" when she actually said "''sweep'' together" (she was offering to help a friend clean up after a party), or Kramer misinterprets her signing "sweep" as "sleep". Either way, George goes ballistic, thinking that his girlfriend was cheating on him with this other guy and makes an ass out of himself when he confronts them.
* ''Series/AllyMcBeal'': Lucy Liu, arguing a case, purports to be relating a Chinese proverb. The subtitles reveal that she is, in fact, simply describing her plan to win sympathy from the jury by using her tone to convey that she's saying something deep and meaningful while actually saying nothing of consequence, because "None of you speak Chinese."
* ''Series/WhosTheBoss'', "Tony the Nanny": Tony Danza theorizes that Italian-speaking uncle Vito Scotti thinks that he's to blame for Scotti's daughter standing up to him regarding her fiancé, and he's right (according to Scotti's daughter's interpretation).
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' When Niles suspects that his wife is cheating on him with her German fencing instructor (it turns out that she isn't), Niles confronts him. Frasier doesn't speak German, but does know Spanish. However the Hispanic maid speaks no English but knows German. She worked for a German family that turned up in Guatemala... just after the war.
** In another episode, Roz asks Frasier to break up with her French boyfriend, who can't speak English. It turns out, he didn't want to stay with her anyway, and so we see a subtitled conversation where they discuss where to get good beefsteak instead, while Roz thinks they're talking about the break up.
** In yet another episode, Frasier has to learn how to give a speech in Hebrew, and he asks Noel to translate the speech for him, in return for a favor that Noel asks. When Frasier fails to carry out the favor, Noel still translates the speech... into [[HilarityEnsues Klingon.]]
* The chain-of-translators joke is subverted in ''Series/TheWestWing'', where, after a couple of back-and-forth exchanges, the foreign dignitary at the end of the line rolls his eyes and asks "Why don't we just speak in English?"
* The British version of ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' had an episode with an instance of TheRashomon that was largely about this; it features two completely different perspectives in a conversation between an Israeli girl who doesn't speak English and a Welshman who doesn't speak Hebrew. (He thinks a word that she says is her name; when we hear it from her perspective, we find out exactly what that word (''shadayim'') ''really'' means. - [[note]]Breasts[[/note]])
** "They ''arrested'' him? What for? All he was doing was running around the Air Israel desk calling her name..."
* Late in the first season of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', Michael picks up just enough Korean to allow for some gesture-heavy conversations with Jin, where Jin says something in Korean and Michael responds in English. Sawyer then starts referring to them as "[[Franchise/StarWars Han and Chewie]]."
* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', a vampire minion attempting to translate Latin for Spike comes up with "debase... the beef... canoe". Spike's response, as can be expected, is "why does that strike me as ''not right''?" It turned out it wasn't really Latin, but a cipher meant to look like it to the casual observer. Also, Latin doesn't have a word for 'canoe'.
** A 7th season episode has Giles offering a Chinese potential slayer ice cream - she's speaking Cantonese, subtitles reading "I'm lactose intolerant! This man is trying to kill me!"
* In ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', the "chain-of-translators" version is used. And includes sign language, for extra fun, as the lawyer is deaf.
* There are a few jokes in ''Series/BabylonFive'' about Ivanova's ineptitude in speaking the Minbari language. Also one serious moment, when Marcus [[CannotSpitItOut is only brave enough]] to call Ivanova beautiful in Minbari; when she asks for a translation, he gives what is probably a technically-correct (given Minbari's flowery prose) translation which weakens the meaning. Later on, after Ivanova has learned the language, she thanks him -- her PhotographicMemory let her remember, and then translate, the phrase properly.
** Another time, Ivanova exclaims "Ah, hell!" while on the bridge of the ''White Star''. The Minbari gunner fires the forward guns at nothing. Lorien quietly tells her, "'Ahell' means 'continuous fire' in Minbari."
* In an early episode of ''French Fields'' (''Fresh Fields'' [-[[RecycledINSPACE IN FRANCE!]]-]), the Fields meet their neighbors, and they start trying to hold a conversation with each other in French. Over the course of the conversation, they discover that they're ''all'' actually English and can converse normally.
* In the ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'' episode "German Week", the German Band arrives, and a character says something to them in German, and they respond in English.
** TruthInTelevision: in Germany and other European countries with a large proportion of people who speak English as a second language, it's common for tourists attempting to speak the local language to receive a reply in English. The guidebooks specifically warn people not to be disheartened by this and that the attempt is always appreciated.
* ''Series/AlloAllo'' is a bit of a strange one. While, from the viewers' perspective, there aren't any foreign languages in play, its [=WW2=]-era France setting means that there are characters who, logically speaking, would be speaking French, German and English. In order to keep the jokes intact, the actors simply use accents to denote which language that character would be speaking. The British airmen on the run from the Germans (who don't speak French at all) speak in the stereotypical RP/upper-class English accents known the world over, while the French and German characters speak in respective accents. Better yet, the frequently-appearing Officer Crabtree is in fact British but, unlike the escaped airmen, he ''does'' speak French. However, he speaks it ''badly'', which is reflected in him mispronouncing words for comedic effect, such as his greeting of ''"Good moaning."''
* Rather than using JustAStupidAccent, ''Pizza'' loves to use foreign languages whenever they can. Throughout the series, we hear mafiosi speaking Italian, Triads speaking Chinese, and even ancient Romans speaking Latin. Of course, the channel that makes the show (SBS) has the largest translation group in Australia, so the foreign phrases are as immaculate as possible.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had The Todd ask Carla's brother Marco to teach him a pick-up line in Spanish. Marco tells him to say "Yo tengo herpes genital, para ti."
---> '''The Todd''': Mucho herpes...grande!
** Carla's brother also pretended not to know English for years to maintain the special bond he and his sister had. He also occasionally used it to spy on her.
** There is also a very funny scene involving Elliot trying to talk past a patient's kid with Turk in French. Turk's knowledge of that language is evidently limited to what his high-school classmates taught him. The subtitles are roughly accurate. What Elliot says is quite literate. What does Turk say? "I have the Eiffel Tower in my pants." We might add that he says it badly -- what he says translates word-for-word as "I have Eiffel Tower pants."
** Another episode had the Janitor acting as a sign language interpreter between Turk and JD and a deaf father and son.
-->'''Janitor''': While these two were having sex with each other, I worked out how to restore your son's hearing.
** Turk finally learns Spanish as an anniversary present to Carla. He decides to keep it secret though when he finds he can benefit from hearing things Carla thinks he can't understand.
** ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' loves this joke. In another episode, Dr Cox asks Elliot how to tell a German patient he has lung cancer. Elliot, being annoyed with him, teaches him to say "Your wife has huge cans." Even better, when he says it, he's miming what he ''intends'' to be lungs...
* Sheldon on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' attempts to learn Mandarin Chinese, but has just a bit of trouble with the tones. He then attempts to speak Chinese to various native speakers, with [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels predictable results,]] as translated on screen in subtitles: "Long live concrete?" "Your monkey sleeps inside me." "Where is the mucus?" "Oxen are in my bed! Many, many oxen!"
** In another episode, Sheldon describes his team for "The Physics Bowl", consisting of the Third Floor Janitor, the Lunch Room Lady and a guy who (due to Sheldon's poor skills on Spanish) is [[EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas either her son or her butcher.]]
* Both ''[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Monty Python]]'' ("My nipples explode with delight.") and ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' ("I want to feed your fingertips to the wolverines.") built memorable sketches around this trope.
* ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' flipped this around with the sketch "Swedish for Beginners" (AKA "F U N E X?") - in which the "Swedish" is just English (roughly) rendered with spoken letters.
-->'''Customer:''' F U N E X?\\
'''Waiter:''' S, V F X.\\
'''Customer:''' F U N E M?\\
'''Waiter:''' ... 9.
* There was a joke on Conan O'Brien making fun of the fact that Clint Eastwood spoke no Japanese despite producing the movie ''Letters from Iwo Jima''. A dramatic scene is actually one of the actors forgetting his line and the other actor telling him to wing it. They go on to insult Mr. Eastwood and end by yelling about what they are having for lunch.
* A Harry Enfield sketch featured Stan Herbert (basically a middle-aged Loadsamoney, whose catchphrase was "I'm considerably richer than you) in a cafe in Spain, explaining to an English couple that, unlike them, he didn't ''need'' to speak the lingo, because he was so rich. The waiter then states, in Spanish, that he urinated in Herbert's drink, and the couple raise their glasses to him.
* At the end of one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' it turns out that Hawkeye has taught the Koreans that the correct response to Frank Burns calling him a "twerp" is: "You tell it to him, Ferretface!"
** See also: "Frank Burns eats worms."
* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Macrocosm", Captain Janeway's habit of putting her hands on her hips turns out to be the 'worst insult imaginable' in the Tak Tak language, causing her and Neelix to narrowly escape execution. Shortly afterward she vows never to put her hands on her hips again. A few seconds later, she unconsciously does it again. Likewise Chakotay talks about his first away mission, when he failed to realize that males and females used different body language symbols and ended up proposing to the alien ambassador. "It was a while before I was allowed on any more away missions."
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7dC2Tng0yg An utterly bizarre example]] of this trope appeared in the sketch show ''Series/BigTrain''. A girl on a biking tour stops to ask two locals if they speak English? They both reply, in perfect English, 'No, I'm afraid I don't." The girl responded "Oh I was going to ask for directions" to which the local replied "Well that would be wasted on me, as I don't speak English". This continues for a while (with the girl even trying in German with the locals replying that they don't speak German in German). At the end the girl leaves, and the two locals laugh about how they actually speak perfect English.
** The road panel is labeled in french with "chaussée déformée" (uneven road surface) and "interdit aux nomades et campeurs" (forbidden for gypsies and campers).
** Ironically, they did make a mistake with the German, saying "I'm not liquid" instead of "I'm not fluent" like they intended.
* ''Series/DropTheDeadDonkey'':
** JerkAss reporter Damien is taught an "ancient greeting" by Japanese journalists which actually means "Go have sex with a hedgehog". After their initial shock, the Japanese executives he greets find it a lot more funny than he does. Henry repeats this situation with a Russian dignitary, introducing himself as a pregnant cabbage. On another occasion, Damien pretends that a tearful witness in Nagorno-Karabakh is talking about how his family were shot by drunken soldiers. Unfortunately, the cleaning lady is from that region and reveals he's actually thanking Damien for giving him money so he can visit Elvis Presley's home in Memphis.
* One of the funnier gags on ''Series/TheJamieKennedyExperiment'' involved Jamie posing as a clueless maitre d' in a Japanese restaurant while the employees insulted him in Japanese. Jamie couldn't understand a word, but the customer knew exactly what they were saying. HilarityEnsued.
* The classic Dutch sketch comedy show Van Kooten en De Bie had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6umgjdGSd-4 this]] song some time in the '70s. The subs don't quite match the actual lyrics. Presumably, the Dutch were less familiar with English profanity when this first aired than they are now.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Music/LeningradCowboys had this at the festival gig that was turned into the album ''Live In Prowinzz''. It's important to know at this point that the Finnish Leningrad Cowboys [[{{Lzherusskie}} posed as a Russian band]] [[FakeNationality that in turn posed as an American rock & roll band]]. So lead singer Mato Valtonen introduces the other lead singer Sakke Järvenpää to the audience as "Pyotr", the asshole of the band, claiming that there is an asshole in every band in the world. The best part: "Pyotr" doesn't even know what "asshole" means and believes it means that you're beautiful. Mato Valtonen eventually gets the audience to call "Pyotr" an asshole, and "Pyotr" is overjoyed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* One time, Essa Ríos and Lita were making fun of Kai En Tai in Spanish, when the two Japanese wrestlers turned around and berated them in Spanish. They then left, complaining about Essa and Lita in Japanese, which the Mexican wrestlers responded to...in Japanese.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/ImSorryIHaventAClue'' had a round in which humorous translations were given of foreign phrases that had entered the English language: these included "avant-garde" (next-to-last coach on a train [before/ahead of the guard]) and "film noir" (my photos haven't come out [black (i.e. undeveloped) film]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Softwares]]
* Google Translate. Anything sent through it enough times will sound like GratuitousEnglish in the end. Not only that, with Latin, it has gag translations. Try ''Homo homini lupus'' ("man is a wolf to man") and you'll get "Is no free lunch". Or try running ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_Ipsum Lorem Ipsum]]'' through it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* This is OlderThanFeudalism, due to Plautus' POENULUS ("The Porridge-Eating Uncle"). A stock New Comedy slave claims he can speak Punic, but when actually interpreting for the titular uncle (who actually speaks Latin perfectly well), he resorts to "creative" translations of the Punic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Lopez the robot only speaks bad Spanish, which nobody understands. He uses this to his advantage to insult and snark at everyone [[spoiler:(which backfires when he meets Locus, who understands Spanish, leading to an OhCrap from Lopez),]] and makes O'Malley insult himself in Spanish when trying to give commands to his robot army.
-->'''O'Malley:''' ''[in subtitled Spanish]'' Hey everyone! I am a purple jerk and I love to drink motor oil. [...] My butt is very big. And I like to rub my own butt. And I like to sniff my own butt and kiss my own butt. ''[in English]'' That seems like an awful lot to say, "Hurry up."\\
'''Lopez:''' It is a very poetic language.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'':
** Donovan Deegan, father of the title character, speaks Orcish -- to some degree. When he received the Orc name "Kulka Sheendo Dak", he was told it meant "bringer of peace and joy". Appropriate as that would have been, he found out many years later that "bringer of peace and joy" was "Kilka Shiendo Dak". As Donovan proudly dressed in pink most of the time, they had named him "little pink man in pink". His Orcish has provided comedy on other instances as well, with such statements as "[[http://www.zestuff.com/dd/apparel/498/ My landmass erupts with kittens.]]"
** Recently, it's been revealed that Donovan has not only been providing Fun with Languages, he's been [[spoiler:having his own fun with languages. He speaks perfectly fluent Orcish, coming out with a profound "I believe it goes, '']] [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-01-12 Cue WTF faces from all present.]]
-->'''Dominic:''' [[spoiler:You...you've been able to speak Orcish all along, haven't you?]]\\
'''Donovan:''' [[spoiler:''[Orcish]'']] [[spoiler:]]\\
'''Dominic:''' [[spoiler:Then why the hell have you been pretending to speak '''gibberish''' for the past two decades?]]\\
'''Donovan:''' I'm a bard. Why do I do anything? ''[next panel]'' Because it's ''funny''.\\
'''Hukthak:'''
* In ''Webcomic/FauxPas'', which focuses on an assortment of animals (foxes, rabbits, cats, a chicken...) and gives a few faceless humans only incidental roles, nearly all of the various animals are quite capable of understanding human speech. Because StatusQuoIsGod, though, FailureIsTheOnlyOption when the animals attempt to make themselves understood by whichever humans presently have control over their lives.
** Thus, the chicken, Myrtle, is able to read ''and'' write...but her "handwriting" is so poor that the humans can't quite make sense of it (even though, whenever readers are shown a page of her writing, Myrtle's "chicken-scratch" [[InformedAttribute is perfectly legible]]).
** More to the point: when a new character is introduced -- a cockatiel uninspiredly named Cocky -- who "can speak human, for real"...it turns out that Cocky is fluent in "''French'' human", and comically inept with English. So, when the fox who urgently ''needs'' a translator asks Cocky to tell the humans this or that, Cocky ends up with gems like: "M'sieur! This girl fox photo of your wildest dreaming to begin? This fox Randy, she is not he!" (Which actually makes close enough sense, in context, but the human doesn't get it.)
** [[http://www.ozfoxes.net/fp/fp-125.jpg And don't forget this priceless strip.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "Got Your Goat": When Dexter realizes the chupacabra is really one of his escaped experiments, he rushes to pick up "Charlie", with Dee Dee tagging along to act as an interpreter. Once they arrive in Central America, they run into some surly locals who accuse them of being poachers. Dee Dee, whose grasp of Spanish is really rather lacking, thinks they're asking them if they're thirsty, and in trying to tell them "yes we are", says "I enjoy hamburgers and trousers, but I really like green balloons!"
** Also, the episode in which Dexter, while trying to learn French, listens to a tape while sleeping, which gets stuck on the phrase "omelet du fromage", or cheese omelet. Oddly enough, Dexter ends up bringing about world peace, winning the Nobel prize, etc., merely by saying this phrase at people.
*** Made even more hilarious when you know that "Omelet du fromage" is actually wrong. (The correct way to translate cheese omelet would be "Omelette AU fromage").
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'', usually by Cornfed. "Either you're babbling, or you just told me in Cherokee 'my scrotum is many colored'."
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' toyed with this by having a Spanish character only speaking enough English to respond to Brian's first two sentences.
-->Brian: Hola, me llamo es Brian... Nosotros queremos ir con ustedes... ''(Good day, my name is Brian... We want to go with you...)''
-->Migrant Worker: Hey, that was pretty good, except when you said "me llamo es Brian", you don't need the "es", just "me llamo Brian".
-->Brian: Oh, oh you speak English!
-->Migrant Worker: No, just that first speech and this one explaining it.
-->Brian: You-... you're kidding, right?
-->Migrant Worker: ¿Que? ''(What?)''
** In the European Spanish translation they used English instead of Spanish (not too fitting since the migrant worker seemed Latino or so, [[HandWave but oh well]]), changing the explanation to "no, I speak English but I'm dubbed".
* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Steve's friend Toshi only speaks (subtitled) Japanese. People assume several times that he has said something completely unrelated to what he has actually said, often the exact opposite.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLiberator'': PlayedForDrama in the first episode. An SS major is grilling Spigs about the "ponds" in the American rear. A terrified Spigs says that he doesn't know anything about any ponds as the the German screams "WHAT ABOUT THE PONDS?" Another soldier is pointing a pistol at Spigs's head when Spigs finally realizes that the German isn't saying "pond", he's saying the Italian "ponte", which he is confusing with the English word "bridge".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "I See London, I See France", Rocko is on the plane, dreaming about romancing a French wallaby girl [[DreamingOfThingsToCome whom he actually meets later.]] He leans in as she's saying something [[EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench undoubtedly romantic,]] and Heffer's voice is heard as he practices phrases from his phrase book: [[ToiletHumor "Je besoin de papier toilette!"]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* 419 scam-baiters use this sometimes, relying on the fact that the scammer rarely speaks anything other than his native tongue and limited English. One example was a would-be scammer who stood for two hours at Madrid airport holding a sign that read ''chupame la verga'', which he was led to believe was Spanish for "hello my good friend" but is in fact an invitation for people to perform a lewd act "down there". Incidentally, using Latin-American sexual jargon in Spain usually flags something or somebody as narmish to locals.
* Some of the phrases in [[http://www.zompist.com/phrases.html The Zompist Phrasebook]] are designed to cause people to mangle foreign languages. For example, the phrase "I understand your language perfectly" becomes, well, you'll find out. [[EvilLaugh Mwahaha!]]
* In the humorous nonfiction travel guide ''Speaking You English?'', the author relates a story about a time he was in France with a friend of his who wanted to proposition a comely French woman sitting at the bar with them. The friend spoke no French and so used the author as an intermediary. The author proceeded to make up a sob story for the woman while raising her offered price, then conducting a conversation with her about politics, all while the friend thought the author was still negotiating for him.
* During the ''ARG'' within ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' movie's viral marketing campaing, a guy nicknamed Kosmopol - who was able to reveal many clues - stated in his blog: "Apropos, sorry for my miserable English: just know, I'm just little humble Russian, living in Germany and translating this manga from Japanese into English.".
%%* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_As_She_Is_Spoke English As She Is Spoke]]%% ZCE Links are not examples
* Creator/BillBailey loves using French and German in a variety of songs. These include [[Series/DoctorWho Docteur Qui]] and [[Music/{{Kraftwerk}} Das Hokey Cokey.]]
** "But in what method shall we implement the system matrix [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels of this company display picnic?]]"
* One Russian joke features a performer introducing herself as "Yani Suka Takaya" (which sounds Japanese), except that it actually means "I am not such a bitch" or "Yani, such a bitch" in Russian.
* The Spanish swearword "cojones" (balls), when used by English-speakers, is occasionally misspelt or mispronounced as "cajones" (furniture drawers). HilarityEnsues.
--> That bloke really had a lot of cajones! ''(That bloke really had many drawers.)''
** Although in many dialects of English, the first vowel of both those words is reduced to ə, making them barely distinguishable from each other -- especially in fast and/or casual speech.
* Apparently, the Dutch Prime-Minister Gerbrandy was notorious for his bad comprehension of the English language, resulting in some hilarious incidents while the Dutch goverment was in exile in London during the Second World War. The most famous language mess-up supposedly happened between Gerbrandy and Churchill. The Dutch word for 'jump' is 'spring' and if a Dutchman were to ask someone to jump up, he'd probably say 'spring eens'. Which, when said quickly, sounds a lot like 'spring is'. So when Churchill commented to Gerbrandy 'Spring is in the air!', Gerbrandy replied puzzled 'Why should I, mister Churchill?'
*** The same guy once greeted Churchill by saying goodbye, to which Churchill responded "This is the shortest meeting I have ever had". (Gerbrandy had looked up the translation of "goedendag", which can be used as a greeting as well as a goodbye.)
** Also, Napoleon Bonaparte's brother, who Napoleon had made king of the Netherlands, once said 'Ik ben konijn van Holland' (I am rabbit of Holland.) it should have been 'koning'.
** Joseph Luns, Dutch minister of foreign affairs, once tried to tell John F. Kennedy he breeds horses as a hobby. Since breeding is known in Dutch as "fokken" it came out as "I fok horses".
*** Kennedy then replied "Pardon?", to which Luns responded "Yes, paarden!" (Dutch for "horses".)
*** The same joke was used in Chapter 16 of ''Fanfic/PokemonXNimjaPlayTheGame'', except that the word "breed" is left untranslated [[GoshDangItToHeck for obvious reasons,]] Hades is simply incredulous at Crowe's hobby of horse-breeding. Also, he mishears "ja, paarden" as ''yapardon'' and thinks that ''Yapardon'' are strange animals/Pokemon species. Obviously, he doesn't get Dutch at all.
** Prime-minister Joop den Uyl once remarked that "the Dutch are a nation of undertakers". The Dutch verb ondernemen is literally the English "undertake" (as onder is under and nemen is take), but in Dutch an "ondernemer" is someone that owns any kind of business, the one the English word refers to would be a "begrafenisondernemer".
*** "Ondernemer" is in fact the Dutch translation and equivalent of the French and English "entrepreneur".
* The Lewis and Clark expedition had a headache with this. The two leaders spoke English. Charbonneau, their Mountain Man guide, spoke French and Hidatsa, with another crew member translating from French to English. Sacagawea spoke Hidatsa (as she had been a long-term captive of that tribe) and Shoshone (her native language). Negotiations with the Shoshone got...interesting. (The fact that Sacagawea was the chief's long-lost sister didn't hurt!)
* The "chain of translations" trope supposedly actually happened in the Scottish town of Stornoway. A member of the town's Pakistani community was a witness in a court case, and he insisted he only spoke Punjabi. A translator was found from the community, but ''he'' said he only spoke Punjabi and Scots Gaelic. So another translator had to be found who could translate from Gaelic to English. The story goes that it later transpired that [[CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator all three men spoke all three languages,]] but objected to the case and wanted to wind the court up.
* Then French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin once held a conference in front of the European Popular Party, hoping to bring more people in favor of the creation of a shared European constitution, his argument? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV3L2y7UwNQ "Win the yes needs the no, to win against the no!"]] Can't argue with that. Then again, said Minister is well known for his otherworldly turns of speech; Website/TheOtherWiki even has a name for that: [[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffarinade The Raffarinades!]]
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