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Comic Strips
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
— Woodstock, Peanuts
Film — Animation
Mac: Aye, and 12 herrings and a bagpipe are just a pile of mince if you havnae kent the rules!
Rocky: ...You know, that sounded a little negative to me.
Merida: A' gi'd mah mammy a cake, she turned inty a big bear, n' mah auld yin tries tae dae her in! If that's not pure mess, a' daena know whit is!note
Vanellope: Ahhh...
Moana: We can't understand her.
Anna: She's from the other studio.
Vanellope: Ah.
Vanellope: Ahhh...
Moana: We can't understand her.
Anna: She's from the other studio.
Vanellope: Ah.
Mickey: Donald, are you nuts? What's going on?
Donald: Pete is gonna kidnap Princess Minnie so he can become king, and he's really a bad guy, and he has a secret lair, and it's really dark and scary. So the point is, he's gonna kill us if we get in his way, so we should run now as far away as we can!
[Beat]
Mickey: Donald, I can't understand a word you say.
Donald: Pete is gonna kidnap Princess Minnie so he can become king, and he's really a bad guy, and he has a secret lair, and it's really dark and scary. So the point is, he's gonna kill us if we get in his way, so we should run now as far away as we can!
[Beat]
Mickey: Donald, I can't understand a word you say.
Literature
"Penitenziagite! Watch out for the draco who cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima! Death is super nos! Pray the santo pater come to liberar nos a malo and all our sin! Ha ha, you like this negromanzia de Domini Nostri Jesu Christi! Et anco jois m'es dols e plazer m'es dolors... Cave el diabolo! Semper lying in wait for me in some angulum to snap at my heels. But Salvatore is not stupi-dus! Bonum monsasterium, and aqui refectorium and pray to dominum nostrum. and the resto is not worth merda. Amen. No?"
As this story continues, I shall have to speak again and at length of this creature and record his speech. I confess I find it very difficult to do so because I could not say now, as I could never understand then, what language he spoke.
"For there is a certain matter never spoken of in polite society, and yet known to all, which will, if we ignore it — pretending that it does not exist — turn what should be a pleasant social occasion into an insufferable ordeal. You do know — or as you would say, 'ken' — what I speak of, my lord?"
"Crivvens!" exclaimed Lord Gy. "Wha hae foostit ben the heid-hoose!?" Then he added, with unmistakable sarcasm: "Serr's, a coud gae through the fluir."
"Brilliant, that is a paradigmatic specimen," said Throwley. "It is this, my lord: you do not speak English."
"Crivvens!" exclaimed Lord Gy. "Wha hae foostit ben the heid-hoose!?" Then he added, with unmistakable sarcasm: "Serr's, a coud gae through the fluir."
"Brilliant, that is a paradigmatic specimen," said Throwley. "It is this, my lord: you do not speak English."
You could barely understand the man, he was that posh. It was not so much speech as modulated yawning.
Live-Action TV
"Meep meep meep! MEEEEEP!"
They whisper his name
Sotto Voce!
His silence is his fame
Sotto Voce!
His enemies all fear him
You can barely hear him
Invincible and inaudible
Sotto Voce!
Sotto Voce!
His silence is his fame
Sotto Voce!
His enemies all fear him
You can barely hear him
Invincible and inaudible
Sotto Voce!
"I have come to accept that people who don't hear our accents all the time genuinely cannot tell the difference between mine, yours and the guy who played Scotty in Star Trek."
— Siobhan Redmond, Dream Me Up Scotty! The Scottish Accent on Screen
Music
It's unintelligible
I just can't get it through my skull
It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss (?)
With all these marbles in my mouth
I just can't get it through my skull
It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss (?)
With all these marbles in my mouth
— "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Smells Like Nirvana"
I don't understand you
I just don't understand you
I don't understand the things you say
I can't understand a single word...
I just don't understand you
I don't understand the things you say
I can't understand a single word...
— They Might Be Giants, "Fingertips (I Don't Understand You)"
Video Games
Who is the Topsy King?
In his own words: 'A goden most capering! Hines the walkskies, chanter the powb raggedy men. Dab with viddlo, too, goden!' So there we have it.
In his own words: 'A goden most capering! Hines the walkskies, chanter the powb raggedy men. Dab with viddlo, too, goden!' So there we have it.
"It isn't an easy language to learn, what with all the growls and howls. Big Z told me the whole point was to make it difficult for outsiders to understand."
— Mission Vao, on the Wookiee language, Knights of the Old Republic
Mokona: Pu-pu puu! Pupu, pupu-pupupupuuu-pu?
Hikaru: Good point. It's important to rest up when it's time to rest. That's a big tenet of martial arts too.
Fire Diver: Were they just... conversing?
Police Diver: All my sensors registered was "Puu."
Jet Diver: Your sensors aren't malfunctioning. That's all I get from the voice data every time I replay it.
Drill Diver: However, it appears the girl does in fact understand what that creature is saying.
Hikaru: Good point. It's important to rest up when it's time to rest. That's a big tenet of martial arts too.
Fire Diver: Were they just... conversing?
Police Diver: All my sensors registered was "Puu."
Jet Diver: Your sensors aren't malfunctioning. That's all I get from the voice data every time I replay it.
Drill Diver: However, it appears the girl does in fact understand what that creature is saying.
Senpai: Not bad for an ugly worm. But this time I'll rip your nuts off right after your girlfriend finishes gargling mine.
Boyfriend: Bop beep be be skdoo bep
Boyfriend: Bop beep be be skdoo bep
(Inaudible mumbling)
— Recurring Merling dialogue, For the King
"Genie, you know, it'd be a lot easier to understand you if you just opened your mouth when you spoke."
— Calypso, Twisted Metal: Head-On
Web Animation
Harry Kane: OHHHH, I TRIED! I didn't ask for all this pressure, but I swear on the grave of King Richard, I gave it me all and I'd trade in all me golden boots and all me feets and all me toes for one more chance of making the bloody final! [cries]
Dele Alli: Aw Harry, I'm so sorry mate. It's just, none of us have any idea what you just said.
Dele Alli: Aw Harry, I'm so sorry mate. It's just, none of us have any idea what you just said.
Web Original
Arnold sometimes talks like a man who is both breast feeding and drowning at the same time.
Should any of you wish to see this movie, get the DVD. (Oh, and consult a psychiatrist.) Not that there’s much to in the way of extras on this disc. In fact, it’s rather bare boned. ...No, I suggest the DVD because of the one other feature you can’t get on the video. Subtitles. Sure, the film’s in English. But Seagal adopts a really lame and mushmouthed ‘Western’ accent here. When combined with his trademark whispery voice, well, half the time you can’t make out what the heck he’s saying. Seriously. However, just hit the Subtitle button on your DVD remote and problem solved. Hmm, now if I could just find a button that made the movie less moronic…
— Jabootu on The Patriot
David Lee Roth breaks open the crazy with what might be the greatest mashed jumble of words ever committed to tape, which is bookended by two patented David Lee Roth howls...There are a lot of things I don't understand about the world. Chief among them is: Why aren't we all wearing T-shirts with "GoddamnitbabyyouknowIain'tlyin'toyaI'monlygon'tellyouonetimeAhhhyaaaa!" on them?
This clip that’s been making the round of Iggy Azalea mouth farting into the mic at the Splash Festival in Germany will make you laugh, cry and scream for a priest because bitch sounds possessed. While looking like Lady Gaga Lady Russell Stover, the rillest MC in da game spit out the sounds of a train wreck...If you switched Siri’s language to Cantonese on your iPhone and asked her to recite a Kanye West rant backwards, she’d make more sense than Iggy does in that clip. Bitch sounds like Nell speaking tongues in Pig Latin after burning her tongue on hot soup. I did hear a “chickabee” or two in there.
What I’m saying is that this is my favorite Iggy Azalea performance of all-time. All hail the Queen of Scat!
What I’m saying is that this is my favorite Iggy Azalea performance of all-time. All hail the Queen of Scat!
Web Video
He could be so frustrated right now and all I'd know is that he used to be Charlie Brown's English teacher.
— General Ironicus, Retsupurae
How about some SUBTITLES you JERKS?! It's bad enough we have to listen to them belch their lines, but we can't even understand what they're saying!
— The Nostalgia Critic regarding the Wookies talking in The Star Wars Holiday Special
"Hey! Hey, speak up! I can't hear you over your obnoxious beat! I've listened to this theme song so many times! Like, I doubled down on how many times I listened to this theme song compared to all of the others, and I've never been able to make out all of the lyrics! Except for, you know, thisnote ."
— The Mysterious Mr. Enter, on the theme song for The Nutshack
"God, I'm glad that Genius.com exists; I got, like, four words out of that."
— Michael Buckley, on Gucci Gang by Lil Pump (referring to the lyrics that weren't the repeated Title Drops), The Ten Worst Songs of 2017
Elyse: Look, Bob Dylan, I thought you would be better at this because you groomed your son Jacob Dylan to be a famous singer too-
Adam: [As Bob Dylan] My son's a pizza shit!
Elyse: But it looks like you can't manage a band as well as I thought you could.
Adam: I ave myon shoe, serious exam! Eat my ass!
James: I think I got that last part...
Adam: [As Bob Dylan] My son's a pizza shit!
Elyse: But it looks like you can't manage a band as well as I thought you could.
Adam: I ave myon shoe, serious exam! Eat my ass!
James: I think I got that last part...
Soviet: You okay, Nevil? Are you alright?
Nevil: Eid new bange on myself?
Soviet: Sorry?
Nevil: I have bandage but I don't know why I gonda ad bandage do add for some reason.
(Beat)
Soviet: Is he speaking English?
Nevil: Eid new bange on myself?
Soviet: Sorry?
Nevil: I have bandage but I don't know why I gonda ad bandage do add for some reason.
(Beat)
Soviet: Is he speaking English?
— Random Arma 3 Bullshittery Part 5, Soviet Womble
Western Animation
Schnitzel: Oh, radda radda.
Chowder: What do you mean "I won't understand?"
Schnitzel: Radda radda rah, radda radda.
Chowder: What do you mean "Stop repeating everything you say?"
"Hey, it's Garbly! Everyone loves him because they can't understand him!"
— Leela, telling a story to kids, Futurama
Mickey: [pretending he's dying] Tell Donald... Tell Donald...
Mortimer: [urgently] YES, YES?
Mickey: I never understood a word he... said.
Mortimer: [urgently] YES, YES?
Mickey: I never understood a word he... said.
— House of Mouse, "Mickey's April Fools"
Sour Cream: Muh! Muh muh muh! Muh muh muh muh muh!
Marty: What did you say?
Marty: What did you say?
Real Life
"Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second-rate Freudian evaluation of my lyrics, when 90 percent of the time they've transcribed them incorrectly?"
— Kurt Cobain getting frustrated at how people reacted to his singing