History Main / BiteTheWaxTadpole

* Both ''Series/HappyDays'' and ''Series/JoanieLovesChachi'' had the character "Chachi," whose name sounds a lot like a Korean word for penis ("jaji").

* The Norwegian online grocery store "Kolonial" (an old Norwegian term for "corner shop") decided to preemptively avoid UnfortunateImplications by rebranding as "Oda" when they made plans for international expansion, even putting out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvELWLIB2m0 a mostly English ad]] showing how certain names don't play well abroad.

** It also sounds like the French word "oui" (yes). Which lead to some jokes among French gamers.

* GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. "Gimp" is also derogatory slang for a disabled person. [[https://www.gimp.org/docs/userfaq.html#i-dont-like-the-name-gimp-will-you-change-it The FAQ acknowledges this. It's also a BDSM term, so expect to get awkward looks if you answer "What are you doing?" with "Just messing around with my GIMP."

* McDonald's had a recruitment add in Germany with the simple slogan: We Want You! To the great amusement of English-Speaking people, the German words for that are "Wir Suchen Dich!"

* Both ''Happy Days'' and ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' had the character "Chachi," whose name sounds a lot like a Korean word for penis ("jaji").

* This trope is [[TropeNamer named for]] one of the classic examples ([[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/蝌蝌啃蠟 蝌蝌啃蠟]], Kēkēkěnlà, actually meaning "tadpole chews wax", ''not'' "bite the wax tadpole"), one of the unofficial attempts to transliterate "Coca-Cola" into Chinese before a formal name was introduced;[[note]][[http://snopes.com/cokelore/tadpole.asp These were never official names]]; rather, before there was an official Mandarin version, shopkeepers who sold Coke would use whichever transliteration they wanted[[/note]] the right sounds were used, but the meaning of the ''characters'' was disregarded, with the result that instead of advertising soft drinks, [[ExpospeakGag the mastication of paraffin by larval amphibians was encouraged]]; another unofficial variant was "Mare stuffed with wax" (騍馬口蠟, Kèmǎkǒulà). Creator/DaveBarry declared "Bite the Wax Tadpole" to be "the best name I ever heard for a soft drink". (The closest "bite the wax tadpole" could ever get to sounding like Coca-Cola would be 齰蝌蚪蜡 - cuòkēdǒulà. Close, but no cigar.)\\

** Interestingly enough, the English word "mist" is a word borrowed from Old German and originally had connotations of the steam rising from a freshly-deposited pile of dung. As time went on, the romantic light-fog association remained and the unromantic origin quietly disappeared.

* The unfortunately named Pocari Sweat is a popular energy drink in Japan. It actually tastes pretty good, but you wouldn't know it from reading the label. The "sweat" part is because, like many energy drinks, it's designed to replace electrolytes lost that way, while Pocari is from the onomatopoeic word for the sound of falling droplets (of sweat, or possibly a tasty energy drink). There's also a spin-off drink called Pet Sweat.

* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} ''never'' uses the shorthand "Nick" branding in France, as it sounds too close to "[[PrecisionFStrike nique]]".

* In Finland, the K's used to denote the size of a big box store called Kesko-- much like how there is a distinction today between "Target" and "Super Target" in the United States-- and the most popular store? The one with three K's. Cue amusement from American tourists buying their staples at the "KKK store".

** This trope is also why Sega went straight from Saturn to Neptune (the latter being used for a Megadrive/32X combo unit that didn't get very far in the development stage due to fears it would siphon off sales of the Saturn) during the planetary phase of their internal hardware development days--Uranus sounds like the Japanese word for "won't sell".

** "[[https://www.behindthename.com/name/karen-3 Karen]" is also a name in Japan, which means "lotus flower" and is unrelated to the American term.

* As anyone with a basic understanding of German will know, the German word for 'Father' is 'Vater', pronounced exactly like 'Farter'. (Americans, who mostly have rhotic accents, may be confused by this claim, since it's only true in a non-rhotic ... think Baahhston ... accent.)

** In English, Pikachu's name is often misconstrued as referring to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika the pika.]]

* In Australia and New Zealand, sarsaparilla (which is relatively similar to American root beer) is often abbreviated down to "sars." Apparently no one there is concerned about a soft drink whose name sounds like a disease. That said, Aussies had called the drink Sars for decades before the illness became news and have continued to call it that decades afterwards. The important difference here is the second 's'. The second 's' in the drink is pronounced as in 'sole', while the 's' in the disease is pronounced as a 'z'. Interestingly, in the US sarsaparilla is pronounced 'SASS-parilla', thereby avoiding the problem (and very few Americans actually drink sarsaparilla anymore since nowadays it is considered a niche soft drink compared to its more popular successor, root beer).

* UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}:

** The name of the video game company also happens to be a crude Italian slang term meaning "to masturbate." This is why, when Arsenal Football Club was sponsored by Sega, its shirts sported the logo of the company's [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast then-current flagship product]] rather than the word Sega itself, Arsenal often finding itself playing in Italy or against Italian opposition. Although given Sega's love for {{double entendre}}s and raunchy jokes, you'd think they would have embraced this coincidence with open arms. The Italian soccer team U.C. Sampdoria did the same thing for the same reason, which is also why all Italian commercials always pronounced "Sega" as "seega".

* The Commodore UsefulNotes/VIC20 was marketed as the VC-20 in Germany. The "VC" branding also meant it could be [[FunWithAcronyms backronymed]] "Volkscomputer", an allusion to the car maker Volkswagen.

* There is a bus company in Germany called Fücker.
** Many Germans speak enough English to find this amusing. One has to wonder if any of its routes go to the Austrian village of [[http://www.fucking.at/fucking/eOrt1.htm Fucking]] (linked site is probably safe for work, if not kid-friendly).

* When Ben and Jerry's first started selling their ice cream in Japan, they couldn't figure out why their "Chunky Monkey" flavor wasn't selling very well. Turns out that the name was mistranslated as [[{{Squick}} "Chunks of Monkey"]]. The "Black and Tan" flavour has never made it to Ireland due to that phrase having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans certain nasty historic connotations]] there.

* When Ben and Jerry's first started selling their ice cream in Japan, they couldn't figure out why their "Chunky Monkey" flavor wasn't selling very well. Turns out that the name was mistranslated as [[{{Squick}} "Chunks of Monkey"]].
** The "Black and Tan" flavour has never made it to Ireland due to that phrase having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans certain nasty historic connotations]] there.

* When Ben and Jerry's first started selling their ice cream in Japan, they couldn't figure out why their "Chunky Monkey" flavor wasn't selling very well. Turns out that the name was mistranslated as [[{{Squick}} "Chunks of Monkey"]]. The "Black and Tan" flavour has never made it to Ireland due to that phrase having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans certain nasty historic connotations]] there.

* In Australia and New Zealand, sarsaparilla (which is relatively similar to American root beer) is often abbreviated down to "sars." Apparently no one there is concerned about a soft drink whose name sounds like a disease. That said, Aussies had called the drink Sars for decades before the illness became news and have continued to call it that decades afterwards. The important difference here is the second 's'. The second 's' in the drink is pronounced as in 'sole', while the 's' in the disease is pronounced as a 'z'. Interestingly, in the US sarsaparilla is pronounced 'SASS-parilla', thereby avoiding the problem (not to mention very few Americans actually drink sarsaparilla anymore since nowadays it is considered a niche soft drink compared to its more popular successor, root beer).
* The unfortunately named Pocari Sweat is a popular energy drink in Japan. It actually tastes pretty good, but you wouldn't know it from reading the label. The "sweat" part is because, like many energy drinks, it's designed to replace electrolytes lost that way, while Pocari is from the onomatopoeic word for the sound of falling droplets (of sweat, or possibly a tasty energy drink).
** There's also a spin-off drink called Pet Sweat.

* A port called Cockburn's Dry Tang got its name changed in Sweden because in Swedish, "tång" means "seaweed" (and is also a rather obscure slang term for vagina, which puts the dryness in a whole new context). It ended up being changed to the hilarious-sounding (in English) "Cockburn's Dry Cock", proving this trope runs both ways. And this didn't solve the problem, because in Sweden, more or less everyone knows enough English to recognize the hilarity.

*** Creator/BarryHumphries' Les Patterson character once remarked that he was informed of this pronounciation by "A plummy-voiced pom who presumably asks his wife every night for a fuh."
* The Irish whiskey-based liqueur Irish Mist was marketed in Germany under its English name until the makers realized that "Mist" is the German term for manure.
** Similarly, Rolls-Royce developed a model called the 'Silver Mist' that was due to be debuted at a German motorshow. A few days before the show opened, the mist/manure issue was pointed out to them. A new name was decided on quickly and new name plates manufactured which were flown to Germany and fitted to the car before the show opened.

*** Even more hilarious, because that phrase is similar to 'Miststück' ('bitch', literally 'piece of manure')!

* Intentionally invoked with the case of the Austrian town of Fucking (officially pronounced "Fooking," [[RuleOfFunny but you know]]). This inspired someone in Germany to market a beer called "Fucking Hell." Hell means "pale" in German and refers to a type of beer. The apparently humorless residents of the town were not amused and tried to sue them, but lost. EU authorities also initially refused to grant the trademark on the grounds that it contained an expletive, but the company successfully argued [[BlatantLies that "Fucking" referred exclusively to the town,]] and if anyone confused it for the English expletive then that was their own problem. The Austrians are apparently not alone in this, as a little over 100 miles away is a German town called "Wank."
** Fucking changed its name to [[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fucking-austria-renamed-fugging/ Fugging]] in 2020, because they were tired of being made fun of on social media.
** The Irish town of Fecking in County Limerick had similar woes when trying to establish an online presence, as its name invariably set off profanity filters. "We're not fecking amused here, you feckers", summed up their attitude.

* Honda has also fallen victim to this. A new model was to be introduced under the name "Fitta", when it was discovered that the word is a crude term for female genitalia used in Norwegian and Swedish. The car was renamed to "Jazz" in certain markets and "Fit" in others.
** To add even more hilarity, the car was advertised with the slogan "It looks small on the outside, but is huge once you get in".
* There is a bus company in Germany called Fücker. Many Germans speak enough English to find this amusing. One has to wonder if any of its routes go to the Austrian village of [[http://www.fucking.at/fucking/eOrt1.htm Fucking]] (linked site is probably safe for work, if not kid-friendly).

** By the same token, the German word ''Fahrt'' can be found on numerous traffic signs and related literature, as it translates to "travel", "ride", or "traffic", depending on the context.[[note]]It's cognate to the English "fare" in its sense of "go or do", as in "how are you faring?"[[/note]] Some other Nordic languages drop the "h", resulting in [[https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-f89c9c372df4bb86beca34479ec15a29 a Danish reminder to slow down]] or [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tqDRXmmBB7Y/Suuf1RrPuvI/AAAAAAAACU8/fp-JL1H9z9U/s400/1_1248170851_tee-hee-hee.jpg a Norwegian sign about speedbumps]] containing the word.

** The [[http://www.nissan.co.jp/MOCO/ Nissan Moco]] (snot) and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Laputa Mazda Laputa]] (the whore) had unfortunate names too.
*** The Mazda Laputa was named after after the fictional island of Laputa in Literature/GulliversTravels. Supposedly, Jonathan Swift was actually aware of the name's meaning.
*** This is also the reason why most Spanish versions of the book end with the Brodignan arc, with the remainder of the story restricted to rarely-found classic versions as well as very short AbridgedForChildren editions (less than 10 pages), where the proper name is not given. Those editions simply call it "the floating island".

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker Anthony Fokker's aircraft]] is a beautiful and historically significant piece of Dutch aerospace engineering. Among its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker#Famous_Fokker_aircraft_and_pilots many famous exploits,]] it was flown by the ace of aces, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen Baron Von Richthofen.]] But more importantly, it is ''a lot'' of fun to say over the radio. [[note]] Like the German example above, most Dutch people speak enough English to find this extremely funny.[[/note]]
-->"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the very first Fokker airplane built in the world. The Dutch call it the mother Fokker."
-->-'''Custodian at the Aviodome aviation museum, Schiphol airport Amsterdam.'''
** Consider the venerable WWII joke whose punchline is "...these fokkers were flying Messerschmidts!"

* The Nintendo UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}'s name was intended to invoke playing with other people; as they say in the commercials, "Wii would like to play". However, it inspired all kinds of jokes about piss, and gamers "running home so they can play with their Wii". While initially subject to relentless mockery, it didn't sink the product, the joke played itself out, and soon people were saying "Wii" with all seriousness and solemnity.

** Of course, "i.Beat" by itself could be used in masturbation jokes a la "Wii". It's obviously nowhere near as bad on its own, though.
* GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. "Gimp" is also derogatory slang for a disabled person. [[https://www.gimp.org/docs/userfaq.html#i-dont-like-the-name-gimp-will-you-change-it The FAQ acknowledges this.]]
** It's also a BDSM term, so expect to get awkward looks if you answer "What are you doing?" with "Just messing around with my GIMP."
* The word ''lund'' is Urdu and Punjabi slang for a man's genitalia, which is fair enough. Some British-Asian dialects spell and pronounce it ''lan'', which causes predictable hilarity when GCSE Information Technology classes are taught about local area networking.
** Translation from computer-speak to the real world are often unintentionally amusing. Courtesy of the unix command line, one might casually finger[[labelnote:*]]Tells you where they're logged in and shows you their plan file[[/labelnote]] a co-worker, then fsck[[labelnote:*]]Scan for errors[[/labelnote]] and mount[[labelnote:*]]Connect to the filesystem so you can access its contents[[/labelnote]] one's hard drive.
*** Not to mention the [[BlackComedy hilariously concerned looks]] from people unfamiliar with Unix hearing developers casually talk about killing[[labelnote:*]]Roughly what the Windows task manager calls "end process"[[/labelnote]] orphans.
*** Indeed, in French, "bite" (pronounced "bit") is slang for penis. HilarityEnsues regularly in basic binary algebra classes.
** Also note late American race car driver [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Lund Tiny Lund]].
* The name of the video game company Creator/{{Sega}} also happens to be a crude Italian slang term meaning "to masturbate." This is why, when Arsenal Football Club was sponsored by Sega, its shirts sported the logo of the company's [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast then-current flagship product]] rather than the word Sega itself, Arsenal often finding itself playing in Italy or against Italian opposition. Although given Sega's love for {{double entendre}}s and raunchy jokes, you'd think they would have embraced this coincidence with open arms.
** The Italian soccer team U.C. Sampdoria did the same thing for the same reason, which is also why all Italian commercials always pronounced "Sega" as "seega".

* When Apple announced that its tablet was to be called the "iPad", it elicited many groans from all sides - half who were fans of ''Series/{{MADtv}}'', who did a parody commercial about a feminine hygiene product that combined an iPod with a maxi pad [[HilariousInHindsight a full four years before a product with the name iPad would become a reality]]. And the other half who realized that if you thought about it, it was "Mac's iPad".
** It gets worse when thick accents are involved. For example, the native Newfoundland Canadian accent pronounces both "iPod" and "iPad" almost interchangeably.
** The worst case is probably in Erzya language, spoken by an ethnic minority in Russia. Here, "pad" (with an "ah" sound, which is how iPad is pronounced by those who live in Russia) means vagina.

* The Commodore VIC-20 was originally going to be called the Vixen, until Commodore realized it would be unsellable in Germany, since "vixen" sounds like ''wichsen'' ("to wank"). They shortened it to VIC and came up with a backronym ('''V'''ideo '''I'''nterface '''C'''hip), but that too wouldn't fly in Germany, because "vic" sounds like ''Fick'' ("fuck"). They ended up calling it the VC-20 in Germany, VC standing for ''Volkscomputer'', and VIC-20 everywhere else.

** Similar to the above, there was a late-8-bit-era game called ''Vixen'' which, for its German release, was renamed to -- ''She Fox''. Cue much hilarity in British computer magazines (one remarked "I bet she does").

* When Ben and Jerry's first started selling their ice cream in Japan, they couldn't figure out why their "Chunky Monkey" flavor wasn't selling very well. Turns out that the name was mistranslated as [[{{Squick}} "Chunks of Monkey"]].
** The "Black and Tan" flavour has never made it to Ireland due to that phrase having [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_Tans certain nasty historic connotations]] there.
* Since "chicken" is a Chinese slang term for a prostitute, the KFC slogan "We do chicken right" when translated literally into Chinese is "It's right that we become prostitutes".
** Another KFC slogan, "Finger-Lickin' Good," was translated as "Eat Your Fingers Off."

** Even better, chicken stock is also sometimes translated as "cock juice".

* Electrolux's slogan for their vacuum cleaners, "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux," took on a rather negative connotation in America.
** This was [[InvokedTrope done knowingly]], but is still damned funny.
** Similarly used in the joke "The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck will be the day they start making vacuum cleaners."
* One attempt to create a visual, text-free ad for laundry detergent backfired somewhere in the Middle East: The advertisement was a before/after picture with the detergent in the center, intended to be read left-to-right (dirty laundry + detergent = clean clothes). However, these countries[[note]]Sources conflict as to whether this happened in an Arab country or Israel. Either way, both Arabic and Hebrew script have the same text direction.[[/note]] read things ''from right to left''....
** There was a similar story, though the ad was for a beverage. From left-to-right, it showed a famished man in the desert, then the guy drinking one of the products, then shows him healthy.
** Sadly, a simple top-to-bottom order would have easily solved the problem.

* Unlike other companies, IKEA makes it a point to not relabel their products for foreign markets, no matter how stupid they sound in the local language. It's still backfired, though: IKEA got in trouble when it advertised its "Gutvik" brand bunk beds in Germany -- because while "Gutvik" is the name of a town in Norway, it's an explicit sexual reference in German, albeit a grammatically wrong one. It sounds a lot like the expression "guter Fick," meaning "good fuck" or "good lay." ''Gut'' without an ending here wouldn't make sense.

** Also, some furor rose in Finland after IKEA named a toilet brush "Viren", which also happens to be the last name of a legendary Finnish runner.
*** Even funnier in Germany: "Viren" means viruses.
*** Germans could also laugh about a chair named "Kimme". That is a slang word for "ass crack" in some parts of Germany.
** Other awesome names: "Jerker", "Fartfull" and "Lessebo". "Jerker" is a male name, "Fartfull" translates to "Speedy" and "Lessebo" is a place name. All in Swedish.
** The "Sarna" chairs are quite the joke in Spain, considering it means "scabies".
*** "Sarna" also means "roe deer" in Polish.

** The "Trampa" doormats. "Trampa" means "crap" in Portuguese. "Trampa" also means "trap" in spanish.

** Many ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fans were amused with the "Koppla" power strips, since it sounds similar to "Qapla'", the Klingon word for "success".

** SMEG is also the name of an Italian appliance manufacturer.

** It ''is'' sold in Spain as "Colgate", because Spaniards would say "Cuélgate" (KWEL-gah-teh) instead. Some of them still snicker. In fact, there are a couple of jokes regarding Colgate whose punchlines are about one of the speakers being Argentinian.

* The cover of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' shows a zombie hand holding up [[VSign two fingers seen from the back]], which happens to be the British equivalent of giving the middle finger. Valve did figure it out in time for the UK release though, and [[http://www.gamegrep.com/showimage.php?pos=1&newsid=23652 reversed the hand]] so it's seen from the front, becoming [[{{Woolseyism}} the victory/peace sign]].
** Strangely, in Ireland some shops had the "fuck off" boxes and some shops had the "peace" boxes.
** The Japanese and German covers simply have the thumb [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/960511-left-4-dead-2/images/box-173855 tucked away]] rather than torn off, due to stricter ratings for violence and the former country's cultural association of missing fingers with the {{Yakuza}}.

* Australian singlet (what Americans call wife beaters or tank tops) makers Chesty Bonds had an ad campaign where the buff model makes an "ok" symbol touching his thumb with his pointer finger to form a ring. Unfortunately when they tried to do business in Greece, they found out this was a symbol for being homosexual. The gesture has the same meaning in several other countries, and is simply obscene in a variety of others.
** And then, like last night’s vodka, time only went and made it [[HarsherInHindsight way, way worse,]] with the gesture becoming a de-facto symbol of white supremacy in Australia and New Zealand due to the Christchurch shooter.

* There's a British brand of leggings based in Manchester called Kukubird. In Singapore and Malaysia, that word is childish slang for the penis.
** The name also gets some giggles from Brazilians, because the first syllable is pronounced like the word "cu", meaning "ass".

* In Venezuela, there are several towns named Morón. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor%C3%B3n,_Venezuela It's pronounced different, with emphasis on the second "o".]]
** Those Moróns are probably named after Morón, Spain, which is coincidentally the site of a NATO air base. This was used as a joke in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', when Moron briefly appears as one of the first two bases seized by Skynet.[[note]]The other is {{Franchise/Batman}}, Turkey[[/note]]
** There's also a city in Mongolia called Mörön, though it is also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6r%C3%B6n_%28city%29 pronounced differently.]]
*** Fittingly, "Mongo" is German slang for "moron" (stemming from the word, "mongoloid," which is a rarely-used offensive term for someone who has Down's Syndrome).
*** Which comes full circle, considering the offensive origins of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid_race the term.]]
** Moron is also the Welsh word for carrot, although it is pronounced--as with all Welsh words--with a short 'o'.

** Another German example-- [[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASS_Altenburger "Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenfabrik," or ASS,]] is a popular playing card manufacturer, comparable to Bee or Bicycle in the United States. In German itself, it happens to be FunWithAcronyms, as the acronym simply means "ace".

* This wiki's trope {{Qurac}}, when pronounced, sounds exactly like Croatian slang for penis.
** It also sounds like the Turkish word for arid, which is quite fitting.
* The currency of Vietnam is the đồng, pronounced more like "dough" with a G at the end rather then like "long" with a D at the beginning. (To date, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have shown great restraint in avoiding headlines such as "Bank of Vietnam Wants Stronger Dong.")
** Played for great humour in the ''Series/TopGearUK'' Vietnam special, where James May gets given some extra fuel for his bike from a passer-by on a mountain in a rainstorm. James tells the audience of his gratitude, and decides to pay the man ... only to dully realise that 'my dong's going to be all soggy ...'

** For the same reasons, the Commodore UsefulNotes/VIC20 was marketed as the VC-20 in Germany. The "VC" branding also meant it could be [[FunWithAcronyms backronymed]] "Volkscomputer", an allusion to the car maker Volkswagen.
* A village in Norway is called "Hell" (meaning "luck" or an archaic word for a specific rock formation, pronounciation is the same as in English). Most of Norway being bilingual, the locals have great fun with it. The effect is slightly lessened by a large number of locations in English-speaking countries also named Hell.
** It's the same as Jahnam, Al-Khaddafi native village, is very similar to the Arabic world for hell, Jahan-nam.

** And to complement it, in Spanish "ano" is "anus".
*** There was once a post in Spanish on a message board whose language was usually English. Unfortunately the poster omitted the all-important tilde from "años", so instead of the intended "I am 25 years [old]", he said "I have 25 anuses"! Much fun was made of this.

** Ditto a Philippine revolutionary group, though that is more commonly known by the last K (Katipunan) because the other alternative was an OverlyLongName.
** In Finland, the K's used to denote the size of a big box store called Kesko-- much like how there is a distinction today between "Target" and "Super Target" in the United States-- and the most popular store? The one with three K's. Cue amusement from American tourists buying their staples at the "KKK store".

** A common Jewish and/or German surname (many surnames are shared between the two) is "Lipschitz," also pronounced exactly like you hope it wouldn't be pronounced. Dr. Lipschitz from ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' is a victim of this trope as a result.

** In addition, "Wal" means "whale".

** Wang and Dong are common surnames in several Asian countries.
** Fukyu (pronounced foo-kyoo, though English-speaking ears often hear it... slightly differently) is a surname in Japan, albeit a rare one. It's also the name of one of the most widely practiced karate katas in existence, which is often good for a chuckle amongst new karateka.

** Ditto for Spanish footballer Suso, whose name means "breasts" in Tagalog (the most used Filipino language), and Brazilian footballer Michel Bastos, whose surname translates to "rude" or "vulgar" in Tagalog. Filipino viewers of the 2018 World Cup had a chuckle when they learned that Brazil’s coach was named Tite (which sounds like the Tagalog slang for “penis”).

* Immature Filipinos laugh at the mere mention of Lake Titicaca, as the word "titi" is Filipino slang for "penis".
** Even young Spanish-speakers find it amusing, as it means something like "auntie poopoo" in English.
** English speakers also snicker at the name, as the first two syllables are pronounced exactly like "titty," a slang term for a woman's breasts, while the last two syllables are a common euphemism for the word "shit." ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I0Hee533Iw did an entire song about it.]]

* A bit of an example of SeparatedByACommonLanguage: in Britain "bender" is a slang term for homosexual. While the TV show ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' changed its title to "The Legend of Aang", the [[Film/TheLastAirbender movie adaptation]] was not so lucky, and since 'bender' is used constantly in both versions, it can be quite amusing for British audiences. Interestingly, "bender" has a slightly less commonly used slang meaning for American audiences, which refers to a prolonged period of excessive alcohol (or other drugs) use combined with undesirable behaviour: eg. "to go on a three-day bender" would mean to stay obnoxiously drunk for three days straight. Not as funny as the British version, but still worth a chuckle.