History Main / GenderVocabularySlip

You're a Japanese (or East Asian) {{Bishonen}} character DisguisedInDrag, ready to infiltrate an all female society as one of their own.

Splendid!! Your disguise is so flawless that [[AttractiveBentGender you are even more beautiful than the average woman]], so much so that you become a ChickMagnet [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer (to girls AND boys)]], and so [[YamatoNadeshiko refined in manner]] they would never suspect you were ever a man, right?

Unfortunately, being a HotBlooded young male all your life has habitually hard-wired your vocabulary to use the masculine pronoun of ''[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns ore]]'' to refer to yourself, something that an everyday girl (who uses ''watashi'', the polite gender-neutral pronoun) or even an upbeat and immature GenkiGirl (who uses ''atashi'', the informal-feminine pronoun, or if extreme ''boku'', a boyish one) would never be caught ''dead'' doing.

* ''Manga/BoysRunTheRiot'': When Ryo's classmates start talking about their favorite characters in a drama, he pipes up to agree with Kashiwabara's choice, but he accidentally uses the masculine ''ore'', hastily switching to ''uchi'' (and a male character) when he sees the faces of the others. The English translation adds an extra line to get across the same general idea:

* Natsuru Senou of ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'' falls into this trope so many times it's a wonder Kaede Sakura, the only girl who does ''not'' know his (identically-named, at that) female persona and him are one and the same, didn't catch on. [[spoiler:She does catch on eventually.]]

Unfortunately, being a HotBlooded young male all your life has habitually hard-wired your vocabulary to use the masculine pronoun of ''"[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns Ore]]"'' to refer to yourself, something that an everyday girl (who uses ''watashi'', the polite gender-neutral pronoun) or even an upbeat and immature GenkiGirl (who uses ''atashi'', the informal-feminine pronoun, or if extreme ''boku'', a boyish one) would never be caught ''dead'' doing.

* In ''Anime/YourName'', when Mitsuha [[FreakyFridayFlip is inhabiting Taki's body]] for the first time, she accidentally uses the first-person pronoun ''watashi'' while with Taki's classmate. While not strictly a female-only pronoun, in this context (male high school students) it would come off as effeminate. She then tries to correct herself by switching between UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns -- specifically ''watakushi'', ''boku'', and finally ''ore'' -- much to his friends' confusion. The English dub instead has a bizarre exchange where she calls herself a girl, then a "gal", then finally a guy, and follows this up with [[{{Woolseyism}} "guys just wanna have fun"]]. The translations for the novelisation and manga have her try various apologies ("'Scuse me", "Pardon me", and "Sorry") before hitting "Whatever", which his friends accept.

You're a Japanese (or East Asian) {{Bishounen}} character DisguisedInDrag, ready to infiltrate an all female society as one of their own.

* In ''Anime/YourName'', when Mitsuha [[FreakyFridayFlip is inhabiting Taki's body]] for the first time, she accidentally uses the first-person pronoun "watashi" while with Taki's classmate. While not strictly a female-only pronoun, in this context (male high school students) it would come off as effeminate. She then tries to correct herself by switching to [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns "watakushi", "boku", and finally "ore"]], much to his friends' confusion. The English dub instead has a bizarre exchange where she calls herself a girl, then a "gal", then finally a guy, and follows this up with [[{{Woolseyism}} "guys just wanna have fun"]]. The translations for the novelisation and manga have her try various apologies ("'Scuse me", "Pardon me", and "Sorry") before hitting "Whatever", which his friends accept.

* ''Manga/BoysRunTheRiot'': When Ryo's classmates start talking about their favorite characters in a drama, he pipes up to agree with Kashiwabara's choice, but he accidentally uses the masculine ''ore,'' hastily switching to ''uchi'' (and a male character) when he sees the faces of the others. The English translation adds an extra line to get across the same general idea:

* Shiratori Ryuushi, DoggedNiceGuy and TheChewToy of ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'', was dressed up (against his will and while asleep) to look like a ''very'' cute and beautiful blonde. When confronted with Chiyuri, one of his landlady's five personalities who does ''not'' know him, he accidentally uses "boku" (polite masculine pronoun) to refer to himself. Subverted in that Chiyuri finds this contrast quite {{Moe}}, and that although unusual for a girl, [[{{Bokukko}} "boku" is used by the nicer-tomboys out there as a pronoun]].
* Kuranosuke from ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' is a habitual crossdresser who generally has no problem passing as female. Still, very often he slips into using 'Ore', much to to the horror of Tsukimi who is terrified lest her anti-male otaku friends find out his true gender. She usually covers by shouting [[LameRhymeDodge "Ole!"]] and trying to make it seem as if he were talking about flamenco instead.
* Happens to Psy in an episode of ''Manga/{{Heroman}},'' when Holly forces him and Joey into crossdressing as a disguise. Though, considering these are American teenagers in the middle of California that we're talking about here, there's probably some kind of TranslationConvention at work.
* In ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'', When Keiichi was temporarily caught in a GenderBender by Skuld's pudding, he tried to play himself off as being somebody else when his sister and friends came around looking for him (for the sake of protecting TheMasquerade of the presence of goddesses in his home). He was doing well until he referred to himself with the masculine 'ore' pronoun, rousing suspicion in his guests.
* In ''Manga/GirlGotGame'', SweetPollyOliver Kyo accidentally uses ''atashi'' once early on, but immediately corrects herself and uses ''boku'' consistently from then on. [[spoiler:Later, [[TroubledButCute Yura]] says that she should be using ''atashi'' since she's a girl... then claims he was joking.]]
* Referenced to in ''Manga/WanderingSon''. The two UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} protagonists, the female-to-male Yoshino Takasuki and the male-to-female Shuichi Nitori, had a conversation about this. Nitori still uses "boku", despite being very feminine and even when dressed as a girl, and Takasuki uses the gender neutral but socially feminine (or formal) "watashi". They both decide the pronouns fit them, so they'll keep on using them.
* Discussed in ''Manga/LoveMeForWhoIAm'', when Mei, a transgender girl who's still struggling to come out of the closet, switches from 'boku' to 'watashi'.
* Invoked in ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Haya first meets Matsuri while pretending to be a [[GenderBender gender-bent]] version of [[PretendingToBeOnesOwnRelative her own brother]]. Once she has the information she came for, Haya ''deliberately'' breaks her cover by ending her sentence with "-tte kanji" (a feminine mannerism particularly associated with {{Gyaru Girl}}s). The English translation renders this as a {{Valley Girl}}ish use of LikeIsLikeAComma.

Note this is not so much a problem with female characters disguising themselves as boys, as it is not grammatically incorrect for a male to refer to himself as "watashi", though amongst his peers he would be considered unmasculine or excessively polite for doing so. Although if she tended to use "atashi" all the time, her cover is very likely to be blown.

* Natsuru Senou of ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'' falls into this trope so many times it's a wonder Kaede Sakura, the only girl who does ''not'' know his (identically-named, at that) female persona and him are one and the same, didn't catch on. [[spoiler: She does catch on eventually.]]

* In ''Manga/GirlGotGame'', SweetPollyOliver Kyo accidentally uses "atashi" once early on, but immediately corrects herself and uses "boku" consistently from then on. [[spoiler:Later, [[TroubledButCute Yura]] says that she should be using "atashi" since she's a girl . . . then claims he was joking.]]

* Real world, non-Japan-related example: in ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', they had a consultant for the Sioux language used in the film. Unfortunately, she was female, and apparently they didn't bother to specify which speakers were male. Sioux men talk very differently from women — apparently the movie comes off to people who speak Sioux as if it'd had Viking berserkers talking like Creator/MontyPython housewives.

* The first known instance of this trope is in a ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' short story of the 1930's. Lord Peter watches a sexy French girl berating a man. In French, naturally. He's smart enough to figure out that [[spoiler: she is really a man in drag who turns out to be a notorious jewel thief.]] The story is titled "The Article in Question", although the reader does not realize until the end of the story just how accurate a title it is.

* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'', one possible tenant for your town is a guard who stutters when he says "ore". He's not only a woman, as it turns out, [[spoiler: but the princess of Highland in disguise]].

* Kuranosuke from ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' is a habitual crossdresser who generally has no problem passing as female. Still, very often he slips into using 'Ore', much to to the horror of Tsukimi who is terrified lest her anti-male otaku friends find out his true gender. She usually covers by shouting "Ole!" and trying to make it seem as if he were talking about flamenco instead.

* Kuranosuke from ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' is an interesting case. Unlike most fictional crossdressers he does not do it out of necessity but because he enjoys it. His knowledge of female clothing is extraordinary, his fashion sense is spot on and he often struts his stuff in public. Still, very often he slips into using 'Ore', much to to the horror of Tsukimi who is terrified lest her anti-male otaku friends find out his true gender. She usually covers by shouting "Ole!" and trying to make it seem as if he were talking about flamenco instead.

* In ''Anime/YourName'', when Mitsuha [[FreakyFridayFlip is inhabiting Taki's body]] for the first time, she accidentally uses the first-person pronoun "watashi" while with Taki's classmate. While not strictly a female-only pronoun, in this context (male high school students) it would come off as effeminate. She then tries to correct herself by switching to [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns "watakushi", "boku", and finally "ore"]], much to his friends' confusion. The English dub instead has a bizarre exchange where she calls herself a girl, then a "gal", then finally a guy, and follows this up with [[{{Woolseyism}} "guys just wanna have fun"]].

* Referenced to in ''Manga/WanderingSon''. The two {{Transgender}} protagonists, the female-to-male Yoshino Takasuki and the male-to-female Shuichi Nitori, had a conversation about this. Nitori still uses "boku", despite being very feminine and even when dressed as a girl, and Takasuki uses the gender neutral but socially feminine (or formal) "watashi". They both decide the pronouns fit them, so they'll keep on using them.