History Main / FangThpeak

Here's the technical explanation for why it happens: False teeth tend to cause sibilants (''s'' and soft ''c'', like the first ''c'' in "circus") to be mispronounced because the prosthetics forces a change in the position of the tongue. Interdentals (''th'') are made by the tongue going against the upper incisors - sibilants are more likely to be mispronounced as interdentals when the '''incisors''' are altered or missing, as with fake buck teeth or missing front teeth [[hottip:* :hence the stereotypical gap-toothed child's lisp.]] More common with prosthetic '''fangs''' are for the sibilants to become post-alveolar fricatives (''sh''), caused by the tongue being forced back by the wider and longer ''canines''. For example, listen to anything The Master says in ''[[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' season one. When he comments, "Nice dress", he pronounces it "Nishe dresh", not "Nithe dreth".

Here's the technical explanation for why it happens: False teeth tend to cause sibilants (''s'' and soft ''c'', like the first ''c'' in "circus") to be mispronounced because the prosthetics forces a change in the position of the tongue. Interdentals (''th'') are made by the tongue going against the upper incisors - sibilants are more likely to be mispronounced as interdentals when the '''incisors''' are altered or missing, as with fake buck teeth or missing front teeth [[hottip:* :hence the stereotypical gap-toothed child's lisp.]] More common with prosthetic '''fangs''' are for the sibilants to become post-alveolar fricatives (''sh''), caused by the tongue being forced back by the wider and longer ''canines''. For example, listen to anything The Master says in [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] season one. When he comments, "Nice dress", he pronounces it "Nishe dresh", not "Nithe dreth."

* Mr. Scarface in ''{{Batman}}'' comics had this problem, pronouncing all 'B's as 'G's. This was because he was actually a ventriloquist dummy who was the split personality of Arnold Wesker (appropriately titled the Ventriloquist), and Batman has used it to figure out his identity a few times when Scarface was trying to pretend he was somebody not made of wood. This speech impediment was not carried over to Scarface's appearances in BatmanTheAnimatedSeries or TheBatman, since it was deemed too awkward.
* Many kids in the ''{{Asterix}}'' comics speak like this, including kid-ified versions of most of the main cast during the Flashback story '' How Obelix Fell Into The Magic Potion''.

* It's not vampires that suffer from this in {{Discworld}}; rather, it's their servants, the Igors (and Igorinas), though they can turn it off to be understood better. This varies from Igor to Igor. The hip young Igor who works for the City Watch has it intermittently (his relatives call it a thpeech impediment), while another Igor was able to shut it off for a complex explanation. Given the nature of Igorhood this could have something to do with what dental surgery a particular Igor has dabbled in.

* Betsy Taylor in MaryJanice Davidson's "Undead and Unwed" thpeakth like thith.

* ''{{Buffy}}'' and ''{{Angel}}''. In the DVD commentary for the first season of BuffyTheVampireSlayer, Josh Whedon explains that the prosthetic fangs the actors wear make particular sounds [[SpeechImpediment difficult to pronounce properly]]. The makeup artists and the actors learned a few tricks to get around this; custom prosthetics for major characters eased this problem. Whedon even invoked this trope in the first season ''Buffy'' DVD commentary by apologizing to one of his guest-stars for making him use the phrase 'excruciating loser' in full vamp-face.
* Many of the Klingons and Ferengi on ''StarTrek'''s various series. Particularly noticable when recurring actors had to wear the makeup--such as in the episodes of ''DeepSpaceNine'' where Odo, Sisko, and O'Brien go undercover as Klingons. O'Brien even points it out. And Michael Dorn (Who played Worf, a Klingon, for at least 13 years) found their plight rather amusing.

* Vir Cotto from ''{{Babylon 5}}'' originally sported large canine teeth like all other Centauri, but they quickly disappeared because it made the actor talk like this.

* Camille, Shannon's fragile little sister from [[Webcomics/BloodyUrban]] has crooked, front facing fangs which result in a speech impediment.

* Many of the Klingons and Ferengi on {{StarTrek}}'s various series. Particularly noticable when recurring actors had to wear the makeup--such as in the episodes of ''DeepSpaceNine'' where Odo, Sisko, and O'Brien go undercover as Klingons. O'Brien even points it out. And Michael Dorn (Who played Worf, a Klingon, for at least 13 years) found their plight rather amusing.

* Vir Cotto from Babylon5 originally sported large canine teeth like all other Centauri, but they quickly disappeared because it made the actor talk like this.

!!Exampleth:

[[folder:Comic Bookth]]

* Krurgor in [[{{Ptitlefg1xd6iu}} Ythaq]] belongs to a race that can basically be described as bipedal walrusses, including speech-hindering fangs.

* The [[BeautyAndTheBeast Beast]] in ''{{Fables}}'', whenever his curse is only partially in effect - he's got fangs but not a big enough mouth to fit them in, so they get in the way.

[[folder:Live Action Televithion]]

* [[TheMuppetMovie It's a myth! A MYTH!]]
** [[RunningGag Yeth?]]

[[folder:Newthpaper Comicth]]
* Mooch the cat in ''{{Mutts}}''. He has a speech impediment that causes him to insert an sh into words when he "shpeaks", such as yesh (yes), shmilk (milk), and shmousie (mousie).

[[folder: Webcomicth]]

[[folder:Truth in Televithion]]
* Any ventriloquist dummies that are actually voiced by competent ventriloquists.

* Krurgor in [[{{Ptitlefg1xd6iu}} Ythaq]] belongs to a race that can basically be described as bipedal walrusses, including speach-hindering fangs.

* It's not vampires that suffer from this in {{Discworld}}; rather, it's their servants, the Igors (and Igorinas), though they can turn it off to be understood better.

* [[http://www.infanity.org/mooch/ Mooch]] the cat in ''{{Mutts}}''. He has a speech impediment that causes him to insert an sh into words when he "shpeaks", such as yesh (yes), shmilk (milk), and shmousie (mousie).

* All of the {{Troll}}s in ''{{Homestuck}}'' have fangs, but Sollux is the only one that has been stated to have a lisp.

FangThpeak can be declared to be in effect in two waysh:

Other consistent mispronunciations include ventriloquists substituting ''g'' [=or=] ''v'' [=for=] ''b'' [=and=] ''f'' [=for=] ''p'' -- it's nearly impossible to pronounce a ''b'' [=or=] ''p'' sound without noticeable movement of the lips.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Comic Books]]

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]

[[folder:Truth in Television]]

* In ''{{Empowered}}'', the villain King Tyrant Lizard (a human turned intelligent dinosaur) and the hero Homunculoid talk like this.

* Legendary Notre Dame Fighting Irish homer Lou Holtsh.

* In ''{{Empowered}}'', the villain King Tyrant Lizard (a human turned itnelligent dinosaur) and the hero Homunculoid talk like this.

Here's the technical explanation for why it happens: False teeth tend to cause sibilants (''s'' and soft ''c'', like the first ''c'' in "circus") to be mispronounced because the prosthetics forces a change in the position of the tongue. Interdentals (''th'') are made by the tongue going against the upper incisors - sibilants are more likely to be mispronounced as interdentals when the '''incisors''' are altered or missing, as with fake buck teeth or missing incisors [[hottip:* :hence the stereotypical gap-toothed child's lisp.]] More common with prosthetic '''fangs''' are for the sibilants to become post-alveolar fricatives (''sh''), caused by the tongue being forced back by the wider and longer ''canines''. For example, listen to anything The Master says in [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] season one. When he comments, "Nice dress", he pronounces it "Nishe dresh", not "Nithe dreth."

# When the writers make no effort to avoid shibilantsh, charactersh who have fangsh will alwaysh shpeak thish way, or,

* Comics: [[http://www.infanity.org/mooch/ Mooch]] the cat in Mutts. He has a speech impediment that causes him to insert an sh into words when he "shpeaks", such as yesh (yes), shmilk (milk), and shmousie (mousie).

* Shelly Marsh, from SouthPark, speaks like this because of her braces and retainer.

* Beth from TotalDramaIsland had this is season one, because she had braces.

Other consistent mispronunciations include ventriloquists substituting ''g'' [=or=] 'v'' [=for=] ''b'' [=and=] ''f'' [=for=] ''p'' -- it's nearly impossible to pronounce a ''b'' [=or=] ''p'' sound without noticeable movement of the lips.