History Main / IncidentalMultilingualWordplay

* ''{{Spaceballs}}'' has a classic scene, where the soldiers are told to ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtkK3eijBso&feature=related comb the desert]]''. Happily for the Portuguese translation, there's a very close expression meaning the same thing: ''to use a fine comb''.

** Not too surprising, as German and English work in much the same way.

** In Swedish, "bröst" means both ''breast'' and ''chest''.

* In the original French ''{{Asterix}}'', Obelix's dog is named Idéfix (a pun on ''idée fixé'', or fixed idea). "Dogmatix" is a more-or-less accurate translation ''and'' a pun on "dog".

* ''{{Rambo}}'' sounds almost exactly like ''rambō'', the Japanese word for ''violence'' - rather fitting, considering the subject of the movies.

** One scene has Al kidnapped by Greed and his henchman, and he tells them that his brother isn't with him, causing [[AntiVillain them]] to feel sad and give their condolences, thinking that he means his brother is dead (when he only means that Ed literally isn't there at the time). Thus, the idea of "no longer with you" as a euphemism for "dead" works in both Japanese and English.

There are no linguistic similarities. There's just luck.

* ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' translates directly to 'when the cicadas cry', "cry" having the double-meaning of "weep" and "make a sound" in both languages. The title was [[{{Woolseyism}} translated into English]] as 'When They Cry' at the request of the original author, somewhat weakening the double-meaning.
** The problem, though, is that the original title has another double meaning: "Higurashi no naku koro ni" is spelt entirely in hiragana characters so as to evoke the reading "When there is no everyday life."
*** Japanese doesn't work that way.
** Actually, the series is called "WhenTheyCry" in Japan, and the English name "When They Cry ~ Higurashi" is often used for merchandise and sound novels.

* In the ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' movie, the French-speaking Dredger appears after a long absence, is shot at, avoids the gunshot, and asks "Tu m'as manqué?" This is translated in subtitles as "Did you miss me?"-- which has the exact same double meaning as the French phrase.
** Not quite. "Did you miss me", in the non-literal sense, would be "Je t'ai manqué?" ("Was I missed by you?" or simply "Did you miss me?")

* Sebastian's catchphrase in ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}'' is a pun on ''akumade'', meaning "to the end," and ''akuma'', meaning "demon." The English translation used in the FanSub, "one hell of a butler," just happens to convey both meanings as well.

** As long as we're talking about the English name "Guy" and not the French variant, which is pronounced like "gwee".

**Not quite. "Did you miss me", in the non-literal sense, would be "Je t'ai manqué?" ("Have I missed you?")

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}

* The hero of the game ''GitarooMan'' is called U-1, pronounced 'Yuichi', which is a common Japanese boys' name. When it was dubbed into English, he became U-1 pronounced 'Ewan', which sounds more normal to Western ears. Or sounding like "You Won", which is a nice encouragement to the player.

* The Japanese have the same connotations for the word ''yume'' ("dream") as in English - it has the same double-meaning as both 'the hallucinations you have when you're asleep' and 'something you want to happen'. Virtually anything that deals primarily with sleepy-dreams will end up making the jump to hope-dreams at some point (''SonicShuffle'' comes to mind) and vice versa (''[[YesPrecure5 Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'', with Cure Dream's name being a double-meaning based both on her being Pretty Cure of Hope and her being the leader of the fight against the Nightmare Group), and ''Yume Tsukai'' treated them as one and the same.
** The opening theme to ''KareKano'' takes advantage of most Japanese people knowing the English equivalent "You may dream".
*** Also easily {{Mondegreen}}ed into "Yume dream."
* In Japanese poetry, it's common to use the pine tree (''matsu'') as a symbol of longing, because ''matsu'' also means "to wait". It's easy to remember, because English has an almost identical double-meaning for the word "pine".

** Actually, the series is called "WhenTheyCry" in Japan, and the english name "When They Cry ~ Higurashi" is often used for merchadise and sound novels.
* "Sumimasen" (Japanese) and "excuse me" (English) are each usable in many different senses and contexts...very, ''very'' nearly ''all'' of them identical, the exception being when "sumimasen" can mean "thank you", although some creative translation allows one to realize that something like "I don't mean to be any trouble" has connotations of thanks.
* Similarly, ''chotto matte'' is conveniently similar to "just a minute", right down to the lip movements.
* There's also ''mune'', a Japanese word meaning "chest." However, you'll soon realize "breast" is the best translation; just like the English word, ''mune'' can mean "breast" as in "chest," "heart," ''and'' "boobs."
** The same goes for the French word ''poitrine''.
** Can also work in German with "Brust".

* In Japan, legend tells that the sakura blossom is pink because it has been stained by the blood of a warrior. This might remind you of the Greek legend of Pyramus and Thisbe, the lovers whose blood stained the mulberry tree forever. In Iran, red tulips are said to indicate that a martyr has died on that spot.
** [[ThePoppy Poppies]] have similar symbolism in Europe, partly because of their colour and partly because they were among the few plants that could grow on the devastated battlefields of the [[WorldWarI First]] and [[WorldWarII Second]] World Wars.
* The [[JapanesePronouns Japanese Pronoun]] 'wareware' means 'we', but can also be used as an excessively formal way of saying 'I'. This is similar to the English-language 'Royal We'. (See The King Of All Cosmos from ''KatamariDamacy'' for a well-[[{{Woolseyism}} Woolseyed]] version.)
**If an alien in ''{{Ultraman}}'' says this, you know he wants to rule the world.

* The PinkySwear is surprisingly widespread.
** As is [[FlippingTheBird a certain other hand gesture]]...

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: works in Western nations and also sinoxenic (i.e. China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.). M.D.s are ''the'' doctors but so are other highly educated people.

*Basil ''TheGreatMouseDetective'', a Sherlock Holmes {{Expy}}, is called "Basil Holmuis" (hole-mouse) in Dutch. Yes, it's an actual word.
* In the original French ''{{Asterix}}'', Obelix's dog is named Idéfix (a pun on ''idée fixé'', or fixed idea). "Dogmatix" is a more-or-less accurate translation ''and'' a pun on "dog".
**In a non-English example, the Italian translation of Obelix's CatchPhrase, "These Romans are crazy!", is "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani!", which is also a pun on SPQR, the Roman initialism.
* In the Welsh myth cycle ''{{Mabinogion}}'', one rhyme relies on the fact that "blawd" can mean either as "flour" or "to blossom". Luckily, the pun works just as well in English, since "flour" and "flower" are homophones.
* The Japanese "Gai" is pronounced exactly the same as the common western name "Guy"
** As long as we're talking about the English name "Guy" and not the French variant, which is pronounced like "gwee".
** This one works particularly well in ''DarkerThanBlack'' with CluelessDetective Gai Kurusawa, as his (fake) name calls to mind the parody hard-boiled detective "Guy Noir" of ''APrairieHomeCompanion ''
* The word "aishiteru" and the phrase "I love you" have the same amount of syllables and consistent mouthflaps if the 'shi' sound isn't stressed.
** Not to mention they both start with the "I/Ai" sound and end with the "ooh" sound.
* ''{{Rambo}}'' sounds almost exactly like ''rambō'', the Japanese word for ''violence'' - rather fitting, considering the subject of the movies.
* At the end of ''MetalGearSolid 2'', the computerised Rose tells Raiden to trust her, with kanji which read 'lies'. This translated nicely into English, with the way 'beLIEve me' is spelt.

** Another Greed one. Ed calls the second Greed "Greedling" because he possesses the body of a guy named Ling. However, ling as a suffix in English means little (e.g. fingerling potatoes), which works quite well in two respects. It makes sense that the second version would sort of be "little Greed", and it's completely in character for [[TheNapoleon Ed]] to call someone else little, which makes the nickname funnier in English.
* In the Dutch ''SpongebobSquarepants'' dub, "Bikini Bottom" is translated as "Bikinibroek". "Broek" happens to mean both "pants" and "brook", and is a very common suffix for a small town close to water.

* The name of [[MarioBros Mario's]] EvilTwin, "Wario," is originally a {{portmanteau}} of the Japanese word "warui" (bad) and Mario. Thanks to the negative connotations of the word "war" in the English language, and the fact that "W" can be read as an upside-down "M", Mario fans the world over are treated to a wordplay that translates exceptionally well.
** Luigi's rival, "Waluigi", still works but a little less well. In Japan, it's an even better pun on "warui" than "Wario" is. Anywhere else, it hinges on the fact that there's already an established EvilTwin whose name starts with "Wa".
** Polish language has "wariować" which means "to go insane" and "wariat" for a crazy person. It's like the lottery grand prize of lucky translations.

* A French poem in ''HouseOfLeaves'' gains a completely different rhyme scheme when translated into English. (One is ABAB and the other is AABB.)

* A RealLife example: the Russian RPG series of weapons. In Russian, the Latin alphabet transliteration of the weapons' designation comes out as ''Ruchnoy Protivotankovyy Granatomyot'': "Handheld Anti-Tank Grenade Launcher". This provides a perfect acronym match-up with the English designation of this weapon type: Rocket-Propelled Grenade.
* The Japanese word for "betrayal" is ''uragiri'' (literally, "a cut in the back"), making "backstab" the perfect equivalent.
* The Japanese word ''fuuin'' (封印) means "seal," and, as in English, can refer to both wax letter stamps[=/=]PersonalSeals and to locks or bindings, etc. (e.g. SealedEvilInACan).

* "R. I. P." on tombstones doesn't actually stand for "Rest in peace", but for the Latin "Requiesca(n)t in pace", which means (almost) the same thing. (To be precise, it expresses the hope that "may he / she / it / (they) rest in peace". [[TheUndead One wonders why this particular phrasing was deemed necessary]].)
* In Flemish, the word for "to saw" can also be used as slang for "to whine". So in AtlantisTheLostEmpire "Less talk! More sawing!" became "Niet zagen! Zagen!" (Don't whine! Saw!")
* {{Spaceballs}} has a classic scene, where the soldiers are told to ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtkK3eijBso&feature=related comb the desert]]''. Happily for the Portuguese translation, there's a very close expression meaning the same thing: ''to use a fine comb''.
** Dito in German - "durchkämmen"
* Long before DonRosa, the [[ScroogeMcDuckUniverse Beagle Boys]] have been known as die Panzerknacker (the Safe Crackers) by German Duck-readers. A RunningGag in the Don Rosa story [[TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck The Master of the Mississippi]] involves the ancestors of the modern Beagle Boys searching a name for their newly founded gang, until eventually Scrooge spontaneously names them. In the original English version, the name makes sense because they are the boys of river pirate Blackheart Beagle. In the German translation, the name makes sense because Scrooge has just witnessed the Beagles cracking open a safe.

* At one point in the [[LadyLand Amazon Lily]] arc of ''OnePiece'', Luffy is being stared at completely naked by a group of amazons who don't know anything about men. When one of them asks what's in the 'bag' attached between his legs, Luffy replies with 'kintama', which is a Japanese slang term for testicles that also means 'balls of gold', so of course the amazons think he's saying that he has actual balls of gold between his legs. The English translation uses 'family jewels', which fits the joke perfectly.
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---> ''In Flanders fields the poppies blow''\\
''Between the crosses, row on row,''\\
''That mark our place; and in the sky''\\
''The larks, still bravely singing, fly''\\
''Scarce heard amid the guns below.''\\
-John [=McCrae=]
** Of course, this poem is Canadian, and it adorns the Canadian 10$ bill. In Canada, poppies are a potent symbol of the military, and in November, just before Remembrance Day (Canada's day to honour deceased soldiers), pinning fake poppies to your lapel is a common practices. Some politicians wear the poppies all-year long.