History Main / LanguageFluencyDenial

* ''Film/{{Paulie}}'': Averted for the most part. Paulie the parrot, [[PollyWantsAMicrophone who is fluent in English]], generally ''doesn't'' hide this, yet humans generally just assume he doesn't understand English and is just trained to say the things he says. However, this is played straight when he acts like an ordinary parrot when presented by Dr. Reingold as revenge for not returning him to Marie.

A surprisingly common way to duck out of a possibly uncomfortable conversation is to claim you don't speak the language. It seldom ''works'', but it's often tried.

Common failure points include dropping the "I don't speak X" into the middle of a conversation when the other person already heard you speaking X just fine or making the claim in a language the other person is fluent in and that person obligingly switching to the other language. It's often PlayedForLaughs. A CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator may be called in to "help".

Another variant of this trope is that someone who doesn't actually ''claim'' not to speak the language will ensure you only ever hear them speaking their native tongue.

Ducking out of a conversation is just one reason to do this, though. A character may also do this in order to eavesdrop or even [[InsultingFromBehindTheLanguageBarrier insult someone]].

A subtrope of LanguageBarrier. Compare to HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier, when one person really ''doesn't'' speak the language and is deliberately cut out of the conversation as a result. Also compare ElectiveBrokenLanguage, when a person who perfectly knows the language nevertheless chooses to speak in a grammatically improper or idiosyncratic way. If a non-human character is pretending to be ''physically'' unable to speak ''any'' language, that's {{Masquerade}}. Also compare SubterfugeJudo, which in this case, is used for the person ducking out, claiming they don't speak the language. Contrast BilingualBackfire, where others think that somebody doesn't speak the language only to find out the hard way that they do, usually after insulting them behind their back in that language.

[[folder:Advertising]]
* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJS57MhrKss this]] Bud Light commercial, the man teaching English as a Second Language is only teaching his students how to order a Bud Light in different parts of the country. He also teaches them that when someone asks ''them'' for a Bud Light, they should say "No Speak English".
[[/folder]]

* Ling Yao, a Xingese prince visiting Amestris, uses this excuse in order to avoid paying for all the wreckage he's caused in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Ed doesn't buy it.
-->'''Ling:''' I so solly, I no speak much language of this country! Ok, bye-bye now!
* Vladimir from ''Manga/ShonenNoteBoySoprano'' can speak Japanese fluently, as [[ButNotTooForeign his grandmother was Japanese]], but pretends not to speak much for kicks.

* In ''Literature/TheCaseFilesOfJewelerRichard'''s Diamond case, Richard has no interest in talking to shopkeepers in the jewelry store Seigi drags him to and pretends not to speak a word of Japanese.

* In one of Creator/MargaretCho's early stand-up routines, she said this was a benefit of looking Asian, you could avoid talking to strangers by giving a shy giggle and saying "Oh, I don't know".
* Vietnamese-German stand-up comedian Thomas "Tutty" Tran, in one of his routines, describes attempting to get out of a traffic ticket by pretending not to speak German (despite being born and raised in West Berlin). The officer, however, had apparently seen this trick before and continued to demand his license and registration documents. When Tutty hands him his ID, the officer takes one look at the card and yells at him "Your name is '''''THOMAS!'''''"

* In "Return to Xanadu", an [[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Uncle Scrooge]] comic by Creator/DonRosa after the Ducks have accidentally flooded Xanadu:
-->'''Xanaduian man:''' Honorable Scrooge! Do YOU know anything about this?\\
'''Scrooge:''' So solly! No speakee lingo!
* In ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'', one Indian that ambushed a convoy is pretending to not understand English. Luke spots him when the [[SirSwearsALot stagecoach]] interrogates them and the Indian is blushing at the obscenities.
* ''ComicBook/NewMutants'': While the team was visiting Nova Roma, ComicBook/{{Sunspot}}, who can speak Latin fluently, hid the fact he understood Latin when dealing with Roman Guards.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'', a [[TheDrunkenSailor drunken sailor]] approaches "Emperor" Joshua Norton's chamberlain, Ah How, asking him (in a racist way) if he knows where the nearest OpiumDen is. Ah How bows and says, "Vellee sollee. Speekee no Engrish." As the sailor stumbles off cursing, the chamberlain resumes speaking with Norton in fluent English.
* In ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', the sleazy photographer Howard Fleck, looking for the title character who's recently returned to Earth, asks the Cajun swamp resident Gene [=LaBostrie=] for help locating him, promising him money. [=LaBostrie=], although bilingual, simply spreads out his hands, says "Eh?" and paddles away, out of respect for the Swamp Thing's privacy.

* ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'': When Rat becomes a pet psychic and uses it to his advantage by straight-up lying to the pets' owners about what they're thinking for his own gain, [[PollyWantsAMicrophone a parrot named Pepe winds up exposing his being a fraud]], implying that Pepe had been pretending to not be able to talk intelligently.
-->"Pepe can talk and Pepe says you're an unmitigated fraud."

* ''Fanfic/LoveWorthWaitingFor'': Mulan is only learning English, so she's still a bit shaky, but she sometimes pretends to be less fluent than she actually is.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/47987521/chapters/120993817#workskin Nico Nico Super Idol Show]]'' Shioriko mentions that after Lanzhu flub her loved confession to her[[note]]Saying "I am in lesbians with you"[[/note]] she pretended she couldn't speak Japanese and ran off.
* Marinette pretends not to understand English in ''Fanfic/TheSevenMisfortunesOfLadyFortune'' when a drunk businessman tries to hit on her during Gabriel's funeral.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Iago the Parrot [[PollyWantsAMicrophone can talk intelligently]] but pretends he can't around everyone but Jafar.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Barnyard}}'': Although the farmer does, at one point, see the animals doing human-like things, he never actually hears them talking. The closest the farmer gets to hearing an animal talk is when Otis goes "Woo hoo!", sees the farmer, and goes "Uh... moo?"
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby'': All babies can talk, but babble when adults are around. The Boss Baby is forced to drop the act around Tim when the latter overhears him talking on the phone, but the other babies don't even talk in front of Tim.
* ''WesternAnimation/JungledyretHugo'': Hugo [[TalkingAnimal can talk intelligently]], but rarely talks to humans and the one time he does talk to a human all he says is his name, almost inaudibly. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] as he doesn't hide his ability to understand what humans are saying.

* ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted'': When the zookeepers run towards [=DuBois=] to thank her for returning the animals, she looks confused and says "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

** When he's caught by Jack while trying to rob him, Puss tries to pretend he doesn't speak English.

** Puss also keeps his ability to talk a secret from Mama Luna but doesn't hide his other anthropomorphic qualities from her.

* Spoofed in ''Film/BonCopBadCop'', as with ''so very many'' language tropes. When Ontario Provincial detective Martin Ward reveals in front of a room full of ''Sureté du Québec'' detectives that he actually ''is'' fluent in French (and thus massively owning the Quebecois cops, who all think they've been HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier the entire time they've been mocking him in French), he plays this trope:

* In ''Film/TheFreshman1990'', Victor briefly pretends to speak only Spanish after Clark recognizes him as the guy who robbed him; he drops the act after a few moments.
* In ''Film/HangmenAlsoDie'', [[spoiler:Czaka]] pretends not to speak German in order to allay suspicions of collaborating with the Nazis. In fact, not speaking German had been his alibi once previously, when the Resistance was betrayed two years ago.

* ''Film/{{Lifeboat}}'': Willi, the U-boat captain stuck on a lifeboat with a bunch of Americans, pretends he doesn't speak English--until a storm comes and he starts barking orders in perfect English.

* In ''Film/{{Overboard|2018}}'', Bobby's nephew Jason likes to troll rich white clients by pretending to be a Mexican immigrant with no knowledge of English.

** In order to be hired at Le Lethe, Eve must pretend that she doesn't speak any German. (German-speaking waitresses aren't employed at Le Lethe for the reason that German customers must be allowed perfect privacy.) It would be suspicious if she spoke English, so she pretends she doesn't speak that either.
* ''Literature/{{Gate}}'': After an incident with a flame dragon caused a number of civilian casualties, Itami is called to testify before the Diet, along with Tuka, Lelei, and Rory Mercury. Lelei is well-versed in Japanese at this point, and actually functions as an interpreter. However, when a politician, looking to score political points and make the JSDF look bad, tries to make a case that the JSDF abandoned the civilians to save their own skin, Rory Mercury surprises everyone by revealing in the hearing that she actually speaks fluent Japanese by attacking the politician directly ("Anta baka?!" [[note]] "Are you stupid?![[/note]] in the original Japanese, "Are you a goddamned idiot!?" in the English dub). She then proceeds to demolish the politician's argument by accusing her of manipulating numbers. "A quarter of the people died? Three quarters were saved. Itami and his team did something that had never been done before. They neither hid nor ran away." The intensity of her testimony, plus the shock that she had learned Japanese in secret, had the needed impact and ended the hearing.
* In the mystery novel ''Literature/NineDragons'', Harry Bosch, who is trying to find his kidnapped daughter in Hong Kong, traces her to a cargo ship. He jumps on the cargo ship, grabs a Chinese {{Mook}}, and starts barking questions. When he gets no answer he says "Can you swim, asshole?", to which the Mook only replies "No speak." Bosch hesitates and the mook breaks out of the chokehold. When he comes back after Bosch with a knife he says "Can you swim, asshole?"
* In ''[[StupidCrooks Wanted: Dumb or Alive]]'', a woman pulled over in Idaho gave the officer a helpless smile and said in German that she didn't understand English. The officer in question banished that smile by responding politely "Heute ist ein glücklicher Tag für Sie."[[note]]"Today is a lucky day for you" in German[[/note]]
* In ''Literature/WolfHall'', the protagonist Thomas Cromwell has developed a fluency in a number of languages, which he often puts to use in his professional life. However, early in the novel, Cardinal Wolsey inquires about Cromwell's knowledge of Castilian Spanish for a mission involving Henry VIII's attempts to divorce Catherine of Aragon. While Cromwell actually is fluent in the language, he pretends to have only basic knowledge because he knows that the assignment would not bode well for his advancement.
* In ''Literature/ANightInTheLonesomeOctober'', suddenly understanding a lot less English than he used to is Rastov's response to being questioned about the missing man.
* This is done in ''[[Literature/TheElenium The Tamuli]]'' -- twice, by different characters, although for mostly the same reason: by invoking this to bring in a CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator they get more time to consider their responses (in the second case it also doubles as [[ObfuscatingStupidity obscuring to his court how intelligent and learned he really is]]). In the first case, the person being unnecessarily translated figures it out (she recognized that the other's face showed signs of reacting before the translation was actually said) but plays along until the other admits it, in the second it is pulled off flawlessly.
* In ''Confessions of a Taoist on Wall Street,'' Sun I justifies the presence of his silent partner Aaron Kahn at a one-on-one hostile takeover meeting by claiming Kahn is his interpreter. When the executive Sun's meeting with points out he seems perfectly fluent in English, Sun says, "Excuse please, could you repeat?"
* ''Literature/EllaEnchanted'': When Lucinda starts yelling at Ella during the wedding, Ella decides to pretend that she doesn't speak Kyrrian (which is actually her native language) -- not to prevent Lucinda from communicating with her (she actually hopes that Lucinda ''does'' speak Ayorthaian, as she needs to ask her for something), but just in hopes of calming her down by pretending she doesn't understand what Lucinda is yelling about, as well as suggesting that she couldn't have been eavesdropping on Lucinda's prior conversation. It works, and they're able to have a much more civil conversation in Ayorthaian.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': The Bulgarian Minister of Magic pretends to not speak English because [[ItAmusedMe he enjoyed seeing Fudge struggle to communicate through mime]]. He admits he understood English the whole time after the Bulgarians lose the Quidditch World Cup.
* Jonathan Harker falls victim to this trope in the early chapters of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' when he asks questions about local superstitions and the villagers' fear of the count. His account suggests that both the villagers and Dracula at least try to play it smart by pretending they don't understand his phrasing or choice of words rather than the language itself. The result remains the same.
* The German book ''Literature/{{Mordswiesn}}'' has half-Italian Bellina telling us that she enjoys being foreign because it means that whenever she's stopped by the police, she can pretend she doesn't speak German.
* ''Literature/BooksOfTheRaksura'': When the Raksura travel with a group they're suspicious of, they pretend not to understand the group's native Kedaic and only communicate in the Altanic CommonTongue, so they can listen in when the group tries HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier. [[spoiler:It gets them some very useful information from the people who do turn out to be enemies, but makes for an awkward confession to the ones who were honest all along.]]
* In ''Literature/ThePeshawarLancers'', Russian secret agent Count Ignatieff's cover identity is as an Afghan smuggler from a peasant background. When dealing with two arrogant high-caste Indians who are trying to overthrow the [[UsefulNotes/BritishEmpire Angerez Raj]], he pretends to only speak Pashtun so he can eavesdrop on them when they're speaking in their own language; even keeping a cheerful, slightly dim smile on his face while they're directly insulting him.
* ''Literature/TheUglyAmerican'': "Donald" and "Roger", two Chinese employees of the US Embassy in Sarkhan, feign illiteracy and not speaking English in order to be able to eavesdrop on the American employees and report what they hear to the Communists in China and Sarkhan.

* ''Series/AlloAllo'' The British airmen Carstairs and Fairfax know that Michelle speaks English, but everyone else in the Resistance pretends they don't speak English when talking to them.
* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', while Monica was working at Alessandro's, one of the chefs told her in Italian, "I don't speak English" when asked to do something. When Monica tells her that she knows she does, because she heard her speaking English just a minute ago, the chef replies, "[[NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse Well, I don't know what to tell you]]", and walks off.

* In ''Series/ILoveLucy'', after Lucy finds out something seemingly incriminating, Ricky says, "''No hablo Ingles!''" as he heads for the door.
-->'''Lucy:''' You ''hablo'' plenty of ''Ingles'', and you better start ''hablo-ing'' right now!

* Creator/MichaelPalin's post-Creator/MontyPython TV series ''Series/RippingYarns'' had an episode called "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite". Eric is possibly the most boring little tit in Yorkshire and has two interests: shovels and rainfall. He notes that his own father would pretend to be French so as not to have to speak to him.

* The Series/HallmarkHallOfFame MadeForTVMovie ''What the Deaf Man Heard'' is this trope made into an entire movie. The main character comes into town on a bus at 10 years old, his mother has been murdered, and he is alone and scared. He refuses to talk to anyone and the townspeople assume he is deaf. Deciding it is easier he spends the next 20 years living in the town and pretending to be deaf and mute.

* ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' has this exchange courtesy of Lisa and Screech (who it should be pointed out have known each other for ''years'').
-->'''Screech:''' Oh Lisa, Lisa, Lisa...\\
'''Lisa:''' Lisa no in casa!\\
'''Screech:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I love it when you speak German]].
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Oz}}'', Warden Glynn interrogates some Latino prisoners, who respond to every question with "Que?". Of course they all speak perfect English, Glynn knows that and they know that he knows, they're just mocking him and refusing to answer.
* In a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch, a video rental customer brushes off an annoyingly chatty clerk with, "I'm sorry, I'd really love to chat but unfortunately I only speak Spanish."
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Turk learns to speak Spanish to surprise Carla. When he realizes that Carla tells her sister over the phone what she wants from him, he decides to pretend he can't understand her so he can appear to intuitively know what she wants.
* In ''Series/KimsConvenience'', the Korean-Canadian Janet's subplot in the Season 2 episode "Sneak Attack" starts when her response to getting caught sneaking into a film festival is pretending she doesn't speak English fluently. This leads the security guard to think she's a North Korean dissident filmmaker named Janat. Unfortunately for Janet, this ruse comes back to haunt her when she keeps running into the security guard at the convenience store.
* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Woody from ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' is visiting Frasier in Seattle. He likes Seattle, but not spending time with Frasier, and pretends to have left. Frasier spots him in a bar; he hides in the bathroom, responding to Frasier's knocking with "No habla Ingles". When Frasier indignantly tells him "I don't understand this [behavior]," he replies through the door "It means I don't speak English."
* The title character of ''Series/{{House}}'' is fluent in many languages but never reveals it until after other speakers have said something useful or incriminating:
** One of his most memorable clinic patients is a girl allegedly translating her mother's request in Mandarin for birth control pills in a ploy to get them for herself. When she mixes up her mother's real medication and tries to pin it on House, House gets back at her by congratulating her mom in Mandarin on becoming a grandmother.
** This strategy reveals that a patient is lying about working at a fast food place because House hears the patient and his 12-year-old brother agree in Spanish that the brother will cover for him at work. House later grills the mom in Spanish about where his patient really works.
--->'''Cuddy:''' Why didn't you say you spoke Spanish?!\\
'''House:''' Because she'd want to talk to me.
* In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', Madame Gao hides her being {{Omniglot}} and passes herself as someone not able to speak English or indeed any language other than Mandarin.
* ''Series/Warrior2019'': The Chinese talk to each other in English, but [[HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier talk in subtitled Chinese whenever white people are around]] and pretend to not understand English. Ah Sahm drops the act after being arrested and talks to Sergeant Bill O'Hara in English.

* Wrestling/ShinsukeNakamura speaks fluent English (though he has a strong accent that can be hard to understand sometimes), even well enough to serve as translator for his fellow Japanese wrestlers. However, during a 2018 FaceHeelTurn in which he turned on the fans and rivals, he started refusing to do interviews to explain his actions, simply saying "No speak English" before walking out of the interview with a shit-eating grin. He also changed his theme song from a non-lyrical chant that's easy for people to sing along with, to a lyrically complex one composed entirely of Japanese, specifically to alienate English-speaking audiences.
* When Wrestling/AlexWright was repackaged as Berlyn, he spoke only in German with his dialogue being translated by an interpreter. Wrestling/MeanGeneOkerlund called him out on this a few times.
* Wrestling/{{Meng}} was another wrestler who often avoided speaking English in interviews, instead speaking Tongan. One particular interview has Okerlund insist that Meng speak English, only for him to speak other languages, such as Japanese and French, instead.

* In ''Theatre/TheForeigner'' a man pretends to be a foreigner who doesn't speak English in order to avoid having to deal with small talk at the lodge he's staying at. As a result, he overhears many conversations which wouldn't have taken place in front of him otherwise, including a plan to turn the place into a UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan headquarters.

* The start of level six of ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'' has this conversation after it's discovered Kang and Kodos are behind the whole plot:

* Early on in ''Webcomic/ParadigmShift'', a mid-ranking Triad gangster gets captured by the police after a shoot-out and pretends he doesn't speak English in order to buy time so his buddies can destroy some evidence. Unfortunately for him, one of the protagonists grew up in Hong Kong.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In [[https://notalwaysright.com/you-can-pedal-o-right-back-where-you-came-from-with-that-attitude/292051/ this]] ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' story, a British tourist in Ibiza, [[MistakenForServant mistaken for a pedalo vendor]] by another Brit, denies he speaks English, then tells the other tourist how unreasonable it is to expect everyone in a foreign country to speak your language. ''All in English'', because he doesn't actually speak Spanish. The other tourist never notices.
* Script/SeinfeldTheTwinTowers: When confronted by a distraught woman looking for her missing husband, Kramer acts like he doesn't speak English.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WebAnimation/{{Anon|Machinima}}'', Dani's attempts to avoid conflict with her husband by pretending to be unable to speak English and only speak Spanish are hilarious, mostly because Hunter's first language is Spanish and by Dani's own admission the only Spanish words she knows are "hola" and "El Pollo Loco".

* In ''WebVideo/{{Groom}}'', Delphine is trying to sneak a homeless guy into the hotel past the suspicious concierge Martin by pretending he is a DJ. She claims that he is Estonian to explain why he doesn't respond to Martin's questions, so Martin tries talking to him in Estonian. Then she claims he is deaf as well, so Martin tries UsefulNotes/SignLanguage. Subverted when Martin admits that he only knows French Sign Language and not Estonian Sign Language, so [[ImplausibleDeniability he lets them go]].
* ''WebAnimation/{{hololive}}'': Invoked on at least two occasions by Kureiji Ollie, who is an Indonesian but can speak fluent Japanese. On one occasion, she claimed to have been behind an impressive build in Minecraft, and when questioned by her Japanese senpai that chat stated she was lying suddenly apologetically admitted she doesn't understand Japanese.
** On another when she and Hakos Baelz (an Australian) were doing a collab with Roberu of Holostars, when he pointed out they were being hypocrites by encouraging him to take a meal break when they themselves hadn't eaten yet both Ollie and Baelz asked him to excuse them because "(we are) foreigners and don't understand Japanese" in stereotypically foreign accent. They then engage Roberu in an in-depth conversation about sushi... in Japanese.

* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': [[TalkingAnimal Courage can talk just fine]], but communicates with his owners Muriel and Eustace through babbles and charades. Downplayed since he doesn't his ability to understand what they're saying.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Jimmy's baby cousin Eddie can talk, but pretends he can't around adults until the end of "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGeniusS3E9 Clash of the Cousins]]".
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': The babies talk to each other and slightly older children in perfect English but communicate with grown-ups in baby babble.

** Discussed in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E15ILoveLisa I Love Lisa]]", when Homer suggests "I no speak English" as one of several ways for Lisa to let Ralph know she isn't interested in him romantically.
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E14ScenesFromTheClassStruggleInSpringfield Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield]]", Marge meets a now-wealthy old friend at the Kwik-E-Mart. When the woman tried to get Apu to pump her gas [[RichInDollarsPoorInSense despite it being a self-service station]], Apu pretended to not speak English [[ImplausibleDeniability even though she just heard him talking to Marge seconds earlier]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Heffer and Filburt pretend to be foreigners to avoid punishment for a spree of ding-dong ditching, which they let Rocko take the fall for. When they're on the news, Heffer declares "Me llamo Francois" while Filburt says that he doesn't speak English.
* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': When the gang is in Venice, Italy to protect a museum's collection of valuable masks from V.I.L.E., Zack goes undercover as a museum employee to run interference on A.C.M.E.'s own operation to protect the masks. He puts on an Italian accent and claims his English isn't good in an attempt to shorten a conversation with Agent Zari. Unfortunately for him, she happens to speak fluent Italian, forcing Player to run a translation and provide Zack with responses.

* Ted tries to pull this in ''Series/FatherTed'' after accidentally swearing at Bishop Brennan on the phone.
-->'''Ted:''' 'oo eez zis? Zere iz no 'Crilly' 'ere! ''[hangs up]''

* Season 2 of ''Series/KidsInTheHall'' features a sketch where a man is asking for directions from another man, who tells him in increasingly convoluted sentences (in English) that he can't help him since unfortunately he doesn't speak a word of English.

* Played with in a ''Series/BigTrain'' sketch where a driver whose car has broken down asks two locals whether they speak English. They reply, in perfect English, that they don't speak English, and start a conversation (in perfect English) about how they really should have paid more attention to their English lessons in school. When the driver tries to explain that her car broke down, they apologise (in perfect English) for not being able to understand a word of it. They eventually tell her there's a village five miles away where she might find someone who speaks English. As she walks off toward the village, the locals jokingly admit to each other that they ''do'' speak English.

Common failure points include dropping the "I don't speak X" into the middle of a conversation when you've been speaking X just fine or making the claim in a language the other person is fluent in and that person obligingly switching to the other language. It's often PlayedForLaughs. A CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator may be called in to "help".

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'':
** In [[https://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/05/03/episode-548-masters-of-disguise/ this comic,]] Black Mage and the idiotic pirate captain Bikke have this exchange.
--->'''Bikke:''' Yar, you thar.\\
'''Black Mage:''' ''[turning to look at Bikke]'' Er, uh. I'm sorry, stranger, but I don't speak English.\\
'''Bikke:''' If'n ye no be talkin' the English, then how is it ye to be talkin' to the Bikke.\\
'''Black Mage:''' Well, I'd explain, but as I said I don't speak English.\\
'''Bikke:''' Well played.
** The wood elf Thief also does it to the dark elf Drizz'l in the same page.
--->'''Drizz'l:''' ''[toward Thief who isn't looking his way]'' You there, whom I can't be bothered to ask to turn around.\\
'''Thief:''' That's good, as I'm too much of a hideous non-elf human to turn around.\\
'''Thief:''' Also, I don't speak English.\\
'''Drizz'l:''' ''[throws arms up in the air]'' Bah! You're not worth the effort of examining in further detail!

* In ''Series/{{Friends}}'', while Monica was working at Alessandro's, one of the chefs told her, "I don't speak English" when asked to do something. When Monica tells her that she knows she does, because she heard her speaking English just a minute ago, the chef replies, "[[NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse Well, I don't know what to tell you]]", and walks off.

* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Road to Rhode Island":
-->'''Brian:''' Hola! Um... me, me llamo es Brian. Ahh, uh, um... Let's see, uh, nosotros queremos ir con ustedes.\\
'''Migrant worker:''' Hey, that was pretty good. Except when you said, "Me llamo es Brian," you don't need the "es", just "me llamo Brian".\\
'''Brian:''' Oh! So you speak English!\\
'''Migrant worker:''' No, just that first speech and this one explaining it.\\
'''Brian:''' You... you're kidding, right?\\
'''Migrant worker:''' Que?

* Spoofed in ''Film/{{Sahara|2005}}'' when [[Literature/DirkPittAdventures Dirk Pitt]] and friends are waylaid by Malian troops. (Dirk's just buying time.)
-->'''Dirk:''' I'm sorry, I don't speak English.\\
'''Malian soldier:''' ''[laughs]'' You are speaking English now!\\
'''Dirk:''' No, I only know how to say, "I don't speak English" in English.

* In ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', Dexter is stalking a victim to prevent him from killing his friend, when he is approached by a couple scary-looking thugs speaking Spanish. Since this is Miami, everybody speaks a little Spanish, but at that particular moment, Dexter needed to get the heck out of where he was as fast as he could. So he said he didn't speak Spanish. This might have worked, except he was so flustered that he accidentally said it IN SPANISH. Nice one, Dex.

* In ''Film/SierraBurgessIsALoser'', Sierra pretends to be deaf in order to avoid talking to Jamey. It quickly backfires, as Jamey has a deaf brother and is fluent in ASL (while Sierra isn't).

* In ''Literature/CheaperByTheDozen'', the narrator notes that Chew Wong's[[note]]the cook employed by Mother's family[[/note]] English fluency abruptly deteriorated when someone tried to criticize him or order him around when he would launch into a ForeignLanguageTirade and stalk off.

A subtrope of LanguageBarrier. Compare to HidingBehindTheLanguageBarrier, when one person really ''doesn't'' speak the language and is deliberately cut out of the conversation as a result. Also compare ElectiveBrokenLanguage, when a person who perfectly knows the language nevertheless chooses to speak in a grammatically improper or idiosyncratic way. Also compare SubterfugeJudo, which in this case, is used for the person ducking out, claiming they don't speak the language. Contrast BilingualBackfire, where others think that somebody doesn't speak the language only to find out the hard way that they do, usually after insulting them behind their back in that language.

* ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted'': When the zookeepers run towards [=DuBois=], she looks confused and says "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBossBaby''l: All babies can talk, but babble when adults are around. The Boss Baby is forced to drop the act around Tim when the latter overhears him talking on the phone, but the other babies don't even talk in front of Tim.

->'''Ryunosuke:''' Oh! I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offence! I still can't express myself very well in English, you see. And I'm never sure what's acceptable to say and what isn't, so...\\
'''[=McGilded=]:''' Is that so? Because you sounded fluent enough when you were tellin' me what a blackguard I must be.
-->-- ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''

* ''Literature/MySisterTheSerialKiller'' takes place in modern day Nigeria. A police officer stops Korede while she is driving the car she and sister Ayoola used to dispose of the latter's most recent victim. While she is much more fluent in English than him, she tries talking in broken English in case he resents that she is educated. After a few hints from him, [[DirtyCop she discreetly offers a bribe and he accepts it]] and lets her go.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{Anon}}'', Dani's attempts to avoid conflict with her husband by pretending to be unable to speak English and only speak Spanish are hilarious, mostly because Hunter's first language is Spanish and by Dani's own admission the only Spanish words she knows are "hola" and "El Pollo Loco".

* The ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' OVA, ''Anime/WhatAmIForMomotaro'' have the gang trying to communicate with a Dutchman early on. Suneo, who took English tuition, tries speaking in English, but it predictably doesn't work until Doraemon gives the Dutchman a piece of Translation Jelly.