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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier

 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
type
FeatureClass
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
label
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
page
TeasingFromBehindTheLanguageBarrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
comment
Suppose Alice knows a language (either real or invented) Bob does not. Therefore if she is in a playful mood (and/or has feelings for Bob), she may deliberately speak it to him (or in front of him), knowing that it will puzzle him. May sometimes be used for comic effect: for instance, Alice may imply that she's saying something offensive about Bob while in reality, it would be exactly the opposite (like "I love you").
Unlike Hiding Behind the Language Barrier, when the aim is to transmit information from person A to person B without person C eavesdropping, in this case, the whole purpose is to make person C intrigued and/or frustrated (person B may not be present at all). And while the former trope may be invoked in very serious circumstances (like communicating in front of an enemy), this one is usually applied for good-natured teasing between friends or family members. It is also quite often employed in romantic relationships, especially by the female side. Because it is a common assumption that "every woman should be a mystery for her man", and there's just something about a beautiful girl saying cryptic things in an exotic language you will probably never understand.
Subtrope of Cryptic Conversation and Language Barrier. May provoke a Tactful Translation. Compare Delighting in Riddles, when a character speaks in understandable language, but in a very cryptic way, for exactly the same purpose. Also compare Loves Secrecy, when a character withholds information for the sake of puzzling others. If the subject actually knows the language the teaser is speaking, this becomes Bilingual Backfire. Also compare Insulting from Behind the Language Barrier, for when this is done maliciously.
In Real Life, code languages, like Pig Latin, often served this purpose — both on elders and children's part.
Another notable example is shorthand: many wives and mothers employed it to write their Christmas lists so that it wouldn't be necessary to hide them from husband and children, and some of them deliberately left them in plain sight to make everyone wonder.

Examples
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
fetched
2024-04-13T12:15:24Z
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
parsed
2024-04-13T12:15:24Z
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingComment
Dropped link to BigBadWannabe: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingComment
Dropped link to TaiPan: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingComment
Dropped link to TemptingFate: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingComment
Dropped link to TheNewMikeHammer: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingComment
Dropped link to WarhammerFantasy: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingUnknown
TaiPan
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingUnknown
TheNewMikeHammer
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingUnknown
WarhammerFantasy
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_16e5e618
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_16e5e618
comment
GLOW (2017): When Ruth tags along with the Russian motel keeper to a family occasion to learn more about Russian culture, the motel owner has a discussion in Russian with a relative in which the relative insults Ruth with her being none the wiser.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_16e5e618
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_16e5e618
featureConfidence
1.0
 GLOW (2017)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_16e5e618
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_180976d7
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_180976d7
comment
Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America. Calyxa is from Montreal and has a habit of Insulting from Behind the Language Barrier, like commenting on her husband Adam Hazzard's naivete. At the end of the novel he's still rusty on the language despite living for several years in France, but assumes it's another jibe when she says in French how his innocence and kindness is what keeps her going.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_180976d7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_180976d7
featureConfidence
1.0
 Julian Comstock
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_180976d7
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_28724fb2
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_28724fb2
comment
Subverted in Titanic (1997) . Jack's best friend Fabrizio calls him "pazzo"note crazy for betting all their money, but Jack understands this word.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_28724fb2
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_28724fb2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Titanic (1997)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_28724fb2
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_2a1de40c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_2a1de40c
comment
Two Twili attempt to mock Zelda and Link behind Impa's back in Their Bond, but it backfires when she asks them to repeat it in Hylian. She is not happy when she learns what they said.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_2a1de40c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_2a1de40c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Their Bond (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_2a1de40c
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_347facfb
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_347facfb
comment
Scarface (1983): Zigzagged. At the climax, Tony switches between insulting the assassins (who only understand Spanish) in Spanish and English.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_347facfb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_347facfb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Scarface (1983)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_347facfb
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4422d42
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4422d42
comment
In an issue of Inside the Actors Studio dedicated to Natalie Portman, she said a line in Hebrew (at 31:06) and then, when asked of its meaning, playfully answered: "It's for me to know and you to find out". Since then, people on the Internet have been asking about it.note "Next month, I'm going to Israel to study at university". Besides, she mentioned in an interview that she likes using Hebrew as a secret language.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4422d42
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4422d42
featureConfidence
1.0
 Inside the Actors Studio
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4422d42
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_468bebb0
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_468bebb0
comment
In the Discworld book Jingo, a Klatchian general takes great delight in viciously insulting the arrogant and bigoted Lord Rust in his native tongue, with Rust none the wiser due to his equally incompetent interpreter.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_468bebb0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_468bebb0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Discworld
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_468bebb0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4b790c7a
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4b790c7a
comment
Iron Man 2
An example more on the "deliberately annoying" side is where Tony Stark is getting annoyed at new secretary Natalie Rushkoff, whose resume states that she knows Latin.
Ivan Vanko uses Russian several times purely just to mess with Justin Hammer who he is not even remotely taking seriously. Once to wind him up after listening to a huge speech (so Hammer will feel he wasted his time talking to someone who can't speak English), once as a double meaning when he says the Hammer Drones won't do what Hammer wants but will "make salute"note "salyut" (Ñ�алют) means "firework", and once when he just begins talking to Hammer's threats in Russian to completely blow him off.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4b790c7a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4b790c7a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Iron Man 2
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_4b790c7a
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7041cf12
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7041cf12
comment
Kaguya does this in the extended version of chapter 20 in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, where she admits something to Shirogane. Since it's shown from Shirogane's point of view, the dialogue is rendered as random shapes for the audience. He never finds out what it means, even when he tries to look it up in a French-to-Japanese dictionary.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7041cf12
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7041cf12
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (Manga)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7041cf12
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_70814599
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_70814599
comment
In the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Scourge", Daniel and the Chinese IOA member tease Mitchell in Mandarin. Unfortunately for them, Mitchell speaks Mandarin.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_70814599
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_70814599
featureConfidence
1.0
 Stargate SG-1
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_70814599
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7ad0ade
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7ad0ade
comment
In George of the Jungle, the three African guides frequently insult and mock Lyle in Swahili, knowing he can't understand a word they're saying. At first it's believed they can't speak English but later on, it's revealed they are all fluent and were hiding it just to annoy him. (It also reveals that some of their earlier insults, which seemed to coincidentally respond to something Lyle said, were in fact deliberate.)
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7ad0ade
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7ad0ade
featureConfidence
1.0
 George of the Jungle
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_7ad0ade
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_81202666
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_81202666
comment
A very creepy and malicious example in Chainsaw Man: Pingtsi laughs and replies to some Public Safety agents in Chinese, causing one of them to complain she should speak the local language when she's in Japan. Though her comment is untranslated, Pingtsi told them "A corpse is talking." because she knows their heads were about to fall apart from Quanxi's attack.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_81202666
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_81202666
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1.0
 Chainsaw Man (Manga)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_81202666
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_8ab0ec8a
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_8ab0ec8a
comment
Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire invokes this at one point: she asks Mitch whether he speaks French, and when he gives a negative answer, she says: "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah, quel dommage!" ("Would you like to sleep with me this evening? You don’t understand? What a tragedy!")
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_8ab0ec8a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_8ab0ec8a
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1.0
 A Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_8ab0ec8a
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_958ca8aa
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_958ca8aa
comment
In the 1998 movie Great Expectations, after Pip's Love Interest Estella spends a night with him, she tells him in French "Je vais aller en France demain" ("I have to go to France tomorrow"), assuming he wouldn't understand. He doesn't and is really surprised the next day when he finds out that she left him.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_958ca8aa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_958ca8aa
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1.0
 GreatExpectations
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_958ca8aa
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_97ce8899
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_97ce8899
comment
Neon Genesis Evangelion R: During one of Asuka's rants, Shinji asks why she's so angry with him, and she replies "Because... ich liebe dich, you jerk!" ("I love you" in German). A while later Shinji tells her that he looked up what the phrase means and therefore has known for a while how she feels about him.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_97ce8899
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_97ce8899
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1.0
 Neon Genesis Evangelion R / Fan Fic
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_97ce8899
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_99709ae6
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_99709ae6
comment
Motherland: Fort Salem: In "Cession In Session" Prof. Grafton insults Col. Jarrett in Mothertongue (who's just banned Grafton's class per orders of the anti-witch government), to his students' amusement. Jarrett looks like he suspects he's been made a fool of but can only stew quietly.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_99709ae6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_99709ae6
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1.0
 Motherland: Fort Salem
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_99709ae6
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a0df646e
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a0df646e
comment
In a seiyuu live stream event for Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, we have bilingual Shuu Uchida and tetralingual Akina Houmoto delivering long closing statements in fluent English and Mandarin respectively with absolutely zero translation, leaving Moeka Koizumi, who happened to be seated between the two polyglots and speak no language other than Japanese, visibly confused.
In what can only be called Tempting Fate, the production team of Love Live!, with very few of its off-screen team members speaking Mandarin, decided to put together similar live streams featuring their two Mandarin-speaking cast members Akina Houmoto and Liyuu intended for their Chinese fans. Cue the off-screen staff members being mercilessly teased by the two.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a0df646e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a0df646e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a0df646e
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a65d7aad
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a65d7aad
comment
Snippets of Sirin Shariac's life: In one chapter Bronya and Hua start talking in their respective native languages, Russian and Chinese, to tease Kiana about her inability to understand them after she started cursing in German.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a65d7aad
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a65d7aad
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1.0
 Snippets of Sirin Shariac's life (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_a65d7aad
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_b36eacfb
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_b36eacfb
comment
Once: when the Guy asks the Girl whether she loves him or her husband, she answers in Czech: "Miluju tebe" ("It is you I love"), and archly refuses to translate it.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_b36eacfb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_b36eacfb
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1.0
 Once
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_b36eacfb
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_d05749ec
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_d05749ec
comment
Control: In high school, Yukari would tease others in foreign languages, usually English. Most of the people only knew Japanese.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_d05749ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_d05749ec
featureConfidence
1.0
 Control (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_d05749ec
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_ddf46a82
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_ddf46a82
comment
Home Alone: Before they head to France without him, Linnie tells Kevin he's what the French call "les incompetents". She was probably just brushing up on basic French before their trip to Paris, as everyone else has been teasing and mocking Kevin in English, but it does confuse Kevin.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_ddf46a82
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_ddf46a82
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1.0
 Home Alone
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_ddf46a82
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e021f606
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e021f606
comment
Burning Bridges, Building Confidence: Lila claims to be an Omniglot fluent in practically all languages. Aurore and Cole make fun of this by mocking her in English, Spanish, and German, well aware that she can't actually understand any of what they're saying.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e021f606
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e021f606
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1.0
 Burning Bridges, Building Confidence / Fan Fic
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e021f606
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e5c0eb3a
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e5c0eb3a
comment
Psalm of the Lark: After a guy tries to flirt with Harley using the line "Mi casa es su casa", Harley disses him in Spanish by calling him stupid. Luckily, he can't actually speak Spanish.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e5c0eb3a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e5c0eb3a
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1.0
 Psalm of the Lark (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_e5c0eb3a
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_f74b5f80
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_f74b5f80
comment
In an episode of Babylon 5, Marcus Cole told Susan Ivanova "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever met" in Minbari, saying that it was a Minbari greeting. In a later episode, it's revealed that Ivanova has an eidetic memory, and in that time she's actually learned a bit more Minbari, enough to know what it really means.
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_f74b5f80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_f74b5f80
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1.0
 Babylon 5
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_f74b5f80
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_fc2d494
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_fc2d494
comment
A Not Always Working story has a person use Arabic to screw with a telemarketer:
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_fc2d494
featureApplicability
1.0
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_fc2d494
featureConfidence
1.0
 Not Always Working (Website)
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Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier / int_fc2d494

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingCategory2
Dialogue
 Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
processingCategory2
Language Tropes
 Resurrected Memories (Fanfic) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Star Wars A New Dawn (Fanfic) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 The Angel of The Owl House (Fanfic) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Once / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Asian Saga / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Great Expectations / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (Manga) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 NMB48 (Music) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 CDT Adventure (Roleplay) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Trustfell 3 Trust Fall With A Vengeance (Roleplay) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Inside the Actors Studio / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 A Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier
 Life Is Strange 2 (Video Game) / int_360bbf6c
type
Teasing from Behind the Language Barrier