# Pseudo-foreign accents & languages in movies & TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126 "2007-03-23T03:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/41 "2007-03-23T17:04:45Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] At the other end of the scale, there’s Hugh Laurie, whose American accent (on the show HOUSE) is impeccable. [/QUOTE] I thought his accent was very peccable, at least in the beginning. He seems to get better as he goes along. My wife didn’t know who he was and she was surprised he was British. I heard his accent leaking through. The ones who did an impeccable job were the mostly British cast of _Band of Brothers_, particularly Damien Lewis. The only accent I found odd was the actor who played Albert Blythe. I attributed it to some artistic choice at the time, now I know it was a Brit doing a bad American accent. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/42 "2007-03-23T17:10:54Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Was it? I may be confusing this with another movie, but I speak German, and remember hearing authentic German dialog on that movie. [/QUOTE] I was going to post the same thing. I don’t recall that much German from my high school classes, but what I do remember seems to match up with the movie pretty reliably. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/43 "2007-03-23T17:18:07Z")
Damn, didn’t get in the edit window fast enough. I don’t care if Mira Furlen’s accent doesn’t match with Rousseau’s supposed nationality. I could listen to her monologue for an entire episode and not be bored. 🆒 What a great accent. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/44 "2007-03-23T17:20:35Z")
[QUOTE=The Dumbest Guy in the Room] Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! … Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput. (if you translate those words that make sense you get: “When is the nowpiece ‘git’ and ‘Slotermeyer’? Yes!.. 'Beier’dog the or the 'Flipper’forest ‘gersput’.” Ha Ha Ha…Urgh [/QUOTE] Two peanuts were walking down the Strasse. And one was assaulted…peanut. ---
**Author:** ![anamnesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@anamnesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anamnesis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/45 "2007-03-23T18:32:32Z")
MI6 villains. Eddie Izzard as Sean Connery as James Bond in the ejector-seat Aston Martin DB5: “You uh, couldn’t sit in the front seat, could you?” “No Meesta Bawnd ah weel seet en the beck! Ah hef eh gun on you and ah am a Smores Agent, and you won’t go enawhere!” “What country are you _from_, by the way?” “Don’t you take the piss out uv me! Ah am a Smores Agent, and ah have a voice synthesizer in mah throat. Ah can do any accent you can teenk uv. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the instructions and eet eez stuck on Shop Demonstration Mode.” “You’re a fucking nutter, you are!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/46 "2007-03-23T19:47:57Z")
Another vote for Kevin Costner in _Robin Hood: Prince of Hollywood_. About as English as sushi latkes. And Carrie Fisher’s Alderaanian accent was all wrong, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/47 "2007-03-23T20:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Max Bialystok’s “Yiddish” in _The Producers_. [/QUOTE] Personally, I thought Zero Mostel’s accent was flawless in the film. [Quote=Elendil’s Heir] And Carrie Fisher’s Alderaanian accent was all wrong, damnit [/Quote] When she had on the bronze bra and the silk loincloth, I didn’t notice anything wrong with her accent. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/48 "2007-03-23T20:24:13Z")
[QUOTE=DesertDog] That would be [Beata Pozniak](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0694796/) playing President Susanna Luchenko in exactly one episode, [_Rising Star_](http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/087.html). Where do I get my geek certificate? The dude was [Gary McGurk](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570331/) playing (Vice) President Clark in four episodes. [/QUOTE] And she’s Polish, so the accent is fairly close. Eastern European in any case. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/49 "2007-03-23T21:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=BayleDomon] I was going to post the same thing. I don’t recall that much German from my high school classes, but what I do remember seems to match up with the movie pretty reliably. [/QUOTE] I was remembering posts from sites such as the [Nitpicker’s](http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/nitpick.cgi?np=4849), which state that the German in the movie is rather well mangled (at least in the scene in question). Having studied Spanish in school myself I personally can’t say… ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/50 "2007-03-23T22:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] I was remembering posts from sites such as the [Nitpicker’s](http://www.nitpickers.com/movies/nitpick.cgi?np=4849), which state that the German in the movie is rather well mangled (at least in the scene in question). Having studied Spanish in school myself I personally can’t say… [/QUOTE] I’d take anything I read on the Nitpickers site with a grain of salt; some of those folks don’t know what they’re talking about. I’ve forgotten a lot of my high school and college German, but I did recognize “Schiess den Fenster” (shoot the glass; correct as far as I can tell) and “Macht schnell!” (hurry up). It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but there’s probably other stuff as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/51 "2007-03-23T22:55:19Z")
It’s entirely possible the shorter, easier-to-look-up phrases are correct, taken from a German\<-\>English dictionary, and the longer stuff is taken from the same source and thus badly mangled. I wouldn’t be surprised, really. It’s **Die Hard** – accuracy was not a strong priority. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/52 "2007-03-24T02:59:07Z")
Can someone explain to me how a starship captain named Jean-Luc Picard, who grew up in a French vineyard, not only speaks English as if he spent 27 years in the Royal Shakespeare company, but, when he went back to Earth to visit his brother and sister-in-law, who still lived at the French vineyard, they also spoke with bloody English accents? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/53 "2007-03-24T03:06:59Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Can someone explain to me how a starship captain named Jean-Luc Picard, who grew up in a French vineyard, not only speaks English as if he spent 27 years in the Royal Shakespeare company, but, when he went back to Earth to visit his brother and sister-in-law, who still lived at the French vineyard, they also spoke with bloody English accents? [/QUOTE] Universal translator. And something about a deflector dish, or maybe a warp coil. That solves everything else in Star Trek, why not this, too? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/54 "2007-03-24T10:18:57Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Universal translator. [/QUOTE] In fact, Picard doesn’t speak a word of English. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/55 "2007-03-24T12:17:37Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Universal translator. And something about a deflector dish, or maybe a warp coil. That solves everything else in Star Trek, why not this, too? [/QUOTE] Don’t forget trition particles and worm holes. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/56 "2007-03-24T14:09:23Z")
[QUOTE=TV time] When she had on the bronze bra and the silk loincloth, I didn’t notice anything wrong with her accent. [/QUOTE] She spoke in that scene? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/57 "2007-03-24T14:16:22Z")
Tommy Lee Jones’ Irish accent in “Blown Away” (1994). I win! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/58 "2007-03-24T14:21:51Z")
No, wait, I know! Lillian Gish’s Southern accent in “The Birth of a Nation” (1915). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126/59 "2007-03-24T15:29:21Z")
The people behind **The Thirteenth Warrior** obviously did try; they had all the “norsemen” in the early scenes (before the main charachter picks up Norse) speaking modern norwegian, a close enough replacement for old norse. However, the actors are speaking such a glaring mismatch of dialects that it sound hilarious to native ears; the little boy’s olso-dialect stands out in particular. Since they also threw in a few lines of gibberish to top it all off, those early scenes are worth watching for unintended comedy alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pseudo-foreign-accents-languages-in-movies-tv/397126.md?page=2)