There are a lot of reasons you might want to learn a new language. For travel, for work, to be able to read new books, or just to be able to communicate with more people — all of these are excellent reasons to pick up a dictionary or open Duolingo.
Another good reason? To understand these hidden jokes and easter eggs in movies (and TV) that were not in English.
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1. The Thing
At the beginning of the 1982 horror classic The Thing , a Norwegian helicopter pilot frantically speaks to our main characters while running after a sled dog. If the main characters spoke Norwegian, they’d realize he was telling them the dog was actually “some sort of thing imitating a dog” and to be careful. That would’ve saved them a lot of time!
2. King Kong
There’s a hidden joke in King Kong for anyone who knows Morse code! When the ship receives a message in Morse code ordering the arrest of Carl Denham, the message that ACTUALLY beeps through is a Jerry Maguire reference : “Show me the monkey.”
3. Game Of Thrones
In the third episode of the fourth season of Game Of Thrones , a character who’s challenging Daenerys’ champion yells out some insults in Low Valyrian, which translated to “Your mother is a hamster,” and other references to Monty Python And The Holy Grail .
4. The Da Vinci Code
In The Da Vinci Code , a character we’re meant to believe is the antagonist is Bishop Aringarosa, but for any viewers who spoke Italian, they knew that likely wasn’t the case. Aringa rossa, in Italian, means “red herring,” which is a term for something used to distract or mislead.
5. Heathers
In Heathers , Veronica is told by J.D. that they’ll be firing blank bullets at some jocks just to give them a little scare, calling them “ich luge” bullets. Unfortunately for Veronica, the ammo is live, but for anyone who speaks German , they would’ve already picked up on that — the name J.D. gives the bullets is German for “I’m lying.”
6. Saving Private Ryan
While Saving Private Ryan is definitely a tear-jerker no matter how many languages you speak, there’s one extra heartbreaking moment for any viewers who know Czech. In a scene where two soldiers are surrendering while being shot at, one is saying in Czech, “Please don’t shoot me, I am not German, I am Czech, I didn’t kill anyone.”
7. Jurassic Park
In Jurassic Park: The Lost World , when a dinosaur is set loose on the city, a man can be heard yelling in Japanese, “I left Japan to get away from this!” which is a reference to the famous monster movie Godzilla .
8. Iron Man
In Iron Man , Tony Stark is shocked to learn that his business partner is corrupt and working with the bad guys who captured him at the start of the movie. Any audience members who spoke Urdu, however, were not shocked, as the bad guys reveal this information while speaking to each other at the start of the film.
9. Iron Man 2
Even in the sequel, knowing another language may have helped out! Whiplash states the drones that he created will “make salute,” which confuses the man he’s talking to. However, in Russian, “salyut” means “fireworks,” which is exactly what ends up happening.
10. Homeland
In a scene in Homeland , some Egyptian street artists were asked to add some graffiti to a scene to make it look more authentic. Viewers who could read Arabic could see that the artists snuck in their own feelings on the show, seeing messages reading ” Homeland is a joke and we’re not laughing ,” among others.
11. Mulan
The fake name Mulan gives when she signs up for war is Fa Ping, which translates to “flower vase,” a term that has roughly the same meaning as “eye candy.” We know that’s how Mulan sees herself (and is treated) at the start of the movie, so it’s a clever little Easter egg!
12. Anchorman
Anchorman is full of laughs, but there’s a hidden one if you happen to speak Spanish! This restaurant in the movie is called Escupimos En Su Alimento, which translates to the less than savory “We spit in your food.” I guess there’s something to be said for truth in advertising!
13. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
While Frollo is singing that it’s not his fault, the chorus in Latin is telling a different story! They’re chanting “mea culpa” which means, “my most grievous fault.”
13. Adventure Time
Adventure Time may be a show for kids, but they found a way to work some adult jokes in — just make them in Korean! Lady Rainicorn speaks Korean to an oblivious Finn, who doesn’t realize she’s often making saucy comments and dirty jokes like, “Jake and I merge our bodies into one all the time.”
14. Matrix Reloaded
In Matrix: Reloaded , Merovingian states that he loves the French language, especially when it comes to cursing. I’ll leave it to you to put what he says into Google Translate, but people who spoke French would’ve been quite shocked by the colorful language that he drops as an example in this scene!
