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Q&A Can non-English-speaking characters use wordplay specific to English?

One of the fun parts of learning a language is learning vocabulary, puns, turns of phrase, etc that just don't translate to your mother tongue. Any English learner (any learner of any language) is...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:45Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45481
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T12:00:08Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/45481
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T12:00:08Z (almost 5 years ago)
One of the fun parts of learning a language is learning vocabulary, puns, turns of phrase, etc that just don't translate to your mother tongue.

Any English learner (any learner of any language) is going to listen for those special things and use them as soon as the opportunity comes up (as long as s/he feels comfortable enough to try).

Part of the fun for a native speaker who is friends with a non-native speaker is listening for the times when the latter gets these phrases just a little bit wrong. There's even an American cartoonist married to a German woman who delights in periodic strips gently poking fun at her errors (presumably with her approval).

When we learn other languages, we dutifully memorize vocabulary and grammar. But we don't really _know_ the language until we can say things you just can't say in any other language (and until we have dreams in the new language, but that's for another question).

Your near-fluent characters will not only use the words and phrases you ask about, but likely go out of their way to learn about them and to work to master them. How they do this will vary by each speaker's personality, the natives they speak with, and context. But it will happen.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-05-27T20:17:25Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 0