Censorship by Language
Similar to Censorship by Spelling, this kind of trope has often been used by one character to another whenever a third party is in the room except in a language the third party doesn’t know. This is often done by parents if their child doesn’t understand a foreign language, though young children tend to learn a different language as they grow. This is often also Played for Laughs but there are some Truth in Television. Sign Language is sometimes used in the effect someone doesn’t understand it, unless of course someone either deaf or happens to be a translator notices this. Subtrope of Foreign Cuss Word.
Not to be confused with Newspeak, which makes use of Language Equals Thought to mold people's thoughts.
Examples of Censorship by Language include:
Advertising
- This Geico Advert has a couple attempting to take a picture of Maxwell Pig by trying to speak in Pig Latin, which Maxwell quickly understood since he’s a pig.
Live-Action TV
- Robin Williams, the Trope Namer for Getting Crap Past the Radar, specifically cited this method as one that he used to extremes on Mork and Mindy.
- On an early first-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the writers gets "crap" past the censors by having Captain Picard swear in French, on the bridge.
Video Games
- In Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale, the fairy Tear gets away with saying "Merde", which is the French equivalent to "damn" (although it literally means "shit"). According to the developers they found out it doesn't raise the game rating.
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