English language
English is a West Germanic language which developed in what is now England in the 5th century AD. Over the next 2500 years, English grew into a world language and by the 31st century it had become the lingua franca of Earth and most of the known Universe. In Futurama, it is spoken by an unknown, but likely immense, number of humans, aliens, and robots.
In the real world, American English is the language in which Futurama is originally written. As such, nearly every line of dialogue is in English and many of the jokes usually reflect an American perspective on the world.
Additional info
Trivia
- Aliens that speak English is a common trope in science fiction, with well known examples being Star Trek and Stargate: SG-1. See here for more examples.
- Further, the alien languages that do exist in Futurama are simply ciphers of the English language, replacing the Latin alphabet with different symbols.
- English is a borrowing language, evidenced by the number of words invented by the writers.
Quotes
- Because the show is originally written in English, only quotes that specifically reference the English language should be included.
Bender: Hey! That galaxy's signaling in binary! I gotta signal back! But I only know enough binary to ask where the bathroom is. [shouting] You speak English?
Galactic Entity: I do now.
Cubert Farnsworth: And why do we need a bending robot around here anyway? What possible use do we have for you?
Bender: Uh...me no speaka the English.
Bender: [from outside] Come out and groom my mangy fur!
Fry: [turning on his lamp] Huh? Bigfoot? You taught yourself English?