--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If your computer speaks English, it was…" description: "\"If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.\" — Alan Perlis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png" --- # If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in… ![“If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.” quote by Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png) > “If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.” [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote humorously suggests that English-language computers are likely Japanese-made, highlighting unexpected cultural origins in technology. **In simple terms:** English computers often come from Japan. Key Takeaway Question assumptions about tech origins. Themes technology culture humor Mood playful ironic Type anecdotal observational When to use this quote - software development - product design - consumer expectations Key Concepts globalization language manufacturing Questions to Reflect On - What does language reveal about a product’s origin? - How do stereotypes affect tech perception? A Different Perspective It may oversimplify complex supply chains. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Computer Speaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer-speaks-5723259/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [English Probably](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-probably-5631713/) [Japan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/japan/) [Japanese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/japanese/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Probably Japan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probably-japan-5723258/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Speaks English](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speaks-english-414911/) ## Related quotes > [I grew up listening to people speaking broken English. I probably picked that up. And I probably speak English almost as a second language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-walken/i-grew-up-listening-to-people-speaking-broken-english-i-probably/) [Christopher Walken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-walken/) > [Oh that's very English, that's probably why. They just go 'LOL' in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-osbourne/oh-that-s-very-english-that-s-probably-why-they-just-go-lol-in-america/) [Kelly Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-osbourne/) > [We live in America,' he said. 'Everyone who speaks English understands you. How they interpret you is something else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/we-live-in-america-he-said-everyone-who-speaks-english-understands/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“HOSTESS. Oh, nonsense! She speaks English perfectly. NEPOMMUCK. Too perfectly. Can you shew me any English woman who speaks English as it should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/hostess-oh-nonsense-she-speaks-english-perfectly-nepommuck-too/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [French: why does this language even exist? Everyone there speaks english anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-cabot/french-why-does-this-language-even-exist-everyone-there-speaks/) [Meg Cabot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-cabot/) > [I find it really difficult when you make a movie where it is set in Russia and everyone speaks in English. It drives me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-macdonald/i-find-it-really-difficult-when-you-make-a-movie-where-it-is-set-in/) [Kevin Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-macdonald/) > [“What are you writing?” I asked. “And she speaks English,” he said while scrawling”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/what-are-you-writing-i-asked-and-she-speaks-english-he-said-while/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [I hate when I see someone who speaks English speaking to someone who speaks a different language, and they're screaming as if going louder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karamo-brown/i-hate-when-i-see-someone-who-speaks-english-speaking-to-someone-who/) [Karamo Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karamo-brown/) > [Me neither,” Shane put in. “Homie don’t play that.” “I wonder, sometimes, if your generation speaks English at all,” Amelie said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/me-neither-shane-put-in-homie-don-t-play-that-i-wonder-sometimes-if/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [Because it's unacceptable that the aid worker's chauffeur only speaks his own tribal language, an applicant is needed who also speaks English fluently -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shikwati/because-it-s-unacceptable-that-the-aid-worker-s-chauffeur-only-speaks/) [James Shikwati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shikwati/) > [My mind speaks English, my heart speaks Russian, and my ear prefers French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/my-mind-speaks-english-my-heart-speaks-russian-and-my-ear-prefers/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [My mom speaks English - she moved to England in the '70s, so she's fluent in English. We use to speak in Spanish when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-weeks/my-mom-speaks-english-she-moved-to-england-in-the-70s-so-she-s-fluent/) [Ed Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-weeks/) > [It is always a taut moment in a foreign country waiting to see if your English-speaking guide speaks English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peg-bracken/it-is-always-a-taut-moment-in-a-foreign-country-waiting-to-see-if/) [Peg Bracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peg-bracken/) > [He speaks English, Spanish, and he's bilingual too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-king/he-speaks-english-spanish-and-he-s-bilingual-too/) [Don King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-king/) > [“abuelita speaks no english. she doesn't need to, zoe thinks. her smile fills and communicates so much more than the empty, half-said words of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-e-pearson/abuelita-speaks-no-english-she-doesn-t-need-to-zoe-thinks-her-smile/) [Mary E. Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-e-pearson/) ## More by Alan Perlis > [You can measure a programmer's perspective by noting his attitude on the continuing vitality of FORTRAN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/you-can-measure-a-programmer-s-perspective-by-noting-his-attitude-on/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [In English every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/in-english-every-word-can-be-verbed-would-that-it-were-so-in-our/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [LISP programmers know the value of everything and the cost of nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/lisp-programmers-know-the-value-of-everything-and-the-cost-of-nothing/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/i-think-that-it-s-extraordinarily-important-that-we-in-computer/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/simplicity-does-not-precede-complexity-but-follows-it/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Optimization hinders evolution. Everything should be built top-down, except the first time. Simplicity does not precede complexity, but follows it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/optimization-hinders-evolution-everything-should-be-built-top-down/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [The computing field is always in need of new cliches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/the-computing-field-is-always-in-need-of-new-cliches/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/fools-ignore-complexity-pragmatists-suffer-it-some-can-avoid-it/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [A programming language is low level when its programs require attention to the irrelevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/a-programming-language-is-low-level-when-its-programs-require/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/syntactic-sugar-causes-cancer-of-the-semicolon/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [When a professor insists computer science is X but not Y, have compassion for his graduate students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/when-a-professor-insists-computer-science-is-x-but-not-y-have/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/a-year-spent-in-artificial-intelligence-is-enough-to-make-one-believe/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [In software systems it is often the early bird that makes the worm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/in-software-systems-it-is-often-the-early-bird-that-makes-the-worm/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [In man-machine symbiosis, it is man who must adjust: The machines can't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/in-man-machine-symbiosis-it-is-man-who-must-adjust-the-machines-can-t/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) > [Every program has two purposes: The one for which it was written and another for which it wasn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/every-program-has-two-purposes-the-one-for-which-it-was-written-and/) [Alan Perlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) [Explore all 57 Alan Perlis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/) ## More Computer quotes > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warwick-davis/if-you-stood-me-in-a-costume-next-to-a-computer-graphic-of-the-same/) [Warwick Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warwick-davis/) > [The display is the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hsun-huang/the-display-is-the-computer/) [Jen-Hsun Huang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hsun-huang/) > [It's interesting that the greatest minds of computer science, the founding fathers, like Alan Turing and Claude Shannon and Norbert Wiener, they all looked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/it-s-interesting-that-the-greatest-minds-of-computer-science-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [One of our big goals in search is to make search that really understands exactly what you want, understands everything in the world. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-page/one-of-our-big-goals-in-search-is-to-make-search-that-really/) [Larry Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-page/) > [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/) [Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/) > [I'm from the South, so I'm very old-fashioned and I'm not very computer savvy at all, but I'm getting it. I understand that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-harmon/i-m-from-the-south-so-i-m-very-old-fashioned-and-i-m-not-very/) [Angie Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-harmon/) > [“To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/to-all-the-secret-writers-late-night-painters-would-be-singers-lapsed/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [A little bit more than 50% of what you see on screen is handcrafted and the other 50% was about emulating these textures on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-abreu/a-little-bit-more-than-50-of-what-you-see-on-screen-is-handcrafted/) [Alex Abreu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-abreu/) > [Well I'm trying to think what I put in... I think I put in 'why?' to see if I'd confuse the computer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/well-i-m-trying-to-think-what-i-put-in-i-think-i-put-in-why-to-see-if/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [Our brains are great at knowing what to forget. We actually have to teach computers to do the same.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/our-brains-are-great-at-knowing-what-to-forget-we-actually-have-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer in any language will reach the same standard as an office secretary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugata-mitra/in-nine-months-a-group-of-children-left-alone-with-a-computer-in-any/) [Sugata Mitra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugata-mitra/) > [Why do you do what you do? Why do you dress the way you dress?Why do you do what you do with your time?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-conway/why-do-you-do-what-you-do-why-do-you-dress-the-way-you-dress-why-do/) [Tim Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-conway/) > [Yeah, I'm a geek. I read sci-fi and I watch sci-fi films. I love my computer and I love to fix it. I'm a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-benson/yeah-i-m-a-geek-i-read-sci-fi-and-i-watch-sci-fi-films-i-love-my/) [Amber Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-benson/) [Browse all 3,924 Computer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Perlis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-probably-made-in-japan/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Computer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-probably-made-in-japan/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2c/alan-perlis-11812_computer_if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-p_3162564.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If your computer speaks English, it was probably made in Japan.” — Alan Perlis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Perlis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-perlis/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If your computer speaks English, it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-probably-made-in-japan/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-perlis/if-your-computer-speaks-english-it-was-probably-made-in-japan/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```