Analyzing EVERY Yoda scene, I found something WEIRD...

[@wreckwrack3197]

Meanwhile in a very serious situation he blurts out "AROUND THE SURVIVORS A PERIMITER CREATE"

[@Anonymous-ks1pn]

Yoda follows no rules. Not even his own

[@kevlarchicken]

lol I love that line so much

[@jsinghgjsinghg5322]

Maybe he reverts to it in stressful situations.

[@paulhanck1123]

maybe the backwards speaking is his natural way of speaking and in calm situations he can make himself speak the normal way

[@Anonymous-ks1pn]

@@paulhanck1123 probably

[@Danahmhaidar]

This is an incredible amount of Nerdiness and im living for it

[@iAmRayyyy_]

Very true

[@jagu1886]

I went to like this comment but but then I realized it had 69 likes so I instantly clicked off the like in fear.

[@Danahmhaidar]

@@jagu1886 you can like now honestly respect 🫡 (from a fello football fan aswell)😂

[@owenroberts8653]

Incredible amount of nerdiness this is, living for it you are

[@judsongaiden9878]

PASSIONATE and ANALYTICAL at 100% MAXIMUM POWER!

[@Ephraim32]

Personally I think Yoda just enjoyed messing with people. Either by acting old and frail, or by talking inconsistently.

[@landonletterman831]

Why not both?

[@TheDeathmail]

Also, he's been speaking to normal talkers for 800+ years... But in the OT, it's been 20 years since he spoke to people.... so he fell back on his more natural speak....

[@thatguywhosayshi6084]

I'm pretty sure Frank Oz said that Yoda's backwards talking was how the ancient Jedi spoke, and he is keeping the dialect alive.

[@Danimal325]

When weak act strong. When strong act weak.

[@mattd6931]

Well, look at how he acted to Luke when he first met him in the swamp. I think Yoda has always had a sense of humour.

[@jacobemming407]

Further proof he only speaks backwards when he wants his words to stand out to the listener. Sometimes he needs to speak clearly and practically and is very much capable. His greatest wisdom usually needs some level of disyphering though so that it'll really stay in one's mind. I'm gonna go ahead and add that I do think his manner of speaking is rooted in his native language. I don't think he just pulled it from the air or anything. I also don't believe he's oblivious to it. He definitely knows what he's doing. That's my take on it.

[@jarekkish5515]

How does that explain "around the survivors, a perimeter create?"

[@jacobemming407]

@@jarekkish5515 i mean it's not 100%.

[@milesprower2271]

@@jarekkish5515 I think he does it more often and in harder to understand ways when he's under stress. "Your faith in the dark side, misplaced, may be." He could do it unintentionally as a habit while still doing it on purpose occasionally.

[@unclebozo9845]

*decyphering

[@Flaxxxen]

@@unclebozo9845 *deciphering

[@terakhanthis]

Not all of Yoda's original trilogy lines were the alternate syntax, either. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” “Judge me by my size, do you?” “That is why you fail.” “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” “A Jedi’s strength flows from the Force.” “I can’t teach him. The boy has no patience.” “Luminous beings are we…not this crude matter.”

[@willandrews8577]

And "There is another"

[@deve8_exe]

Wouldent "judge me by my size do you?" be alternate syntax as the proper way to say it would be "do you judge me by my size?"

[@JeremyHalterman]

@@deve8_exe Out of context it could fall into either category, but since the question was rhetorical I understand it as normal syntax. "Crazy weather, isn't it?" "Think you're tough stuff, do you?"

[@deve8_exe]

@@JeremyHalterman alright fair enough

[@mateuszjokiel2813]

"Size matters not" is also not some form of inversion ("backwards-speaking") but a more archaic way to say "Size doesn't matter". An inverted sentence would go like: "Matter, size does not." It's like those Shakespeare characters saying stuff like "I say not unto thee" etc. (not an actual quote from Shakespeare).

[@ChickenSando]

I never even noticed Yoda is speaking backwards before I saw it on KZbin. I watched the movies in Hungarian first and in Hungarian the word order is the same as Yoda speak. Unlike in most languages, in Hungarian the word order always changes according to the emphasized part, so there's no strict order like in English. I always thought Yoda is using this technique, like he only change the word order when the emphasis is on a different part of the sentence.

[@Scrubermensch]

Hungarian Yoda is, Attend many Ektomorf shows he did. Your voice raise and your fist show

[@ChickenSando]

@That clone trooper in the back on the high ground There were aliens (nelvaanians) in the 2003 Clone Wars show who spoke actually in Hungarian. Obi-Wan could translate their speech.

[@srdjanstevanovic4245]

Please just watch movies with original audio, it's always more pleasurable that way😁 Most anime sound extremely awkward with English- spoken, American actor dubs, a completely different vibe when you just let Japanese actors kick it and just use subtitles

[@ChickenSando]

@@srdjanstevanovic4245 I never said I watch anime with English dub. I agree, japanese is better. 😀 But I think sometimes the Hungarian sub can be really good too. Do not confuse animation and live action though, the two are completely different. In the case of anime the original version is made the same way. Also the difference between English and Hungarian is not that big as with Japanese. Star wars is enjoyable well in Hungarian too. Although... recently they changed the voice actors in Bad batch so I rather watch that in English.

[@countrycoffeecup7772]

Yoda’s last words were chronological. “There is another Skywalker,” as opposed to “Another Skywalker, there is.”

[@countrycoffeecup7772]

Forgot to include this part in the comment, but this could possibly be proof that Yoda’s faking his “Yoda Talk.” Something to think about.

[@milesfernando]

@@countrycoffeecup7772 I think that was George Lucas's original intent. When Yoda was testing Luke, he was speaking backwards. When Obi-Wan arrives and they speak, Yoda starts speaking normally, and it lasts that way until the end of the scene. I think he was just talking backwards to make Luke underestimate his intelligence, but it became so iconic that it just became part of Yoda.

[@rainynight02]

He didn't say "there is another Skywalker." Obi-Wan thought the hope was lost, and Yoda said "There is another." Idk why you're putting the name in.

[@countrycoffeecup7772]

@@rainynight02 Different movie, those aren’t even Yoda’s last words. In Return of the Jedi, he says to Luke “There is another Skywalker.” And then he dies.

[@Zreen001]

@@countrycoffeecup7772 as a kid I first thought he died after saying sky. "There is another sky". Which a few years later I figured out it was skywalker. Still, when the battlstar galactica episode "there is another sky" aired I immediately thought of what I first heard yoda say

[@mstrikesback168]

From what I recall another SW fan said from over a decade ago, Yoda only said a few backward lines in Empire & Jedi, but those became the most memorable so pop culture and fans quoted those lines the most. Which lead to linking backwards speech to Yoda speech in the minds of everyone, including the prequel staff. Analyze Empire & Jedi next. I'd be interested to see what their % of backwards talk is. 1 example that pops to mind is Screech, from Saved by the Bell. The first 2 seasons, (including Good Morning Miss Bliss) Screech was fairly normal and spoke normal, but acted dumb here and there. His most memorable moments was when he was most goofy so writers made him act like that all the time and exaggerated those traits. Early Screech vs Late Screech are completely different.

[@landonletterman831]

I know, right? And Even Later Screech did pornos!

[@jagpro91]

There's a term for that in television, it's called "Flanderization." It's where you take minor character traits and keep exaggerating them until the character becomes a cartoonish caricature of themselves. It's why Kevin in the Office was always kind of a dimwit but he's borderline retarded in the later seasons.

[@monsieurcommissaire1628]

That's a perfect example of the double-edged sword of being a Working Actor. Kind of like being in a band and you finally get a big Top Ten hit, but it's a song that you can't stand and will now be forced to play over and over again...

[@imnotgoodwithnamesbruh6018]

I'm a firm believer that in Empire Strikes Back it was only originally intended for Yoda to be fucking with Luke until Luke realized who Yoda really was.

[@TokyoXtreme]

I believe this trope is called “Flanderization”, in which a minor character trait is inflated or promoted to becoming their defining characteristic.

[@primal1233]

My 2 favorite Yoda lines in Attack of the Clones are "around the survivors, a perimeter create, and "much to learn you still have".

[@robertborden2666]

The perimeter line makes me want to see a clone turn and say, “Wait. Wut?”

[@Gamma_249]

@@robertborden2666 there is a great robot chicken skit on that one haha

[@waltascher]

“Around the survivors, a perimeter create” is his worst line because it attempts Yoda-speak syntax and fails at it. What it should’ve been was something like “Create a perimeter around the survivors, you must”.

[@thogthemighty7960]

Not if anything to say about it, I have!

[@Gage_Brumley]

@@waltascher or it could be "A perimeter around the survivors, we must create"

[@adamorand88]

So there's actually an in-universe reason for this. When he was growing up, he learned Basic in that "backwards" way, because it was the proper way to speak in most areas of the galaxy back then. He kept it and uses it as proper in some cases, especially while on the Council deliberating. However, he has picked up the more "modern" and "casual" way of speaking Basic, and uses it to communicate in casual ways or when he needs to quickly communicate with someone who needs the information quickly (like talking to the clones for the Battle of Geonosis). However, he typically proclaims things in the "backwards" speak like when he named the Clone War in the Council room. It's just like how we might talk with slang today but write an email in "professional" language. It's just what he learned growing up.

[@ThomasTheThermonuclearBomb]

Around the survivors, a perimeter create

Many years ago I studied some Japanese, and I noticed that the order of Japanese sentences are usually reversed, when compared to English. It immediately reminded me of Yoda, and it makes sense that Yoda would speak that way; his character is clearly inspired by martial arts masters and oriental thinking in general.

[@NFITC1]

This isn't "backwards" or "chronological". It's a shuffling of subject, verb, and object clauses and the various adjectives that modify them. Lots of things could go into his decision on which order to use: his audience, the nature of the expression, the time of day, etc. There are probably lots of videos detailing and analyzing his speech patterns. The conclusion ultimately is Lucas wanted him to seem a little off mentally to belie his wisdom and abilities.

[@imnotlettingyouseemyname]

Yep, Yoda's speech is always grammatical and some of the times that he "should have" said something backwards just wouldn't have been particularly grammatical.

[@christianraxo7535]

My writing teacher used to tell us that the original trilogy Yoda only speaked backwards when the tone of the conversation was light but when things got serious he speaked normally. I don't know if this is true but she is a very intelligent woman so I'll believe it blindly lmao

[@TokyoXtreme]

That’s what I’ve always thought as well. Once Luke realizes who Yoda is, he drops the trickster facade and speaks normally.

[@platinumtaterbug]

It's an interesting theory but "Once you have started down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will." That's right during training, after the facade has dropped and when he's giving an important lesson.

[@Star_Wars_With_PercyMan]

This is a great find! I think during AOTC Yoda has more responsibility than anyone else, especially when he has to command the clone troopers first deployment on Geonosis. Heloves to talk backwards when he’s giving a lesson or trying to make people think more outwardly. He simply had no time to do these things in most of AOTC. I noticed your examples are more or less him conveying information as clearly as he needs to, especially to the clones who have never met him before

[@informationnotavailable6433]

*AotTC

[@thical4846]

@@informationnotavailable6433 what

[@informationnotavailable6433]

@@thical4846 When writing abbreviations, the capitalization should be consistent. Since the movie tittle is Attack of the Clones, the o and t should be lowercase: AotC. The second t was a typo. And I’m not trying to be a jerk or a grammar Nazi, I just like language.

[@korwinkrul2631]

@@informationnotavailable6433 it's KZbin comments section, nobody cares

[@orangedalmatian]

an interesting point, but the logic falls apart once you slam headfirst into the clunker of a line that is "around the survivors a perimeter create". Surprised the clone pilot didn't do a double take when he heard that like "what the fuck did the little green guy just say?"

[@Soleilune1995]

I'm pretty sure the strange speaking pattern that Yoda does is just how his species would normally speak in their native language. He probably knows that it's not how sentence structure works in Galactic Basic (English), but it's a habit. So, sometimes, he corrects for it, sometimes, he doesn't. Probably, for the more serious matters, he would speak with clear grammar.

[@andrewh5138]

This is 100% the answer. My Cantonese landlord’s English changes depending on numerous factors- his focus, mood, surroundings, the topic, etc, all slightly affect how uses his second language. To take it even further in the direction of uselessly projecting logic on a made up fantasy story- Yoda’s species is so probably so secluded in the galaxy that they don’t hear much Basic during a critical early development phase. We will probably get some small verification on this when Grogu begins to speak, if we’re still alive when it happens.

[@NFITC1]

I would say this, but consider he's lived among beings who speak galactic basic for hundreds of years. Any/most of his native language patterns would have been lost. It's more likely that the dood is just so old that he just speaks in the order that things come to his mind.

[@noble_rosethorn]

What about Vandar Tokare from Knights of the Old Republic? He speaks Basic normally.

[@fclefjefff4041]

@@noble_rosethorn He didn't say every single species from every single corner of the galaxy would behave the same way. Don't be annoying

[@noble_rosethorn]

@@fclefjefff4041 Vandar is the same species as Yoda. My point was that maybe it's not a characteristic of their mysterious, unnamed species.

[@TheGW923]

5 years ago EC Henry made a more detailed video about this where he found that in the original trilogy only 48% of Yoda’s lines are “backwards speak”, while the rest are spoken normally, and in the Prequels it’s only 66%.

[@oreo1749]

Good soldiers follow orders

[@MerkhVision]

@@oreo1749 hell nah, u sound brainwashed

[@minicle426]

"Grand Master of Jedi Order am I. Won this job in a raffle I did, think you?"

[@jackchipper7458]

Palpatine’s lightening, the fall, him losing all his Jedi and the entire republic must’ve fried his brain

[@coreyr.1012]

A lore KZbinr said in a comic yoda consciously decided to speak that way on purpose to help the façade that he is a crazy old man and hide his true identity

[@brezzainvernale]

It seems like when I speak German: When I feel good I speak good German. When I am tired, ill or something like that you can hear I am an Italian speaking person, I say things like: "Maaaa das ist aber komisch, eh?" instead of: "Hmmm, das ist aber komisch, gell?". So I think: Maybe it depends on how Yoda feels, sometimes he speaks better English, other times worse.

[@TheFronherr]

So you live in Hassia?

[@brezzainvernale]

@@TheFronherr Hassia? No, no, I come from the Italian part of Switzerland, but at 15-16 we leave for the German part for school or apprenticeship. It's a pity it's not a Jedi-school, that would have made more sense, you are not with family or friends anymore but in return you would have learnt cool stuff😁. In the first year I understood maybe 10% of what they said, never found my class, spoke more with the hands than with words and the German-speakers always laughed when I did that... my degrees were really low...😅 Where are you from?

[@TheFronherr]

@@brezzainvernale Oh thats sad. I'm from Hassia and I always tought "gell" was like our regional dialect. In which city were you?

[@pirobot668beta]

The backwards speaking is Yoda using the grammar of his people, but words we can understand. When he is focused, he speaks 'normally'. A German speaker, who learns English later in life, knows what I mean. "To the Store, I will go."

[@orangedalmatian]

but isn't Ich gehe in das Laden also grammatically correct in german? So even in deutsch it isn't consistent and just based on situational context. Forgive me if that's wrong I am still learning the language english is my first.

[@PlatypusPerspective]

The construct is quite acceptable in English too, implying drama, resignation or possibly determination, "If I must go to the store, then to the store I will go!"

[@orangedalmatian]

@@PlatypusPerspective sure, though it does sound a little dated and melodramatic in english.

[@PlatypusPerspective]

@@orangedalmatian Yes, it would likely be said in jest, or by Professor Farnsworth.

[@orangedalmatian]

@@PlatypusPerspective lol good reference.

[@y_equals_mx_plus_c]

"Forgot my lines I have"

[@landonletterman831]

I like the idea that he just talks like that to make you focus more on what he says, that in dire situations (Genosis) he'll speak clearly when he *knows* he needs to speak clearly, when being misunderstood could result in tragedy

[@birdmcturd1626]

In one Star Wars TV show (I think Lego clone wars?),Yoda speaks normally while pretending to be a Sith and when he’s called out he says he can speak normally while in disguise. My guess is he’s not a native English speaker so he says things like he would in his native tongue unless he actively focuses on it

[@Comrieion]

Maybe it’s more of an accent thing, the more time he spends around Galactic Basic people the more his accent disappears but ever since he was exiled he regained his accent. But that’s just a theory

[@darthvader537]

A MOVIE THEORY

[@MrYodaman90]

@@darthvader537 THANKS FOR WATCHING!!!!

[@randomdude7386]

I feel like when Yoda isnt on special K he will speak like any normal person so that means during AotC Yodas dealer for special K must have been in custody or on the run or something what led to him losing control

[@unforgivenromantic]

I actually thought about this when sitting in my linguistics class a few years ago. there's different orders of what we call "backwards speaking," but I don't remember the actual rules to the different patterns outside of what we have in English. Basically, the rule to Yoda's syntax is that there is no rules. he flows through speech patterns in his five movies just as the force flows through living things. Yoda speak is whatever you want it to be in different situations.

[@slinkysloth1305]

You know how when a professor repeats something it’s really important? It’s the same with Yoda, but he speaks backwards instead

[@devinwolf3340]

I wonder if Yoda was perhaps bilingual, and this is why he often chose alternate syntax. He speaks normally when there is little gravity to his statements, and he reverts to his native-tongue syntax when the sentiment carries weight. . . His cadence just reminds me of romantic language syntax that non-native English speakers sometimes use.

[@zachh6868]

Should title this video "Yoda, but he talks normally"

[@Plotinus587]

I think this makes sense. When he is focused he can talk normally, but when he is not thinking about it, his grammar reverts back to his native language. He also probably plays up his backwards talk when he is playing an unassuming character.

[@kinghadbar]

“Casually watching Attack of the Clones” is a sentence I never thought I’d hear.

[@kodywatts6886]

I’ve never been more appreciative of a 3 min video. The amount of time to just rewatch the movies & take notes alone is insane

[@bakasan0000]

This is literally how I feel. I've been in Japan 9 years. The verb is at the end of the sentence, which is somewhat similar to Yoda, yet still a bit different. Speaking like Yoda is second nature now, so I always get irked by this

[@gabrielnelson]

Theory: He talks backwards the most when he is most in touch with the Force. We already know that Yoda experiences visions of the future, and they they are always in motion. Perhaps he experiences the present as some combination of past, present, and future, and thus cobbles together sentences when part of his mind is cast ahead via the Force.

[@Hadar1991]

For someone who speak language where word order is completely optional and can be shuffled around just to emphasize some part of sentence this sounds like bullshit. :D I don't experience visions of the future yet I can fluently manipulate with word order in my language. :D

[@JonDoe42069]

Meanwhile in Episode 5: "Away with your weapon! I mean you no harm!"

[@Pocketkid2]

Lazy George Lucas was, when Attack of the Clones he wrote. Common knowledge, this is.

[@akseleriksen3343]

In conclution the quality of a star wars movie is directly related to yodas backwards speaking rate

[@mateuszjokiel2813]

That would be kinda weird though, he only speaks with inversion when he has something profound to say in The Empire Strikes Back and that is the best of all of them.

[@kintsugikame]

I love this spelling of conclusion

[@ahmaduomar5517]

😂😂 "Time, this took"

[@SchwarzSchwertkampfer]

Yoda has PTSD an he is old in the return of the Jedi. Dude had experienced to much trauma to soon.

[@claytonconley6696]

It seems like the forward-speak is more common when he is doing things in an unofficial-ish capacity. Maybe compare the data using the setting as a variable. Could be interesting.

[@GHOSTa-01]

I can't remember where I heard or read about this but apparently yoda chooses to speak backwards as it grips people's attention to make them listen to him more

[@rudevoices9204]

My dad's favorite Yoda line is "aw, you can't get your ship out!" That's from Empire

[@glenndeason]

Yes please, thank you. This is exactly the type of detailed analysis us star wars fans live for!

[@theguywithone]

Every time he says “May the Force be with you” is normal as well.

[@danrozful]

Yoda finally got his meds right then lost his healthcare after order 66.

[@alexeiharp7676]

"Not on deathsticks during those scenes, I was"

[@Danahmhaidar]

I cant tell the difference between you and yoda it’s getting scary btw!

[@benyaffe5389]

“Gwevous” is the best part of this video

[@jakethegreat1772]

Looking back at all of these scenes made me realize that not only does Yoda talk weirdly but also that he is green

[@MarkhorSculpin]

I noticed years ago that Yoda's speech pattern varies, even in his original appearances. For example, his very first two lines ever seen on film, in The Empire Strikes Back, are "You feel like what?" and "Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm."

[@nickantosz7120]

My own theory is that a younger Yoda could speak fine but old age made him forget basic sentence structure, and guessing the fall he took after fighting palatine he probably suffered a little more brain damage that could have caused it. Or George Lucas just forgot. I assume Yoda’s primary language isn’t English so he had to learn it and just forgot basic sentence structure

[@plantainsame2049]

Well that's interesting my theory is just that he's over 900 years old at this point he's bored and just messing with people

[@owensmiley462]

He speaks MORE normally in the original trilogy, not less

[@oatmealman1586]

Well canonically, Yoda's backwards speech is actually how Jedi from his time spoke, meaning he simply speaks that way because it's a way of keeping that relic of the old Jedi alive, and he probably speaks normally whenever he needs to. Think about it like how you would talk to people you know, versus how you would speak in a job interview.

[@SWTobito0702]

I think if you count through all 6 movies, it's almost 50/50. Yoda speaks normally more often than people realize.

[@cloudheadstudio]

Yoda only talks backwards when he's feeling himself.

[@maniaq77]

I never realised before how much Yoda sounds like Uhtred Son of Uhtred - at least non-backwards-speaking Yoda

[@zachnoland155]

I feel like when making the prequels Lucas forgot the backwards speak was mostly an act Yoda put on to pretend to be a crazy hermit in front of Luke, and that he pretty much dropped it as soon as he started training him

[@TheSystem092]

Even in the original Empire there are times he doesn’t use back talk: “you must unlearn what you have learned” for example

[@atrus3823]

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya

[@Pakilla64]

Yoda didn't always speak backwards in the original tho. "I cannot teach him" "He's too old"

[@natsusatsujinki8342]

Well the Jedi went from peace keepers go military service. How hard it be would you imagine...trying to figure what your commanders scrambled words mean.

[@Kelly_Grey]

"The best prequel, Revenge of the Sith." We are friends.

[@NathanielRises606]

“Around the survivors a perimeter create” made me laugh in the theatre at how awful it was.

[@headrockbeats]

"I was casually watching some Attack of the Clones"

[@zacmumblethunder7466]

"Something weird about Yoda"? In under three minutes? You're gonna need a bigger boat for that.

[@Kevin-jb2pv]

I always thought the backwards speaking thing was more of a thing he did in ep. 5 to throw off Luke. After he reveals himself, his speech becomes _much_ more serious and normal, even in the OT.

[@geekface7567]

your yoda impression is impeccable :0

[@Archangel_3]

The canonic reason for Yodas „speaking errors“ is because when he spoke like this people would give him more attention. When he is talking to 1 person it listens to him. When he speaks to a group of children that has to listen to him since he is the teacher, he has all the attention he needs.

[@juia7336]

My theory on this has been that some of Yoda's lines ("Do or do not" "Fear leads to anger ...") are actually just Jedi maxims that he's quoting rather than constructing himself sort of in translation from his native language, which has OSV syntax (what you call speaking backwards). HOWEVER apparently it's not just those lines?! So I'll assign that one to in-universe Yoda messing with people or trying to make himself easier to understand, as the case may be.... and IRL the writers forgetting to make Yoda Yoda 😂

[@Dewydidit]

I'm thinking during the prequals he was centuries in being around "normal speakers" and had started to develop their speaking mannerisms. Then after a couple of decades on Dagobah, he had slipped back into his natural form of cadence.

[@JarJarStudiosPlus]

Jar Jar's speech patterns are not always consistent either. Kinda suspicious mesathinks, almost like hesa hiding something...

[@SeanBiscotti]

Yoda speaks chronologically a good amount in the original trilogy as well.

[@MonkeyMagicMonk]

In ESB, Yoda only spoke backwards when he was tricking Luke into thinking he was someone else.

[@andrewrivera190]

My English teacher used Yoda as an example during her lesson on syntax.

[@dovahpie7168]

1:09 KZbin’s captions got me xD

[@laykni]

Yaddle speaks chronologically. I mean if they were both accepted into the Jedi temple as toddlers I feel like they will have the speech pattern of other Jedi

[@chaster_mief]

I knew he had probably about 10 normal sentences but I didn't know there were this many

[@At_Amsterdam]

It’s crazy bc clone wars came after and he’s always speaking backwards for the episodes he’s in

[@MrPetrov12]

"...or should I call you Darth Sidious."

[@dragongaming2.067]

You see other members of Yoda’s species speaking properly all the time, my take is that Yoda is so old that he does it just to mess with people.

[@chrisfromsouthaus2735]

"When 900 years old you are, f@#$king with people, one of the few joys left!"

[@ItsClaszsified9242]

How many other lies have I been told by the council?!

[@alsoeris]

almost every yoda scene in the originals he talks normally, i thought it was kinda weird when i rewatched them recently

[@EDB555]

Ahsoka said that she thought he spoke that way to make the listeners slow down and really think about what he said. This is some pretty good evidence for that point.

[@therealjoediaz]

My head canon is that yoda was slowing going insane. And he eventually goes completely insane by the original trilogy because of his exile in a swamp, all alone of 20 years

[@oldbrownshoe52]

I always noticed that General Gwevus bit too. Thought I surely couldn’t of been the only one 😂😂😂😂

[@TheAntiTrope]

He must have been drunk and accidentally saying things the "wrong" way around

[@takix2007]

My take on it when watching ESB was thar Yoda was just mucking around, pretending he was a little crazy, before revealing himself as Yoda to Luke ("found someone, you have" vs "I cannot teach him, he is too old")

[@AllisterMacDonald115]

Canonically, he does it on purpose in order to draw attention and force people to actually pay attention to what he's saying. But that's why he often speaks in full sentences in tense moments; he can't afford to draw focus away from the battle, but in slow moments, he is trying to making people analyse and fully comprehend his words.

[@TheFridayNightGamerj]

It’s on purpose. All the scenes he speaks normally are serious moments that don’t have time for backwards, indirect phrasing and Yoda is aware and capable of speaking either way, it’s not an impediment

[@darkridge]

Fun fact, in ESB, Yoda only speaks backwards until he reveals to Luke (and the audience) that he is Yoda. After that, he speaks normally.

[@mariofufi5664]

I would say that since In the prequels he spent more time with people who spoke normally he did so as well, whereas in the original trilogy he had been so disconnected with his past that we reverted to his normal talking patterns more, years of isolation is what I think

[@Wmei64]

Even the Yoda dialogue these movies can’t get right.

[@Vinemaple]

I still think that the writers were phoning it in for most of Attack of the Clones. "I don't think she liked me watching her."

[@JJ_Kenobi]

I noticed that Yoda doesn’t speak backwards much, too, a couple weeks ago.

[@joe1205]

So basically 3 times out of 4, backwards he speaks.

[@Dodge_this]

Hearing him speaking normally is really eerie

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

The backwards speaking comes in more when he goes 'mad' in exile

[@etiennebertet2839]

Oh my god, you're a genius. I give no one the right to question that. Thank you!

[@oliverknagg5109]

He’s been learning slowly over the 900 years

[@noahpettibon]

Frank Oz says that he always took the backward talk as Yoda's attempt at being formal. Now, why he would drop that distinction in certain moments and not others, I am not sure.

[@DavidRLentz]

Sloppy script writing, I suspect. For a bit of explanation, see my comment in this thread.