The Two Different Kinds of Knowing

In the 1984 comedy Top Secret, Val Kilmer plays a rock star turned spy in Cold War-era East Germany. In one scene, Kilmer is trying to order food at a German restaurant but admits that he doesn’t speak the language. 

“I know a little German,” responds his female co-lead. “He’s sitting over there.” The camera cuts to another table where a short man in lederhosen stands up and waves. He’s a little German.

The scene is funny because it’s a wordplay on the two different kinds of knowing—knowing i...