It's also kind of hard to properly pull off with fantasy, as well. In the Dutch version of The Hobbit for example; goblins are translated to Aardmannen; literally meaning Earth-men.
I know what to imagine with a Goblin, but I have never ever heard of an Earthman. I just don't get it. There's no such thing as an Earthman in our folkloreeither; it's just... A word they chose and I cannot for the life of me understand why.
Gnomes are oftentimes translated as 'Kabouters', which is accurate in a sense. You know, for Garden Gnomes, except in our folklore those Gnomes are way smaller, around the size of a Smurf. So it feels stupid weird to read about Gnomes in Dutch, when D&D-style Gnomes are intended. We have no distinction between Wizards, Mages, Sorcerers in our language either; we couldn't make that distinction if we tried.
Luckily for us, D&D books aren't translated in Dutch either. So, at the table, there is no confusion. We will speak Dutch but use English terminology for everything; no one says 'kabouter' and no one casts 'Steenhuid' or 'afschuwelijke verwelking' nonsense like that.
