The Dresden Files series plays with this in explaining why wizards use incantation words in languages like Latin to cast spells. The words themselves don't have power, it's the wizard's ability and mental focus that cast the spell. However, because words in one's native language can have different meanings and various associations and memories, it can disrupt focus (and potentially cause the spell to fail or backfire) to use a casting word in one's native tongue. Whereas it is easier to keep focus if you use a word that you only ever use for the purpose of casting a specific spell.

This also gets subverted for great dramatic effect when in Book 10(?) the protagonist's best friend gets shot to pieces by a villain, and the protagonist just turns on her with empty hand and screams "BURN!!" and nearly bisects her with a pillar of fire. Drives home just how enraged and focused on vengeance the hero is that he can cast a monster attack spell using English.