False Friends
Those who learn other languages than their own will sometimes come across words which look or sound the same as English but mean very different things:
kill (Arabic) good friend
bless (Icelandic) goodbye
aye (Amharic, Ethiopia) no
snags (Afrikaans) during the night
sofa (Icelandic) sleep
purr (Scotttish Gaelic) to headbutt
hoho (Hausa, Nigeria) condolences on a death
Has anyone come across any other amusing ones ?
kill (Arabic) good friend
bless (Icelandic) goodbye
aye (Amharic, Ethiopia) no
snags (Afrikaans) during the night
sofa (Icelandic) sleep
purr (Scotttish Gaelic) to headbutt
hoho (Hausa, Nigeria) condolences on a death
Has anyone come across any other amusing ones ?
posted by Adam Jacot de Boinod at 6:18 PM
57 Comments:
fart (swedish) speed
gift (German) poison, venom
Constipado (Spanish) to have a cold
Fear (Irish Gaelic) man
gift (Swedish) married or poison
embarazada (spanish) pregnant
"bok" may mean hello in Croatian, but it is also the standard Turkish word meaning shit. Perhaps that explains why the faultline between the Ottoman and Holy Roman empires ran precisely down the eastern border of Croatia - the politics of at least one whole millenium caused by un petit malentendu.
Air (Malay) water
ill (Vietnamese)love
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mad (danish)= food
bad (danish)= bath
bag (danish)= behind
bold (danish) = ball
leg (danish) = game
tie (danish) = to be quiet
Some German vocabulary:
Tag: day
Hut: hat
(er) hat: (he) has
Hass: hate
Has' (poetic for Hase): hare
pathetisch: solemn, elevated
Sparkasse: savings bank
Ass: Ace
i like farthinder. I couldn't keep a straight face when I lived there.
speedramp (swedish)
Puta (Turkish,Ottoman) pear-shaped hand-held archery target. In Spanish, however, it has a variety of less savory meanings and is a favourite among taxi drivers.
this does not fit perfectly in this comment board, but I must share it with someone. In norwegian someone may be a giftekniv, that is a person trying to get two people married.
Dieter (pronounced "DEE-terr") is a German male first name, not necessarily someone who is currently on a diet
I used to collect triple words (English/French/German). The main rule was that they have three separate meanings, and none of the meanings come from the same derivation. Thus:
"singe"
English: to burn lightly
German: to sing
French: ape
"an"
English: indefinite article
German: on
French: year
Others include "rot", and "rein".
puto (Tagalog) whitecake dessert
smart (Dutch) pain
pain (French) bread
brood (Dutch) bread
'Kiss' = 'which' in Hindi
Koi (romanian) - testicles
To study in korean is "kongbu" and in japanese is "benkyou".
Funnily, "kongbu" in chinese means "horrifying" and the chinese characters for "benkyou" means "to force".
Totally portrays the pains of study.
"Fart" means speed in Norwegian, "gift" means married or poison, and "spill" means game in Norwegian, and "do" means toilet.
Preservativi (Italian) = condoms
Hi Sir ,
I read about your book
really I like it
but I want correct an arabic word
Kill= a friend in arabic
it is not kill
it is khill or khell
kh prounonce as spanish letters kha
best regard sir :)
Amal from saudi arabia
This post has been removed by the author.
moron(spanish)kind of tower
Turkish=English
tinsel= Spiritual
Tokyo= Flip-flop
asma= Vine
Can = life
Seven (turkish) the one who loves
sell (sel turkish) flooding
at (turkish) horse, throw
gross (german) big, huge, large
kind (german) child
"take it" in chamorro "eat slowly"
"take bag" chamorro "to hide something carefully"
"salt" in chamorro "very nice"
"day" in chamorro "come on, hurry up"
"day two" in chamorro "walk fast"
"day ten" in chamorro "speak very fast"
"ten bag" in chamorro (can you guess it from what you've learned so far?) "tell/speak about a secret"
very funny false friend for French pupils learning English: "bit" in English sounds exactly like the Fench name for "dick" (penis) in Fench slang(bite). Same for the English. There are also many jokes about "megabites", I think you can imagine why...
in Polish there is a word "no", used mostly in casual speech, which means "yes (I aggree with you)"
I heard you on radio4 today and I think your project is absolutley brilliant. I will certainly be ordering the book now that I know about them.
Although I can't figure out why your comment page is in dutch? afrikan? or flemish perhaps and start with Laat een reactie achter?
English would have been an easier language to understand and communicate with your readers.
pretendere (Italian) = to demand
Hebrew has a different alphabet so words have to look different from English, but they can still sound alike.
ken (Hebrew) yes
lo (Hebrew) no
mi [sounds like me] (Hebrew) who
hi [he] (Hebrew) she
hu [who] (Hebrew) he
kar [car] (Hebrew) cold
sakana (Hebrew) = danger, sakana (Japanese) = fish
In Greece, "ne" means yes and can be accompanied by an up-and-down head motion. In Bulgaria "ne" means no and can be accompanied by an up-and-down head motion. These countries share a border.
"Juliana" in Cherokee means "s/he is deaf"
"Tina" in Cherokee means "louse"
"hell" in German is "bright"
"not" in German is "emergency", so a Not Ausgang is an emergency exit, NOT a "not an exit"!
Some swedish words:
prick = dot
and = duck
tramp = (to) step
Isn't Slag the Dutch for cream?
Not really :-) "Slagroom" means "whipped cream". Room = cream, so "slag" represents the "whipped" part of the word. It's not a litteral translation though. Slag is also not a Dutch word on its own, it's only used in combinated words like slagroom.
magazin (pronounced like magazine) in Bulgarian is a shop
Ah, and also, in Bulgarian the word "kaka" means "an older sister", while in Russian, as far as I know, it means "shit".
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ni boobi wo hao = you're not as good as me (chinese)
brat (Polish) - brother
prezerwatywa (Polish) - condom
to (Polish) - "it" or "this"
kok (Polish) - bob (hairstyle)
This is in regard to a phrase in your book Toujours Tingo:
page 54 you explain "gesicht wie ein feuermelder" not quite exactly, actually making 2 mistakes.
Feuermelder does not translate into fire extinguisher but into fire alarm. And a fire alarm is the tiny red box that you hit very hard in order to break the glass that protects the red button, hit the button and thus call the firebrigade. Therefore a person with a "Gesicht wie ein Feuermelder" is a person that you wish to beat up very hard right into that face because he/her is getting on your nerves!
Best firing regards from your Klugscheißer (smart shitter = always knowing everything better) meanfred
This is in regard to a phrase in your book Toujours Tingo:
page 54 you explain "gesicht wie ein feuermelder" not quite exactly, actually making 2 mistakes.
Feuermelder does not translate into fire extinguisher but into fire alarm. And a fire alarm is the tiny red box that you hit very hard in order to break the glass that protects the red button, hit the button and thus call the firebrigade. Therefore a person with a "Gesicht wie ein Feuermelder" is a person that you wish to beat up very hard right into that face because he/her is getting on your nerves!
Best firing regards from your Klugscheißer (smart shitter = always knowing everything better) meanfred
'jubilado' in Spanish translates as jubilated (think jubilant) but means 'retired' - I like this concept.
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I think you should block "carpet" from your forums…
Yes, many homographs around the world. I've made a couple of large (albeit not exhaustive) lists of homographs found between languages: one for English and other languages and one for Dutch and other languages. There are way too many. In fact, given the uniquenesses between the phonologies of the languages of the world, I'd say there are far fewer homophones among languages than there are homographs. Here are a few examples of the latter:
Albanian:
ah = beech tree
bush = boxwood tree
car = czar
dry = (pad)lock
fat = fate
habit = to surprise
laps = pencil
pus = well (n.)
sup = shoulder
trim = brave
Hungarian:
a = the
arc = face
bead = to hand (sth. [to smb.])
eke = plough
far = bum (anat.)
hit = belief
ide = here
lever = to drive (i.e., force)
old = to melt
rend = order (i.e., arrangement)
volt = volt, of course, but can also mean former, erstwhile, quondam (as in former president)
Turkish:
ad = name
bay = Mr
can = soul
her = each, every
mine = enamel
on = ten
pus = haze, mist
tan = dawn
There are TONS and TONS more in more languages but I just thought I'd share a few with you anyways. Enjoy and keep up the good work!
PS—I DO think you should try to get the spelling and diacritics of the words and phrases you collect accurately, though. :)
'tak' means no in Malay and yes in Ukranian. In Swedish 'tak' means thank you.
Arss (Hebrew): Slang word for young hyper-groomed male who sits in cafe holding glass of Turkish coffee and lit cigarette in one hand and dialling mobile phone with other. Often travels in packs, driving around in subwoofer-on-wheels.
Fen (Hebrew): Retro slang for women's beauty/psychotherapy regimen involving leaving work in middle of day and getting hair done along with group of friends doing the same thing.
Fir (Irish): plural of "fear", and therefore meaning "men"
Ban (Irish): woman
May I say that I agree with the person who said that you could be a tiny bit more conscientious about including diacritical marks? "Cead mile failte" is incorrect Irish. It should be "céad míle fáilte". Similarly, "nabocklish" is not an Irish word but an Anglicisation of the Irish expression "Ná bac leis", which is not pronounced "nabocklish". (It's closer but not identical to "naw bock lesh".)
radio (Serbian)he did
video (Serbian)he saw
skot (Serbian)idiot (also sounds like the Swedesh word for shot)
kuk (Serbian)the same in Swedish means penis
list (Serbian)leaf, means "slyness" in Swedish
piss (Serbian) shoo,when saying to a cat
bor (Serbian)"pine tree" or bier(the rolling table for transporting the dead) in Swedish (bår)
Malin (Swedish name)sly in French
Anne (name) shit in Farsi
Karin (Swedish name) vagina in Albanian
Dan (name)day in Serbian
Sara (name) "will be" in Italian (sarà)
bila (Swedish)to drive a car, but - "she was" in Serbian
sila (Serbian) force, but "to filter" in Swedish
Camilla (name) camel in Serbian
Nada (Slavic name) menas nothing in Spanish
ne (Greek) yes
ama (Italian, Serbian)It:she/he loves Sr:for god's sake
kurva (Swedish)curb,hooker in Serbian
nana (French)good-looking girl, but "old lady"(grandmother) in Serbian
Ana (name)she in Russian
Peder (name)homosexual in Serbian
mala (Serbian)little, but - bad, wicked in Spanish
bruka (Swedish)cultivate but - shame in Serbian
Juha (Finnish name) soup in Serbian
pena (Spanish)pain but - foam in Serbian
gia [jaa](Greek) for,to but - yes in Swedish
men (Swedish)but, not the part of the body
kika (Serbian) braid, but - girl, slang in Swedish
son (Swedish, English) dream in Macedonian
Sam (name)I am in Serbian
vila (Serbian) feary, but house in Swedish
Ada (name)"island" in Turkish
shi (Japanese) death, but "and" in Romanian
con (italian)with, but - idiot in French
vika (Swedish)to fold, but - shouting in Serbian
Pelle (Swedish name)skin in Italian
Branka (Serbian name)branch in Italian (branca)
Branko (Serbian name) flock,pack in Italian (branco)
Stanka (Serbian name) pause in Italian
Anka (Serbian name)duck in Swedish
oro (Italian)gold, also a Slavic dance
ren (Swedish)reindeer and clean, but horseradish in Serbian
bunt (Swedish)bunch, but - rebel in Serbian
bozza (Italian)drawing but bottle in Serbian
lim (Swedish)glue but - tin in Serbian (also the river Lim)
torso (Italian) core
Mia (name)my in Italian
tappa (Swedish)to drop,lose but - resting-place in Italian
ecco (Italian)here you go
Farsi (or Persian) to change or become in Italian
forgot three:
kai [che](Greek)and but - "what" in Spanish
mir (Russian)world, in Serbian:peace, in Albanian:good
Lana (Serbian name)cash in Spanish,slang
Mira (name)look in Spanish, sea or ocean in Sanskrit
personne (French) nobody
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