False friends

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   "False friends" are words in different languages that sound alike but have totally different meanings. Do you know any funny "false friends"? I give you two examples:

1. The word "curva" in Spanish and Italian means "bend". In Polish though "kurwa" (pronounced the same way) means "whore" and is one of the worst curses (like "f**k" in English).

2. Hungarian "hülyé" means "stupid" whereas Polish "chuje" (which is pronounced almost in the same way) is also a curse and it means "cocks".

Now your turn. 

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Tuzvihar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 18 2005 Location: C. Schinesghe Status: Offline Points: 13536	Topic: False friends Posted: February 13 2010 at 17:49
	"False friends" are words in different languages that sound alike but have totally different meanings. Do you know any funny "false friends"? I give you two examples: 1. The word "curva" in Spanish and Italian means "bend". In Polish though "kurwa" (pronounced the same way) means "whore" and is one of the worst curses (like "f**k" in English). 2. Hungarian "hülyé" means "stupid" whereas Polish "chuje" (which is pronounced almost in the same way) is also a curse and it means "cocks". Now your turn.
	"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent." Charles Bukowski

Ricochet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 27 2005 Location: Nauru Status: Offline Points: 46301	Posted: February 13 2010 at 17:51
	Yeah, #1 is the same in our language (wrote even the same way as in Spanish and Italian!). "Cum" in English is "how" in Romanian. Edited by Ricochet - February 13 2010 at 17:52


Raff Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429	Posted: February 13 2010 at 17:55
	We say 'come' in Italian, and the Spanish is 'como'. A couple of funny false friends between Italian and Spanish are both food-related. 'Burro' means 'butter' in Italian, and 'ass' (the animal) in Spanish (a burrito would be a 'little ass/donkey'). Then, 'aceto' means 'vinegar' in Italian, while the Spanish 'aceite' means oil.

The Sleepwalker Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: February 03 2009 Location: The Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 15141	Posted: February 13 2010 at 18:04
	The Dutch word "pik", which is pronounced the same as the English word "Pick" is slang for penis. The Dutch word "die" means "that". The Dutch word "bil" is pronounced the same way as the English word "bill" but means "buttcheek"


Zebedee Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: July 02 2009 Location: The Woods Status: Offline Points: 1588	Posted: February 13 2010 at 18:32
	'Kunt' means 'can/could' in Dutch 'Nut' means 'use/benefit'
	Friendship is like wetting your pants: everyone can see it, but only you can feel its warmth.

Moogtron III Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: April 26 2005 Location: Belgium Status: Offline Points: 10616	Posted: February 14 2010 at 05:10
	"Slip" is the Dutch word for briefs "Dik" or Dick" is a normal Dutch first name A lot of Dutch - speaking members on the site, eh?

someone_else Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: May 02 2008 Location: Going Bananas Status: Offline Points: 24340	Posted: February 14 2010 at 06:21
	Quite a lot indeed... Bier is the Dutch word for beer. In English it is a frame on which a dead body or a coffin is carried before a funeral. Pils is the Dutch word for lager. In English it sounds like pills. Cheers...


Tuzvihar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 18 2005 Location: C. Schinesghe Status: Offline Points: 13536	Posted: February 14 2010 at 07:31
	Ok, thanks. Enough of the Dutch.
	"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent." Charles Bukowski

Raff Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429	Posted: February 14 2010 at 08:25
	OK; some Italian then? The Italian word 'delusione' sounds like the English 'delusion', but means 'disappointment'. Sometimes it's funny to read people who write that album X was a delusion.

refugee Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: November 20 2006 Location: Greece Status: Offline Points: 7026	Posted: February 14 2010 at 08:52
	I remember a funny one from my youth: He came driving in a bad car wrongly translated into Norwegian as: Han kom drivende i et badekar which means: He came drifting in a bathtub I’m sure I can come up with something Greek as well. One very confusing thing is that the word ne means yes . And when Greek people nod, they actually mean no …
	He say nothing is quite what it seems; I say nothing is nothing (Peter Hammill)