[Vocabulary] What "false friends" do you know?

[a_vee]

I'd like to know more about which words have given students trouble due to their similarity in English. What false friends have you encountered? Which languages are they from?

For example:

English embarrassed -> Spanish embarazada

• Embarrassed means humiliated

• Embarazada means pregnant

Thanks!

(I hope this is an acceptable category for this message.)

 

[birdeen's call]

The Polish word for good luck is "fart".

 

[5jj]

I believe that if you are constipado in Spanish it's your nose that's blocked.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, a_vee:

1. I have noticed that Spanish speakers become very upset if you tell them that they are not "educated." For

English speakers, that refers to your level of formal education. But I understand that for Spanish speakers, it means

something like: you have bad manners/ you are uncultured.

2. I think that some English speakers would be astonished to learn that "poisson" in French means a fish

3. And this is not a false friend, but I have to tell you. I once told some Spanish speakers that I like to walk and that

I measure the distance with a pedometer. I explained that it consisted of two parts: pedo + meter. They all laughed.

I learned that "pedo" in Spanish slang is the involuntary release of gas.

 

[SoothingDave]

And "pregunta" is a question.

I thought "poisson" was "fish." Is it a custom to give fish?

 

[TheParser]

I thought "poisson" was "fish." Is it a custom to give fish?

Yes, you are completely correct. I have edited my post. (By the way, I think that in some cultures, people might be

delighted to receive a fish. A nice big tuna, for example.)

 

[SoothingDave]

I have been told that ordering fish is very tricky in France. Cause "poisson" and "poison" are very close.

 

[riquecohen]

Pretender in Portuguese means to intend. More than one of my students has told me that he "pretends to be a doctor."

 

[a_vee]

English soap
Spanish sopa

Soap= the typical hand, clothes and dish washing product
Sopa= hot liquid food usually made with meat and/or vegetables

 

[5jj]

Native speakers of English who would like the window open and translate 'I am hot' word for word into quite a few languages are suggesting that they are ready for sexual action

 

[BrunaBC]

I'd like to know more about which words have given students trouble due to their similarity in English. What false friends have you encountered? Which languages are they from?

For example:

English embarrassed -> Spanish embarazada

• Embarrassed means humiliated

• Embarazada means pregnant

Thanks!

(I hope this is an acceptable category for this message.)

Brazilian students often misinterpret the word embarassed as uncombed:

Cabelo embarassado = uncombed hair.