Let me give you a few examples:
The German word for skirt is Rock.
The German word for poison is GIFT
...
2006-07-06 16:58:31 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
"Fichen"=Swedish "pocket"=Swiss "f-word"... my mom learned this the hard way in front of a room of kindergartners. Substituting words from related languages is dangerous!
Hmmm, let's see:
German "dick" meaning fat
Folks saying "Er ist mein Freund" (he's my boyfriend) when they mean "Er ist ein Freund von mir" (he's my friend)
French word for seal (fiech or something?) sounds an awful lot like Swiss f-word again
Oh, and in Spanish: "estoy exitado" = "I'm sexually aroused" and "estoy embarrasado" = "I'm pregnant"
2006-07-07 01:26:57 · answer #1 · answered by Cedar 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
During a visit from a president of Chile to Mexico, the mexicans stared at the chilean without knowing if they were insulted or not, when at a speech the chilean president yelled:
"¡México para los chilenos, y Chile para los mejicanos!"
The literal translation is "Mexico for the chileans, and Chile for the mexicans."
However, the word "chile" has two alternative meanings in Mexico. The obvious meaning is "chilli", as in the pepper. The not-so-obvious one is "penis"...
2006-07-06 21:12:22 · answer #2 · answered by Locoluis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, my father once went to England for a meeting, but he found out he needed sustainers (those things that you wear instead of a belt so your pants wont fall off) so he went to several clothes shops around but everytime he explained the sustainers were for him the sales persons would always tell him that they didnt have a size for him, so confused my father asked an English friend and it turns out that sustainers in England are those things women wear so their stockings wont come down. Embarrassing, ain't it?
good luck.
2006-07-06 20:59:47 · answer #3 · answered by john 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In Dutch, the word for no is pronounced nay.
In Korean, a word for yes in pronounced the same way. Things could becaome very messy mixing these two in a tight situation...
2006-07-06 17:03:50 · answer #4 · answered by David A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a translation, but two dangerous differences in language variety.
Celine Dion apparently once told her French hairdresser that the haircut she gave her was "écourante" (I think I spelled that wrong). It literally (and in French ONLY) means "stomach-turning" but in Quebec it's used to mean really attractive.
And my father-in-law when he moved from Switzerland to Quebec was making small talk: "As-tu des gosses? Moi j'en ai deux." ("Do you have (gosses)? I have two.") In Europe, "gosses" is slang for kids, but in Quebec it's slang for testicles.
2006-07-06 20:24:40 · answer #5 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Indonesian word for water is air.
2006-07-06 17:06:09 · answer #6 · answered by Just come a while 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when arab intellectuals call george w. bush 'the great satan' they are nearly always referring not to the christian 'satan', but to the muslim demiurge 'iblis'.
satan is incarnate evil, but iblis is more a spirit of confusion, dishonesty and incompetence.
so when an arab poet writes that president bush the lesser is 'a devil in the white house' he doesn not mean that gwb is malevolent (or at least, that is not his primary message); he means that little george is confused, inept and dangerous.
2006-07-06 21:41:38 · answer #7 · answered by synopsis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In French, the word for chicken is the same as the word for prostitute.
2006-07-06 18:09:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I tried some Japanese out on my boyfriend (in writing) and it seems that "koi" is not only a fish, but also sexual love. I now have a pet fish. :-)
2006-07-06 17:12:17 · answer #9 · answered by cujoswings 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whatever for what you said..
anyway..thank u for the 2 pointsss...
and again...
ur nick SUCKS:)
I love uu but hahaha
2006-07-06 18:49:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋