Do you know any interesting false friends?

Question

False friends: pairs of words in two languages that look or sound similar, but differ in meaning

Answer 1

Another Portuguese one, that you see on doors in public places:
"Puxe" (pronounced 'poosh') means 'pull' rather than 'push'!

Answer 2

I was told that Gérard Dépardieu once missed out on an Oscar because in an interview he had said that he was present at a rape as a young man: "Assisté a un viol" and it was unfortunately translated that he took part, i.e. "assisted"

But there are plenty of words like this and other answerers have given plenty.

Another anecdote is my gran tried to learn Spanish as my family lived in Spain. She told me her new word for the day was luggage, and pronounced it "Eggy Paki", which had me laughing at least. (Should be equipaje=ecky pahay)

Answer 3

Ann is a name in English but mean Sh...t in Farsi.
Dick is another English name but means Pennis in Farsi
Gender is another English word which means a whore in Farsi.
Cybil is an English name but means mostache in Farsi.
I think that is enough to get the best answer (hopefully)

Answer 4

Just a correction on some of the Spanish things that have been said: "embarazada" (spelled with a z, not s, and only one r) which looks like "embarrassed," usually means "pregnant." However, depending on context, it CAN also mean embarassed in some dialiects (at least, I have heard Colombian friends use it for embarrassed and not pregnant). But, since there are a bunch of other words that you can use for "embarrassed," you should stick with those.

Another great one is "excitante." Looks like it should be "exciting"... and it does mean "exciting," but it's usually used for an... um.... "special" kind of "exciting." I guess that one's not really a false cognate, just a stronger connotation... but it's still funny when someone doesn't know that. :)

Here are some more Spanish-English false friends. A lot of these are taken from one of my favorite books, which I've cited in the sources below (it's fantastic!!):
"afección"-- looks like 'affection' but is more like 'affliction.'
"actual"-- doesn´t mean 'actual' in the usual sense that English speakers mean, but rather, 'current' as in, 'He´s the current director of the company.'
"compromiso"-- which can mean 'compromise,' but it more often means 'committment'
"en absoluto"-- looks like it should be 'absolutely,' but it´s really only ever used in the negative, so it kind of means the opposite: 'not at all.'
"éxito"-- 'success'
"molestar"-- This is a classic one, it means 'to bother,' its connotation is not nearly as strong as 'molest' in English
"largo"-- 'long'
"quitar"-- 'to take off,' like, 'to take your shoes off'
"realizar"-- This one means, sort of, 'to complete something' almost... but not to 'realize' something as in, 'I realized that I had lost my purse'
"sopa"-- 'soup,' not 'soap'
"últimamente"-- 'lately' or 'recently,' but not 'ultimately'

Wow, that´s a lot already... but if I think of any more, I´ll add them :)

Answer 5

I don't have friend to know any
That way I will not get hurt
Because I don't trust human nature
If you do you an fool to believe in anyone
I only have trust in the Creator of Life

Answer 6

Name Scott in Bosnian is a word for an insult, when you call somebody scott it sums up everything bad and evil you can think of.
Name Chuck in Bosnian is a word for "even" (even I can do that)

Last name Guzman sounds very funny in Bosnian, guz is a word for bu.t cheek.

Word "kit" means whale.

Word in Bosnian "bato" (pronounce but-o) means "little boy" but when my 3 year old says it on a play ground sounds like a Bu.t hole, very embarrassing.

Word in Bosnian "vuk" (pronounce vook) means wolf, again, when a 3 year old says it it sounds like fuk. Yet an other one I had to explain.

Cup in English means drop (drop of water) in Bosnian.
Pet in English means number 5 in Bosnian.
Odd in English means from in Bosnian.
Ya ya in English means eggs in Bosnian.
Name Dan means day in Bosnian.
Let in English means flight in Bosnian.

Answer 7

If a Portuguese person tells you he's "constipado" don't run for the laxatives, he's just got a cold. And a French person with "angine" is experiencing a sore throat, not a heart attack.

Answer 8

In British Sign Language, lemonade and f*** are almost identical. Can lead to embarrassing situations!

Answer 9

My favourite is "embarrass" in English which sounds a lot like "Embarasar" in Spanish which means "to be pregnant".

Answer 10

English X Portuguese

actually - in truth
Atualmente - Nowadays

Assume - to presume
Assumir - to take over

Exquisite - yummy
Esquisito - weird

Answer 11

D'ye know, I'm sure I had a list of German English false friends somewhere... (sounds of rummaging)