English
is a funny language, we all know that. But today it has become the lingua
franca of the world. That is certainly a good thing. As an English speaker you
can comfortably travel almost anywhere in the world. Even
if you are visiting remote tribes, most translators are capable of at least
some level of communication in English. We all know that North America,
Australia, and the British Isles speak English. But so does most of Africa, a
significant portion of Asia (to which India and Pakistan contribute
significantly), and almost everybody in Northern Europe.
And
right now we are only talking about people who consider themselves fluent. In
fact, there has never been a language in history that has commanded such
widespread influence.
Even
Latin was contained to only a few continents at best. Either way, the
advantages of using English can also be quite comical. Because it has borrowed
heavily from other languages, many words often sound the same. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful.
Although
in English a “pet” is an animal you keep at home, don’t think that in French
it’s the same. If you tell a Frenchman that your pet stinks, he will understand
that your fart stinks! That’s right, “pet” mens fart in French!
1)
Pet- In French this means “fart”. So when you go to paris, be careful when
talking about your pets. grin
2)
No- in polish, Czech and some other Slavic languages this can actually mean ”
yes”
3)
Eagle: If you say “eagle” in German, it sounds like the word for “hedgehog”
4)
lol: It actually means “fun” in Dutch. So “we hebben lol” translates to “we are
having fun”.
5)
Handy: This means “cellphone” in German
6)
Hammer: Also in German, this means “awesome” i.e. Das ist so hammer! (That is
so awesome!)
7)
Ohio : If you say this to a Japanese person they will understand “good
morning”
8)
Pepperoni: In Italian, this is a chili pepper.
9)
slowpoke: Another word with a different meaning in French, this time it means
“delay”
10)
Die : In Italian, this literally translates to “from” but colloquially it means
“Come on!”.
11)
Gift: Possibly
one of the most ironic words on this list, in German “gift” means “poison”.
12)
Sean Bean: Although
the pronunciation is different in Irish, the spelling is exactly the same. Sean
Bean (the actor) translates to “old woman”.
13)
Brat: In Russian, it means “brother”
14)
Fart: In Norwegian, fart means “speed” i.e. how fast you are traveling.
15)
Gary: Although the pronunciation is a bit slanted. “Gary” is essentially the
Japanese word for “diarrhea”. So, for all the Gary’s planning on visiting
Japan…you’ve been warned.
16)
Bra grin: In Swedish, it means “good”
17)
Crap: In Romanian, this means “carp”, as in the fish. In fact, many of the fish
egg salads sold in Romania have the word “crap” plastered on them.
18)
Smoking: In French, this is a tuxedo
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