One of the greatest simple joys of learning a new language is stumbling across a word that has a completely different meaning in English. In linguistics, these words are called “false friends”, and they occur when two words from two different languages (or dialects) either look or sound similar, but have different meanings. False friends happen for a number of reasons, but they often occur by chance or by sharing an etymological origin that has diverged over time.
These types of words can be confusing for both language learners and translators, but they can also be funny and interesting to those of us that still appreciate a little grade school humor. So wake up your inner child and get to reading, because we’ve rounded up 10 of the most giggle-worthy English language false friends just for you!
1. Fart
We all know the English meaning of the word fart, but did you know that fart means speed in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish? If that doesn’t make you snicker enough, the words for speed bump in each language are fartbump, fartshump, and farthinder.
2. Gift
In German, a gift is not quite as pleasant as in English – it means poison! Taking it a step further, gift in the Scandinavian languages can mean both poison and marriage. These two meanings are related and stem from the same root word, to give.
3. Crap
In Romanian, crap means carp, which is a type of commonly-eaten fish. To be fair, English has a fish called a crappie.
4. Brat
As perhaps the most fitting example on our list, brat (or ????) means brother in Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Croatian, and Serbian. Next time you call your brother a brat, just tell him you’re learning one of these languages!
5. Kiss
Kiss has a more juvenile meaning in Swedish – pee. Simple, yet amusing!
6. Preservative
In France, a préservatif isn’t quite what you might expect. If you tend to have many conversations about jams and jellies, it might be useful to be aware that préservatif actually means condom. In fact, many European languages have variations of preservative that all mean condom.
7.Lol
The ubiquitous piece of Internet slang lol is either an acronym or initialism depending on how you would pronounce it, but in Dutch it means fun.
8. Slut
Slut is yet another false friend coming from Swedish, in which it means end (and rhymes with loot). If you happen to see Slut onscreen after watching a film, it’s the equivalent to The End. And Slutstation is not what you might hope – it’s just the last stop on a train route.
9. Barf
Barf in Farsi, Hindi, and Urdu means snow.
10. Sean Bean
If the actor known for Game of Thrones ever goes to Ireland, he might be surprised to learn that his name translates to old woman in Irish. This one might be a bit of a stretch, because while the individual words do mean old and woman, one would need to say seanbhean in order to be grammatically correct.
There you have it, 10 of our favorite false friends that have different meanings outside of English! Keep in mind that most of these are pronounced differently than their English friends and only work in writing. Did we get something lost in translation or miss any of your favorite false friends? Let us know in the comments!
In Russian “Mama dai, dai, dai” would sound exactly like English “die” and mean “give” 🙂
For the people who want to know what the picture means: ”Mommy, that, that, that…” ”Please”
Oh yeah, like “part” is estonian duck and “seaside” is a combination of two words that would mean something like “pig’s bond”. etc
In Danish ‘bøg’ is a beech tree, and ‘balle’ is a buttock. But in Swedish those two words mean ‘faggot’ and ‘ass’. So I’m sure a Swede or two will get a laugh from this pic. Bøgballe Sewer Service. 😉
https://www.gamereactor.se/media/forum/se/6169917_48.png
duck
duck ducl
more words lots of words
The other way around. Key in Lao and I believe Thai means Shit.
Also in German: “fast” means “Almost,” and “bald” means “soon”
In Polish “Mama dai, dai, dai” would sound exactly like English “die” and mean “give” ? – it is the same situation as Tatjana gave in Russian.
And also “fart” in Polish mean luck or lucky strike 😉
The Donald Duck comic “kaczy fart” sounds very funny to British ears.
In Romanian
Tip – guy
Nod – knot
Mare – sea (noun) and big (adjective)
Curve – whores (plural)
Cap – head
Gust – taste
Tort – birthday cake
Cub – cube
Bare – bars (plural)
Tare – strong or hard
Stup – hive
Bun – good (adjective)
To pee in Swedish is KISSA ! Kiss kiss means what you say when you want your cat to come. Iike pus pus in English.
Kissa means cat in Finnish!
Hmmm, kiss, pee and pussy!
I see the connections.
To pee in Swedish is KISSA. Not kiss ! Kiss is a substantive!
Substantive? Then it’s not “to pee”, but “urine”?
And what about Brad Pitt’s last name? Does it mean anything in Swedish?
I wish there were a book of these I could consult before traveling!
Dunst means bad odor, or sickening odor in Danish. Yet a famous screen actress (guess who) proudly goes by this last name name. And she’s been happy to be in Denmark: oops, ‘wonder if anybody ever told her what dunst means. . .
If you say you go to Skidmore (the college) this would evoke laughter in Denmark because skid means shit.
Skid can also mean shit in British English!
In estonian hell = tender and hunt = wolf. We have a pub named Hell Hunt in our capital city Tallinn. Pun intended 🙂
“Fart” means “luck” in Polish. There was a competition at some fast food restaurant. Clients scored points for buying hamburgers and then they could be randomly chosen to get a prize (but the more points you had, the more chances). The competition was called “Hamburger Fart”.
Brat is also brother in Bulgaria. In fact it is used very very often in informal conversations, meaning also “pal”.
In German the word ‘Mist’ means crap. I always wondered what Germans visiting the States thought when they saw Sierra Mist at stores or the dinner table… ha ha.
Yes, dick.
Die (spelled ‘Daj’) in Polish means ‘Give’
‘Most’ means ‘bridge’
And try to make a duck sound in Polish’ !(kwa kwa kwa [kva kva kva]) 😉
school meaning in enovative word lists
The Finnish phrase “katso sukkia” (look at the socks) sounds for an Italian… well let’s say something less innocent ?.
There is a magazine with the name “Modern dog”, in Swedish it means “the mother died”
Fuck in Bengali is a space in between (noun) , open (verb)
Baal , all hair in hindi but only pubic hair in Bengali, ( Chool is hair)
Vodaphone : Voda is vagina in Bengali, Hindi and in many other indian languages.
“Arse” means “burnt” (present feminine plural) in Italian.
I’m used to speak Italian to my kids and sometimes it’s normal to yell “dai, basta !” that could be translated “please, stop doing this/that”. Yet, after months I figure out that these words sounds exactly as “Die, bastard!” in English.
At the seaside in Big Sur California with a French friend and her kids, she was running around exclaiming, “le phoque!”
Which, in English, sounded like she was saying “LA F*CK!”
You had to have been there. Totally hysterical.