Here is a list of 30 English words that have a different meaning in a foreign language.
1-5
1. The English word ‘fart’ means speed in Norwegian. Also ‘smell’ means impact. Example
2. The term for clarified butter is ‘ghee’ in English (which is derived from Hindi), which means sh*t in Kurdish.
3. The word ‘kiss’ means pee in Swedish.
4. The English word ‘preservative’ means condom in French (pronounced preservatif).
5. ‘Lol’ actually means ‘fun’ in Dutch. “We hebben lol” translates to “we are having fun.”
6-10
6. The English word ‘Crap’ means Carp (type of a fish) in Romanian. They sell fish-egg salad there and it looks like this.
7. ‘Lul’ as in ‘lulz’ means penis in Dutch.
8. ‘Sean Bean’ (the actor) means old woman in Irish although in fairness the pronunciation is different.
9. The English derogatory word ‘Slut’ means finish/close/end in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. Example
10. ‘Brat’ means ‘brother’ in Russian (брат).
11-15
11. The English word ‘gift’ means poison in in German.
12. In Italian ‘dai’ sounds exactly like ‘die’ to English speakers and it means something like “come on!”
13. ‘Trombone’ means paperclip in French.
14. ‘Cut’ sounds like ‘kut’ in Dutch, which means c**t.
15. The word ‘retard’ means late In French. One might say “Désolé, je suis en retard!” when you’re running late for something.
16-20
16. ‘Puxe’ read as push in Portuguese means pull.
17. The word ‘smoking’ in French means tuxedo.
18. ‘Vader’ means father in Dutch.
19. The English word ‘f**k’ sounds like ‘phoque’ in French, which means a seal.
20. ‘Bra’ is Swedish means good.
21-25
21. English word ‘The Ace’ as in deck of cards or someone who is really good at something translates to ‘Das Ass’ in German.
22. The English word ‘fart’ means ‘pet’ in French.
23. Nah (as in no) sounds like “Nai” (Ναι) which means ‘yes’ in Greek.
24. English word ‘pig’ sounds like the Danish (also Dutch) word ‘pik’, which means d*ck.
25. The English word “Bite” means d*ck in French. Fortunately, it really sounds different (“bee-teuh”), so you don’t need to care that much.
26-30
26. The Finnish word for ‘bag’ is ‘pussi.’ If you want to buy a paper bag for your groceries, you politely ask for a paperipussi. Sometimes the stores advertise their new, larger bag types. That’s when you buy a megapussi.
27. The English word ‘manure’ is called ‘mist’ in German.
28. Common English named ‘Gary’ means ‘diarrhea’ in Japanese. If you said “I’m Gary” (ゲリです。), it would sound like “I have diarrhea.”
29. English word ‘louder’ in Hindi roughly means penis (Lau-da, to be precise).
30. In Hebrew ‘me’ means who, ‘who’ means he, ‘he’ means she and ‘dog’ means fish.
Elevators in Denmark have a light that comes on with the phrase “I fart”. It means in transport.
about fact #2, the Kurdish word for sh*t is ‘guu’.
“13. ‘Trombone’ means paperclip in French.”
“Trombone” means trombone AND paperclip in french. The paperclip is called a “trombone” because it is shaped like a trombone (musical instrument).
“22. The English word ‘fart’ means ‘pet’ in French.”
It’s the opposite, the English word “pet” means “fart” in French.
a small anecdote:
Few years ago, I was a in a New-jersey mall and they had that animal shop called “Pet Pourri” whose name is obviously a pun on “pot-pourri”.
In French it would translate as “Rotten fart”….and the smell was matching.
lol
“11. The English word ‘gift’ means poison in in German.”
The word is also poison in Danish. However in Danish it also means getting married: Vi blev gift (We got married).
Although not as hilarious as some examples posted here before, in Portuguese the word Resume means to summarize and the word Vigilante is the proper word for private security guard.
There are some other examples but these ones tend to confuse people the most.
Number 7 isn’t really correct, lul = d*ck, cock, referring to male genitals, penis=penis, same spelling, different pronounciation.
You’re wrong. “Dag” Means fish in hebrew, not dog
Fahrt means a “trip” or a “ride” in German. As you leave many German villages, you’ll see a sign that wishes you a “Gute Fahrt.”
Also regarding #4, when a friend from Germany came to the U.S. for the first time, he was amazed that so many things in America contained condoms…..(preservatives).
Pain in English is ‘Bread’ in French. There seems to be a definite connection for some arthritis sufferers.
Pain in English is ‘Bread’ in French.