# Classic Errors You Have Made In A Foreign Language **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334 "2005-08-30T22:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/21 "2005-08-31T12:05:35Z")
My poor German grammar/vocabulary got me in trouble once. In 1972 (I was 12),I was at a carnival in Germany with my mother, aunt and cousin. There was a shooting gallery where prizes were posted on top of narrow wax poles; shoot out the pole and win the prize. One prize was a postcard of a naked woman. I took aim, nailed the pole with my first shot, and instead of saying “I shot the naked lady”, I yelled out for all to hear “I shitted the naked lady”. My mom turned 15 shades of red, my aunt and cousin were cracking up, as was everyone else within earshot. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/22 "2005-08-31T12:07:00Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > **"Soy muy caliente"** is more like “I’m hot to trot” or “I’m a real hottie.” :o Actually it means I am horny. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/23 "2005-08-31T12:08:48Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > **"Soy muy caliente"** is more like “I’m hot to trot” or “I’m a real hottie.” :o Actually it means “I am horny”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/24 "2005-08-31T13:25:03Z")
Well, not me, but a friend of mine… We were doing one of those exercises in middle school French class where we picked verbs from Column A and nouns from Column B and tried to construct a sentence in the past tense. A friend of mine was somewhat distracted that day, picked her verb and her noun and recited to the class “J’ai descendu mon pantalons.” (I took down my pants.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/25 "2005-08-31T13:28:48Z")
This was actually more of a British/American . . . well, not misuse, but misunderstanding. When my mother and I were in London a few years ago, a friend told us, “I’ll send my husband over in the morning to knock you up.” My mother and I were impressed with her hospitality. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/26 "2005-08-31T13:32:06Z")
I took a couple of years of Spanish in high school. Then, about four or five years later, I was assigned to a ship in the Mediterranean. We stopped in Palma Spain for a couple of days. In a bar with a bunch of guys from my department (none of whom spoke any Spanish), I decided to be the translator for us and the locals. (Well, after a couple of drinks, it _seemed_ like a good idea.) I got up to use the facilities, and, in my badly remembered Spanish, stated that I had the bathroom, not that I was going to the bathroom. For the rest of the night there, everyone asked me for permission to use the can. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/27 "2005-08-31T15:27:03Z")
My friend and I were on our way home through the Taunus after a particularly long night at the Wiesbaden Winefest (Rheingauer Weinwoche). A group of six of us had hit nearly every winery’s booth through the city middle and purchased a bottle at each to share between us. It was my first time that drunk and only after my friends caught up to me sitting on the curb half in the gutter trying to make the world stop spinning while an Ethiopian pimp berated and insulted me for no apparent reason did they decide to call it a night. Anyways, we’re riding in my friend’s VW Golf on the way home and I’m feeling really sick- I have hit the wall and I must puke immediately. Problem is, this particular verbage had never come up in any of my conversations or German classes (Curses, Language Gods!). I start to run through my limited vocabulary and remember a suitable approximation. Me: “Ick muss spücken!” (“I have to spit!”) Friend: “Bitte?” (“What?”) Me: “Ick muss ja spücken!!” (“I really have to spit!!”) Friend: “Bitte? Nochmal?” (“Come again?”) Me: "Spukken, Spukken, Spukken!!! Braaahhhh…ROLF! ("Spit, spit, spit!!! Braaahhhh…ROLF!) He was kind enought to clean up the car the next morning and let me sleep. Um… if you’re ever in a similar situation. To vomit: reihern. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/28 "2005-08-31T15:30:51Z")
Two short days ago **Elenfair** and I were walking back to our car and I was trying to say that I really, really, really had to answer the call of nature. I couldn’t remember _irai_, and ended up trying to saying “ma vessie verai _kaboom_!” (my bladder is going to go kaboom!) Due to my thick accent, she heard “Ma vessie déraille!” – my bladder has derailed. Well, it got the message across, at least… ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/29 "2005-08-31T16:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud"Soy muy caliente" is more like “I’m hot to trot” [/QUOTE] A similar problem exists in German. “Ich bin heisse” (literally, “I am hot”) means you’re horny; the correct phrase would be “Mir ist heisse” (literally, It is hot to me). Fortunately, we learned this when my friend made the mistake in German class, not in Germany. In Spain once we were rushing to make a train and I knew we’d never get it done if we were dealing with a non-English-speaking ticket agent. So I ran up to the window and asked “Hablo ingles?” – “Do I speak English?” 😉 He figured it out. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/30 "2005-08-31T16:29:46Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > A similar problem exists in German. “Ich bin heisse” (literally, “I am hot”) means you’re horny; the correct phrase would be “Mir ist heisse” (literally, It is hot to me). Fortunately, we learned this when my friend made the mistake in German class, not in Germany. Same in French–“Je suis chaud”, the literal translation of “I am hot”, conveys horniness. “J’ai le chaud” (“I have the heat”) is the right way to talk about the temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/31 "2005-08-31T16:30:31Z")
Let me just say that the French words for “hi” (salut) and “bastard/bitch” (salot) are \*\*way \*\* too similar sounding to me! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/32 "2005-08-31T16:37:39Z")
My sister spent part of a summer in Mexico once. She went for a walk one morning, and her Mexican hosts asked what she was doing. She said, “I’m walking for exercise,” and they gave her a :dubious: look. Later, she figured out that she had actually said “I’m farting for exercise.” > [@Hello Again](#): > > Attempting to compliment their cooking, I said “Mmm, muy peligrosa!” (very dangerous!). I _meant_ to say “mmm, muy sabrosa” (mm, very delicious). They tried to hold back their snorts of laughter, I was mortified. I often refer to especially tasty and bad-for-you foods as dangerous. For example, chocolate covered cheesecake is dangerous, because I will eat it until there is no more, no matter how much there is. Just trying to make you feel a little better… > [@dangermom](#): > > In an office hour session with my Russian TA (who was adorable), I said something so awful that he wouldn’t tell me what it was. When I said it, he got this weird look on his face and said “I beg your pardon?” I wish I knew what I said, but I’d probably want to die, so maybe it’s for the best. You didn’t say [yob tvo maht](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=327240&highlight=maht), did you? ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/33 "2005-08-31T17:08:13Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Um… if you’re ever in a similar situation. > > To vomit: reihern. thanks ! that might come in handy 😃 although i hope i won’t really need it ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/34 "2005-08-31T17:18:15Z")
I don’t know enough of any foreign language to really try using it, much less using it wrong. The worst I ever did was order a pepperoni pizza in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/35 "2005-08-31T18:46:31Z")
I was trying to get a phone number from someone who only spoke Spanish over the phone. The onlyy thing to do was to break out my unused High School Spanish from the memory vault. I kept getting “nombre” and “numero” mixed up. Much chaos ensued. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/36 "2005-08-31T18:49:37Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > I don’t know enough of any foreign language to really try using it, much less using it wrong. The worst I ever did was order a pepperoni pizza in Germany. 😕😕 Ain’t pepperoni pizza Pepperonipizza is German? ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/37 "2005-08-31T18:56:32Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Same in French–“Je suis chaud”, the literal translation of “I am hot”, conveys horniness. “J’ai le chaud” (“I have the heat”) is the right way to talk about the temperature. Uh… really? I’ve never heard that. And one would not say “J’ai le chaud”, one would say “J’ai chaud”. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/38 "2005-08-31T19:27:37Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > 😕😕 > Ain’t pepperoni pizza Pepperonipizza is German? The problem seems to be that Germans don’t know what pepperoni is. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/39 "2005-08-31T19:34:09Z")
> [@Exgineer](#): > > The problem seems to be that Germans don’t know what pepperoni is. Not exactly. This was actually yet one more blunder I made. Went to an Italian restaurant in Berlin and ordered the pepperoni pizza. Waiter brings it out, puts it on the table and leaves. I pick off all those annoying green peppers and put them in the ashtray, looking for the nice pepperoni underneath and see none. I called the waiter over and said, “where are the pepperoni?” He looks at me as if I have truly lost my mind and points to the ashtray and says, “there.” Pepperoni - a nice German word for “little peppers”. They don’t have pepperoni sausage like we have here - at least they didn’t back then. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334/40 "2005-08-31T19:39:06Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Not exactly. This was actually yet one more blunder I made. Went to an Italian restaurant in Berlin and ordered the pepperoni pizza. Waiter brings it out, puts it on the table and leaves. I pick off all those annoying green peppers and put them in the ashtray, looking for the nice pepperoni underneath and see none. I called the waiter over and said, “where are the pepperoni?” > He looks at me as if I have truly lost my mind and points to the ashtray and says, “there.” > > Pepperoni - a nice German word for “little peppers”. > > They don’t have pepperoni sausage like we have here - at least they didn’t back then. I just check with my brother (who had pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight) Pepperoni in German is Edelsalami [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-errors-you-have-made-in-a-foreign-language/319334.md?page=3)