# English words foreigners often get confused **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990 "2013-09-16T18:00:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/61 "2013-09-20T05:42:21Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > I would almost always use “Cheval” (horse) instead of “Cheveaux” (hair). Oh gosh yes, this. In high school French we had some textbook that told the story of some medieval legend where a swallow (_hirondelle_) flies in through a window carrying a tress of the heroine’s hair (_un cheveux blond_) and that always got turned into a “blond horse”. Powerful swallow, that. As for English words that trap foreigners, do not miss the [Open Letter to Arabic Labials](http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-open-letter-to-arabic-labials): > [@](#): > > In Arabic, it matters little that you blend the “P” sound and the “B” sound together into one androgynous non-committal usage of human lips. […] > > But you, Arabic Labials? You downright confuse every one of my poor Arab students who hope to learn English. […] > > No, you had to go and make these decent Arab men, these middle-aged doctors and lawyers and businessmen tell me that they want a bowl full of bears. […] > > I’m sick of you making it sound like they’re going to watch their first baby porn at the local hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/62 "2013-09-21T04:28:49Z")
I’ve learned not to say “several” in English to Thais, because they always think I’m saying “seven” exactly, no more and no less. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/63 "2013-09-21T05:33:18Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > I was in a English-language cooking class where several Mandarin speakers kept mixing up “soup” and “soap”. The words, not the substances, thankfully. Yeah, my Chinese wife always mixes up “soup” and “soap.” Also for some reason, “Madonna” and “McDonald’s” are confusing and hard for her to pronounce. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/64 "2013-09-21T09:15:05Z")
A vietnamese student my ex was sharing with was making a Recipe. She had a recipe which called for ‘can of pie apple’. Apple prepared for use in pies. She had a can of pineapple. No harm done, pineapple was very similar. At a vietnamese restaurant, we had the asked for lemon squash. What we were given was lemonade and Scotch. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/65 "2013-09-21T09:57:01Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > “Cheval” (horse) instead of “Cheveaux” (hair). _Non_. Hair is _cheveux_. Horses are _chevaux_. > [@Kimstu](#): > > _un cheveux blond_ _Non_. That would be _des cheveux blonds_. Or alternatively, a lock of blond hair would be _une mèche de cheveux blonds_, or simply _une mèche blonde_. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/66 "2013-09-21T13:45:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve learned not to say “several” in English to Thais, because they always think I’m saying “seven” exactly, no more and no less. I’ve encountered that more than a few times, with native English speakers – usually, not-highly-educated bods with not very extensive vocabularies. Seemingly they didn’t know the word “several” – they processed what they thought they’d heard, and took it that I meant “seven”. > [@Isilder](#): > > At a vietnamese restaurant, we had the asked for lemon squash. > What we were given was lemonade and Scotch. I had an experience akin to that, not very long ago – with a guy who certainly seemed to be a native English speaker. In a pub in Birmingham, England, I asked for a scotch. The bartender had trouble understanding – it turned out that he thought I was trying to order food – heard my “scotch”, as “scallops” – which weren’t even on the menu. It could possibly be, of course, that I’m the one who “talks weird”… ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/67 "2013-09-21T18:07:00Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > Polyglot South American relatives of mine told me about seeing a war movie while traveling in France. The movie was in English with French subtitles. At one point a soldier sees a Panzer division and shouts “Tanks! Tanks!” > > The subtitle read, “Merci! Merci!” That’s hilarious! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/68 "2013-09-21T19:08:37Z")
A written version: It seems like every laundromat has a “NO LOITERING” sign posted on the outside. This alone amuses me because what else are you supposed to do while the spin cycle finishes? Anyway, the laundromat about a mile away one day added a Spanish version posted just below the original to communicate with the increasingly bi-lingual community. It read, “NO TIRE BASURA”, which means “NO LITTERING” in Spanish. Lots of giggles over the years were provided to me and my Spanish speaking sister whenever we saw that sign over the years. We could picture the one Spanish speaking person at the sign shop being asked, “Hey. What’s Spanish for…” Well, you get the joke. So the punchline is that the discrepancy was finally fixed. The “NO LOITERING” sign was taken down and replaced by, of course, one that read “NO LITTERING.” Me loves language. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/69 "2013-09-22T15:43:05Z")
Another one I hear a lot over here is when Thais try to say “Excuse me” in English. It very often comes out as “Accuse me,” an odd concept if ever there was one. “Okay … sir, I accuse you!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/70 "2013-09-22T17:51:55Z")
And of course there’s the tale of the Welsh town where they wanted a sign that said “trucks prohibited on this road”, but instead go one that said “I’m out of the office, please e-mail later”, because that was the reply they got from their e-mail to the translator. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/71 "2013-09-22T18:33:49Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Another one I hear a lot over here is when Thais try to say “Excuse me” in English. It very often comes out as “Accuse me,” an odd concept if ever there was one. “Okay … sir, I accuse you!” “J’accuse!” ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/72 "2013-09-22T18:43:48Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > “Let us eat lettuce and write letters.” lettuce turnip & pee taut & taught & tot ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/73 "2013-09-22T18:48:26Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > “Let us eat lettuce and write letters.” lettuce turnip & pea ---
**Author:** ![Solved](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Solved](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solved)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/74 "2013-09-22T23:24:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m told that Spanish (at least, Argentinian Spanish) has a long and a short version of each vowel-letter, and no others. I don’t speak any more than Sesame Street Spanish myself, though, so I can’t confirm this. Nah, we don’t. I wish we did, though, it would have saved me hours of making sure I wasn’t saying “sheet” wrong. As an Argentinian, one of my biggest issues is “b” when I should pronounce “v”. I think half of my linguistics talks end up being about bowels. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/75 "2013-09-23T00:25:23Z")
> [@Solved](#): > > Nah, we don’t. I wish we did, though, it would have saved me hours of making sure I wasn’t saying “sheet” wrong. The difference in English between “shit” and “sheet” isn’t just about length, though. The vowels are slightly different themselves. The vowel in “sheet” is a close, front vowel. The vowel in “shit” is near-close, and near front. It’s a little difficult to explain, but if I say “shiiiiiiit” and “sheeeeet” (making both vowels “long,”) they are distinct words with different vowel sounds and my mouth is in a different position to make those sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/76 "2013-09-23T00:43:57Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > To put a reverse spin on this, in my (American) Middle School French class, where my instructor would often call on a student at random to give a physical description of a celebrity or other well known person, I would almost always use “Cheval” (horse) instead of “Cheveaux” (hair). Twenty-five years later I occasionally run into her at the supermarket, she’s elderly but still sharp and she always smiles and makes the “clip-clop” sound of a horse when she sees me.🙂 We’ve had thirty years of fun off a pronunciation error my husband made in high school German. He was supposed to say “turn on the headlights”- scheinwerfer. He said “schweinwerfer.”" “oink, oink oink oink…splat.” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/77 "2013-09-23T01:30:26Z")
> [@Solved](#): > > Nah, we don’t. I wish we did, though, it would have saved me hours of making sure I wasn’t saying “sheet” wrong. > > As an Argentinian, one of my biggest issues is “b” when I should pronounce “v”. I think half of my linguistics talks end up being about bowels. This may be common in lots of places. Someone I know named Barbara lived in Greece for a few years, and they often called her “Varvara.” It’s kind of amusing that the people who coined the term “barbarous” from the sound they thought foreign people were making can’t actually make that sound. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/78 "2013-09-23T01:48:17Z")
If we’re doing mistranslation: For an exam a friend was trying to translate a folktale from French to English. A man (who is in fact lying) is telling the queen that his wife has died in the night. My friend’s version: _my wife grows lively at night!_ ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/79 "2013-09-23T08:47:03Z")
> [@vontsira](#): > > I had an experience akin to that, not very long ago – with a guy who certainly seemed to be a native English speaker. In a pub in Birmingham, England, I asked for a scotch. The bartender had trouble understanding – it turned out that he thought I was trying to order food – heard my “scotch”, as “scallops” – which weren’t even on the menu. > > It could possibly be, of course, that I’m the one who “talks weird”… To what extent is “scotch” used for whisky in Britain anyway? It seems very American to me. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990/80 "2013-09-23T09:07:58Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I continuously make that mistake as well. Actually, you don’t. You may make that mistake continually though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-words-foreigners-often-get-confused/668990.md?page=5)