# Examples of false friends in different languages, including Brit/US English? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162 "2013-03-17T11:22:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/81 "2013-03-18T17:44:50Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Just saw another one used elsewhere, and was reminded: anymore is another one that has caused confusion in real life for me - in England we only use it in the negative, so a sentence like “he’s living in Boston anymore” is either completely meaningless (because the “nowadays” meaning simply isn’t used here and it’s not obvious from context) or interpreted as meaning he’s _not_ living there, and the word “not” got left out or something. That’s one that continually trips me up. I have to read around it for context to get the meaning, every time. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/82 "2013-03-18T17:46:03Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > So you can give someone a British compliment, that is, a witty putdown, and it’d be difficult for them to detect it and call you on it. > > Are there any other such tricks up Limey sleeves? Rather. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/83 "2013-03-18T17:54:43Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > It has both meanings in British English. The “good amount” meaning is more widespread, I think, but both are in use. > > If you say “quite _smart_,” with the stress slightly on the smart, it means the same as in the US - “rather smart.” However, _quite_ smart, with the stress (more strongly) on the quite, means not actually all that smart really. Yes, “quite” is a word whose meanings and implications, certainly in British English, can vary a great deal with both context and intonation. It can be an intensifier or a deintensifier (if that is a word). However, I think it functions in much the same context dependent way the same in America. In my 20 years in the USA I never ran into any significant misunderstandings occasioned by my use of “quite”. The use of the single word “Quite” or “Quite so” as a form of assent may be distinctively British, but I don’t think it is necessarily upper class or stuffy, as a poster stated earlier. Rather, it is a dismissive, deflationary form of assent. It is saying something like “Yes, what you say is true, but you are an idiot for saying it” (perhaps because what you said is blindingly obvious, or is true but irrelevant to the issue at hand, or whatever). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/84 "2013-03-18T18:00:30Z")
Njtt, How does responding with a “Quite” differ from responding with a “Indeed”? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/85 "2013-03-18T19:02:38Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Njtt, > > How does responding with a “Quite” differ from responding with a “Indeed”? Not hugely, but I think “Indeed” (if said with a rising intonation) implies skepticism. Said more flatly it might be slightly dismissive, but probably not as much so as “Quite” (or “Quite so,” which is stronger still). A lot depends on intonation (and context) with words like this. Do Americans use “Indeed” in this way? I am not sure. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/86 "2013-03-18T19:22:46Z")
Another word that used to bother me a bit when I was in teh US is “flan”. In Britain a flan is an open pastry or sponge tart with some sort of savory (often cheese based) or fruit filling. A quiche would be an example. In America, flan is what, in Britain, is called _crème caramel_. I was slightly put off from eating flan in America, because in the back of my mind there was a hint of an expectation that it might taste cheesy. A similar one is “pudding”, which in Britain can refer to any sweet food eaten as the dessert course (or to the course as such, provided it is sweet rather than savory), but especially to a sweet course of a doughy or cakey consistency, that is cooked and eaten hot. In America, “pudding” seems to be specifically confined to a sort of thick, sweet creamy stuff with a smooth consistency and flavored in various ways, usually eaten cold. It could be eaten for your dessert course, but need not be. British people would consider American pudding a perfectly suitable sort of thing to eat for pudding (i.e., dessert), but they would not consider it a very puddingy sort of pudding. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/87 "2013-03-18T19:58:52Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > A similar one is “pudding”, which in Britain can refer to any sweet food eaten as the dessert course (or to the course as such, provided it is sweet rather than savory), but especially to a sweet course of a doughy or cakey consistency, that is cooked and eaten hot. What about black pudding? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/88 "2013-03-18T20:07:33Z")
In French, the classic “faux ami” is the word actuellement. It does NOT mean “actually” in the way that Americans use the word. When Americans say “actually,” they mean “truly” or “in reality.” But in French, “actuellement” means “currently” or “at this moment.” ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/89 "2013-03-18T20:08:05Z")
Three examples from the part of South German that I (a North German) have been transplanted to: _Fuß_ n. (standard German) = foot; _Fuß_ n. (Swabian) = leg; _laufen_ vi. (standard German) = to run; _laufen_ vi. (Swabian) = to walk; _schaffen_ vt. (standard German) = to achieve sth.; _schaffen_ vi. (Swabian) = to work; ---
**Author:** ![eclectic\_wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac91a4/32.png) [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/90 "2013-03-18T21:43:35Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > In French, the classic “faux ami” is the word actuellement. It does NOT mean “actually” in the way that Americans use the word. When Americans say “actually,” they mean “truly” or “in reality.” > But in French, “actuellement” means “currently” or “at this moment.” This made me think of one classic Italian/English one: _infatti_. It sounds like it should translate as ‘in fact’, and Italians tend to assume it does, but it actually translates as something closer to ‘exactly’. So if you say ‘Joe is an idiot,’ and an Italian says, ‘In fact,’ you’re waiting for the rest of the sentence and assuming it’s something like ‘In fact, he’s a lovely man who just happens to be having a bad day,’ while the Italian thinks he’s agreed with you and the exchange is complete. And another Irish/US one: Where Americans offer someone a ride, Irish people offer a lift. ‘A ride’ over here is slang for sex - not as vulgar as ‘a fuck’, closer to ‘a shag’. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/91 "2013-03-18T23:07:25Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > In the UK a tank top is a (usually woollen) buttonless sleeveless top worn over another top, usually a collared shirt. In the US it’s a buttonless sleeveless top worn either as an undershirt or as a top on its own. > > That latter description is what we in the UK would call a vest. In the US, a vest is a (usually leather, silk or suede) button-up item worn over a shirt. That, in the UK, is a waistcoat, which I believe is also used in the US for the same item. > > Braces, in the UK, can be either a dental brace (but you’d nearly always hear it as braces, not a brace) or elastic/fabric items hooked onto trousers to hold them up in lieu of a belt. In the US, that latter description fits what you call suspenders. However, in the UK, suspenders are fabric strips attached to a suspender belt around a thigh and used to hold up stockings. > > I was genuinely confused a few times as a kid to read about a man wearing suspenders. Especially if he was getting all dressed up and for this wore suspenders and a vest. It gets even weirder. (SouthEast USA here) Waistcoat - VERY dressed up: think funerals or weddings. Only men. Vest - same article of clothing, in more casual formats. Unisex. Suspenders - [these things](http://shoppingcartdisco.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sands-suspenders2.jpg) Braces - most often [these things](http://aboutbraces.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/living-with-braces-680x1024.jpg), but known to fashion or costume people as [these things](http://www.flickriver.com/photos/50535929@N08/8417390137/)(also known as Sock Suspenders or Sock Garters) Brace (singular) - [this thing](http://images.wisegeek.com/knee-brace.jpg) Garters - [these things](http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/pict/261185681783_1.jpg) Garter (singular) [this thing](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fIVUMRm_8U/T61DcoiXXqI/AAAAAAAACjg/DMbgWshjtAI/s1600/ugly+garter.jpg) (usually restricted to weddings) And pavement here is usually referring to something someone has impacted - “He’s in the hospital - he was tricking and busted his head on the pavement.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/92 "2013-03-18T23:36:26Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > In the UK a tank top is a (usually woollen) buttonless sleeveless top worn over another top, usually a collared shirt. FWIW we call those “[sweater vests](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweater_vest)” in the US. > [@](#): > > Fancy dress also has a different meaning - here it can be “a dress that is fancy,” depending on context and intonation, but as a phrase it usually means “costume,” as in the type you’d wear to a costume party (a fancy dress party). I don’t know how common the first meaning (“posh clothing”) is in the US, but I certainly had a friend from Florida tell me she was going to a party that was fancy dress and she then got very confused about my suggestions for an outfit. “Fancy dress” here would always mean a dress that is fancy. I don’t think I’ve ever heard an American say “fancy dress party”, but I would expect anyone unfamiliar with the British term to assume that a “fancy dress party” was a party where people wore formal clothing. I first encountered the British (or in this case Irish) use of the term “fancy dress” as a teenager when reading Maeve Binchy’s novel _Circle of Friends_. Early in the book a young girl has a birthday party and one of her friends, who is a poor orphan, shows up in an old red velvet dress that’s much too big for her. Another girl says something like “I didn’t realize this was a fancy dress party” when she sees her. I assumed the mean girl was sarcastically pretending she thought the poor girl’s shabby velvet dress was too posh for an informal children’s party. Years later I realized she was sarcastically pretending she thought the poor girl’s dress was some sort of ridiculous costume. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/93 "2013-03-18T23:45:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Similar (although not especially related is the Scottish use of ‘stay’ - In England, we’ll ask “where do you live?”, in Scotland, it’s (not sure how universally) “where do you _stay_?” - and English person hearing the Scots usage is liable to misinterpret _stay_ as meaning temporary residence (such as a stay in a hotel). Here in the US, I’ve heard “where do you stay” used fairly often by Indians and maybe Pakistanis. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/94 "2013-03-19T00:10:11Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > From upthread, “loon” meaning “boy” is a north-east Scotland usage, basically Aberdeen and around that area. It’s not used outside that area, although most will know what it means. The equivalent for “girl” is “quine”. Meanwhile, in Canada, a loon is a bird, or a crazy person. A “loonie” is a one-dollar coin–the coin has a loon on it–and (by extension), an informal term for the Canadian dollar as a currency. You’ll see it used this way in the business reports: “The loonie dropped 56 basis points in late trading today…”) > [@hibernicus](#): > > The word “pavement” in Britain and Ireland refers to the sidewalk where pedestrians walk, whereas in the US (I believe) it means the road surface itself, where the cars drive. In Canada, at least, “pavement” refers to a hard surface. It can be stone, asphalt, concrete, or whatever. One can refer to the pavement of both roads and sidewalks, or say that they are unpaved. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/95 "2013-03-19T00:32:01Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Pan: in English it’s cookware, in Spanish it’s bread It’s also bread in Pilipino and Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/96 "2013-03-19T02:15:17Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > We’re gonna sink some piss at the hotel then maybe root some Sheilas, fair dinkum. Or a variation, the phrase “went to the pub to watch football, got pissed with this girl I met there and we ended up rooting all night” would have quite different meaning in Aussie to the US.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/97 "2013-03-19T03:03:35Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > Ah, this reminds me of a Canadian/Canadian false friend. > > In 6th grade we had a Newfoundlander join our class. He was the nicest kid, very polite and earnest. Our teacher however, was a nasty old bat, and thought the worst of all her students. Also encountered in Newfoundland, quite recently: Apparently, when people in Newfoundland, or at least in this one town in Newfoundland, say “porch,” they are referring to what we in the U.S. (or at least in the Northeast) would call a “mud room.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/98 "2013-03-19T03:58:11Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Rather. > > 😉 What what? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/99 "2013-03-19T04:00:52Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > We’re gonna sink some piss at the hotel then maybe root some Sheilas, fair dinkum. As the guy in _Usual Suspects_ said, English please? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/100 "2013-03-19T04:59:46Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > As the guy in _Usual Suspects_ said, English please? A translation: “I’m going to have some beer at the pub and then engage in sexual intercourse with one or more women - and I really plan to do those things.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162.md?page=6)