# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/101 "2013-03-19T05:30:43Z")
I can think of a couple between German and English. _Handy_ in German means your mobile or cell phone; while the word presumably comes from English and seems like it could be a perfectly functional noun in English, it isn’t. _Rocker_ in German usually means an outlaw biker or similar; in English it’s generally someone who performs rock and roll music or is otherwise associated with it. _Actual_ in English means true or genuine, but in German the word _aktuell_ means “currently” or “as we speak”. AFAIK the corresponding word in most Romance or Germanic languages has the same meaning; it’s English that is the outlier here. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/102 "2013-03-19T07:20:51Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > 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_. The American flan gets its name from Spanish. If you ask for flan in a Hispanic country you’ll get the same as in the US. You can identify with our surprise when we saw flan listed in a british restaurant and it turned out to be some sort of fruity cheesecake rather than what we were used to. > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Actual_ in English means true or genuine, but in German the word _aktuell_ means “currently” or “as we speak”. AFAIK the corresponding word in most Romance or Germanic languages has the same meaning; it’s English that is the outlier here. Confirming this for Spanish and Catalan. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/103 "2013-03-19T07:57:42Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Actual_ in English means true or genuine, but in German the word _aktuell_ means “currently” or “as we speak”. AFAIK the corresponding word in most Romance or Germanic languages has the same meaning; it’s English that is the outlier here. Interestingly, this meaning of “Actual” has also entered into Hebrew, which isn’t even Indo-European – one of the terms for “Current Events” (e.g., in the news) is _“Aktualia”_. Probably a loan word from either German or possibly Russian (maybe a Russian speaker can confirm or deny the meaning in Russian?) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/104 "2013-03-19T07:57:56Z")
Prompted by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685596). In Spanish _fresco_ means fresh, either in the sense of “cool” or “freshly picked”, it can also refer to the painting technique, but _agua fresca_ means cool water, not fresh water. Fresh water is _agua dulce_, lit. “sweet water”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/105 "2013-03-19T08:10:49Z")
Bold means errant, cheeky in Ireland, e.g. a bold child, although its more common meanings are well understood here, e.g. our bold hero. ---
**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, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/106 "2013-03-19T08:57:08Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Prompted by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685596). > > In Spanish _fresco_ means fresh, either in the sense of “cool” or “freshly picked”, it can also refer to the painting technique, but _agua fresca_ means cool water, not fresh water. Fresh water is _agua dulce_, lit. “sweet water”. Around here, agua fresca means cold water with cold fresh fruit juice, in every case I’ve seen watermelon. You’ll see a stand for limonada (which weirdly is a lime-coconut drink) and agua fresca. Maybe it’s a Puerto Rican thing. ---
**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, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/107 "2013-03-19T09:02:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > When I lived in Ireland for a few months, people would ask me straight to my face if I was “on the phone.” I would think, “what, are you BLIND? Does it look like I’m on the phone? I’m standing out here on the street, talking to you!” (This was before cell phones). > > Turns out “on the phone” meant “in possession of a land line at one’s residence” – i.e., “on” the phone system. This was just before the economy took off in the 1990s, so many people didn’t yet have home telephone service. I’ve read that people say (or said ca. 1904) “do you have any Gaelic on you” to mean “do you speak Gaelic.” BTW, not challenging your statement, but I’m stunned to read that in the 1980s, many people in Ireland had no home service (even more than a handful would surprise me). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/108 "2013-03-19T09:17:44Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I’ve read that people say (or said ca. 1904) “do you have any Gaelic on you” to mean “do you speak Gaelic.” > > BTW, not challenging your statement, but I’m stunned to read that in the 1980s, many people in Ireland had no home service (even more than a handful would surprise me). I imagine if they were only living here for a few months, it might have been when they were student age. Plenty of student flats and other accommodation wouldn’t have had a phone, even in the 1980s/90s, mainly because with tenants coming and going every few months it was probably a hassle to chase up payment. I imagine the same would be true of a lot of accommodation backpackers/tourists etc. would have stayed in at the time. My first student accommodation had a payphone in it but by that stage everybody but me had a mobile phone. My aunt’s house didn’t have a home phone well into the '90s because the phone company expected them to pay to get the connection to their rural house. Even though it was only something like 100 feet the cost was too prohibitive. This was true of many rural homes. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/109 "2013-03-19T09:18:11Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > BTW, not challenging your statement, but I’m stunned to read that in the 1980s, many people in Ireland had no home service (even more than a handful would surprise me). It was surprising to me too. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/110 "2013-03-19T09:35:21Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Prompted by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685596). > > In Spanish _fresco_ means fresh, either in the sense of “cool” or “freshly picked”, it can also refer to the painting technique, but _agua fresca_ means cool water, not fresh water. Fresh water is _agua dulce_, lit. “sweet water”. And, of course, speaking of water… English - Faucet marked “C”. For "C"old water. Italian - Faucet marked “C”. For "C"aldo. Which means… Hot :smack: (… and French - ‘Chaud’; Spanish - ‘Caliente’. Anybody see a pattern here…?) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/111 "2013-03-19T09:41:56Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > And, of course, speaking of water… > > English - Faucet marked “C”. For "C"old water. > Italian - Faucet marked “C”. For "C"aldo. Which means… Hot :smack: > (… and French - ‘Chaud’; Spanish - ‘Caliente’. Anybody see a pattern here…?) Ha that reminds me. At some public toilets here you get signs saying _Fir_ (Irish for men) and _Mná_ (Irish for women). If you’re not in know and you were to guess, you’d likely pick the wrong one. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/112 "2013-03-19T10:06:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Around here, agua fresca means cold water with cold fresh fruit juice, in every case I’ve seen watermelon. You’ll see a stand for limonada (which weirdly is a lime-coconut drink) and agua fresca. > > Maybe it’s a Puerto Rican thing. No, the popular Mexican TV show, _El chavo del ocho_, used the term _aguas frescas_ to refer to something like lemonade or some other fruity drink. Of course, in that setup, the _aguas frescas_ stand was not the most hygienic, or fresh. 😉 But it was through that show, and not through daily interactions, that I learned what _aguas frescas_ was. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/113 "2013-03-19T10:15:16Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Actual_ in English means true or genuine, but in German the word _aktuell_ means “currently” or “as we speak”. AFAIK the corresponding word in most Romance or Germanic languages has the same meaning; it’s English that is the outlier here. It still means “currently” in English too! [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/actual): 2. existing now; present; current: The ship’s actual position is 22 miles due east of Miami. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/114 "2013-03-19T15:23:20Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I’ve heard that “quite” means “a good amount” in US English but in British English can mean “somewhat, so-so”. Hence, if a Brit says you’re quite smart, beware! “Quite” can mean either “to a small degree”, “to a large degree”, or “completely” - the meaning is only clear from context, if at all, so it must be very baffling to non-English speakers. E.g: “It’s quite cold today” = It’s a bit chilly, but not especially so. “I’m getting quite fed up” = I’m getting really rather annoyed. “I’m quite certain” = I’m totally certain. “Quite” on its own is used to mean “Absolutely” in response to a question, or to agree with a statement. > [@Capt. Ridley's Shooting Party](#): > > Pants also means trousers in large parts of Britain. Which parts? “Pants” always means “underpants” in my experience. Clothes shops sometimes call them “cargo pants” or “track pants” (or, often, “pant” in the singular), but no real people talk like that, do they? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/115 "2013-03-19T17:16:14Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Which parts? “Pants” always means “underpants” in my experience. North West of England. I’ve never met anybody from Lancashire, Greater Manchester or Merseyside who didn’t use “pants” to mean trousers. “Underpants”, “kecks” (slang) or some other word is used for underwear. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/116 "2013-03-19T17:22:51Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > North West of England. I’ve never met anybody from Lancashire, Greater Manchester or Merseyside who didn’t use “pants” to mean trousers. “Underpants”, “kecks” (slang) or some other word is used for underwear. I have heard Karl Pilkington, who is possibly the world’s most famous Manc twat\*, use the phrase “no bra on, no pants, and that,” to mean “without underwear.” Of course, he’s been living in London for some years. \*With a head like a fucking orange! ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/117 "2013-03-19T17:26:01Z")
Just search for “pants trousers lancashire” and you’ll see Lancastrians putting people right on their claim that “pants means underwear in the UK” 😉 Or consider [this](http://nettlemere.hubpages.com/hub/Adventures-with-English-Dialects-The-Lancashire-Dialect) site on Lancashire dialect. I suppose in the South of Greater Manchester it may be different (not sure where Pilkington is from, but as he has a Manc accent I’m assuming it’s further south than me), but definitely a few miles further north “pants = trousers”. ---
**Author:** ![grama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@grama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grama)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/118 "2013-03-19T23:59:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Prompted by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685596). > > In Spanish _fresco_ means fresh, either in the sense of “cool” or “freshly picked”, it can also refer to the painting technique, but _agua fresca_ means cool water, not fresh water. Fresh water is _agua dulce_, lit. “sweet water”. I think this is one that would vary a lot in different locations, 'cause here, “agua fresca” would be water that is fresh (as in, not stale). We rarely use _fresco_ as _cool_. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/119 "2013-03-20T02:56:17Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Rocker_ in German usually means an outlaw biker or similar; in English it’s generally someone who performs rock and roll music or is otherwise associated with it. There was a time when “[rocker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mods_and_rockers)” used to mean something not a million miles from “outlaw biker” in Britain too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162/120 "2013-03-20T03:07:00Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I’ve read that people say (or said ca. 1904) “do you have any Gaelic on you” to mean “do you speak Gaelic.” > > BTW, not challenging your statement, but I’m stunned to read that in the 1980s, many people in Ireland had no home service (even more than a handful would surprise me). Well, I was living near Galway, on the more “primitive” West coast, and hanging out with college-age young folk – but even so, yes, Ireland was more like Crete and less like Denmark back then. This was in 1990. ETA: What An Gadai said! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-false-friends-in-different-languages-including-brit-us-english/653162.md?page=7)