# False friends: familiar names which mean something very different elsewhere **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121 "2018-03-24T18:07:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/241 "2018-03-30T18:01:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > In this case, and judging by the other responses, it sounds to me like “gearhead” would best fit, but “gearhead” is a more specific term than “anorak” but connotes the same kind of geeky knowledge. A “gearhead” is a “petrolhead”. An anorak is more nerdy. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/242 "2018-03-30T18:16:57Z")
Pepperoni is “pizza salami”. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/243 "2018-03-30T18:42:15Z")
> [@AlonzoSWhitebeard](#): > > An anorak is what I believe you would call a windcheater. It’s an unflattering, utilitarian and perennially unfashionable garment, and so it is associated with nerds, oddsters and obsessives. A trainspotter, for instance, would undoubtedly have an anorak. Expensive waterproof North Face jackets might essentially be anoraks, but because they are theoretically desirable, they would not be described as such. > > So, the engine has been remodelled in such a way that an obsessive, probably unmarried, engine enthusiast would instantly recognise; the implication is that this labour would be wasted on non-anoraks. I’ve never heard the term windcheater, but I do use the term windbreaker for a lightweight jacket. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/244 "2018-03-30T18:52:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I’ve never heard the term windcheater, but I do use the term windbreaker for a lightweight jacket. I’ve heard both, but “windbreaker” is what I grew up with in Minnesota. It seems the owner of the car had tinkered with it himself in the past, so I’m assuming he modified the engine to the _n_th degree before growing infirm. Or something like that. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/245 "2018-03-30T21:27:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Pepperoni is “pizza salami”. Kinda, except in Europe you can sometimes get both salami or pepperoni (or similar sausage) as an ingredient (if they even recognize pepperoni as an ingredient). For example, Germany’s Pizza Hut menu has both _rinderpeperoniwurst_ (beef pepperoni) as an ingredient, as well as salami. Other country menus I’m looking at (including Hungary) don’t even seem to recognize pepperoni as an ingredient, but may have a couple different kinds of salami or sausage. (Like in Hungary you might find _szalámi_ and _csipoõs kolbász_ (“spicy/hot sausage”) ). ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/246 "2018-03-30T22:29:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In my part of the US, “no soliciting” signs are also common, and mean the same thing as in the UK. :o As a kid, I only knew the word “solicitor” from 19th century British novels and wondered why someone up my street had a sign “No Solicitors”. Are lawyer-types really going door to door? And “hutch” – I think I would have called something like this a china cabinet, until I saw on Antiques Roadshow that it’s really a bottom dresser-type thing with a separate hutch on top. [https://www.dutchcrafters.com/Amish-Country-Pine-China-Hutch/p/52744?so=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9L7niIyV2gIVHrjACh1k8QsuEAQYCSABEgLte\_D\_BwE](https://www.dutchcrafters.com/Amish-Country-Pine-China-Hutch/p/52744?so=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9L7niIyV2gIVHrjACh1k8QsuEAQYCSABEgLte_D_BwE) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/247 "2018-03-30T23:37:37Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > A “gearhead” is a “petrolhead”. An anorak is more nerdy. Yeah, to me it implies maintaining a car in its original, factory-built condition — or restoring it to that, if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/248 "2018-03-30T23:44:02Z")
“Anorak styling” would I think mean going to great effort or expense on perfecting things that wouldn’t be appreciated - or even noticed - by anyone but the hard-core geeks/nerds. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/249 "2018-03-31T01:38:40Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Another one: > > Solicitor, US: a person selling something on the street, especially sex. > Solicitor, UK: A type of lawyer who deals with contracts, commercial law, preparing cases for court, etc, but does not represent defendants or act as a prosecutor. > > Really quite different occupations! > > The verb, soliciting, is used in pretty much the same way in both countries, but often in the UK it means selling stuff door to door, so you occasionally see signs in people’s windows saying “no soliciting.” An American friend many years ago saw one and assumed it meant we were in a really rough red light district 😃 > [@Chronos](#): > > In my part of the US, “no soliciting” signs are also common, and mean the same thing as in the UK. Yeah, I think **SciFiSam** ’s American friend must have been making a joke. As Chronos says, “No soliciting” signs are common in the US and always refer to uninvited people trying to sell things. I’ve never heard a prostitute described as a “solicitor” before. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitation) tells me that “solicitation” can mean “prostitution” in England and Wales, but as far as I know no one in the US uses the term in this way. As the Wikipedia article explains, in the US “solicitation” can be used to describe the crime of paying someone else to commit a criminal act. On TV shows I’ve probably most often heard this in the context of “soliciting a prostitute” (i.e. illegally offering money for sex), but one could also solicit someone to steal something or attack a third party. People who commit the crime of solicitation aren’t in my experience described as “solicitors”, though. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/250 "2018-03-31T02:13:19Z")
Heard another one on \*\*\*Heartbeat \*\*\*tonight: “puncture,” meaning “a flat tire.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/251 "2018-03-31T03:44:13Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yeah, I think **SciFiSam** ’s American friend must have been making a joke. As Chronos says, “No soliciting” signs are common in the US and always refer to uninvited people trying to sell things. > > I’ve never heard a prostitute described as a “solicitor” before. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitation) tells me that “solicitation” can mean “prostitution” in England and Wales, but as far as I know no one in the US uses the term in this way. As the Wikipedia article explains, in the US “solicitation” can be used to describe the crime of paying someone else to commit a criminal act. On TV shows I’ve probably most often heard this in the context of “soliciting a prostitute” (i.e. illegally offering money for sex), but one could also solicit someone to steal something or attack a third party. People who commit the crime of solicitation aren’t in my experience described as “solicitors”, though. I don’t think it was a joke, maybe just a local thing. I didn’t say that people in the US ever called a prostitute a solicitor. But they do not have “solicitors” who are actually lawyers. That’s the difference. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/252 "2018-03-31T04:35:17Z")
When I think of “solicitors” in the US, I think of pimps. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/253 "2018-03-31T11:29:42Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I didn’t say that people in the US ever called a prostitute a solicitor. But they do not have “solicitors” who are actually lawyers. That’s the difference. There are actually some situations in the US where a “solicitor” is a lawyer- but as far as I can tell , they all involve lawyers who work for the government. For example, the US Solicitor General is responsible for representing the federal government before the Supreme Court (some states have a similar position) and some government agencies call their legal department the " Office of the Solicitor" ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/254 "2018-03-31T13:53:01Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Growing up in WASP Ohio we often had the ground beef, tomato and macaroni dish but I don’t recall it having any name. Even today I wouldn’t call it goulash. I had some friends who called it slumgullion. > > Dennis My mom’s recipe for slumgullion dealt with wide egg noodles, ground beef, onions, mushrooms, tomato sauce and lots of salt (she was from San Francisco, and raised ten kids in Southern California, by way of orientation). A girl I knew in high school, who hailed from Ohio, used the word “slumgullion” to characterize a pot of spaghetti noodles with the meat sauce mixed in (as opposed to glopped naked onto a plate with sauce ladled over it). And that’s the story of how slumgullion means different things. [/HomerSimpsonVoice] ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/255 "2018-03-31T14:35:33Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I don’t think it was a joke, maybe just a local thing. > > I didn’t say that people in the US ever called a prostitute a solicitor. But they do not have “solicitors” who are actually lawyers. That’s the difference. You said that in the US a solicitor is a person who sells sex on the street. That’s a prostitute, unless you meant a pimp. But pimps aren’t called “solicitors” here either, AFAIK. > [@SciFiSam](#): > > Solicitor, US: a person selling something on the street, especially sex. Take off the “especially sex” part and this is basically correct, although in the US a solicitor can also be someone who collects donations for charity or (as **doreen** pointed out) a law officer. The term doesn’t carry a sexual connotation here. One _could_ describe the work of a prostitute or pimp as “soliciting” (they’re trying to sell something), but I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard anyone use the term in this way. “No soliciting” signs are common in the US and are meant to ward off people who go around trying to sell things or collect donations. As I mentioned previously, in a legal context “soliciting” can also mean trying to pay someone to commit a crime. I guess it’s possible that’s what your American friend thought British “No soliciting” signs were referring to, but I think he or she would have to be unusually clueless to make that mistake. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/256 "2018-03-31T14:48:19Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > You said that in the US a solicitor is a person who sells sex on the street. That’s a prostitute, unless you meant a pimp. But pimps aren’t called “solicitors” here either, AFAIK. > Take off the “especially sex” part and this is basically correct, although in the US a solicitor can also be someone who collects donations for charity or (as **doreen** pointed out) a law officer. The term doesn’t carry a sexual connotation here. > > One _could_ describe the work of a prostitute or pimp as “soliciting” (they’re trying to sell something), but I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard anyone use the term in this way. “No soliciting” signs are common in the US and are meant to ward off people who go around trying to sell things or collect donations. As I mentioned previously, in a legal context “soliciting” can also mean trying to pay someone to commit a crime. I guess it’s possible that’s what your American friend thought British “No soliciting” signs were referring to, but I think he or she would have to be unusually clueless to make that mistake. True, I should have been more specific and stuck to the verb rather than the noun. Didn’t realise I was going to be picked at quite so much! I’ve heard soliciting used on US TV a lot when it comes to prostitution. That’s why I brought it up as a difference. I mean, either I’ve actually heard it used that way or I’m outright lying for some weird reason. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/257 "2018-03-31T16:19:37Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’ve heard soliciting used on US TV a lot when it comes to prostitution. That’s why I brought it up as a difference. I mean, either I’ve actually heard it used that way or I’m outright lying for some weird reason. You’ve definitely heard it - but it’s just a specific case of soliciting someone to commit any crime. You’ll also see/hear references to “soliciting a bribe” and “solicitation of murder” meaning a murder for hire. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/258 "2018-03-31T21:17:57Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > True, I should have been more specific and stuck to the verb rather than the noun. Didn’t realise I was going to be picked at quite so much! I’m not trying to pick at you, I’m just trying to correct an error that’s relevant to the topic of the thread. “[No soliciting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitation#No_soliciting_signs_%E2%80%93_residential)” signs means the same thing in the US as they do in the UK, and “[solicitor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitor#United_States)” doesn’t have a smutty connotation here. > [@](#): > > I’ve heard soliciting used on US TV a lot when it comes to prostitution. That’s why I brought it up as a difference. I mean, either I’ve actually heard it used that way or I’m outright lying for some weird reason. I don’t think you’re lying, but you have misunderstood what “soliciting” means in the US and apparently also skimmed over my previous explanation: > [@Lamia](#): > > As the Wikipedia article explains, in the US “solicitation” can be used to describe the crime of paying someone else to commit a criminal act. On TV shows I’ve probably most often heard this in the context of “soliciting a prostitute” (i.e. illegally offering money for sex), but one could also solicit someone to steal something or attack a third party. People who commit the crime of solicitation aren’t in my experience described as “solicitors”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/259 "2018-03-31T21:59:01Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m not trying to pick at you, I’m just trying to correct an error that’s relevant to the topic of the thread. “[No soliciting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitation#No_soliciting_signs_%E2%80%93_residential)” signs means the same thing in the US as they do in the UK, and “[solicitor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solicitor#United_States)” doesn’t have a smutty connotation here. > I don’t think you’re lying, but you have misunderstood what “soliciting” means in the US and apparently also skimmed over my previous explanation: There’s some ambiguity over what you mean by “here”: you mention the US and the UK but don’t specify which is “here”! For what it’s worth, when a schoolfriend and I were doing work-experience at a couple of legal practices (UK, mid 90s), we met for lunch in town. As we sat on a bench beneath a tree, my friend’s Mum happened to walk past and said “Trainee solicitors eh? Shouldn’t you have a red light hanging from that tree?!” I knew what she meant, despite being only about 16. It didn’t seem like a particularly obscure reference. It can be smutty in both countries! ---
**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:** [March 31, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/260 "2018-03-31T22:22:13Z")
To be fair, you didn’t specify your location there, either, though I think most of us can probably work it out. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121.md?page=14)