# 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:** 8
**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 25, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/141 "2018-03-25T22:26:45Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I had an Australian girlfriend. She was very surprised to hear on the radio that the governor was in a shagging contest. Around NC/SC shagging is a type of dance. Normally the music for shagging is “Beach music” but it has nothing to do with the Beach boys or california bands. > > [Beach music - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_music) This reminds me of an EFL segment on the BBC: A Brit had a Czech girlfriend who liked to attend the theatre.\* So she proudly told him “I’m a goer!” For those who don’t know, a “goer” in the UK is someone who’s ready for sex at the drop of a hat. She meant, of course, a “theatre-goer.” \*Unusually for an American, I use this spelling when referring to the legitmate theatre. A theater (prounounced “thee-AY-ter” in upstate Minnesota) is where you go to see a movie (i.e., a “cinema”). ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/142 "2018-03-25T22:30:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > They might also be called totes, after a popular brand name. The big ones that go up over your ankles and fasten with some kind of snap or clasp were called golashes when I was growing up. “golashes”? I just did a google search for that term, which I’d never heard before, and google asked me “do you mean _ **galoshes** _?” I got one hit for rubber boots and several hits for “go lashes”, some type of fake eyelashes. The link that Doug K posted mentions galoshes. [https://www.amazon.com/Servus-SuperFit-Dual-Compound-Overshoes-11003-Bagged/dp/B002A64R42](https://www.amazon.com/Servus-SuperFit-Dual-Compound-Overshoes-11003-Bagged/dp/B002A64R42) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/143 "2018-03-25T22:33:00Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Exactly. I first encountered it in an Italian restaurant in the UK and it was full of shrimp, mussels and whatnot. Marinara, rich in things marine…fair enough. Discovering it just meant tomato sauce felt like someone was missing something. > [@doreen](#): > > The name is a reference to sailors, but that doesn’t mean it has seafood in it. In checking, it seems the most common story given for the origin of the name is that was a simple sauce that could be made quickly on a ship and the second most common was that sailors’ wives started making it when they saw the ships arriving ( again, because it could be made quickly). There seems to be some debate over where it does and doesn’t refer to a seafood sauce - from what I can tell in _most_ of Southern Italy it is a meatless sauce with no seafood , which would explain why it refers to a meatless sauce with no seafood in the US. ( Most Italian-Americans are of southern descent which is why lasagna in the US does not refer to a dish made with besciamella sauce although that is apparently the most common type everywhere else) Right. Classically, marinara sauce doesn’t have seafood in it. I was surprised to find that in New Zealand it always did. It would be interesting to find out whether that style developed from a mistaken understanding of the name. When cooks in the UK started making marinara sauce, perhaps they just assumed from its name that it was supposed to have seafood in it… I wonder what one would guess was in _putanesca_ sauce from the name.😉 ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/144 "2018-03-25T22:33:04Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > “golashes”? I just did a google search for that term, which I’d never heard before, and google asked me “do you mean _ **galoshes** _?” I got one hit for rubber boots and several hits for “go lashes”, some type of fake eyelashes. > > The link that Doug K posted mentions galoshes. > [https://www.amazon.com/Servus-SuperFit-Dual-Compound-Overshoes-11003-Bagged/dp/B002A64R42](https://www.amazon.com/Servus-SuperFit-Dual-Compound-Overshoes-11003-Bagged/dp/B002A64R42) Typo; my apologies. I’ve been working on the computer since 05:00 this morning, and it’s now 18:32. ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/145 "2018-03-25T22:37:05Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I wonder what one would guess was in _putanesca_ sauce from the name.😉 I know the origin of it: The dish was usually put together from whatever bits of food were left over when your average lady of the evening decided to call it a night. True story! 🆒 ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/146 "2018-03-25T22:46:19Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > When cooks in the UK started making marinara sauce, perhaps they just assumed from its name that it was supposed to have seafood in it… Isn’t it associated with _marinate_ (like, with wine)? That’s what I’ve always assumed. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/147 "2018-03-25T22:51:50Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > For those who don’t know, a “goer” in the UK is someone who’s ready for sex at the drop of a hat. She meant, of course, a “theatre-goer.” “Is, uh,…Is your wife a goer, eh? Know whatahmean, know whatahmean, nudge nudge, know whatahmean, say no more?” ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/148 "2018-03-25T22:55:57Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Is, uh,…Is your wife a goer, eh? Know whatahmean, know whatahmean, nudge nudge, know whatahmean, say no more?” Wink, wink! 😉 ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/149 "2018-03-25T22:58:58Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > The name is a reference to sailors, but that doesn’t mean it has seafood in it. Indeed. All you can assume from the name is that it is a sauce named after sailors or the sea. Doesn’t mean it has to have sea creatures in it. It could be something as simple as a sauce prefered by sailors. The most obvious example is one of the two or three official Neapolitan pizzas (yes, they’re quite specific about this stuff): pizza marinara. It dates back to the 1700s and has no seafood whatsoever on it. It’s crust, tomatoes, garlic, oregano. No cheese. Supposedly named because it’s cheap and made from things you can find aboard a ship or something like that. Another story is that because it’s named so after the seaman’s wife as she would prepare it for him after his seafaring journeys. Crap like that. Don’t really believe any of these stories to be definitive, but what is definitive is that it doesn’t have seafood. I don’t speak Italian, but even looking through Italian websites with recipes for salsa marinara or spaghetti alla marinara, none of them have any seafood in them. It’s just a simple tomato sauce. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/150 "2018-03-25T23:06:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Isn’t it associated with _marinate_ (like, with wine)? That’s what I’ve always assumed. 😕 Sort of - in that “marinate” originally referred to pickling in salt water or sea water (which is probably something like _aqua marina_ in Latin) . Other marinades , meant to add flavor rather than preserve, came later. ---
**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 25, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/151 "2018-03-25T23:31:07Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Sort of - in that “marinate” originally referred to pickling in salt water or sea water (which is probably something like _aqua marina_ in Latin). Like this? :o [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CD96RQ1-wnY/hqdefault.jpg "Stingray TV Show Outro (1964) Aqua Marina") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD96RQ1-wnY) ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/152 "2018-03-25T23:34:45Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I had a head scratchy moment a bit ago when BBC followed up _Back In Time For Dinner_ with _Back In Time For Tea,_ which is specific to Northern England. I was so used to “tea” being a little four o’clock nibble meal in UK parlance that it threw me to find out that in the north “tea” is the main evening meal. And mostly really boring food too, historically speaking. Northern England definitely has a different culture, ethic and wealth level than the south–never really knew that, but it explains a lot. [Oop North.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OopNorth) And [Sweet Fanny Adams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Adams) was the Madeleine McCann or JonBenet Ramsay of her day. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/153 "2018-03-25T23:36:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Also, good to know is that “an anorak” can refer to something akin to a “nerd” or maybe better a “geek”: people obsessive about every little detail of their chosen subject of interest. Trainspotters. ---
**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 25, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/154 "2018-03-25T23:44:01Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Trainspotters. Yes, that’s the archetypal anorak, and I was originally going to mention them, but trainspotting I don’t think is a thing in the US, so I left it off. Or is it? As an American, I had never heard of such a hobby until the movie came out (and I happened to be in the UK at the time, where I kind of figured out that this was a thing some people did. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s kind of like birdwatching, like with notebooks and checklists and all, but with trains.) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/155 "2018-03-26T00:13:09Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > [Jif](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jif_(peanut_butter)) in America > > [Jif](https://www.unilever.com.au/brands/home-care/jif.html) in Australia [Jif in the UK and Ireland.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jif_(lemon_juice)) Durex is a brand of condom in UK, and a brand of sticky tape in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/156 "2018-03-26T00:22:39Z")
_Back In Time For Tea_ actually went in depth about the origins of trainspotting and apparently it was quite a thing and kept the kiddies busy. The modern day kid was politely but firmly “meh” on the subject, however. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/157 "2018-03-26T00:38:42Z")
Ok, there was a fun one in the Mueller thread just now… > [@A Thread for the Mueller Investigation Results and Outcomes (Part 1)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-thread-for-the-mueller-investigation-results-and-outcomes-part-1/800093/3497): > > Thump [says](https://www.axios.com/trump-legal-team-lawyer-tweet-dowd-digenova-olson-ba97ea5b-9bbe-4aba-8c01-fce0d259122b.html)"Na-AH! Not hard to hire a lawyer! **Nanny-nanny boo-boo!**" Um…“childcare worker - childcare worker mistake”? Hmm, no,… “mother goat - mother goat injury”??? I can tell, from context, that it’s probably equivalent to what in my childhood we would have expressed as “Ner ner ni ner NERRRR!”. Without context? NFI. ---
**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 26, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/158 "2018-03-26T01:10:45Z")
The “dinner” thing isn’t just a difference in terminology, but a genuine cultural difference. “Dinner” is the main meal of the day, no matter what time it occurs. In some areas of both Britain and the US (mostly rural), the midday meal is typically the largest, and so one has breakfast, dinner, and supper (or tea). In other areas (mostly urban), the evening meal is the largest, and so you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. ---
**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 26, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/159 "2018-03-26T01:29:25Z")
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that when I was teaching EFL in Moscow, I had a new student whose last name was Vagina. When I saw her admission slip, all I could think of to say was “Are you sure your name is spelled correctly?” :dubious: I was later informed by a third party that the name was of Ukrainian origin and pronounced VA-geen-a, with a hard “g” as in “golf.” It was derived from the word for “scales” or “balance” (cf. German “Waage”). ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121/160 "2018-03-26T01:29:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The “dinner” thing isn’t just a difference in terminology, but a genuine cultural difference. “Dinner” is the main meal of the day, no matter what time it occurs. In some areas of both Britain and the US (mostly rural), the midday meal is typically the largest, and so one has breakfast, dinner, and supper (or tea). In other areas (mostly urban), the evening meal is the largest, and so you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Yes , and that’s why the Christmas meal with a turkey, goose ,roast beef or ham is called "Christmas dinner " even if it is served at 1pm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/false-friends-familiar-names-which-mean-something-very-different-elsewhere/811121.md?page=9)