# Foreign Words That Look Like English, But Don’t Mean The Same **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902 "2010-05-27T02:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/21 "2010-05-27T13:30:56Z")
In Fench “maintenant” has nothing to do with a prime leasee. It means “now.” ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/22 "2010-05-27T14:04:10Z")
This is sort of an example of what this thread is looking for, in a roundabout way. That webby thing you recline upon out on your patio? It’s a chaise lounge, right? No, actually, it’s a chaise longue…which is French for long chair. The “longue” got corrupted into “lounge” when the term made its way across the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![Negative\_Lite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/23 "2010-05-27T14:26:13Z")
More Spanish lessons: Quince - a fruity figure Rape - not a crime, but awfully fishy all the same Dime - penny for your thoughts? Quince = fifteen Rape = Monkfish (perhaps the ugliest fish at the fishmongers) Dime = “Tell me” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/24 "2010-05-27T14:56:13Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Seems I made it ruder than it is. It’s [slutspurt](http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/13/slutspurt.jpg). To make up for your faux pas, your punishment is to visit the [kuntsmuseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstmuseum_Stuttgart). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/25 "2010-05-27T15:05:10Z")
I’ll only go if the Kuntsmuseum store is having a slutspurt. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/26 "2010-05-27T15:27:13Z")
> [@NBYodo](#): > > (Speise)karte = menu (some of my german/english confused friends ask for the “card” in english-speaking countries) Hence “à la carte” -\> “according to the menu”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/27 "2010-05-27T15:52:11Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > To make up for your faux pas, your punishment is to visit the [kuntsmuseum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstmuseum_Stuttgart). That’s Kunst, not Kunts. Or, indeed, [Kuntz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kuntz), a player who led to my favourite ever piece of football commentary. (You have to read this in a deadpan, BBC-commentator manner for the full effect.) “And now here come the Germans, pressing forward once again… Kuntz.” ---
**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:** [May 27, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/28 "2010-05-27T15:57:46Z")
Another German one: Rathaus - depending on your perspective, it may be a house of rats, but not in the literal sense “Council house” or city/town hall. Hungarian: Legjobb - Not kinky, but still most excellent “The best” Bimbó - A pretty young thing? “(flower) bud” This one, without the accent, is also a popular brand of Mexican bakery products. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/29 "2010-05-27T16:08:31Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’ll only go if the Kuntsmuseum store is having a slutspurt. Post reported! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/30 "2010-05-27T16:29:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > _Me_ is who > _Who_ is he > _He_ is she > and _Dog_\* is a fish > > - Although this one really works well for a **heavy** “Ashkenazi” accent, such as I don’t think I’ve heard in Israel, in seriousness, in, literally, **decades** And _dove_ is a bear. And _low_ is no, and your friend Ken is named “yes”. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/31 "2010-05-27T16:36:05Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’ll only go if the Kuntsmuseum store is having a slutspurt. _silently dying of laughter at work_ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/32 "2010-05-27T17:46:09Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Gift – means “poison”, which is why Germans love having their pictures taken in front of “Gift Shops” for the amusement of friends back home.[/spoiler] > Feel free to add to the list, in German or other languages, if you know of any words that look similar to English, but have totally different meanings. I used to have really bright and cheery wrapping paper that alternated gaily wrapped packages and the word gift … I have been looking for more of it for the past 5 or 6 years … it was printed back in the 70s … Now I have german friends I can wrap presents to with it =) so of course I cant find it. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/33 "2010-05-27T18:40:20Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Gift – never, ever give this to a German or you will be imprisoned. I love this one! Perhaps I’ll open a German-themed gift shop just for the giggle. > [@jjimm](#): > > Seems I made it ruder than it is. It’s [slutspurt](http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/13/slutspurt.jpg). Oh, well that’s totally cool then. “Smoking” means tuxedo in Italian for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/34 "2010-05-27T18:44:55Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > “Smoking” means tuxedo in Italian for some reason. And in French, I believe. In fact, French has a whole bunch of these pseudo-English gerunds masquerading as nouns that are almost, but not quite, the same as English. le parking = car park le camping = campsite le footing = jogging le pressing = dry cleaners ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/35 "2010-05-27T18:49:22Z")
The concept the OP is describing is something called a “[false cognate](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_cognate)”. In Spanish, the verb _embarazar_ does NOT mean “to embarrass”. Likewise, its adjective form, _embarazado/-a_ does NOT mean “to be embarrassed”. Much to the amusement of native Spanish speakers, many English speakers get tripped up by this false cognate. So what does _embarazar_/_embarazado_ mean? To get pregnant/to be pregnant. I’ve heard American students say things (in Spanish) that amount to something like, “When she posted those drunken bachelorette party photos of me on FaceBook, I got SO pregnant!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/36 "2010-05-27T18:54:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Women who do something embarrassing don’t want to tell everyone how _embarazada_ they are, since _embarazada_ means pregnant. D’oh! The Hummingbird\* beat me to it! \*_Colibrí_ means hummingbird, in Spanish. Also in German. _Kolibri_ (“Operation Hummingbird”) was the tactical name given to the purging of the _Sturmabteilung_, the SA, in 1930’s Nazi Germany (the operation that we now call the Night of the Long Knives). ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/37 "2010-05-27T18:57:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > My Spanish teacher tended to lump these in with false cognates. While a linguistic person probably wouldn’t assume “embarazada” came from the same linguistic root as “embarrassed,” a lot of lay people would. More often than not, “false friends” / “false cognates” do share some ancient etymological root of some kind. Not always, but often enough. I rarely make the distinction, when explaining the general phenomenon. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/38 "2010-05-27T18:58:32Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > “Smoking” means tuxedo in Italian for some reason. Hungarian, too. And probably a bunch of other languages. I assume it comes from “smoking jacket.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/39 "2010-05-27T19:00:57Z")
That’s what I assumed, too, but it struck me as funny when I first came across it in my Italian book. There are a bunch of words that sound like English words in Italian that I can think of right now, but will come to me later. ---
**Author:** ![Cyningablod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Cyningablod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyningablod)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902/40 "2010-05-27T19:03:06Z")
> [@Negative\_Lite](#): > > Spanish: > > apescollar - surprisingly lacking in leashed monkeys > mobbing - don’t call the riot squad > store - nothing for sale here > > apescollar = to seize by the neck > mobbing = workplace harassment > store = a type of sunblind or awning What dialect is that? I’m absolutely fluent in Spanish (have a Master’s in Spanish linguistics), and I’ve never seen those words. Not saying they don’t exist…just that I’ve never seen or heard them. Not a single one appears in the [RAE dictionary](http://www.rae.es/rae.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foreign-words-that-look-like-english-but-don-t-mean-the-same/540902.md?page=3)