# "Fuck" is a seal in French: Funny language translations? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042 "2006-01-22T00:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/1 "2006-01-22T00:04:38Z")
When learning another language, there are always certain words that are really funny or bizarre. The example I used in the title was the french word “phoque” (pronounced exactly like “fuck”) is a seal. In Taiwan, they say “gan” (“to do”) to mean “fuck,” but in parts of china they still use “gan” (also “gou”, I believe) to just mean “to do.” So, Taiwanese find it funny sometimes when a Chinese person asks what someone does for a living using the word “gan” or “gou.” Also, there are certian words that are funny when written. Swedish is a good example of this. “Slut,” I believe, means “stop.” “Skulle” means “imagine.” “Fred” means “peace.” This holds even among English and American: fanny, fag, etc. I’m just curious what other words people find funny when learning languages. I mean this also for people learning english. For instance, the vegetable “beet” in english is pronounced exactly like the french word for “dick.” Have a good one. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/2 "2006-01-22T00:18:25Z")
Family Guy: Cleveland: The only British idiom I know is that fag means cigarette. Peter Griffin: Then would someone tell this cigarette to shut up! /fg ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/3 "2006-01-22T01:10:06Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > In Taiwan, they say “gan” (“to do”) to mean “fuck,” but in parts of china they still use “gan” (also “gou”, I believe) to just mean “to do.” That me reminds me of something similar in the (Englsih-speaking) US, where they say “do” (“do”) to mean “fuck”. Meanwhile, in American English, people still use “do” to mean “do”. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/4 "2006-01-22T02:48:00Z")
The second person singular imperative form of the Latin verb \*facio \* (meaning to make or to do) is often written as _fac_ and pronounced like you know what. This was the source of endless mirth at school in Latin classes. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/5 "2006-01-22T02:51:37Z")
“Gift” means “poison” in German. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/6 "2006-01-22T03:28:08Z")
You know what they say … one man’s fish is another man’s poisson. 😛 :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/7 "2006-01-22T03:36:51Z")
In Russian there is a word for “boat” and a word for “bedpan.” Americans screw it up all the time, which provides endless amusement for Russian instructors. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/8 "2006-01-22T04:08:39Z")
My name is apparently a derogatory word for “Jew” in Amharic. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/9 "2006-01-22T04:15:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Gift” means “poison” in German. And \*farhrt \* means “travel” or “drive”; some interesting compounds are possible. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/10 "2006-01-22T04:17:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > And \*farhrt \* means “travel” or “drive”; some interesting compounds are possible. Make that _fahrt._ ---
**Author:** ![gitfiddle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/898d66/32.png) [@gitfiddle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gitfiddle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/11 "2006-01-22T10:26:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Make that _fahrt._ …and I think “fart” means…damn…I forgot, but “infarting” means something like drive-in or entrance… ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/12 "2006-01-22T17:22:12Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > The example I used in the title was the french word “phoque” (pronounced exactly like “fuck”) is a seal. Bzzzzzt. “Phoque”, at least in my experience with it, has a definite ‘oh’ sound in the middle while “fuck” has the flatter ‘uh’. Believe me, French people will be very, very particular about the pronunciation of this. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/13 "2006-01-22T17:25:59Z")
The Hebrew word for “fish” is pronounced “dog.” ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/14 "2006-01-22T17:26:07Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > That me reminds me of something similar in the (Englsih-speaking) US, where they say “do” (“do”) to mean “fuck”. Meanwhile, in American English, people still use “do” to mean “do”. It’s not only in America that ‘do’ has taken on the sexual meaning. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/15 "2006-01-22T17:27:16Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > …and I think “fart” means…damn…I forgot, but “infarting” means something like drive-in or entrance… I think that’s where fart-vegnugen comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/16 "2006-01-22T17:57:28Z")
_Arche_ is arch in French, but _Arsch_ is ass in German. This would ordinarily not be a problem, but my mom wears Arche shoes from France. I wonder what name they’re sold under in German speaking countries. Then there’s [slutspurt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=1409179). ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/17 "2006-01-22T19:20:10Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Bzzzzzt. “Phoque”, at least in my experience with it, has a definite ‘oh’ sound in the middle while “fuck” has the flatter ‘uh’. > > Believe me, French people will be very, very particular about the pronunciation of this. 😉 I Bzzzzzt you, Kythereia 😉 As a French Canadian, the sound in the middle of the word “phoque” is pretty close to the english “uh” - more so than “oh”. Hence the joke: “Ils tuent des phoques pour en faire de la ouate! Ils me l’ont dit! Ouate de phoque!” (They kill seals to make cotton balls out of them! They told me! ‘what the fuck!’) Hee hee. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/18 "2006-01-22T19:22:43Z")
:o My bad, I stand corrected. Phoque-ing French. 😉 ---
**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:** [January 22, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/19 "2006-01-22T19:43:28Z")
The Italian river _Po_ and the British English _po-faced_ (denoting a serious, disapproving or humourless expression) look just a bit amusing to a speaker of German as _Po_ (noun, m.) in German means “bottom/buttocks/arse/ass”. When I read about a po-faced British official I get an inappropriate mental picture. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042/20 "2006-01-22T20:05:31Z")
> [@gitfiddle](#): > > …and I think “fart” means…damn…I forgot, but “infarting” means something like drive-in or entrance… You’re thinking of _einfahrt_ and _ausfahrt_ (literally, “intravel” and “outtravel”), which is how freeway entrances and exits are labeled in Germany. I remember a newcomer in Frankfurt telling how she was wondering where the big city of Ausfahrt was, since there were so many exits to it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-is-a-seal-in-french-funny-language-translations/341042.md?page=2)