# Longest false "bilingual" word **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168 "2022-01-04T00:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/1 "2022-01-04T00:00:18Z")
There’s a number of false “bilingual” words. That is, they are coincidentally spelled the same, but are not actually related and have unrelated meanings. Off the top of my head, I can come up with a number of them, all of them between English and another language, but none longer than 4 letters: - _Gift_ (German) means “poison” - _pays_ (French) means “country” or “region” - _rang_ (French) means “line” or “row” - _pain_ (French) means “bread” - _stem_ (Dutch) means “vote” So anyone know of a longer example? They can be between any two languages, but remember the words do have to be unrelated. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/2 "2022-01-04T00:03:26Z")
The Bart, The [![](https://external-preview.redd.it/jo_SwiZWbbhXMb4pQTt_cYeOZxMdMF5uChavO-LW8Gk.jpg?auto=webp&s=02da6576a2464e3df19b57b2149d4beace8b2134) ](https://external-preview.redd.it/jo_SwiZWbbhXMb4pQTt_cYeOZxMdMF5uChavO-LW8Gk.jpg?auto=webp&s=02da6576a2464e3df19b57b2149d4beace8b2134) ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/3 "2022-01-04T00:06:25Z")
_Schmuck_ means “jewelry” in German and “dick” (literal or figurative) in Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/4 "2022-01-04T00:26:51Z")
But are the two are related via slang? How about: kitten = young cat (English), to cement (German) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/5 "2022-01-04T00:31:40Z")
Apparently, the word for “worse” in Turkish is “better”. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/6 "2022-01-04T00:38:39Z")
_Fear_ (Irish) means “man”. _Comes_ (Latin) means a count, an earl. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/7 "2022-01-04T00:40:39Z")
For 5 letters (and I’m sure we can do better): Spanish _saber_ (to know) = AmE saber (type of sword). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/8 "2022-01-04T00:43:00Z")
Not the exact spelling, but in Japanese “tako” means octopus. If you go into a Japanese restaurant to order “a taco” you’ll be eating tentacles. (And yes, I realize this is only 4 letters.) For a 5-letter word, similarly, “ringo” means “apple” in Japanese. Funny coincidence that Apple Records was founded by the Beatles, one of whom was named Ringo. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2022, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/9 "2022-01-04T00:46:16Z")
There’s a town in Japan named “Obama”, and I think another named “Ohara” (though without the apostrophe). Not sure if proper names count, though. Another 4-letter one: The Chinese word for “dragon” is sometimes rendered either as “long” or “lung”, either of which is an English word. And if fictional languages count, one of the realms in Tolkien’s Middle Earth was named “Region”. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/10 "2022-01-04T00:54:10Z")
Soundwise, Russian “Старый” (old) \<==\> “starry” (full of stars) 6 letters in each language, but of course, not the _same_ 6 letters ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/11 "2022-01-04T00:56:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Not sure if proper names count, though. Lets not do proper names. > [@](#): > > Another 4-letter one: The Chinese word for “dragon” is sometimes rendered either as “long” or “lung”, either of which is an English word. Whichever one, if either, is the official romanization. > [@](#): > > And if fictional languages count, one of the realms in Tolkien’s Middle Earth was named “Region”. Pretty sure that was Eregion, although it’s been a long time since I’ve looked at the Middle Earth map. ---
**Author:** ![Kimble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimble/32/19185_2.png) [@Kimble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimble)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/12 "2022-01-04T01:03:33Z")
Spanish infinitives ending in _-er_ are probably a rich vein for this. _romper_ Spanish: to break, from Latin _rumpere_ with the same meaning English: various, perhaps from Old French _rampare_, “to climb, scale, mount” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/13 "2022-01-04T02:03:42Z")
7 letters: Welsh _blinder_ = “tiredness” (-i- as in “ink”) English _blinder_ = “he who or that which blinds; blinker for a horse” (-i- as in “blind”) ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/14 "2022-01-04T02:24:00Z")
Found a Quora thread that discusses the same topic and gives a lot of examples. It appears that this general linguistic phenomenon is known as [false friends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend). > **[What words in different languages are spelled exactly the same, but mean...](https://www.quora.com/What-words-in-different-languages-are-spelled-exactly-the-same-but-mean-different-things-like-alma-soul-in-Spanish-and-apple-in-Hungarian)** > > Answer (1 of 9): Here are some English words that mean different things in other languages: > > most (Hungarian) = right now > > leg (Hungarian) = most > > dug (Hungarian) = to shove in or have sex > > nap (Hungarian) = day > > hold (Hungarian) = the moon > > tart... From that Quora thread, the longest word I could find is “déception” (meaning “disappointment” in French), with 9 letters, although I’m unsure if that one counts since one of the E’s has an acute accent. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/15 "2022-01-04T02:45:53Z")
Another 9 letter one with an accent is English _diversion_ vs Spanish _diversión_, which means “fun”. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/16 "2022-01-04T02:51:31Z")
Is that really a different meaning then? > distraction from business, care, etc.; recreation; amusement; a pastime: ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/17 "2022-01-04T02:53:58Z")
The ion ending in English words is often perhaps even usually from Latin. Divertere is the Latin root for diversion and I’d assume for the Spanish word as well. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2022, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/18 "2022-01-04T02:57:35Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > Another 9 letter one with an accent is English _diversion_ vs Spanish _diversión_ , which means “fun”. Are we sure that’s a false friend, though? One meaning of diversion in English is a recreation or amusement. It’s a fairly similar meaning to fun. Maybe one is a loanword, or maybe they both derive from a common source. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/19 "2022-01-04T03:05:51Z")
Yes, I even use the term “diversion” to mean a fun activity. “This is a pleasant diversion.” > **[Pleasant diversion definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/pleasant-diversion)** > > Pleasant diversion definition: A diversion is an action or event that attracts your attention away from what you are... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168/20 "2022-01-04T03:06:55Z")
Well, If you speak both speak German and English, you know your false friends like “gift”. Another one is Mist/mist, meaning manure/dung or fog. That’s the reason why the Rolls Royce Silver Mist was called Silver Shadow in the end. > **[Test your knowledge: What forced Rolls-Royce into a rethink over the name...](https://www.driving.co.uk/news/test-your-knowledge-what-forced-rolls-royce-into-a-rethink-over-the-name-silver-mist/)** > > Rolls Royce decided not to call its 1965 luxury car the Silver Mist, instead changing it to Silver Shadow. Why? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-false-bilingual-word/957168.md?page=2)