That’s it. It’s been awhile and the only spanish I sprechensie is Taco Bell. 
Hmmm…I heard the same story about the word “Pajero” (car by Mitsubishi) meaning wanker in Spanish.
While the IKEA bed “Gutvik” is a classic, I have always liked their name for a fan: “Pust”, as “pust” means “to blow” in German. Maybe it does in Swedish, too, and that’s the whole idea, but I’d like to think otherwise.
Mistranslations and username confusions! There’s this poster on the boards named “Ino” n’ one day someone said, “as ino said…” n’ it was funny because asino is Italian for donkey… and…
What…
…
Love me anyway?
Ah… Einmon, that’s likelier. “hacerse una paja” IS slang for “masturbate” in several Spanish-speaking countries, so a ‘pajero’ would fit the bill.
Think I’ve posted this before, but here goes:
The elevator in my building has a little lamp that lights up to inform you it’s in use and unavailable right now. It says ‘I FART’ - danish for ‘travelling’.
Also, whenever january sale is in it’s final week it’s common for stores to paint the danish word for the end of a sprint (in athletics) all over their windows. The word? ‘Slutspurt’.
Slutspurt. Slutspurt. Slutspurt.
I have a new favorite word.
This just in
I confirmed with my german inlaws that Hummer, indeed, means Lobster in German.
Now you can sleep well at night.
Where did that word come from? And what does it mean?
I refer, of course to Slutspurt, which sounds like something wonderful to say when I mess up…
Are you sure about this? I have a very good friend of german heritage (several generations back mind you) and his last name is Fick. I find it a little hard to believe that someone would go around with a surname that was a profanity. I suppose it’s possible, but let’s just say I’m a bit skeptical.
Descended from Latin mucus. I love how medical Latin evolved into everyday language in the Romance languages.
@El Marko: Yes, it’s true. “Fick” is a derogatory word for sexual intercourse in German.
Sega means wanker in Italian as my former Italian flat-mate told me.
I don’t speak Danish but I am sure that Slutspurt comes from “slut” (speak the “u” as in moose) meanig finish/end and “spurt” meaning “a very fast run”. The German word would be Schlussspurt (the three s in the middle are not a typo) or Endspurt btw.
Until I just read it, I never realized that the car Hummer is not named after Lobster although I know that a German Hummer (the lobster) is not called that way in English. You just helped fighting my ignorance, thanks a lot!
Well, the Mitsubishi Pajero-story is true, that name just wasn´t suited for the Spanish speaking market 
Me personally, I like the Swedish word for “kiss” - as in puss och kram - “kisses and hugs”.
Maybe slightly off topic, but did you know we German speakers do not only use a lot of anglicisms, we actually invent new ones? Many people hereabouts refuse to believe that handy is not the English word for cell phone, but a purely German creation…
Of course I am sure about this, I lived in East Germany and used to speak the bloody language.
Ficken, the verb. Der Fick, noun form. Strictly the sex act, not used as in English.
Your friend’s name is likely a deformation of something else. In general it is not a good idea to derive ideas about a lang. from anglicizations of words and names by folks long settled in the US.
Yes, Fick is a German profanity, and also a normal German surname. In fact in Hamburg there is a bar called “Fick” named after the original owner. It is about halfway between the Reeperbahn and the Fischmarkt, and it is a normal bar and has nothing to do with the “adult entertainment” found on the Reeperbahn. However, the name probably causes quite a bit of confusion for some tourists, who might think it has something to do with what goes on inside.
It was interesting to read that “Po” is German slang for “butt”. When my brother and I were little we used the word “popo”, and considered each half a “po”.
Not so much a mistranslation as a mis-illustration is the bear-logo for Behr Paints. Because behr is a German verb root meaning something completely different–roughly, have or use–I’m bothered by the bear on the paint can. I’m still nearly fluent in German, so I think it’s a case of cognitive dissonance.
Well, when my father was working for Social Security he found a person on the SS roles with the last name of “Fuckaway”.
A common Philipino boy’s name is Phoc. My mum once had a student in one of her classes called “Phoc Yu.” They had to set aside concerns of cultural sensitivity and tell the parents it may be a good idea to change the name if he was going to thrive in an English-speaking environment.
And now to really mix it up… The word for kiss in swedish is “Puss” as you say. However, the word “kiss” in swedish means pee. Confusion abounds. My cousin told her swedish class “I love it when my husband pees on me”.
Other confusing swedish things are that the word for orange is “apelsin”, as a newbie in the country I would come home with the wrong juice frequently.
The equivelant of “beaver” is “mouse”, in that it is both the word for an animal and a body part. In this case, also the name of a computer peripheral. “Jan, can you come over here and have a look at my mouse? It feels all weird”. Repetative stress syndrome is called “mouse arm” in swedish, but noone likes to admit to having it, the word alone suggests how you might have gotten it.
A favourite brand of catfood here is called Pussi, with varying slogans such as “Because your pussi deserves the best” and “Your pussi will love you for it”. They had a special offer to get an apron saying “I love my pussi” on it, but I couldn’t get enough cat-food-labels in time.
In Spain, the word for a stuffed up nose is “constipado.” English speakers who are not feeling well usually go out of their way to try to explain the problem in different words.
ah, they may have a few errors in 'em…
but they’re fun to read, regardless…
not that I’d trust them implicitly…
(or TOO many other books, really…)
they certainly are fun to read, though!
that’s my comment, anywaze… 
F_X
Once again, my experience helps J:
In Central America, and I believe, in parts of Mexico, mico is indeed slang for monkey; however, if the context is sex, mico is slang to the hairy private part of the female of the human species.
I think Shirley Ujest’s friend got that “mucus” explanation from those Mexican workers as an alternative explanation of their hilarity. If only he had known the straight dope….
And yes, JRDelirious, that sega thing is dubious to me too.