# What amuses you about different languages? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692 "2009-05-17T00:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/61 "2009-05-23T02:14:31Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > So we would think nothing of strolling under a parasol on a sunny day, whereas someone familiar with the Romantic roots would giggle that you’re carrying a “for the sun”. The “para” in [parasol](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parasol) means “to shield” or “to protect”, not “for”. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/62 "2009-05-23T03:05:51Z")
I’m not a linguist, but I do have some favourite words to share. The Italian for ‘tortoise’ is ‘tartaruga’, which I think is fun to say and a really neat-sounding word. In Slovenia there’s a meat dish called cevapcici (the word involves some accents that I can’t easily create on my standard keyboard). You say, ‘che-vap-chee-chee’, which is nice to say. I can’t honestly say I thought very highly of the dish itself. Small hand-held fireworks consisting of stiff wire coated in fireworky stuff. We call them ‘sparklers’. In Sweden they call them ‘tomteblosse’, and the singular is the same as the plural. I like the fact that the Italian for mud is ‘fango’. Great word, so much better than ‘mud’. I just visited Montreal and liked the fact that when you walk into a book store, at first it looks as if they have a really vast section devoted to Italian people and history… well, just look at all the signs saying ‘Romans’. Not really a linguistic point, but I also like the fact that in Baden Baden, in Germany, all the vehicle licence plates bear the designation ‘BAD’, so all the drivers are officially bad drivers. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/63 "2009-05-23T06:47:12Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > In French, “doigt de pied” can be used, but “orteil” (toe) is much more common, in my dialect anyway. In French class we were taught “doigt” worked for all 20, maybe it was just to make it easier since a French speaker would understand it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/64 "2009-05-23T11:56:17Z")
Finnish and Estonian are close enough to each other that, when shopping in Tallinn, I can respond to the Estonian-speaking store personnel’s questions in Finnish and carry on a mutually understood conversation. However, there are a few false cognates which can cause confusion; for one, the Finnish word “halpa” (“cheap”) is very close to the Estonian “halb”, which means “bad” or “poor” (as in poor quality). It’s a common story that Finnish tourists going to Estonia walk around commenting on how cheap everything is compared to Finland and the Estonians get offended because they think Finns are going around dissing everything. (I don’t know how true this is.) Others include “kalju” (Finnish “bald”, Estonian “cliff or boulder”) and “ilmavaevad” which is an Estonian word meaning “weltschmerz” but which is very close to the Finnish word for flatulence. (Although, excessive farting _could_ cause quite a lot of mental anguish, no?) My favorite Finnish-Estonian false cognate, though, is “hallitus”. In Finnish, the word means “government”. In Estonian, it means “mold”. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/65 "2009-05-23T12:05:28Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > No, “brunette” (or, rather, “dark”) would be “Sh’charchoret” (שחרחורת) – the word mentioned before was “Scharchoret” (סחרחורת) which does in fact mean “dizziness” Thanks - now I see the difference. > [@](#): > > Not quite – This ditty probably originated with people who Hebrew in an “Ashkenazi” accent, borrowed from Yiddush, where many “ah” sounds get lengthened to “o.” So, in this accent, “dahg” becomes closer to “dog.” Works both ways… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/66 "2009-05-23T14:55:49Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > My favorite Finnish-Estonian false cognate, though, is “hallitus”. In Finnish, the word means “government”. In Estonian, it means “mold”. I love this. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/67 "2009-05-23T16:13:41Z")
English and Spanish have a lot of cognates, especially in the dialects spoken along the U.S./Mexico border. For many adjectives, you can simply take the English word, and just change the ending to “-o” or “-ado”. However, “embarrazado” does not mean “embarrassed”. It means “pregnant”. Sooner or later, everyone gets embarrassed by this. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/68 "2009-05-23T16:24:39Z")
Another one from Hebrew that just came back to me. Probably apocryphal, the story is a Frenchman who had spent some time here was asked what he thought about the language. Well, he said, most words are kind of heavy, and the gutterals get under my skin – but there’s one word I loved; it’s so light and airy! – “_Oom-la-la!_” “Oomlala” means a thorougly sad, dejected and generally unhappy female… ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/69 "2009-05-23T17:28:38Z")
A French word I recently learned is ronronner, which means to purr (as a cat) or to hum. The song “Da Doo Ron Ron” comes into my head when I see it. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/70 "2009-05-23T18:20:54Z")
I’m amused by the words in Portuguese and Spanish that are written and sound the same, but have different, or slightly different, meanings. An easy example: mariposa is butterfly in Spanish, but moth in Portuguese. Acordar is “to remember” in Spanish, but “to wake up” in Portuguese. And **Nava** , having had lovers of different Spanish speaking countries, I get to listen to all the different slangs… which sometimes makes me go “huh”? At least I don’t laugh in front of them… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/71 "2009-05-23T18:37:09Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > In Hebrew, there is a word that means a covering, a pouch , or a case (like the case you carry your glasses in, or the little pocket pouch that engineering nerds but their pens in). > > But the same word , in medical terminology, means vagina. Not surprisingly (and I apologize for not having a link handy), the anatomical term “vagina” was taken from the Latin word for “sword sheath/scabbard”. Yup, your average centurion kept his gladius in his vagina. 😃 > [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > And if you say “I am hot” _Ich bin heiss_, you are saying you are hot and horny. > [@ruadh](#): > > It’s the same in Spanish. You can describe something else as _caliente_, but if you make the mistake of saying _estoy caliente_ be prepared for giggles. This came up several years ago at Seattle Mariners’ games. Edgar Martinez was knocking the cover off the ball on a regular basis, and pretty soon people were showing up at the ballpark with big signs that read, “EDGAR ESTA CALIENTE!”, which in the slang of 'Gar’s native Puerto Rico meant “Edgar is horny!” ---
**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:** [May 23, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/72 "2009-05-23T19:54:36Z")
learning to count in Japanese begins with an “itchy knee” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/73 "2009-05-23T20:07:39Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > First thing everyone learns in Hebrew class: who is he, he is she, and dog is fish. Also, me is who. I am the eggman… ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/74 "2009-05-23T21:01:10Z")
> [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > And if you say “I am hot” _Ich bin heiss_, you are saying you are hot and horny. Heh. This was my first German linguistic mistake. I had just started an introductory German class and my German boyfriend told me (over the phone) that he was feeling pretty rotten. I thought I would pull out some of my new vocabulary words and asked him, ‘Bist du heiss?’ He paused for a moment and then suggested that I _never_ ask that question of my German boss. > [@Colibri](#): > > My favorite German word when I was learning it was _handschuh_ (glove). I thought it was hilarious that leather things that you put on your hands were literally “hand shoes.” Damn you!! I came in here to give this very example! > [@Tengu](#): > > I am the eggman… And I am the walrus, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/75 "2009-05-24T02:57:00Z")
When I was in China a couple years ago, I learned that Mandarin for France is fǎ guó (pronounced fa gwah), which sounds very similar to foie gras, a French delicacy (and a pathological condition, fatty liver). ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/76 "2009-05-24T04:31:39Z")
Spoken Mandarin makes no difference between he, she and it. All three are pronounced exactly the same. When I was teaching English at a university in Taiwan, my students would often go back and forth between "he’ and “she” when speaking about the same person. My wife is from Taiwan and although her English was quite good when she first arrived here in California, she used to have this problem. I remember my mom asking me one time why my wife had trouble with something seemingly so basic as an individuals gender. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/77 "2009-05-24T07:09:18Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Spoken Mandarin makes no difference between he, she and it. All three are pronounced exactly the same. > > When I was teaching English at a university in Taiwan, my students would often go back and forth between "he’ and “she” when speaking about the same person. > > My wife is from Taiwan and although her English was quite good when she first arrived here in California, she used to have this problem. I remember my mom asking me one time why my wife had trouble with something seemingly so basic as an individuals gender. My mother tends to just refer to everyone as “she”, including her own husband. I remember discovering that the French rendering of Vladimir Putin’s surname is “Poutine”. Changed my view of the man forever. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/78 "2009-05-24T11:16:32Z")
> [@FlyingRamenMonster](#): > > My mother tends to just refer to everyone as “she”, including her own husband. > > I remember discovering that the French rendering of Vladimir Putin’s surname is “Poutine”. Changed my view of the man forever. Better to write it as “Poutine” to get the correct pronunciation than say it like it actually looks like it should be pronounced, which is “putain”, “whore”… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/79 "2009-05-24T16:29:04Z")
I love the names some foreign countries have in their own native languages, as seen on their stamps and coins. Hungary is Magyarország and Albania is Shqipëria. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692/80 "2009-05-24T16:50:06Z")
My mother likes to translate the English “milkman” literally as “el hombre de la leche,” “the man with the milk” or “the man of the milk.” Now take into account that in Spanish a man’s milk can be either his mood or his semen, add that something being “la leche” means “the best,” and you get roomfuls of sunday school teachers in their 60s giggling like tweens… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-amuses-you-about-different-languages/496692.md?page=5)