# Words that are innocent in one language but embarrassing in another language
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 1, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515 "2005-09-01T00:26:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/1 "2005-09-01T00:26:08Z")
The Armenian word for kiss is _batchik_. Pronounced out loud, it sounds like “butt cheek.” If I ever hear someone saying “Give me a kiss” in Armenian, I’m going to think “Kiss my butt cheek.”
If the people of Nagoya, Japan detect an unusual interest by Russians in their city, it’s probably because _nagoya_ is Russian for ‘female nude’.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/2 "2005-09-01T00:26:48Z")
Belgium
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### Author:  [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/3 "2005-09-01T00:30:06Z")
I’ll never forget the amusement when, in eighth grade French class, we learned that the French word for a chalkboard eraser is “le tampon.”
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/4 "2005-09-01T00:34:21Z")
In fact, the word embarazado means “pregnant” in Spanish.
It’s a long way from embarrassment to pregnancy…
Robin
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/5 "2005-09-01T00:40:51Z")
In pretty much any language other than English, there’s a word pronounced something like “preservative” that means condom.
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/6 "2005-09-01T00:46:10Z")
Claiming that one “roots” for a specific team could be rather embarrassing in Australia.
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/7 "2005-09-01T00:52:23Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> In fact, the word embarazado means “pregnant” in Spanish.
_Embarazad **a** _, surely. Hard to imagine anything other than female being pregnant.
Visiting Denmark this summer gave me some words that aren’t quite polite in English. Their word for a clearance sale is _slutspurt_. Books are _bøger_, pronounced more or less “booger.” And whipped anything is _skum_.
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### Author:  [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/8 "2005-09-01T01:03:11Z")
I dunno about Denmark, but a quick walk through Ikea will demonstrate that a lot of words that must sound okay in Swedish sound…not okay in English.
“I’d like to order a Turd bookcase, please. And the Rektum dining table in maple, with 4 Kumragg chairs.”
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### Author:  [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/9 "2005-09-01T01:11:01Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#):
>
> _Embarazad **a** _, surely. Hard to imagine anything other than female being pregnant.
Well, if we’re getting into nitpicking, male seahorses can get pregnant.
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### Author:  [@Kiminy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiminy)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/10 "2005-09-01T01:34:03Z")
The word _phoque_ (pronounced something like /fuk/) in French simply refers to a seal (the animal). Definitely a different meaning than the English word with a close pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/11 "2005-09-01T01:57:13Z")
A joke used by Willy Shakes himself:
“Pucelle” (as in “Joan la Pucelle”) is French for “virgin”, but a “puzzel” (pronounced the same way) was 16th-century English slang for a whore.
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### Author:  [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/12 "2005-09-01T02:08:05Z")
My husband was trying to send an email at work that kept getting bounced back to him. Finally he realized it was because of a spam filter. He was writing in Swedish – and used the word “slut” (to mean “end” or “finish”).
Brilliant filter for an **major international non-governmental agency** to be using. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/13 "2005-09-01T02:33:37Z")
English German
Fart - Fahrt (Trip) Habe Eine Gute Fahrt. Have a good trip.
Gift - Gift ( phoenetically) poison. The wine bottle has dust on it…oh…it must have been gift wine." (german relations giggle as it was indeed a present and indeed not all that good.)
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/14 "2005-09-01T03:15:46Z")
> [@Blalron](#):
>
> Well, if we’re getting into nitpicking, male seahorses can get pregnant.
And the governor of California.
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### Author:  [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/15 "2005-09-01T05:29:42Z")
I always wonder if World Champion figure skater Irina Slutskya’s last name has the same giggle potential in Russian as it does in English.
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### Author:  [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/16 "2005-09-01T06:12:54Z")
the Polish word for Aunt is chocha\* …
in Spanish chocha an impolite term for a woman, just change the first letter of aunt.
\*not sure how it’s spelled in either language.
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### Author:  [@bupkis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bupkis)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/17 "2005-09-01T09:29:09Z")
> [@lavenderlemon](#):
>
> I always wonder if World Champion figure skater Irina Slutskya’s last name has the same giggle potential in Russian as it does in English.
I once commented to my (fluent English-speaking) Russian friend that it was a good thing Irina wasn’t raised in the US because she would have been teased something fierce. My friend gave me a blank look. “Because of her last name,” I said. Still blank. “_Slut_skya.” … Nothing. “ **SLUT** skya.” … “Ooohhhh. Yeah.”
Language-context can make otherwise giggle-worthy things seem totally innucuous. Different neural pathways and all.
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/18 "2005-09-01T12:19:54Z")
_Der Gross Fahrt_ is the German title for the western _The Big Trail_.
Some people are not sure how to pronounce the surname Fuchs. It’s _fooks_, and is German for _fox_.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/19 "2005-09-01T12:24:35Z")
In Latin class we had to decline the verb _facio_ “to make”. We were taught to pronounce it with a hard “c” (unlike in altar boysm, where the Church Latin gave is a “ch” sound). So the guys would address each other out of class:
“Hey, _facio_!”
“_Facio_, too!”
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-innocent-in-one-language-but-embarrassing-in-another-language/319515/20 "2005-09-01T12:30:14Z")
> [@Walloon](#):
>
> _Der Gross Fahrt_ is the German title for the western _The Big Trail_.
>
> Some people are not sure how to pronounce the surname Fuchs. It’s _fooks_, and is German for _fox_.
I thought it was pronounced **Fewks.**
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