# Words that make more sense in another language **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695 "2009-12-10T04:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/1 "2009-12-10T04:44:39Z")
In German, strawberries are _Erdbeeren_; literally, ‘ground berries’. This makes sense, as strawberries grow close to the ground; as opposed to, say, blackberries, which grow on often very-large bushes. ‘Strawberries’? They’re not planted in straw. They were around before people were around to put straw around them. There’s probably a good etymological reason for the ‘straw’, but in modern English it doesn’t really make sense. What other English words make more sense when translated into another language? ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/2 "2009-12-10T04:58:42Z")
European football. You kick a spherical _ball_ around with…you know…your _feet_. The American word soccer doesn’t really tell you anything about the sport. To further complicate things, what Americans call football doesn’t involve much contact of the foot with the ball. The ball spends most of the time in the players hand/arm. It’s only during kickoffs, punts, extra points, and field goals, that the ball actually touches the foot. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/3 "2009-12-10T09:13:26Z")
Knight. In French they were called “chevaliers”, in German “Ritter”. Both words mean horse rider or horse warrior. Makes sense. Horse warring was what they did, after all. Knight OTOH doesn’t seem to mean a thing, unless you happen to speak Olde English, in which case you know it means “servant boy”. Errr… right… totally what springs to mind [here](http://www.tourcart.net/tourmate/img/sites/photos/sz1-charging-knight.jpg_Thumbnail1.jpg). He must be about to fetch the drinks. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/4 "2009-12-10T09:23:09Z")
There are a bunch of these in Japanese. In my limited experience, there is one word for a certain group of things, and then things build on that word, sort of the way genus and species works in English. So plate is sara, ashtray is ashplate (haizara). A rat or mouse (incidentally, pigeon and dove is also the same word) is nezumi, hedgehog is called a needlerat. Others might be more along the lines of what you were looking for. Gray is “ash color,” and brown is “tea color.” They also use the word for thing (mono) to make tons of words. Shopping is kaimono (bought thing). Food is tabemono (eaten thing), drink is nomimono (drunk thing). They even used to use kimono (worn thing) to refer to clothing in general before it took on its modern meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/5 "2009-12-10T10:28:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In German, strawberries are _Erdbeeren_; literally, ‘ground berries’. This makes sense, as strawberries grow close to the ground; as opposed to, say, blackberries, which grow on often very-large bushes. ‘Strawberries’? They’re not planted in straw. They were around before people were around to put straw around them. There’s probably a good etymological reason for the ‘straw’, but in modern English it doesn’t really make sense. Oh, I figured the straw was the soft herbaceous “trunk” that goes from a strawberry bunch to the next. You can see them quite more clearly in wild strawberries than in cultivated ones. I had a recent argument about “knight” and its translation to Spanish. The text talked about “watchtowers” _in Spain_ as being “used by knights to watch out for enemies,” and I pointed out that in Spain a _caballero_ would never have been the person in the tower. In English, knight has come to be almost synonimous with “medieval soldier,” but in Spanish like in French it’s a horse-rider; often the only one in a given group of soldiers would be their Lord’n’Captain. The people manning the towers often were boys in their low teens: old enough to be trusted with such a responsibility, but young enough that their work could be spared from the fields. One I always find curious is words which get acquired from a language and end up meaning something very different or even opposite in the new language. In Spanish _plaza_ is an open space (same as _piazza_ in Italian); in English it got to mean several buildings around an open space and has ended up meaning a building. And what you guys call mesa, Spanish calls _meseta_ (“mesa-like thing”): a Spanish _mesa_ is a table. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/6 "2009-12-10T10:50:31Z")
The etymology I favour for strawberry is the “Strewn berry” variant, in reference to how the plants and berries lie about on the ground. In which case it makes perfect sense. More so than the German, because I’d expect to find the berries _under_ground, like the erdnuss or the erdapfel. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/7 "2009-12-10T12:07:45Z")
I have never thought about the etymology of strawberry before, but couldn’t it just come from the habit of picking wild strawberries and string them on a grass straw ([http://www.seat24.se/semesterbilden/natur/smultron-pa-stra-23/](http://www.seat24.se/semesterbilden/natur/smultron-pa-stra-23/))? For what it’s worth, the Swedish word for wild strawberry is _smultron_, which is derived from the word _smälta_=smelt, meaning they are so delicious that they melt in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/8 "2009-12-10T12:12:06Z")
You should never check things up: Etymology: Middle English, from Old English _strēawberige_, from _strēaw_ straw + _berige_ berry; perhaps from the appearance of the achenes on the surface > **[Definition of STRAWBERRY](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strawberry)** > > the juicy edible usually red fruit of any of several low-growing temperate herbs (genus Fragaria) of the rose family that is technically an enlarged pulpy receptacle bearing numerous achenes on its surface… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/9 "2009-12-10T12:45:19Z")
But if we look up the etymology of [straw](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/straw)…we get right back to my preferred origin. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/10 "2009-12-10T13:13:51Z")
Merriam-Webster did say “perhaps” after all. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/11 "2009-12-10T13:26:18Z")
> [@Engineer\_Dude](#): > > European football. You kick a spherical _ball_ around with…you know…your _feet_. The American word soccer doesn’t really tell you anything about the sport. > > To further complicate things, what Americans call football doesn’t involve much contact of the foot with the ball. The ball spends most of the time in the players hand/arm. It’s only during kickoffs, punts, extra points, and field goals, that the ball actually touches the foot. Football is called football because it’s played on foot, rather than on horseback. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/12 "2009-12-10T13:29:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Football is called football because it’s played on foot, rather than on horseback. That’s why we call ice hockey “Skatepuck”. (BTW **Engineer Dude** , “soccer” is also English English, I believe, derived from the word “association”.) I like Chinese for tram: “electric vehicle”. No messing about, it does what it says on the tin. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/13 "2009-12-10T15:07:32Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > For what it’s worth, the Swedish word for wild strawberry is _smultron_ A great name for an '80s Evil Overlord! > [@Floater](#): > > which is derived from the word _smälta_=smelt Sounds fishy to me! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/14 "2009-12-10T15:24:31Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > (BTW **Engineer Dude** , “soccer” is also English English, I believe, derived from the word “association”.) As opposed to “rugger” which is derived from “rugby”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/15 "2009-12-10T16:48:44Z")
> [@Engineer\_Dude](#): > > European football. You kick a spherical _ball_ around with…you know…your _feet_. The American word soccer doesn’t really tell you anything about the sport. > > To further complicate things, what Americans call football doesn’t involve much contact of the foot with the ball. The ball spends most of the time in the players hand/arm. It’s only during kickoffs, punts, extra points, and field goals, that the ball actually touches the foot. Soccer’s not an American word. It’s a contraction of _association football_ - the full English name for the game with netted goals and a ball you can’t touch with your hands. > [@Floater](#): > > As opposed to “rugger” which is derived from “rugby”. _Rugger_ is just a nickname. The name of the sport is _rugby football_, which is derived from _Rugby School_, the school where it was invented. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/16 "2009-12-10T16:54:08Z")
The French name of the letter _W_ is _double-vee_; makes much more sense than _double-u_, 'cause it looks like two Vs. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/17 "2009-12-10T17:00:30Z")
German is a very to-the-point language. My favorite German word: **Büstenhalter**. Much more descriptive than the English word “bra”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/18 "2009-12-10T17:22:07Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > German is a very to-the-point language. My favorite German word: **Büstenhalter**. Much more descriptive than the English word “bra”. I was going to mention _Flugzeug_, literally ‘flying thing’. But in English, ‘airplane’ makes as much sense because the wings are planes that work in the air. The German word for ‘helicopter’ is a little weird. _Hub_ is ‘stroke’, and Babelfish says _Schrauber_ is ‘nut runner’. So _Hubschrauber_ literally translates to ‘stroke nut runner’. That one makes more sense in English, as it is from the Greek meaning ‘rotating wing’. > [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > So plate is sara, ashtray is ashplate (haizara). ‘Ashtray’ and ‘haizara’ make equal sense. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/19 "2009-12-10T17:38:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I was going to mention _Flugzeug_, literally ‘flying thing’. But in English, ‘airplane’ makes as much sense because the wings are planes that work in the air. > > The German word for ‘helicopter’ is a little weird. _Hub_ is ‘stroke’, and Babelfish says _Schrauber_ is ‘nut runner’. So _Hubschrauber_ literally translates to ‘stroke nut runner’. That one makes more sense in English, as it is from the Greek meaning ‘rotating wing’. You may not want to rely on babelfish because it is leading you terribly astray. For one thing, ‘zeug’ does not mean thing - in _Flugzeug_ it means something akin to ‘gear’ or ‘craft’. Also, a _Schraube_ is not a ‘nut runner’, and _hub_ is not a stroke (in _Hubschrauber_). Rather, ‘hub’ is lift (not as in elevator, rather as in levitation), and _Schraube_ is a screw (or: a propellor), so _Hubschrauber_ is a ‘lifting screw’. Finally, to add to the strawberry issue: strawberries are best grown on a bed of straw to prevent them from rotting - hence: strawberries. > [@Alessan](#): > > Football is called football because it’s played on foot, rather than on horseback. That’s pretty useful. Now we can tell it apart from handball, basketball, volleyball, baseball and all those other sports that are not played on foot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695/20 "2009-12-10T17:48:05Z")
Not to mention petition the International Polo Board to rename the sport Horseball. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-more-sense-in-another-language/520695.md?page=2)