# False friends with English



## dn88

Hello everybody;

 I hope it's a right place to start such a thread  (the thread by jonquiliser has inspired me). Anyway, I'd like to ask you whether you have English false friends in your languages. I mean words that are spelled and pronounced in a way similar to a particular English word, but in fact they have a very different meaning. There are some examples in the Polish language (undobtedly there are more of them, however, that's all I can think of right now):

*English word - Polish false friend (English equivalent of Polish false friend)*

 actual _adj_ - aktualny _adj_ (current, topical)
 concurrence _noun_ - konkurencja _noun_ (competition)
 divan _noun_ - dywan _noun_ (carpet)
 eventual _adj_ - ewentualny _adj_ (possible)
 feral _adj_ - feralny _adj_ (disastrous, fatal)
 hazard _noun_ - hazard _noun_ (gambling)
 knot _noun_ - knot _noun_ (wick)
 rumo(u)r _noun_ - rumor _noun_ (uproar, clamour)

 Now it's your turn. If you're willing, please contribute then . Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance and regards,

dn88


----------



## julinkabul

Seems French and Polish have something in common 
actual - actuel (current)
hazard - hasard (fortune)
It's all I have in mind now, if anything else is coming, I'll let you know.
Cheers,
Jul


----------



## Moon77

Here are some Italian-English false friends: 

factory / fattoria (farm) 
cold / caldo (hot) 
fabric / fabbrica (factory) 
educated / educato (polite) 
argument / argomento (topic, subject of a discussion) 
code / coda (tail) 
corpse / corpo (body)
parent / parente (relative) 
preservative / preservativo (condom)
to pretend / pretendere (claim)
editor / editore (publisher)
brave / bravo (clever) 
annoyed / annoiato (bored) 
canteen / cantina (cellar) 
camera / camera (room)
horse / orso (bear)
mare / mare (sea)
morbid / morbido (soft)


----------



## Lello4ever

One of the most common mistakes in Italian is
Actually -Attualmente (at the moment)


----------



## dn88

Thanks for your help so far! Here are some more in Polish:

confection _noun_ - konfekcja _noun_ (ready-made clothes)
lecture _noun_ - lektura _noun_ (reading _or_ set book)
preservative _noun_ - prezerwatywa _noun_ (condom)

Thank you once again and I'm looking forward to more answers .


----------



## OldAvatar

Here are some English-Romanian false friends:

eventually - eventual (possible)
crime - crimă (murder)
nervous - nervos (irritated, not in an emotionally state but in an almost outrageous one)
library - librărie (book store, the place where you buy books but not rent/borrow them)


----------



## Jana337

Some Czech ones (many of them have already been mentioned by others):

aktuální (up-to-date) - actual
eventuální (potential, possible) - eventual
gymnázium (high school) - gymnasium
hymna (anthem) - hymn
kriminál (jail) - criminal
absolvovat (to pass an exam) - to absolve
kontrolovat (to check) - to control (although the Czech word seems to acquiring the other meaning, too)
prezervativ (condom) - preservative


----------



## jonquiliser

Funny that many other languages seem to share their false friends with English - why might that be? 

There are heaps of them in Swedish as well, here a few (remember the pronounciation is not the same in many cases):
as - as (=carcass)
barn - barn (=child, cf. Scots "bairn")
stop - stop (=a sort of pint, for beer or so. The English meaning is expressed in "Stopp" or the verb "att stanna")
wrist (Sw: handled) - vrist (=ankle)
swim - svimma (=to faint; to swim is "att simma")
prick - prick (=dot, ie the tiny round sign)
full (Sw: mätt) - full (=drunk, pissed)
mask - mask (has the same meaning as in English, but also "worm")
(to) make - make (=husband)
hop - hop [as homographs] (=a crowd) [as (almost) homonyms, Eng hop/Swe hopp] (=a jump)

Well, there are tons more . 
Wiki has a list of lots of false friends English/other languages, but it's alphabetical and not language specific so.. good in a way, less so in another. But funny, nonetheless!


----------



## Jana337

jonquiliser said:


> Funny that many other languages seem to share their false friends with English - why might that be?
> 
> There are heaps of them in Swedish as well, here a few (remember the pronounciation is not the same in many cases):
> as - as (=carcass)
> barn - barn (=child, cf. Scots "bairn")
> stop - stop (=a sort of pint, for beer or so. The English meaning is expressed in "Stopp" or the verb "att stanna")
> wrist (Sw: handled) - vrist (=ankle)
> swim - svimma (=to faint; to swim is "att simma")
> prick - prick (=dot, ie the tiny round sign)
> full (Sw: mätt) - full (=drunk, pissed)
> mask - mask (has the same meaning as in English, but also "worm")
> (to) make - make (=husband)
> hop - hop [as homographs] (=a crowd) [as (almost) homonyms, Eng hop/Swe hopp] (=a jump)
> 
> Well, there are tons more .
> Wiki has a list of lots of false friends English/other languages, but it's alphabetical and not language specific so.. good in a way, less so in another. But funny, nonetheless!


Hm... You (and some others too) seem to list also words that are written the same but no one would ever mess them up. I am not sure it is desirable to clutter this thread with such examples, though. For example, the Czech word "house" means "gosling" but no learner would do the mistake, so I didn't include it.


----------



## jonquiliser

Jana337 said:


> Hm... You (and some others too) seem to list also words that are written the same but no one would ever mess them up. I am not sure it is desirable to clutter this thread with such examples, though. For example, the Czech word "house" means "gosling" but no learner would do the mistake, so I didn't include it.



Hmm, perhaps - I imagine someone with any sort of clue of the language mightn't mix them up, but I included all I could think of because an uninitiated person just seeing them in a random text might well be mislead. But, perhaps examples should be restricted to close-in-use-but-distant-in-meaning words..?


----------



## Aurin

Instead of copying I ´ll give the link to false friends between German and English:
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/false_friends.htm


----------



## dn88

I only append some of my findings in Polish (which can really be misleading):

antics - antyki _pl_ (antiques)
angina - angina (throat infection/tonsilitis)
beckon _verb _- bekon (bacon)
caravan - karawan (hearse)
complement - komplement (compliment)
direction - dyrekcja (management)
dress - dres (tracksuit)
fabric - fabryka (factory)
gnat - gnat (bone _inf_)
gymnasium - gimnazjum (junior secondary school)
helm - hełm (helmet)
local - lokal (dwelling, apartment _or _restaurant)
lot - lot (flight)
lump - lump (wino, lush)
lunatic - lunatyk (sleepwalker)
novel - nowela (short story)
ordinary - ordynarny (coarse, boorish)
pension - pensja (salary)
probe - próba (attempt, trial)
rate - rata (installment)
receipt - recepta (prescription)
rent - renta (pension)
vagaries - wagary _pl_ (playing truant)

Thanks to all the contributors .


----------



## soupdragon78

dn88:
I was interested to read your last entry. Here in the north-west of England the slang word for playing truant is "to wag it". I wonder if the two could be related or if it is just a coincidence...


----------



## dn88

soupdragon78 said:


> dn88:
> I was interested to read your last entry. Here in the north-west of England the slang word for playing truant is "to wag it". I wonder if the two could be related or if it is just a coincidence...



If I'm honest, I hadn't noticed the similarity before... But I'm afraid that the Polish word "wagary" is derived from the Latin word "vagari" meaning "wander, roam". I don't know the etymology of "wag" , hence I can't state whether both words are  somehow related, all I can conclude now is that Polish "wagary" is more likely to share roots with English "vagrancy" or "vagabond" (I take account of the fact that Polish "w" is pronounced like English "v"). However, that's only my guessing. Thanks for your interest soupdragon78, anyway.


----------



## kusurija

In Czech:
Máš rum?[mash rum] (Do you have rum[drink]?) - mushroom [mashrum]
much[mukh] ({house}fly - pl. genitive) - much
Lída (girl's name) - leader
... (these are good joke for me..)


----------



## Sionees

From a Japanese colleague regarding Welsh and Englis _faux amis. _Pleasevisit the website www.eigo21.com/etc/welsh/falsefriend.htm. (Apologies, I did not realise I can not give URLs their proper forms until I have made 30 posts or more. I promise this is not a spam address)

Note also in our sister languages of Welsh and Breton:

Welsh _coch = _English 'red'
Breton _coch_ = English 'shit' (!)

Be careful of asking for 'a red wine' (_gwin _is identical in both languages) unless you are fully aware in which Celtic nation you're in ... ;-)

_Hwyl_


----------



## Outsider

Portuguese has one that confuses everybody, even me. Two words you'll see everywhere:

_Puxe_, pronounced close to "push", but means "pull".
_Empurre_, means "push".

Watch out for the doors when you're travelling in a Portuguese-speaking country.


----------



## Topsie

Aurin said:


> Instead of copying I ´ll give the link to false friends between German and English:
> http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/false_friends.htm


French has a lot too! 
http://www.anglaisfacile.com/pages/images/fauxamis.php


----------



## sound shift

German "dezent" means "discreet" and not "decent" in English. English "decent" = German "anständig".
German "also" means "thus", "therefore" and "so" in English. It does not correspond to English "also".

Dutch "folder" = English "brochure". English "folder" = Dutch "????" 
English "grandiose" often carries connotations of pretentiousness. Dutch "grandioos" seems not to have the same connotations.
Dutch "ramp" = English "disaster". English "ramp" = Dutch "helling", "oprit".
Dutch "spijs" = English "food". English "spice" = Dutch "specerij", "kruiderij".
Dutch "lint" = English "ribbon". English "lint" = Dutch "pluksel".

Spanish "flan" = English "crême caramel". English "flan" = Spanish "tarta". (A very important faux-ami, this. )


----------



## sokol

German also has a great many - my favourite one always was and is that one:

handy / Handy (= mobile phone/ cell-phone)
(This of course isn't an English loan but a word coined after what people thought would be English - so a "Pseudo-English" neologism of the German language.)

Many others are very similar (and in some cases even identical) to the examples given above for other languages:

absolve / absolvieren (finish a degree, pass an exam)
actual / aktuell (up to date or of current interest, especially in news broadcasts)
become / bekommen (to get, be given, etc.; this is very often translated wrong by German native speakers)
chips (BE) / Chips (crisps BE)
control / kontrollieren (check, but as the Czech word given by Jana the German one too also covers the English meaning)
eventual / eventuell (possible)
fabric / Fabrik (factory)
gift / Gift (poison)
gymnasium / Gymnasium (a kind of secondary school with emphasis on, traditionally, the classical languages Latin and Greek and nowadays also modern languages)
helm / Helm (helmet)
high school / Hochschule (the German term is strictly reserved for university grade schools while the English one stands for higher grades of secondary school for which there is no exact German translation due to differencies in the educational system)
hymn / Hymne (anthem)
lack / Lack (varnish)
lake / Lacke (small lake in Burgenland/Austria, else pond or small pond or even puddle)
local / Lokal (restaurant; accent in German on second syllable)
officer / Offizier (in German it is only used for the rank, especially with military; a police officer never could be called "Offizier" in German, nor a civil servant)
preservative / Präservativ (condom)
sea / See (lake)
silicon / Silikon (silicone)
slip / Slip (panties, briefs)
thesis / These (theory only, while English "thesis" too means the scientific paper you have to write to get your degree)


and finally and most importantly:
coffee (which in English is some indistinguishable brown soup) / Kaffee (which is _proper _coffee, well: at least here in Austria, in some regions of Germany it's probably as difficult as in England to get a kind of "drinkable brown soup" that somehow reminds you of proper coffee ... )


----------



## 2PieRad

Oh, I just learned one in German.

_Leer_ in German means _empty_ in English.


----------



## Sionees

Just to thank Flaminius for activating my link - Diolch / arigato


----------



## 2PieRad

Few more in German:

_der Strand_=the beach
_flog=_flew
_grub/graben=_dug/to dig
_das Boot_=the boat
_der Happen=_the mouthful/bite
_der Roman=_the novel (same in French-_le roman_)


----------



## Nanon

Outsider said:


> Portuguese has one that confuses everybody, even me (...)
> _Puxe_, pronounced close to "push", but means "pull".
> _Empurre_, means "push".



Oh my God! That reminds me of my own personal experience when I was struggling with doors at the time I was just beginning to learn Portuguese .
Spanish introduces even more confusion, because "empurre" is "empuje" in Spanish and "empuje" _must _be absolutely dissociated from "puxe". An English speaker travelling from a Portuguese-speaking to a Spanish-speaking country or vice-versa will have a hard time with doors...



sound shift said:


> Spanish "flan" = English "crème caramel"


Did you say "English"? 

More examples from French -

EN delay (v) = FR retarder (to belate), but FR délayer = to dissolve
FR conservateur = EN preservative or Conservative. FR préservatif: cf. German "Präservativ"
A French "chimiste" seldom has a shop, because he/she is not a pharmacist
FR librairie = bookstore, EN library = bibliothèque (cf. Romanian)
FR offense does not cover the English meaning of offence = infraction

etc, etc, etc...


----------



## Outsider

Nanon said:


> Spanish introduces even more confusion, because "empurre" is "empuje" in Spanish and "empuje" _must _be absolutely dissociated from "puxe". An English speaker travelling from a Portuguese-speaking to a Spanish-speaking country or vice-versa will have a hard time with doors...


You're absolutely right! I hadn't thought of that.


----------



## ewie

Moon77 said:


> preservative / preservativo (condom)


 


dn88 said:


> preservative _noun_ - prezerwatywa _noun_ (condom)


This is the same in French too ~ _préservatif_.  When I was living in France a few years ago I remember that a jar of some English food or other caused quite a bit of laughter because of its boast _Contains no preservatives_.


Outsider said:


> Portuguese has one that confuses everybody, even me. Two words you'll see everywhere:
> 
> _Puxe_, pronounced close to "push", but means "pull".
> _Empurre_, means "push".


And I was in Portugal a few months ago: everywhere I went I kept saying to myself _Poosh means Pull, Poosh means Pull ..._


----------



## panjandrum

Erebos12345 said:


> Few more in German:
> 
> _der Strand_=the beach
> _[...]_


Hand in hand on the edge of the strand, they danced by the light of the moon.
Strand = beach in English too.


----------



## Arrius

When Queen Elizabeth II came to see round a Danish factory many years ago, the Danish manager who spoke excellent English, had the foresight to cover up a notice on a machine which said *I FART*. This simply means _switched on_ or _working/funct_io_nin_g in Danish, but refers in English to _ventus ventris_, an escape of gas from the stomach via the anus! Her Majesty, like her glorious ancestor Victoria, would not have been amused.

Similarly "*Gute Fahrt"* in German means _bon voyage_ or _have a good journey_, but is liable to cause merriment among English pupils in the German class, as does also *le bras,* (arm in French) which sounds to such urchins like *bra* the abbreviation of _brassière_.

Newly recruited at a London school, a young female German assistant (Assistentin) alarmed her new landlady by enquiring "*Where can I cook my underwear, please?"* _Kochen_ in German means _to boil_ as well as _to cook_.

*Distraction* is _entertainment _in French, but to _drive somebody to distraction_ in English is_ to drive him (almost) mad_.

*Leer in German means empty in English*. (*Erebos*) It means to stare at someone lecherously whilst smiling suggestively. In Afrikaans it means _leather _and _to learn_.


----------



## jazniunia

Some more Polish - English false friends:

operation - operacja (surgery)
rope - lina (oil)
rent (wynająć) - renta (pension)
notorious (famous for sth bad) – notoryczny (habitual)
pulpit (ambona) – pulpit (desktop)
séance (wieczorek spirytystyczny) – seans (showing)
talon (szpon) – talon (coupon)
obscure (niejasny, nieznany) – obskurny (dingy)
polygon (wielokąt) – poligon (traverse)
promoter (someone who organizes sth) – promotor (supervisor)
rubric (instructions) – rybryka (column)
scooter (hulajnoga, vespa) – skuter (jet ski)
vis-à-vis (concerning, regarding) – vis-à-vis (in front of)


----------



## jazniunia

here you can also find some: http://www.homeproject.pl/kurs/lekcje/false_friends_polish.pdf


----------



## apmoy70

*«Συκοφάντης-Sycophant»*
In English, sycophant is the one who uses compliments to gain self-serving favour, or advantage from another.
In Greek, συκοφάντης (ancient Greek, suko'pʰantēs, _m., f._, siko'fandis, _m., f._, in modern Greek) is the one who brings all kinds of charges and proves none, the calumniator. In ancient Athens, according to Solon's legislation, the state held the monopoly in the export of agricultural produce, with the exception of olive oil. If someone therefore, accused falsely, someone else, of exporting figs (which was against the law) with out concrete evidence, he was a "sycophant". In Greek it retains its ancient meaning: Sycophant (a compound word-->σῦκον-'sukon/fig + verb φαίνω-'pʰænō-->to show, demonstrate).
*«Εμπάθεια-Empathy»*
In English, empathy is the capability to share another being's emotions and feelings. In Greek, εμπάθεια (em'baθia, _f._) describes the intense sentiments of animosity, malice. In English it retains its ancient meaning: Empathy (ancient compound feminine noun ἐμπάθεια-em'paθeia-->  preposition ἐν-en-->in + πάθος-'paθos-->passion, suffering, feeling,  emotion


----------



## Rjarjun

@ Jana - Yes when I had gone to the Czech Republic, there was a building on the other side of the road to where I was staying. When I asked about what it was, the reply was that it was a gymnasium. Then I asked them, whether that was where they were taught exercises and so on, but they told me that it was some kind of school.


----------



## Outsider

In many countries, certain levels of secondary education are called the 'gymnasium'. Notice that the original gymnasiums in ancient Greece were not just for the practice of sport, but also for more abstract learning.


----------



## sound shift

Turkish "konfeksiyon" = English "ready-made clothes", "ready-to-wear".
British English "confectionery" = Turkish "şekerlemeler".


----------



## heresys

Outsider said:


> In many countries, certain levels of secondary education are called the 'gymnasium'. Notice that the original gymnasiums in ancient Greece were not just for the practice of sport, but also for more abstract learning.



That´s also the case in Modern Greek, where "Gymnasio" has nothing to do with sports. The place you go if you want to work out is called "Gymnastirio". Greek adolescents learning Spanish often mistake "Gimnasio" for a school grade (no wonder!)



apmoy70 said:


> *«Εμπάθεια-Empathy»*
> In English, empathy is the capability to share another being's emotions and feelings. In Greek, εμπάθεια (em'baθia, _f._)  describes the intense sentiments of animosity, malice. In English it  retains its ancient meaning: Empathy (ancient compound feminine noun  ἐμπάθεια-em'paθeia-->  preposition ἐν-en-->in +  πάθος-'paθos-->passion, suffering, feeling,  emotion



Also the meaning of sympathy in English is much different from the Greek one "sympathia", the later expressing a feeling of liking someone. On the other hand, the Greek word and meaning is akin to that in Roman languages (Spanish, Italian,..)



Arrius said:


> When Queen Elizabeth II came to see round a Danish  factory many years ago, the Danish manager who spoke excellent English,  had the foresight to cover up a notice on a machine which said *I FART*. This simply means _switched on_ or _working/funct_io_nin_g in Danish, but refers in English to _ventus ventris_, an escape of gas from the stomach via the anus!



Same with "fart" in Norwegian and Swedish. I also loved the expression "i full fart" in Swedish  Whereas Norwegian "skitt" pronounced as in english "shit" means nothing more than... "dirty"!

And returning to Spanish, I suppose most Spaniards in London saying "Sorry, I'm constipated" were doing so as an excuse for their running nose...


----------



## heresys

Hello again! I've been giving the matter some thought, mostly because I find it quite intriguing, and I think I found some more examples of false friends scattered here and there. 
Regarding my own mother language, I found the examples of :
trauma (used almost exclusively in psychology) and τραύμα (pr. tr*a*vma) which is any kind of injury, mostly physical.
Physical (adj) as related to the human body and φυσικός (fysik*o*s -adj) meaning natural, as in the regular state of being. The expression "physical pain" has buffled more than one student of English! Also, the adverb _physically_ is open to misinterpretation as a positive response (_naturally_ or _of course!_). 
Ethical and its "grand-dad" ηθικός (eethic*o*s) aren't exactly the same, the modern Greek term meaning, more often than not, _moral_.
I remember some time ago attending an open-air festival in Greece and seeing a sign in the middle of the field which read "wardrobe" in English. Of course, there were no furniture involved, just the mis-translation of the loan word γκαρνταρόμπα (gardar*o*ba) which roughly means cloak room. 
Oh, and speaking of hilarious false friends, modern Greek, unlike most of its European counterparts, uses the word καμπινές (kabin*e*s) not in the meaning of _cabinet_ but as a familiar term for toilets, WC. The expression of Greek pupils reading articles in their english coursebooks about "The Ministers in the Cabinet" is a must-see! 
Again, sloppy translators tend to associate English logistics with Greek λογιστική (loghistik*i*), accountancy.
When someone in Greek offers to tell an ανέκδοτο (an*e*kdoto) is about to tell a joke, and not some kind of story. 
The word θέση (th*e*si) has mostly lost the english acceptation of "disertation" and now serves only in the meaning of "place". 
Lastly, when we pronounce a word similar to "lack" (λακ), we are refering to hairspray!
That's all for now, I think I can think of something in other languages too, but I'm afraid I'm tiring you!


----------



## Lars H

In Swedish, "att vara offensiv" means to _be active_, _on one's toes_, _not to be defensive_ or _alert_. The word is somewhat a business buzzword and it has no negative meaning at all, as it has in English.

So Swedes often translate it to English and say stuff like "We intend to be offensive..."
which often amuse or annoy Anglo-Saxons.


----------



## Tjahzi

Small people, hm...


----------



## Outsider

heresys said:


> When someone in Greek offers to tell an ανέκδοτο (an*e*kdoto) is about to tell a joke, and not some kind of story.


How curious! _Anedota_ in Portuguese also refers to a joke.



heresys said:


> Lastly, when we pronounce a word similar to "lack" (λακ), we are refering to hairspray!


_Laca_ in Portuguese also means hairspray...


----------



## Arrius

Lars H said:


> In Swedish, "att vara offensiv" means to _be active_, _on one's toes_, _not to be defensive_ or _alert_. The word is somewhat a business buzzword and it has no negative meaning at all, as it has in English.
> 
> So Swedes often translate it to English and say stuff like "We intend to be offensive..."
> which often amuse or annoy Anglo-Saxons.


 Right, but you can use _aggressive_ in a positive business sense like your _offensiv, _though_ pro-active seems _ to be the commoner buzz-word.


----------



## Gavril

Spanish 
_soportar = _"endure", not "support"
_sensible = _"sensitive", not "sensible"
_asesinato _= "murder", not specifically "assassination"
_preñada_ = "pregnant" (only used when speaking of animals: a pregnant woman is _embarazada, _which is another false friend)

Spanish has many "partial" false friends with English: one example would be _asistir, _which most commonly (in my experience) means "attend (a class, a meeting etc.)", but which can also mean "assist", according to the dictionary.


----------



## Arrius

*preñada = "pregnant" (only used when speaking of animals..  Gavril*
As I suspected, the DRAE doesn't entirely agree:
*preñada*
*1. *adj. Dicho _de una mujer_, o de una hembra de cualquier especie: Que ha concebido y tiene el feto o la criatura en el vientre.


----------



## Gavril

Arrius said:


> *preñada = "pregnant" (only used when speaking of animals..  Gavril*
> As I suspected, the DRAE doesn't entirely agree:
> *preñada*
> *1. *adj. Dicho _de una mujer_, o de una hembra de cualquier especie: Que ha concebido y tiene el feto o la criatura en el vientre.



Threads such as this one and my own experience suggest that it's neither usual nor advisable to use _preñada _when speaking of humans. So, replace "only" in my statement with "mostly".


----------



## Rjarjun

Gully in English means a landform created by running water eroding sharply into soil. 

In Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Konkani it means a byelane or offshoot of the main road.


----------



## LilithE

I can think of several homographs in Croatian:

but - but ( a ham)

more - more ( sea )

pet - pet ( five )

rat - rȃt ( cape, promontory); rȁt ( war )

red - red ( order; line; queue ...)

ten - ten ( complexion )


----------



## Orlin

LilithE said:


> I can think of several homographs in Croatian:
> 
> but - but ( a ham)
> 
> more - more ( sea )
> 
> pet - pet ( five )
> 
> rat - rȃt ( cape, promontory); rȁt ( war )
> 
> red - red ( order; line; queue ...)
> 
> ten - ten ( complexion )


 
Zanimljivo je da ove engleski reči "deluju" Bugarima neupoznatim s engleskim na gotovo isti način, i vidim samo 2 razlike:
1. Kod nas je _рат_ arhaična reč ali je mnogim razumljiva sa značenjem koje ima u BCS.
2. Koliko ja znam, _ред_ je u bugarskom uglavnom "order" i nikako ne može da bude "line" ili "queue".


----------



## Istriano

LilithE said:


> I can think of several homographs in Croatian:
> 
> but - but ( a ham)


Well, but (a ham) is just a pig's butt. 
I think  _mast _is a better false friend.


----------



## LilithE

Istriano said:


> Well, but (a ham) is just a pig's butt.
> I think  _mast _is a better false friend.



I wouldn't call it a butt ; it is more part of a leg. But I meant _but _( ali ) as a false friend of our _but_. 

I like your mast as well.

_mast_ ( jarbol ) - _mast_ ( fat, grease )


----------



## Rjarjun

Here's an interesting one - 

Safar (Pronounced as suffer) - Means "journey" in Hindi and Urdu. 
Suffer - Going through trouble.

Fakth - Means "only" in Konkani.


----------



## Arrius

Rjarjun said:


> Here's an interesting one -
> 
> Safar (Pronounced as suffer) - Means "journey" in Hindi and Urdu.
> Suffer - Going through trouble.
> 
> Fakth - Means "only" in Konkani.


 
Both the Hindi and Urdu for journey are from the same word in Arabic,  and the Konkani _fakth _seems also to be connected with Arabic *faqat* (only) which sounds even more obscene to an English speaker.


----------



## Gavril

German _
Kraft _"strength, force (in physics)"
_Kraftwerk_ "power station", not "craft work"

Swedish/Danish/Norwegian _kraft _also means "force (physical quantity)", as does Icelandic _kraftur_

Which reminds me:

Icelandic _rannsaka _"investigate, research", not "ransack" (though English _ransack _comes from the same Old Norse word)


----------



## Rjarjun

While speaking in English in India especially in schools and college we use the word "mug up". To us it means memorising something. 

We also call an eraser "rubber" which also means something else in the United States


----------



## Arrius

*we use the word "mug up". To us it means memorising something* *Rjarju*
That's what it means to this Englishman too, who has never been to the subcontinent.

This is a true story. First you must know that Arabic has no P sound so that Pepsi becomes _Bebsi_ or usually just _bebs_.  A male TEFL teacher in Riyadh was teaching a class (of boys, of course) the vocabulary for clothing. After jacket, shirt, tie, belt, trousers, he pointed energetically to his fly and loudly exclaimed, "And this is my zip". This caused a panic and several startled educands rushed out of the room. You see, the word *zib* in Arabic is the normal slang word for _penis_. Had he been an American he would have been wearing_ pants_ with a _zipper_, and nothing untoward would have occurred. He explained to the Headmaster and was not repatriated, unlike a colleague, also from England,  who told the Head that he had not come to work one day because he had to look after his sick cat.


----------



## Rjarjun

Gai (pronounced as guy) in Hindi means cow.


----------



## Awwal12

Some in Russian:
actual adj - актуальный "aktu*a*lnyi" adj (urgent; timely, topical)
concurrence noun - конкуренция "konkur*e*ntsiya" noun (competition)
hazard noun - азарт "az*a*rt" noun (excitement; ardour, passion; heat)
factory - фактория "fakt*o*riya" (trading station / outpost) 
fabric - фабрика "f*a*brika" (factory) 
corpse - корпус "k*o*rpus" (body, trunk, torso, case, frame, hull, building, corps etc. depending on the context)
preservative - презерватив "prezervat*i*v" (condom)
decoration - декорация "dekor*a*tsiya" ({theatre} set)
part (noun) - парта "p*a*rta" (school desk)
probe - проба "pr*o*ba" (trial, test; sample)
academic - академик "akad*e*mik" (academician)
ammunition - амуниция "amun*i*tsiya" (accoutrements)
benzene - бензин "benz*i*n" (gasoline)
compositor - композитор "kompoz*i*tor" (composer)
glands - гланды "gl*a*ndy" (tonsils)
intelligent (adj) - интеллигентный "intellig*e*ntnyi" (civilized, refined)
velvet - вельвет "vel'vet" (corduroy)


----------

