# "Messed up" words in your language



## esteban

Hi everyone,

Do you get the impression that some words of your language (or any that you know of) are "messed up" in the sense that they are ambiguous, convey too many different meanings, etc.
Right now there are two examples I can think of.
In French _plus_ means _more_ as in _j'ai plus de responsabilité_ (_I have more_ _responsability_) but it also means _no more, _as in _je n'ai plus de responsabilité _(_I have no more responsability_)!
Thanks heaven it is possible to distinguish between the two orally since the last _s_ must be pronounced when _plus_ means _more_ and must not when it means _no more_.
Moreover, the ne allows to distinguish between the two since ne goes before _plus_ when _plus_ means _no more_.
BUT in colloquial situations the ne tends to be omitted (_j'ai plus faim_ instead of _je n'ai plus faim / I'm not hungry anymore_) and in sophisticated sentences it may be, on the contrary, added (je crains qu'il n'en fasse plus / I'm afraid he might be doing more)! 
So in those cases you really need context!

Another example I have is the Spanish word _ahora_.
_Ahora_ is supposed to mean _now_ but it also means _later_!
I can pretty imagine a poor foreigner asking a friend to do him or her an urgent favor in Colombia and receiving the answer "Sì, esto lo hacemos ahora, !no te preocupes!".
And if the answer is _ahorita_, he or she may have to wait two thousand years!

Well, I hope you get the idea. Thanks in advance for your comments!
And please correct my English!

esteban


----------



## meeshy

esteban, ahorita is a real problem for me!!  it is definitely one of the "messed up" words in the difficult language of spanish, which i am currently trying to learn to speak.  

i learned the messed up things in french, and they never seemed too messed up to me because i had years of formal french classes.  but spanish i am attempting to learn on my own and by speaking to friends, and it's sometimes very taxing on the brain.

good luck.  your english is very good.  i'm sure your french is great, too.


----------



## Outsider

Well, here's one: _tempo_ can mean time, or weather, in Portuguese.


----------



## Alundra

Jejej.. en español también... tiempo  

Pero en español hay muchísimas de ese tipo... 
botica es el típico ejemplo también... hay muchas palabras que tienen varios significados, pero que debido al contexto nunca se confunden... Aunque yo creo que eso no es a lo que se refiere esteban... ¿o sí?  

Alundra.


----------



## Laia

In Spanish:
Although they are ambiguous just in oral expression...

- la normalidad
- la anormalidad

Just try to pronounce them quickly 

This case in Catalan would be even more ambiguous:
- la normalitat
- l'anormalitat


----------



## Outsider

Oh, here's an annoying one: _imigrante/emigrante_!


----------



## *Cowgirl*

whether, weather, wether 

One means maybe or whatever can't think of a good definition
One refers to percipitation and temperature
And the last is a castrated goat or sheep

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!


----------



## Outsider

And, in the same spirit as the previous post, lie, lie, lay.
Oh, and weigh, weight.


----------



## Hakro

Of course in every language there are words that are written and/or pronounced equally although the meanings are totally different. In Finnish for example "voi" is either "can" (verb) or "butter" (noun).

Generally you can understand these wo "messed up" words by the context. Only the electronic translators can't recognize the different meanings (see thread _Electronic translators_), and human translators are usually unable if there's just the word (without context) to be translated.

In Finnish, as in other European languages I know, there are expressions that can mean this or just the opposite. When discussing with people it's no problem but for a translator it's a torture; you guess right or wrong.

My point is that if you ever write a text that should be translated you should think about avoiding these "messed up" words and expressions.


----------



## Herenia

en español son : barbarismos?


----------



## Alundra

Herenia said:
			
		

> en español son : barbarismos?


 
Yo siempre le llamé polisemia. 

Alundra.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

The word "pretty" as an adjective, meaning "very", immediately springs to mind.

The lake's pretty filthy.  The situation's pretty awful.  She's pretty ugly.


----------



## Outsider

Alundra said:
			
		

> Yo siempre le llamé polisemia.


U homofonía, en los casos como _whether, weather, wether_.


----------



## Alundra

Outsider said:
			
		

> U homofonía, en los casos como _whether, weather, wether_.


 
Yes   You are right..

Alundra.


----------



## opsidol

get, get over, get off, get on, get in, get out, get to, get through... the list goes on.

take on, take off, take to, take in, take over, take under, take out...

You never think about it but this must be hell for english learners...


----------



## Hakro

opsidol said:
			
		

> get, get over, get off, get on, get in, get out, get to, get through... the list goes on.
> 
> take on, take off, take to, take in, take over, take under, take out...
> 
> You never think about it but this must be hell for english learners...


 It really is! According to some statistics the most common 500 English words have 14,000         different meanings!

There's not too many problems if you have the context, but if you don't it's a hell!


----------



## blancalaw

I always get messed up with "hasta" in Spanish.  Take this phrase.

Te veo hasta el viernes.

This can mean "I will not see you until Friday" *or* "I will see you Friday"

I can never figure out which one it is, not even by the context. 

PS, if there is a thread on this, I would like to read it.


----------



## SpiceMan

esteban said:
			
		

> Another example I have is the Spanish word _ahora_.
> _Ahora_ is supposed to mean _now_ but it also means _later_!


The same happens with japanese: 今度 (kondo - literally: this time) can be used to mean right now, or next time (we meet). So you must pay attention to how/when/etc. the speaker says it.

In cases like "kondo pasta wo tabemashou!" (let's eat pasta this time)  said when you're leaving from a restaurant, is clearly referring to "next time".
But it can be very ambiguous too.


----------



## Alundra

blancalaw said:
			
		

> I always get messed up with "hasta" in Spanish. Take this phrase.
> 
> Te veo hasta el viernes.
> 
> This can mean "I will not see you until Friday" *or* "I will see you Friday"
> 
> I can never figure out which one it is, not even by the context.
> 
> PS, if there is a thread on this, I would like to read it.


 
I think you want to say:

No te veo hasta el viernes... 
("Te veo hasta el viernes" is wrong)

Anyway, I think it is the same that "I will not see you until Friday", that it means "I'll see you Friday" too, doesn't it?

Alundra.


----------



## esteban

Thank you all for your replies.
I think all the examples you provided so far are very good indeed.
Here are other "messed up" words I can come up with:
_Sentire_ in Italian means both _to feel_ and _to hear_.
That reminds me that when you say _lo siento_ in Spanish it means _I'm sorry_ but it also could mean _I feel it_...
_Copine_ in French means _amiga_ (female friend) but it also means _novia_ (girlfriend)...
Also consider, in English:
"I read the article" 
Is it past or present? It's hard to believe that with such different pronounciation the two _read_ could keep the same spelling!

Saludos


----------



## Kelly B

This is potentially very confusing:
Invaluable = beyond valuation = essential = valuable.

Your help is invaluable to me.
Your help is valuable to me.
These sentences mean approximately the same thing.

This is because valuable can mean "possible to assign a price to" but it can also mean "of value or worthwhile."


----------



## SpiceMan

esteban said:
			
		

> _Sentire_ in Italian means both _to feel_ and _to hear_.


 I've heard "sentir" as hearing in Argentina, and not that rarely although probably more prone to be used by someone in its 50s and up. And only in the sense of "are you listening to me?" -> me sentís? (- "me" + "lo que te digo" for added emphasis). Probably due to the earlier Italian immigrations and pidgins being common. This "localism" seems to be fading away.


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

SpiceMan said:
			
		

> I've heard "sentir" as hearing in Argentina, and not that rarely although probably more prone to be commonly used by someone in its his 50s and up. And  It's only in the sense of "are you listening to me?" -> me sentís? (- "me" + "lo que te digo" for added emphasis); and is probably due to the earlier Italian immigrations and pidgins being common. This "localism" seems to be fading away.



Hi, Spiceman, just a couple of changes!


----------



## geve

*Cowgirl* said:
			
		

> whether, weather, wether
> 
> One means maybe or whatever can't think of a good definition
> One refers to percipitation and temperature
> And the last is a castrated goat or sheep
> 
> Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!


 I think I've written about castrated goats a lot more times than I wish !!

In French "temps" is the same as _tiempo_ or _tempo_ : means both "time" and "weather". Other words are pronounced the same though spelled differently : _tant_ (so much), _taon_ (horsefly)
Oh, and that makes me think of _tente_ (tent) and _tante_ (aunt)

There are certainly many more...


----------

