Foreign funny words in english7/2/2023 The pitfall, in this case, was the verb “baiser.” French people generally kiss each other on the cheeks to say “Hi”, but on that particular morning, this Frenchmen hadn´t greeted her in the usual manner. According to Pierre, she meant to say, “Why don’t you kiss me?”. A female friend from Italy was with a group of male French friends, and she said to one of them, “Pourquoi tu me baises pas?”. He said that he’s made or witnessed many linguistic gaffes, but one that stuck in his mind involved a French word with two meanings. Pierre Masci, is a Frenchman who helped others learn English and French, and studied Portuguese, at SPEAK Lisbon. When we are learning a foreign language we can make funny mistakes Words with two meanings It is quite amusing to hear men say they are pregnant!” “When English speakers want to use it in Spanish, they say “embarazado” or “embarazada”, which in Spanish means “pregnant”. “In English, it means “uneasy” or “uncomfortable”,” she explained. And she should know: she has also earned a certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). “My favorite, and one I’ve encountered very often, involves the word “embarrassed” in English”, said Mirna Vela, a Croatian who was a participant in Spanish, at SPEAK Madrid. In case you’re wondering, “constipé” means “constipated.” “You cannot imagine my face when I discovered that “constipé” in French was far away from “constipado” in Portuguese”, she said. Isabel Sofia, who is Portuguese, adapted the word to French, assuming that the meaning would be the same. The Portuguese word for having a cold is “constipado”. “I have a story that happened a while ago in a French-speaking country where I went to the pharmacy and said I had a cold”, said Isabel Sofia dos Reis-Flood, who has helped others learn Portuguese and French at SPEAK Lisbon. When we are learning a foreign language we can make funny mistakes We can laugh with the false friendsįalse friends can be a particular problem. Or you could be using the wrong word altogether, something that sounded like the word you wanted, but was definitely not it. The problem could be differences in pronunciation. Or it could be a word that has a dual meaning, with one of those meanings a bit off-color. It could be a question of “false friends,” which are similar words in different languages that have very different meanings. Well, one thing is certain: You didn’t say what you thought you said!Įrrors like these can be funny or embarrassing. Your listeners turn red, shift uncomfortably, or burst into laughter. Perhaps you say something in Portuguese, Spanish, or in some other language you’re studying. Not just small mistakes in grammar or spelling, but BIG mistakes. When you’re learning a foreign language, you sometimes make mistakes. Learning a foreign language can be a fun-bumpy road
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