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Funny foreign words
Always on the lookout for foreign words which are funny in English Just found out 'cruise control' in Danish is 'fartpilot'. Probably something similar in other Germanic languages. Well, I found it funny.
Edit: Before anyone tells me 'fart' in Danish is the same as 'Fahrt' in German, meaning journey.
Last edited by john_k_sri; 14th April 2008 at 13:07. Reason: Addition
I belive Rolls Royce wer going to call one of their cars Silver Mist, untill they found out that in German it is Horse Sh!t.
Two that have stuck with me since high school French lessons - Banque and piscine...
How to keep a class of 13-year olds laughing for an hour
One that always makes me smile is our very own VXR. I have noticed on a couple of websites that people innocently call them Vixxers. I have even noticed that someone uses it as a forum username - Vixxer.
Vixxer by the way is german for ****** - a word that rhymes with Banker it just begins with a W
Actual quote from a French class in Liverpool: " Hey Sir, howja say 'baguette' in French?'Originally Posted by parapaul
Two that have stuck with me since high school French lessons - Banque and piscine...
How to keep a class of 13-year olds laughing for an hour
'Pajero' as in the Mitsubishi 4x4 means the same thing in Spanish, which is why it's known as 'Montero' in the US and Spanish-speaking countries.
The English word 'peace' sounds the same as the Spanish word 'pis' , and 'sheet' is how a Spaniard would pronounce '$hit'.
quote=Meriva OPC;557118]One that always makes me smile is our very own VXR. I have noticed on a couple of websites that people innocently call them Vixxers. I have even noticed that someone uses it as a forum username - Vixxer.
Vixxer by the way is german for ****** - a word that rhymes with Banker it just begins with a W[/quote]
'Pajero' as in the Mitsubishi 4x4 means the same thing in Spanish, which is why it's known as 'Montero' in the US and Spanish-speaking countries.
The English word 'peace' sounds the same as the Spanish word 'pis' , and 'sheet' is how a Spaniard would pronounce '$hit'.
Famous one - The reason why the Vauxhall Nova wasn't selling well in Spain....
It translates as 'No Go'........
German cracks me up because unlike English it is unerringly logical.
Your nostril is your 'Nose hole', your armpit is your 'Arm hole', and.......you guessed it....... there is another one I can't possibly mention on a family forum except to say it begins in both languages with an 'A'.
'Ascension' as in 'Ascension Day' is 'Himmelfahrt', literally 'Heaven journey'
Priceless.
Another one from a French class when I was 12 years old. Try pronouncing the French word 'toit' ('twa'), making sure you pronounce the final 't' which should not be pronounced at all. It rhymes with 'cat' and sounds even better in the plural by adding an 's'.
And was named the 'Corsa'.......The Corsa 'A'.
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