NFR - Confusing languages

[F(f)CUK]

I have long known that the Greek for yes is 'ne' and for no is 'oxi' pronounced oh-kee as in okey dokey.  I also knew that the czech for yes is 'ano' as in 'ah no'.

Today I found out that the Indonesian for water is...'air' fp.gif

This is not necessarily what you want to hear when you have been trying to find environmental monitoring results on a project in Indonesia.

[The King]

Viineri in Finnish = Danish pastry
Viiner in Estonian = sausage

Most Finns visiting Estonia use Finnish in restaurants and cafes. This leads to situations where you'll be getting some sausage with your coffee.

[Vinnieffc]

German guy in a caff saying 'Wenn bekom' ich ein bratwurst' does not mean 'When do I become a sausage'

[Vinnieffc]

Same as some French bird who married into royalty. An interviewer asked what she expected most from the marriage. She replied 'A Penis'. What she meant was 'Happiness'. It's all in the intonation. But mistakes are easily made - I was in Germany with a mate who put a 10 Mark coin into a Jukebox and it just swallowed it. In my best German, I complained to the barman that my mate had put a 10 mark coin in his aircraft and nothing was happening. He looked somehow perplexed.  :005:

[Rupert]

They should do what the British mostly do when abroad. Speak loudly and slowly in English so the idiotic locals can understand you. After all, you have learned English, so why can't they?

My best example of a totally incomprehensible arguement came many years ago, myself and my Dad had gone to Germany for a couple of weeks' holiday'. We got on well with the locals by using our limited German, at which point they happily used whatever English they had (usually a lot more), and we got by. Anyway, one day we ran into the unfriendly German, who obviously still harboured a grudge over some 20th Century international unpleasantness. He started on Dad, rattling off some very interesting German, interspersed with the odd "Maggie Thatcher" or "Lady Di", from which we gathered that he was not totally enamoured with Britain. Dad, hailing from Co Cavan in Eire, started having a go back, only he used Gaelic. So I had the locals looking to me to translate whatever Dad was saying, and my Gaelic is even more limited than my German, and they were reluctant to tell me what their man was saying. A totally surreal experience.

[Vinnieffc]

They should do what the British mostly do when abroad. Speak loudly and slowly in English so the idiotic locals can understand you. After all, you have learned English, so why can't they?

My best example of a totally incomprehensible arguement came many years ago, myself and my Dad had gone to Germany for a couple of weeks' holiday'. We got on well with the locals by using our limited German, at which point they happily used whatever English they had (usually a lot more), and we got by. Anyway, one day we ran into the unfriendly German, who obviously still harboured a grudge over some 20th Century international unpleasantness. He started on Dad, rattling off some very interesting German, interspersed with the odd "Maggie Thatcher" or "Lady Di", from which we gathered that he was not totally enamoured with Britain. Dad, hailing from Co Cavan in Eire, started having a go back, only he used Gaelic. So I had the locals looking to me to translate whatever Dad was saying, and my Gaelic is even more limited than my German, and they were reluctant to tell me what their man was saying. A totally surreal experience.

Had a similar experience in St Malo, Brittany. I brought my parents over to France to introduce them to my (ex) French wife's family. A stallholder on the dock area tried pushing some of his touristy rubbish onto my father. When he said No Thanks the bloke insulted him in Breton. My Dad replied in Gaelic in equal measure, to the extent the bloke dropped his tray in surprise. I didn't know Breton/Gaelic were that closely related. Was funny still..

[Lighthouse]

I was in Iran many years ago. Driving over the mountains towards the Caspian Sea on a very hot day. Stopping off for a rest, a group of ruffians came over and said something. My interpreter smiled and pointed to the towel I had put in the car on my seat so I wouldn't sweat and dampen my prospects.

'What was that all about?' I asked
"They thought you were Russian, but I pointed to the towel and said you were English"

Well it made sense to them.

[F(f)CUK]

My dad was, unlike me, very fond at making an effort to speak local languages.

In Lisbon he tried Portuguese from a phrase book. We were in the equivalent of a Wimpy. The guy serving did not understand my dad's pronunciation. He decided to give up with the book. He pointed to a picture and said I want one xxx, where xxx was a word printed under the picture. The guy looked more perplexed as instead of asking for a burger and chips he had asked for the name of the restaurant. I ended up being served an orange juice.

[jarv]

scot, scots, scottish, scotch, scotsman, schottische (a german dance),   confused?

[YankeeJim]

This all seems so pointless to me. I go to Mexico a couple of times a year and managed to have learned all important Spanish words.

Dos cerveza, senor.

Dónde está el baño?

I get along just fine.

[Berserker]

When i was a teenager i went to Germany with a choir. I had a german boyfriend for a lot of the time and neither of us could speak each other's language. We got on ok though

[Holders]

On a town-twinning trip to France one of the French remarked that we drank rather a lot. One of our guys said "oui, nous sommes pissoirs".

Another bloke wanted to say that one of the girls was the most beautiful but instead said "elle est la poubelle" (instead of plus belle, poubelle is a dustbin)

We were being trooped around by this rather officious Frenchman whom we dubbed Herr Flick. One of the charming French women heard this and laughed - apparently Flick is French slang for the old bill, plod etc.

"Attention au sentinal" = beware of the dog-turd. My French really came on that weekend.

I can't remember exactly what it is but there's an innocent word in Danish that means pussy in Swedish so they have to be careful when travelling although the languages are normally roughly mutually intelligible.

[sipwell]

Un flic is a policeman (Bobby, copper), Holders. And consequently (as flics do not really score high on likeability), it has a demeaning side.

[Holders]

Un flic is a policeman (Bobby, copper), Holders. And consequently (as flics do not really score high on likeability), it has a demeaning side.

Yes, it amused us because Flick was a baddy in a TV comedy set in France and when we heard what it meant in French it made sense.

[HatterDon]

A friend of mine told me that on his first trip to Moscow he sent a helpful Russian into hysterics when my friend told him that he was stranded because "the tour bus had an apartment."

My first problem in Germany was asking for another beer. I asked for ein anderas beer and was asked Was fuer? Evidently, I asked for a different beer. So much easier to say "noch ein bier bitte."

[Holders]

A friend of mine told me that on his first trip to Moscow he sent a helpful Russian into hysterics when my friend told him that he was stranded because "the tour bus had an apartment."

My first problem in Germany was asking for another beer. I asked for ein anderas beer and was asked Was fuer? Evidently, I asked for a different beer. So much easier to say "noch ein bier bitte."

Maybe you should have replied "zum trinken".

[Sheepskin Junior]

The French language is usually a strange one. There is one phrase, quon, for the life of me I can't remember what it means, but that has to be changed to qu l'on because the former, when translates to English, rhymes with anchor

[GoldCoastWhite]

I believe "Lentil" or something pronounced much the same, is quite rude in Greek. And my sis had to stifle her giggles yesterday at work (at Haigh's Chocolates). A young Japanese girl obviously enjoyed the samples she tried as she thanked my sister very politely and then said "I love you !" . We figure something got lost in translation ???

[cmg]

Slang is a minefield when it comes to translations. Not only is there rarely any precise translations, but the ideas they convey can vary in intensity.

Everbody knows the French word 'merde' means 'poo' - but it is a much milder expletive in France.

I was taught in school that the verb 'baiser' means 'to kiss' - and so it does. But if you use it in conversation in France, in most contexts it has a similar meaning to 'f*ck' in English, although because the French are less squeamish than us it is less obscene and taboo (although certainly not to be used in polite company). If you want to convey our idea of kissing, 'embrasser' is the word to use.

[Holders]

And the large milkshake adverts on the side of buses a few years back that gave offence to Germans becase Frijj was called "fick" (intended to mean thick - rather than copulate).