you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 9 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 child)

It's not just in different languages, but sometimes in different variants of the same languages.

For instance, in Belgian French, "tournante" is any task in which people take turn, like a card game. In French French, it's specifically gang rape. Or "torchon" which is a cleaning cloth in France and a mop in Belgium.

And then you have words that aren't spelled exactly the same way but seem like an obvious translation (actual false friends, which aren't usually exact matches), like the Spanish "constipado", which means to have a stuffy nose and not what you think.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    Some examples from flemish (belgian dutch) to dutch:

    Word flemish dutch
    Lopen to run to walk
    Stappen to walk to go out (to a bar)
    Poepen to have sex to poop

    I remember the first time in a swimming pool in flanders I was so confused by all the signs saying I shouldn't walk.

  • source
  • parent