Words that sound weird in other languages

Language Discussions Language Learning
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Okay so I always wondered this. Some words when spoken in an the language X can sound like something totally different in the language Y.

For example, If an arabic speaking person heard a something in Korea… he will be thinking “Oh gosh why do they keep on cursing”

Many words/part of word in Korean sound like curses in Arabic. I don’t want to list them lol I’m not here to teach you cursing in Arabic :stuck_out_tongue:

But the thing is I wonder how many things you heard from a different language sounded really weird or funny or totally unacceptable in your native language.

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Besar = Spanish verb, to kiss.
It is the word for turmeric in Nepali.

caca = Spanish for poop, Nepali for paternal uncle.

That’s all I can come up with for now…

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the word phoque in French means seal but it sound like the word Fuck in English which has many different meanings but is a bad word.

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My own last name: Kok, in Dutch it’s nothing special (means cook) but when you tell it to english speaking people they hear: co ck… And offcourse I have to go and find an American husband (the choice of keeping my name or taking his last name was an easy one)

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At first I felt a bit weird everytime I heard “Oppa” in Korean dramas since the German word “Opa” (which is basically pronounced the same) means “grandfather” :smiley:

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well in korean, “nega”, an english person would hear n***as.

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@lindagirl I bet that was an easy choice indeed :wink:
A more funny one. In college we had an English teacher with the last name “Stoel”. We always called her Teacher Chair. (Stoel = Chair in English)

It’s because Koreans pronounce it like “Op-pa” and “Om-ma” otherwise they would talk about grandpa and grandma in Dutch too (excluding the extra P and M) :stuck_out_tongue: . In Thai Full House I had to get used to the female lead name… since “Oom” is “Uncle” in Dutch.

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In my language Besar is big and caca is the name of food.

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Haha, “beszar” in Hungarian sounds like Spanish “besar”.
But in Hungary it means “poop your pants”… >.<

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  • Kaka - Hungarian word for poop. It sounds similar to the name of the football player Kaká.
  • Szörcs - Hungarian imitative word when you drink or eat soup loudly. It sound slike English word “search”.
  • Bili - Hungarian word for potty, sounds like “Billy” in English.
  • Vér - Hungarian for blood, sounds like “wear” in English.
  • Ordenáré - Hungarian for vulgar, sounds similar to “ordinary” in English.

I think we have a lot of words like this, but now just these came up to my mind. :smiley:

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When I was studying in Finland there was a Finnish phrase which the Italian students found pretty hilarious.

Katso merta is Finnish voor “Look at the sea!”.

To the Italians, however, it sounded quite like cazzo merda (d!*k sh!t).

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Oh my…this is a good one, I laugh tears… go on ill ninja read…

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@lindagirl

I had to find this, everything you said remind me on this movie xD I die laughing…

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I used to have a friend who’s name is Floor, nothing special in Dutch and quite common. I wonder how others react if she does introduce herself in English. Would they think she’s odd with bad English skills or would they realize it’s her name and not the ground they are standing on.

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They might think it’s a Dutch expression of humbleness! :rofl:

Unless of course she specifically says "My name is Floor".

Btw, don’t you think it’s weird that some men listen to the name Kip?
(For those who don’t know: “Kip” is the Dutch word for “chicken”.)

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Nothing does surprise me anymore, I worked at an insurance company once and one member of my team kept a list of ‘weird’ names just for fun. I once had the register a child and her name was “Salsabil” I thought I did read it wrong at first. But maybe it was a normal name in their home country… who knows. And those last names where you feel sorry for the person who has it and you wonder why they came up with that last name centuries ago.

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I just looked it up and apparantly it means “Spring in Paradise” or “River in Paradise” or “Fountain in Paradise.” So I guess her name doesn’t say anything about her dancing skills … :wink:

Hmm … you mean last names like Naaktgeboren?

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Yes, or worse.

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Well that one is actually true “naaktgeboren”. In German there is a sure name called jungfrau, which means virgin. Oh and I forgot the Unterbusch which means something like the hair that covers the groins xD and Kotz which means vomite :joy::rofl:

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There’s a Finnish boy’s name which also means “Kotz”: “Yrjö”.