Mist! Common false friends in German (English/German)
Beware of false friends in the German language - words that look the same as an English word, but mean something
completely different. For example: bald - soon; Art - kind,
manner, type; herb - bitter, harsh; fast - almost; Mist - manure, dung. The last word is often just as a mild swear word with Mist! also meaning 'Damn!'. So beware when you talk about the weather.
But my favourite false friend
is Gift - meaning poison!
Sent by: Stefanie
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Germany is a beautiful country, it's about just as nice as the Czech Rep.
This anecdote happend in the 70ies. That time my wife liked chocolate with peppermint. So one day she bought a family pack of "After eight". Her granny,
who didn't understand English at all, came for a short visit and saw the pack laying on the table, studied it for a while and said:" My goodness, I've never seen such a big pack of this!"
A bit further down you can see why we laughed. Radha explained the meaning.
I like Pickel (sounds like "pickle") which means pimple in German.
I'm from Berlin and sure somebody who lives there is called a Berliner.
Anyway there is another meaning to the word Berliner (which is NOT used in Berlin) describing a donut with jam inside.
This is called Kreppel or Krapfen in the southern parts of Germany (or Berliner) BUT in Berlin it's called Pfannkuchen (Pfannkuchen meaning also pancake).
What is a Imbissbude, and what can you buy from there?
Ed. note: An Imbissbude is a snack stand where you can buy fast food such as Bratwurst mit Pommes frites, grilled sausage and fries.
Lol. It's funny. Some English words make me laugh as well such as 'manhole cover'.
Ohhh! So THAT'S why a German person looked at me funny when I said it's a bit mistyy! That explains A LOT!
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