OMG that's lovely and super useful! I just missed "bekommen" vs "become". I'm an English teacher in Switzerland and this is top of the list on common mistakes and false friends.
Hm, smoking is actually an "official" word for tuxedo in Russian, too. Odd. Wikipedia article states that this comes from "smoking jacket - a jacked in which one smokes".
der Rock/stone/skirt kontrollieren/to control/to check der Hut/little house/hat der Chef/cook/boss groß/disgusting/big die Art/drawing/type übersehen/to oversee/to overlook
Yeah those are false friends, usually words with similar origins. In the comic, however, are words that Germans actually think they've stolen from English.
Also, the German word groß and the English word gross may be true cognates, because one of the meanings of gross is a dozen dozen (for example, a gross of boxes is 144 boxes).
The tuxedo was orignially intended as a smoking jacket, to be worn when relaxing either at home or at one's club. Absolutely NEVER to be worn in the presence of ladies!! It's called a "smoking" in Swedish as well.
And I think "mobbing" does equal "bullying" in the UK....
Really? Never in the presence of ladies? What would you do if you ran into a lady while in your tuxedo? Strip it off? Throw a towel over it? Jump off a bridge?
I think the idea was that if you ran into a lady while in your tuxedo, the people who made up that rule would say *she* did something wrong, not *you* (going somewhere women weren't allowed, etc.).
Actually, a smoking jacket is a sort of short dressing gown worn OVER a tuxedo, or whatever suit one is wearing. The purpose is to protect your suit from the smoke and ash.
Public viewing = (DE) big screen for outdoor viewing of a sports event or similar; (EN) an open coffin where relatives can pay their last respects to the departed
That happens in many languages, doesn't it? We say "smoking" for tuxedo in Italy as well, and what the Germans apparently call a "pullunder", we call a "pullover"... not that it makes much more sense! :-)
Actually a sweater is called "Pullover" in German as well. The only difference is that it is capitalized. Absolutely nobody would think that "Pullunder" is English in Germany. The other examples might have some truth to it. Not everybody can be fluent in English. Maybe the person who created the meme knwew this and just added pullunder because it sounds funny. In Germany we consider the word pullunder just a hilarious word for Pullover. There is probably not even any particular etymological root for this word. Someone came up with it because they thought it was funny and it stuck. There are rhymes about it. Thanks to you I learnt a new Italian word: "pullover".
"Pullover" is a slightly old-fashioned English term for jumper/sweater/jersey - mainly because you pull it over your head to put it on. It seems that someone has confused (perhaps deliberately) their "over" and "under" to create pullunder :-)
You should make a reverse comic where you show misunderstandings English speakers have for German, or for maybe another language (I foresee some good jokes with Spanish "embarazado")
Someone once wrote a Ranma 1/2 fanfic in Spanish about the question "what would happen if Ranma got pregnant?" (the doctor says "embarazada" before correcting himself and saying "embarazado"). I tried to find it again and now there's more than one.
In Brazil: Home office - work from home, telecommute Living - living room Coffee break - a meeting with snacks provided 'Bullying' is common but only in that form. 'Bully' isn't used. 'Smoking' is used as in Germany and other countries mentioned above.
Time to do one about French words being butchered (verbally or orthographically) by the English: Connoisseur, Coup de "gras" (grâce), Déjà vous (vu), "Cull" de sac (cul)...
By the way, in what part of the English-speaking world is a "handy" a person who is good with tools? In UK English that would be a handyman. And by the way. looking at the last addition by Jermopolis, is "to home office" used as a verb? There are still countless people - or translators, anyway - who fondly believe that you can't use "home office" for an office you have at home because it can be confused with the Home Office part of the government, though a quick look at Goggle should disabuse them of the notion. But it would be interesting to know if the shift to verbal use had been made.
Like Philip pointed out, a handyman would be handy. Red Green, a character from the old Canadian TV show 'The Red Green Show' had the following catchphrase: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
Mobbing _is_ bullying of an individual by a group. Somehow I suspect that this psychological term caught on faster in Europe than in the US (I heard it used also by Portuguese, Belgians and Italians), but it is catching up in the new world too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobbing
OMG that's lovely and super useful! I just missed "bekommen" vs "become". I'm an English teacher in Switzerland and this is top of the list on common mistakes and false friends.
ReplyDeleteHm, smoking is actually an "official" word for tuxedo in Russian, too. Odd. Wikipedia article states that this comes from "smoking jacket - a jacked in which one smokes".
ReplyDeleteSame in French !
DeleteThat explains my confusion - I only smoke in the nude.
DeleteIn Portuguese too.
DeleteYou forgot "Ice" which Germans think of it and use it for ice cream!
ReplyDeleteI remember ordering an orange juice mit ice, and being served a glass of orange juice with a ball of vanilla ice cream in it. Totally disgusting...
That sounds terrible
DeleteOrange juice with ice cream is called "Sanfter Engel".
DeleteIf you want frozen water in your drink ask for "Eiswürfel"
der Rock/stone/skirt
ReplyDeletekontrollieren/to control/to check
der Hut/little house/hat
der Chef/cook/boss
groß/disgusting/big
die Art/drawing/type
übersehen/to oversee/to overlook
Yeah those are false friends, usually words with similar origins. In the comic, however, are words that Germans actually think they've stolen from English.
DeleteI heard that the English word chef for cook and the Spanish word jefe for boss are true cognates.
DeleteApparently the original Latin was for a cook who's the boss of the kitchen staff, and English took the cook part while Spanish took the boss part.
Also, the German word groß and the English word gross may be true cognates, because one of the meanings of gross is a dozen dozen (for example, a gross of boxes is 144 boxes).
DeleteThe tuxedo was orignially intended as a smoking jacket, to be worn when relaxing either at home or at one's club. Absolutely NEVER to be worn in the presence of ladies!! It's called a "smoking" in Swedish as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think "mobbing" does equal "bullying" in the UK....
Really? Never in the presence of ladies? What would you do if you ran into a lady while in your tuxedo? Strip it off? Throw a towel over it? Jump off a bridge?
DeleteI think the idea was that if you ran into a lady while in your tuxedo, the people who made up that rule would say *she* did something wrong, not *you* (going somewhere women weren't allowed, etc.).
DeleteActually, a smoking jacket is a sort of short dressing gown worn OVER a tuxedo, or whatever suit one is wearing. The purpose is to protect your suit from the smoke and ash.
DeletePublic viewing = (DE) big screen for outdoor viewing of a sports event or similar; (EN) an open coffin where relatives can pay their last respects to the departed
ReplyDeleteThat happens in many languages, doesn't it? We say "smoking" for tuxedo in Italy as well, and what the Germans apparently call a "pullunder", we call a "pullover"... not that it makes much more sense! :-)
ReplyDeleteActually a sweater is called "Pullover" in German as well. The only difference is that it is capitalized. Absolutely nobody would think that "Pullunder" is English in Germany. The other examples might have some truth to it. Not everybody can be fluent in English. Maybe the person who created the meme knwew this and just added pullunder because it sounds funny. In Germany we consider the word pullunder just a hilarious word for Pullover. There is probably not even any particular etymological root for this word. Someone came up with it because they thought it was funny and it stuck. There are rhymes about it. Thanks to you I learnt a new Italian word: "pullover".
DeleteA Pullunder is not a normal sweater, but a sweater vest
Delete"Pullover" is a slightly old-fashioned English term for jumper/sweater/jersey - mainly because you pull it over your head to put it on. It seems that someone has confused (perhaps deliberately) their "over" and "under" to create pullunder :-)
Delete"Boxe" is also how you refer to speakers in Romanian.
ReplyDeleteYou should make a reverse comic where you show misunderstandings English speakers have for German, or for maybe another language (I foresee some good jokes with Spanish "embarazado")
ReplyDeleteYeah I've been thinking for a while about how to do a comic on false friends...taken literally ^_^
DeleteSomeone once wrote a Ranma 1/2 fanfic in Spanish about the question "what would happen if Ranma got pregnant?" (the doctor says "embarazada" before correcting himself and saying "embarazado"). I tried to find it again and now there's more than one.
DeleteSmoking and mobbing are in use in Spain too!
ReplyDeleteIn Brazil:
ReplyDeleteHome office - work from home, telecommute
Living - living room
Coffee break - a meeting with snacks provided
'Bullying' is common but only in that form. 'Bully' isn't used. 'Smoking' is used as in Germany and other countries mentioned above.
Time to do one about French words being butchered (verbally or orthographically) by the English: Connoisseur, Coup de "gras" (grâce), Déjà vous (vu), "Cull" de sac (cul)...
ReplyDeleteI'll add it to my ideas pile - great suggestion!
DeleteBy the way, in what part of the English-speaking world is a "handy" a person who is good with tools? In UK English that would be a handyman. And by the way. looking at the last addition by Jermopolis, is "to home office" used as a verb? There are still countless people - or translators, anyway - who fondly believe that you can't use "home office" for an office you have at home because it can be confused with the Home Office part of the government, though a quick look at Goggle should disabuse them of the notion. But it would be interesting to know if the shift to verbal use had been made.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard it as a noun (a handy) but rather as an adjective (my father-in-law is handy with a saw = he is good at using it).
DeleteLike Philip pointed out, a handyman would be handy. Red Green, a character from the old Canadian TV show 'The Red Green Show' had the following catchphrase: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
ReplyDeleteMobbing _is_ bullying of an individual by a group. Somehow I suspect that this psychological term caught on faster in Europe than in the US (I heard it used also by Portuguese, Belgians and Italians), but it is catching up in the new world too.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobbing