Funny how a word in one language.....

[Supine Being]

In the same way, I don't think Toyota ever called their small, mid-engined sports car the MR2 in France - it sounds like "emmerdeur", which is French for "pain in the arse". Or perhaps they were just referring to the handling, which could be a bit of a challenge sometimes

Yes! Or if you say it with feeling, it could mean "Oh sh**". I drove a british-registered MR2 in France for a couple of years. The double-meaning didn't occur to most people until I pointed it out. The mark 1's were simply not sold over there, so I got a fair bit of interest from people when I rocked up in it. I did see a couple of Belgian-registered models which were badged as MRs, though. Much safer

 

[PoRL9]

...can mean something completely different in another

Would it be OK to use your photo in a Sailing newsletter I write, please?

(It's for the Mensa Sailing Special Interest Group, which - I guess - says a lot about a typical Mensan's sense of humour!)

PaulC

 

[Sire]

Pal of mine tells a story of how, as a schoolboy, he went on an exchange visit to Germany. As he was about to leave his hosts, he trotted out a phrase he had been rehearsing which he had translated directly from English. "Thank you very much. I have enjoyed myself."

Apparently this was greeted with rather shocked looks from the family. Later, his German contemporary made an unmistakeable hand gesture and dissolved into laugher.

Terribly funny! This story is brought me out in a cold sweat though - as an ex pat working using a foreign language I live in constant fear of inadvertantly coming out with something like this

 

[Norman_E]

My French teacher told me of an English girl who got engaged to the eldest son of a pretty aristocratic French couple. On her first visit to the family, actually before the engagement, she was offered second helpings at dinner, and used her best school French to tell her hosts that she was full, and could not eat another thing. What she actually said was "Je suis plein."

The hostess got up and slapped her son, because what the girl had innocently said is actually a rather coarse way of saying she was pregnant!

 

[snowleopard]

The hostess got up and slapped her son, because what the girl had innocently said is actually a rather coarse way of saying she was pregnant!

I recently read Mansfield Park and was shocked to read that Fanny enjoyed intercourse and was regularly knocked up.

 

[capnsensible]

http://funny-stuff.audio4fun.com/funny-pictures.php?stuff=just-like-fanny's&id=11604

 

[ProDave]

that Fanny enjoyed intercourse and was regularly knocked up.

Don't go to America and talk about Fanny, and whatever you do, don't ask for a FAG

 

[GrahamM376]

I'll never forget my Portuguese mother in law's face when we were having a meal out in the UK. Cona (as in coffee) in Portuguese is the equivalent of the "C" word in English for part of a woman's anatomy.

 

[snowleopard]

Don't go to America and talk about Fanny, and whatever you do, don't ask for a FAG

Surely it is Americans who have the problem when talking about fannys over here. A 'fanny pack' is their - polite - term for a bum bag. Or for that matter Australians who ask for sticky tape by the brand name they are used to - Durex.

When in the US, always remember to ask for an eraser, not a rubber.

 

[sighmoon]

Back to boaty:
From: http://www.pbo.co.uk/news/430408/yacht-s-crew-divided-by-a-common-language

 

[SHUG]

When in the US, always remember to ask for an eraser, not a rubber.

When I was doing a tricky bit of navigation I asked the skipper where I could find "the ship's rubber" and an American girl went hysterical ....for days!!!

 

[snowleopard]

When I was doing a tricky bit of navigation I asked the skipper where I could find "the ship's rubber" and an American girl went hysterical ....for days!!!

My father used to tutor a group of French teachers of English at a summer school. When going out on trips a sign 'soft verges' would have them in hysterics.

 

[PoRL9]

When I was doing a tricky bit of navigation I asked the skipper where I could find "the ship's rubber" and an American girl went hysterical ....for days!!!

I once asked some Americans if I could borrow a rubber for a while.

They seemed shocked that I was going to give it back!!

 

[ProDave]

My father used to tutor a group of French teachers of English at a summer school. When going out on trips a sign 'soft verges' would have them in hysterics.

First time in Germany, I found the road sign Ausfhart amusing.

 

[mjcoon]

My father used to tutor a group of French teachers of English at a summer school. When going out on trips a sign 'soft verges' would have them in hysterics.

I went on a dinghy sailing course decades ago on which there was a young French teenage girl. She had a problem with the word "jib", but I never found out what it means in French...

Mike.

 

[Plomong]

a sign 'soft verges' would have them in hysterics.

verge = penis

Plomong

 

[Twister_Ken]

I went on a dinghy sailing course decades ago on which there was a young French teenage girl. She had a problem with the word "jib", but I never found out what it means in French...

Mike.

Dunno, but French for jib is 'foc'.

 

[rickym]

A 'cats eyes removed' roadsign got a colleague from the US perplexed!

 

[Billjratt]

False friend from Italy but used in Spain, caused consternation when asking for the bill.
Il conto instead of La cuenta. No imagination reqiuired.

 

[richardsn9]

I caused consternation whilst drinking in a pub with a Dutch couple, by remarking after a quiet moment that there had been 'a lull in the conversation'. Apparently this means 'penis' in Dutch (you have to say it in a very strong Dutch accent).

Following this discovery, we used to ask innocent new crew to pop round to visit Dutch boats to ask if they had a recent forecast, and whether they were 'expecting a lull tonight'?
Oh, the things we do to entertain ourselves after being stormbound for a day or two.....