English vs German: same word, different meanings
Please note that the words below are the same only in writing but not in pronunciation. Still interesting and fun to know it, though. 🙂
WORD |
MEANING in ENGLISH |
MEANING in GERMAN |
|---|---|---|
| GIFT | a present | poison |
| DANK | chilly wet | gratefulness, thanks |
| STARK | bare, grim, harsh | strong |
| KIND | nice, generous | a child |
| HUT | small building | a hat |
| ROCK | a stone; to move back and forth | a skirt |
| STOCK | a share in a company | a cane |
| MITTEN | a glove | in the middle |
| SAGE | a wise person | say [first person, present tense]; also a saga |
| LINKS | plural of link, connections | left [opposite to right] |
| TOLL | a charge for road usage | fantastic |
| BOOT | a tall shoe | boat |
| LUNGE | a sudden thrust | lung |
| GUT | intestine or stomach | good |
| MIST | light fog | dung, manure |
| NOT | in no way | an emergency |
| LAST | at the end | freight, burden |
| HANDY | easy to handle | cellular phone [new word] |
| MOST | superlative of many | apple cider [Southern Germany, Austria] |
| RIND | a tough outer covering, of cheese for example | an individual of cattle |
| LOT | a considerable quantity | a plumb |
| TALK | speak | talc |
| BAD | evil, harmful | bath |
| RAT | a rodent | advice |
| TRUNK | the nose of an elefant | a drink (together with some people) |
| LIED | past tense of “to lie” | a song |
| HALL | a large room | a short echo |
| FAST | quickly | almost |
| BRIEF | short | a letter |
| SAME | identical, e.g., at the same time | a seed |
| BALD | lacking of natural covering, e.g., hair | soon |
| SOLD | past tense of “to sell” | a soldier’s salary |
| LAG | to fall behind | past tense of “legen” (intransitive verb, i.e., lie) |
| GLUT | an oversupply | embers |
| LACK | to be deficient | lacquer |
| WAR | an armed conflict | past tense of “sein” (to be) |
| TOT | a small child | dead (adverb) |
| TOTE | to carry by hand as in tote-bag | dead (adjective) |
| GRAB | to seize | a grave |
| LIST | a sequence | craftiness |
| JAMMER | one that jams | misery |
| KIPPER | a fish cured in salt | a dump truck |
| STERN | firm and unyielding | a star |
| DICK | short form of Richard; colloquial for penis | stout, corpulent |
| SEE | to behold with your eyes | a lake |
| ART | The production of beautiful forms of sound or shape | a species |
| ANGEL | a spiritual being attendant upon God | a fishing rod |
| BAT | A flying mammal; a wooden club | past tense of “bitten” (to ask for something) |
| HAT | a head covering | third person present tense for “haben” (to have) |
| MUTTER | to speak indistinctly in a low voice | mother |
| LEG | a lower extremity in a human | imperative for “legen” (to lay) |
| LOG | the fallen trunk of a tree | past tense of “lügen” (to lie) |
| TEE | a t-shaped peg to place a golf ball on | tea |
| MADE | past tense of “to make” | a maggot |
| SUCH | As in “such as” | imperative for “suchen” (to search) |
| LURCH | to roll or pitch suddenly | a salamander |
| MARK | a sign or visible impression | marrow (like “Knochenmark” bone-marrow) |
| QUALM | a sensation of doubt, uneasiness (“to have no qualms about it”) | thick smoke |
| MAUL | to bruise or tear (“mauled by a wild animal”) | the mouth of an animal (“das Maul halten” to shut up) |
| WELT | a ridge or bump raised on the skin by a lash or blow | the world |
| If you know another word whose meaning is entirely different and preferably of a different root in English and German but whose spelling is the same (“false cognate”), please send an email. | ||
SOURCE |
4 responses to “English vs German: same word, different meanings”
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Reblogged this on penwithlit.
Reblogged this on Samal English Language Services.
TL;DR is at the bottom.
Many of these have different pronunciations. I don’t think anyone who spoke both languages would confuse something that’s gut (goot) with their own stomach (gut). It’s quite evident that homophones and synonyms are completely different things, even in the same language. This is based on the concept of “context.” I can only hope that anyone reading a different language would not be so quick to assume that similarly spelled words must share a common meaning. I’ve read five other posts regarding the (mis)use of words or the weird (perfectly explainable) syntax of the English language on this site, and so far all I’ve inferred is that people are still pretentious when it comes to things like this. The blanket term “Grammar Nazis” wouldn’t exist if people stopped mistaking “education” (i.e. knowledge/learned behavior/experience) for intelligence (i.e. being able to reason/adapt/understand). Then again, they’d have to also conclude that grammar, syntax, and semantics are separate things. Don’t get me wrong, I am a “logophile”, yet still, I must admit that the meaning of words is much less important than what people infer. “Common usages” are socially acceptable for a reason. Trying to “save” the English language most likely stems from an inability to change brought on by a false sense of importance that – I surmise – is created by “English Majors” who get a “boner” from correcting people’s colloquialisms in a vain attempt to showcase their knowledge of such trivial things.
By no means did I wish to prattle on, and I meant no offense to anyone/everyone who gets “their jollies” from these articles. I suppose you will think me a hypocrite due to the presentation of my argument, but I merely view these types of articles as entertainment (i.e. good for a quick laugh or a “oh yeah” moment), and I find it somewhat unnerving that some people consider these sorts of things “educational.”
TL;DR
Knowledge is fun, but there’s always room for interpretation. Also, one should never assume that words of a foreign language mean the same thing because it’s spelled the same. “Grammar Nazis” are pretentious (most of the greatest authors, playwrights, etc. in history loved to break the rules).
Guten tag (Stomach in children’s game).
“I can admire the woman who is sleeping in the backseat of the car on the shoulder of the highway by the lake under the stars in the middle of the summer for one reason: I can’t make a constituent out of ‘her.’ “