Sunday, September 30, 2007

Let's play a game!

So in French there are these words known as "faux amis" which look and sound a lot like English words but most certainly aren't. Most of them are pretty harmless, but some are more amusing. Here are my two favorites from my stay thus far. What do you think these mean? (No cheating!)

"La culte," which meets every week.

"Traiteur Asiatique"

6 comments:

K.R. said...

"La culte," which meets every week.
Sewing club

"Traiteur Asiatique"
Home Trailer made in Taiwan

Unknown said...

"la culte" -- the club. No specific theme, title, charter, or meaning. But just The Club.

"Traiteur Asiatique" -- Capitalists.

Anonymous said...

False friends can be pretty funny in just about any language. One classic example is the Spanish verb "embarazar". When The Parker Pen Company attempted to translate its motto "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you" for the Spanish market they used "embarazar", believing it meant "embarrass". What they actually ended up saying, however, was that "It won't leak in your pocket and impregnate you". Good times.

Allie said...

La culte is actually a Protestant worship service. I was so confused the first time I walked past a church that advertised in big letters it's "culte" meeting time...

A Traiteur Asiatique is not an Asian traitor (which is how I first read it) but actually a Chinese restaurant.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Allie on this day, Oct.5th ... get a cake and have a party to celebrate being you in Par`ee, LU ...<>< gm ejd

Katie said...

El culto means the same thing in Spanish I think...I went to one on Sunday, and thanks to your blog I wasn't confused at all! :)