False but amusing friends

 

Tironis

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Anglia
Kan ik contant betalen? (Dutch) - Kan jeg betale kontant? (Danish) - Can I pay in cash?
 

Callaina

Feles Curiosissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Patrona

Location:
Canada
"bar" is usually used in the sense of "cash", but it can also mean "bare" or "devoid of" in German.
What about in the word wunderbar? It doesn't seem to correspond to either meaning.
 
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Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
The -bar in wunderbar is an adjectival suffix, related to the English verb "bear", I believe, so wunderbar = kind of literally/etymologically "wonder-bearing".
 
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Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
By the way, being an adjective and not a noun, it shouldn't be capitalized... I don't know why I followed your capitalization at first, but I've edited now.
 

Callaina

Feles Curiosissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Patrona

Location:
Canada
True. Not sure why I capitalized it.
 

Pacifica

grammaticissima

  • Aedilis

Location:
Belgium
Lol. I capitalized it, without knowing why, following you, who capitalized it without knowing why.
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
The -bar in wunderbar is an adjectival suffix, related to the English verb "bear", I believe, so wunderbar = kind of literally/etymologically "wonder-bearing".
I always wondered ( :hat: ) about that. Nice little nugget.
 
 

Bestiola

Nequissima

  • Civis Illustris

  • Sacerdos Isidis

South Slavic (Serb, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin...or any political denomination) kokoš - hen; Romanian cocoș - cock.

South Slavic (Serb, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin...) vatra - fire; Romanian vatră - hearth

South Slavic (Serb, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin...) staja - a place for cattle; Bulgarian одая - room

South Slavic (Serb, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin...) kmet - peasant in the middle ages; Bulgarian кмет - mayor
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
I was surprised to learn that the standard Polish for 'love' (v.) is not of the shape *lubić (which is a Polish word, but rather means 'like/be pleasing', cf. L lubet), as a Russian student might expect, but rather kochać, which shows considerably wide disagreement among scholars as to its origin. To me the most plausible is cognate with R касаться, which is used in the gospels as a token of respect, to 'touch' the hem of Jesus' garment (& so the semantics would be something like 'be attentive/respectful, have a care (for something)').

However, there is the possibility it has an erotic connotation & is cognate with the Slavic for 'rooster', e.g. OR куръ 'cock' (are chickens known for their copulative efficiency? :chicken: ) & perhaps also, both morphologically & semantically, with English 'coax'.

Which brings me to the last, similarly erotic (possible) reflex, found in Latin coxa, with an inherited meaning something along the lines of 'embrace (someone) by the waist/haunches'.
 

Adrian

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

@Hemo Rusticus,
despite certain differences I am pretty sure that you, Quasus, LCF , Lysandra and Akela would have little problems in communicating verbally with Poles
Some more false friends Polish-Russian

 
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Quasus

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Águas Santas
Cum olim Polonice meo sponte discerem, non arbitror me facillime cum Polonis colloqui posse. :)
 
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Adrian

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Mi Quase, vir es doctus, credo igitur te sine (multis) difficultatibus cum Polonis colloqui posse.:D
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
@Hemo Rusticus,
despite certain differences I am pretty sure that you, Quasus, LCF , Lysandra and Akela would have little problems in communicating verbally with Poles
Some more false friends Polish-Russian

Mihei uidetur duas uenustulas doctores efficaces fieri. :drool:
По-моему, это не недовольство учиться у двух красавиц.
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
@Adrian, извини ты, товарищь, но я забыл, какой твой (или твои) родной язык?
 

Glabrigausapes

Philistine

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Milwaukee
Ach! I thought only Matthaeus was a native. Idk why I thought you spoke maybe Slovak or something... :oops:
I even sent him a PM (which he hasn't answered as he hasn't been around in a while), but you will be indispensable in helping me out, if you're willing!
 

Adrian

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Just rememebred some Russian- Polish false friends (I mentioned it somewhere else , but I couldn't find it)
сутки (sutki - day; in Polish it means nipples)
сливки (slivki -cream, in Polish it means prunes)
кровать (krovat - bed, in Polish it means a tie)
вредный (vrednyj- noxious; in Polish it means mean/shabby)
закон (zakon- law, in Polish it means convent)
жалоба (zaloba- a complaint; in Polish it means mourning)
зажигалка (zarzygalka -lighter; in Polish it means vomiter)
and many, many more...
 
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