English is a funny language, we all know that. But today it has become the lingua franca of the world. That is certainly a good thing. As an English speaker you can comfortably travel almost anywhere in the world. Even if you are visiting remote tribes, most translators are capable of at least some level of communication in English. We all know that North America, Australia, and the British Isles speak English. But so does most of Africa, a significant portion of Asia (to which India and Pakistan contribute significantly), and almost everybody in Northern Europe. And right now we are only talking about people who consider themselves fluent. In fact, there has never been a language in history that has commanded such widespread influence. Even Latin was contained to only a few continents at best. Either way, the advantages of using English can also be quite comical. Because it has borrowed heavily from other languages, many words often sound the same. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. Although in English a “pet” is an animal you keep at home, don’t think that in French it’s the same. If you tell a Frenchman that your pet stinks, he will understand that your fart stinks! That’s right, “pet” means fart in French! These are 25 English Words That Hilariously Mean Something Else In Other Languages!
Featured Image: Istanbul’daki Yunanistan via Flickr
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Brat
Source: reddit, Image: pixabay In Russian, it means “brother” (брат)
Fart
Source: reddit, Image: pixabay In Norwegian, fart means “speed” i.e. how fast you are traveling.
Gary
Source: reddit, Image: pixabay Although the pronunciation is a bit slanted. “Gary” is essentially the Japanese word for “diarrhea”. So, for all the Gary’s planning on visiting Japan…you’ve been warned.
Bra
Source: reddit, Image: pixabay In Swedish, it means “good”
Smoking
Source: reddit, Image: Kent Wang via Flickr In French, this is a tuxedo.
