A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 2 days ago
I remember the Czech word Pozor. It means “Attention” and is seen everywhere on all sorts of signage.
In Russian, however (and possibly other slavic languages), it means shame/disgrace.
I’m sure there were jokes about it when Russians were the invaders, but can’t remember any.
Then there’s Finnish/Estonian - the differences are hilarious.
| Word | Finnish | Estonian |
|---|---|---|
| Hallitus | Government | Mold |
| Maasika | Earth-pig (not a thing) | Strawberry |
| Maasikapirukas | Earth-pig devil | Strawberry cake |
| Piim(ä) | Buttermilk/sourmilk | Milk |
| Kalju | Bald | Rock |
But my favorite is “nahkhiir”, which means leather mouse, i.e. a bat. (in Finnish it would be nahkahiiri, but bats are called lepakko)
Batman is consequently called Nahkhiirmees in Estonian.
tristan@tarte.nuage-libre.fr 2 days ago
Funny cause caillou is bald but means rock in French
A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 1 day ago
You mean it means both bald AND rock in French?
It’s not really surprising. The differences between Finnish/Estonian are usually small shifts in development. E.g. kallio means rock in Finnish - not too far from kalju. And it’s easy to see why such a word could mean both.