LL-L "False friends" 2004.06.07 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 07.JUN.2004 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: ***SPAM*** Re:      LL-L "False friends" 2004.06.07 (03) [E]

Ron wrote:

> Surely, false friends are striking only to those who are not or are only
> superficially acquainted with one or both of the languages involved, while
> those who are very familiar with and proficient in both do not normally
> think about false friends, not even about the "gems" among them.

My daughter came home with such a gem today... one of her German college
friends had gone to Holland and saw a purse there which she would have liked
to buy, but it had a big sticker on it saying, "Bijzonder nuttig", which
means "Especially useful". Well, she figured out the "bijzonder" part
(German "besonders"), but then she took "nuttig" to be the same as the
German word "nuttig", which means "prostitute-like". The real German
equivalent would have been "nützlich"; I suppose that German "Nutte",
"whore", has the same root - someone who is used. So she didn't buy the
purse because she thought it was a favourite among Dutch prostitutes and she
didn't want to give the wrong impression.

Gabriele Kahn

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