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Funny Mistakes

  Tags: Joke
 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages Post Reply
30 messages over 4 pages: 13 4  Next >>
Andy E
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United Kingdom
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 Message 9 of 30
20 September 2005 at 8:17am | IP Logged 
ElComadreja wrote:
The “Snickers” candy bar when sold in Britain had a name change or something because it sounded too much like the British word for women’s underwear.


The "Snickers" bar was originally called "Marathon" in the UK and the urban legend is indeed that prudish directors were advised that it sounded too much like "knickers" for comfort - don't know how true that actually is but regardless The Marathon Bar is now longer .

Andy.



Edited by Andy E on 20 September 2005 at 8:17am

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tlevine
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thomaslevine.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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 Message 10 of 30
21 September 2005 at 5:35am | IP Logged 
http://www.engrish.com/
http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/all_your_base_are_belong_to_us


Edited by tlevine on 21 September 2005 at 5:37am

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Martien
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martienvanwanrooij.n
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 Message 11 of 30
24 September 2005 at 8:58am | IP Logged 
Germans who ask in the UK if they can "become a sausage" (bekommen = to get) . Dutchmen who ask on the phone to a German "haben Sie vorher schon gebellt" = "did you bark before" (bellen = to bark in German but to call/phone in Dutch)
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cheemaster
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Canada
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 Message 12 of 30
24 September 2005 at 2:20pm | IP Logged 
tlevine wrote:

http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/all_your_base_are_belong_to_us


That is a classic example of poorly translated Japanese video games. I found it quite funny at first.

This site has a lot of funny mistakes :http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/translation.funnies.html
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brandon
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Groupie
United States
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Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, French
Studies: Dutch, Swedish, Italian

 
 Message 13 of 30
26 September 2005 at 9:58am | IP Logged 
While studying in Germany, I wanted to tell a friend that I'd stop by, chat a little, see what's up, etc. So, I said "Ich komme bei dir." Now, I was talking to another foreigner when I said this. But one time, a German friend of ours, started laughing when she heard me say that. I didn't get it until she explained it to me.

"Ich komme bei dir." means... I'm going to come at your place, not 'come' as in opposite of 'go' : P

I should've said "Ich komme ZU dir" Mistakes like this make me wonder how many people might have overheard me say "I'm going to come at your place"

Another mess up happened with my own native language. I was giving directions and said... turn right, keep going straight, pass the intercourse, then turn right. I was only maybe 14 when I said that, but I could tell by the woman's facial expression when I said that that I had said something wrong. I asked my mother about it, and she got a nice laugh. : )
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orion
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United States
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 Message 14 of 30
26 September 2005 at 10:27am | IP Logged 
My friend, an American, is a Japanese-speaking flight attendant. Once after she first started her job, she asked a Japanese passenger if she could remove his monkey, rather than his tray. He and his fellow Japanese passengers found this amusing!

My wife's family visited England, and were cracking up when the hotel attendant asked them what time they would like to be knocked up!

Edited by orion on 26 September 2005 at 10:27am

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Maggie
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Spain
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 Message 15 of 30
27 October 2005 at 5:58am | IP Logged 
Funny mistakes, good topic... in December it will be three years since I moved to Spain, and of course, it took me a few months to learn the local lingo well. During that time, I was once in a dinner party at a fancy hotel, and during conversation, I said my father was a bit of a chaperón, which in Latin American Spanish means the same thing it does in French and English - I meant to say that my father tended to overprotect me. There was a brief silence, and one of the guests asked me, half laughing: "And just what does that mean in Venezuelan?". Suddenly I realized my mistake: the word I'd used is almost the same as chapero (male prostitute, in Spain) Gasp! *blush* So sorry, dad! I should have said carabina.

Edited by Maggie on 27 October 2005 at 6:06am

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Farley
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 Message 16 of 30
27 October 2005 at 6:58am | IP Logged 
In German if you want to say, “I’m warm” or “I’m cold” you have to say, “To me it is warm” or “To me it is cold”. If you make the mistake of saying “Ich bin warm” – “I’m warm” instead of “Es ist mir warm” – “to me it is warm”, you will be making a statement about your love life and not about the temperature.

I learned how to not make this mistake thanks to a Swedish fellow in my German class who told this funny story (much to his embarrassment): He was sitting in a sauna about to leave when two other women came in a sat down next to him. Trying to politely excuse himself he said, “Ich gehe jetzt, weil Ich warm bin” – I’m going now because I’m warm. The women laughed. Curious to find out why they laughed, he ask our teacher, who told him his mistake. It turns out he actual said something like, “I’m going now because I’m gay.” Everyone in the class got a good laugh.



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