The Top 10: Foreign Words That Sound Like Their Opposite in English

A collection of the worst traps for English speakers abroad

I don't know what the Portuguese for a pushmi-pullyu is but it is probably confusing (© Publicity Picture)

This list started with caldo, Italian for hot, which is almost as bad as having one hole for the pepper pot and lots for salt. And puxa, which sounds like “pusha”, is Portuguese for pull. I am sorry, but I have forgotten who first drew these to my attention. Whoever you are, thank you.

1. Mama. Georgian for father. Deda is Georgian for mother. Thanks to Denis Keefe.

2. Ναί (sounds like neh). Greek for yes (and no, Όχι, ochi, could sound like OK.) Nominated by Graham Kirby and Jonathan Isaby, who also pointed out that ano (sounds like ah no) is Czech for yes. Geoffrey Mamdani‏ said áno, which also means yes in Slovak, is often abbreviated to no.

3. Gift in Swedish means poison. A near-opposite from Sarah Bridgman‏. As it does in German, said BD Alexander. Fergus Livingstone‏ added that gift (or giftur for a man) means married in Icelandic. “Strange, as it’s a Germanic language. Perhaps they think marriage a poisonous institution. It’s less and less popular.”

4. Hej hej (pronounced hi hi). Finnish for goodbye. Waved by Jason Morris and Vicky.

5. Xорошо (sounds like horrorshow). Means “good” or “well” in Russian. Thanks to Adam Greves.

6. Hallo. Hungarian for goodbye. Nominated by James Tickell.

7. Officieux. French for unofficial. Thanks to Shaun Whiteside‏.

8. He. Hebrew (hi, pronounced he) for she. Nominated by Barry Frankfurt and Harris. And the same in Welsh, pointed out Mary Wimbury and Ian Blandford.

9. Uomini. Men in Italian, which sounds like “womeni”, “is a perennial source of Anglophone toilet embarrassment”, said Melanie Branton‏.

10. Носок. Sounds like nosock. Russian for sock. Thanks to Irene Michlin‏.

There are other confusions in Romance languages. Sensible is Spanish for sensitive, and sensato means sensible, pointed out Ricardo Ares‏. Librairie in French and libreria in Spanish mean bookshop (thanks to Edu C Galván).

And Simon Wilder pointed out: “Almost everything an English person says means the opposite of the words used.”

Next week: Detectives’ Hobbies, such as Morse’s love of Wagner, ale, classic cars and crosswords

Coming soon: Lost Names of Cities, such as Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City

Your suggestions please, and ideas for future Top 10s, to me on Twitter, or by email to top10@independent.co.uk