For example: The Dutch palace "Het Loo" in Apeldoorn. An English person would think: "Palace of the Toilets??".

Not my language, but gift means poison in German and a present in English

Audi e-tron sounds Audi turd in french. Not very positive to sell them

Let see, although Japanese is not really "my" language (although I do know some), but stuff like "Takeshita" (of Takeshita-dori fame in Harajuku, meaning "Under the Bamboo") sounds like, well, "taking a dump" in English. Also, all those places with "Fuku" (i.e. Fukuoka, with the airport code FUK to go with it also, meaning "Fortune") sounds like a certain vulgar word in English.

Now, onto Cantonese. HK people usually shorten Pennsylvania into "賓州" (sounds something like Bun Zhou in Cantonese, the meaning is something like "State of Penn/Penn State" with "州" (Zhou) = State). Except that sounds the same as the slang for a certain male reproductive part in Cantonese ("賓周", note how it's written differently in Chinese). An alternative would be using the City of Binzhou (濱州, in Shandong Province in China), which is also pronounce something like "Bun Zhou" in Cantonese.

Another Cantonese one from top of my head is "Fujian" (Mandarin, the province) -> "Fuk Kin" (Cantonese), which, well, again sounds like a certain vulgar word in present progressive tense in English. The usual context of using this "joke" (b/c, well, it's very lame) is when people ask about "Which university one goes to" -> "F U, shorten for Fuk Kin U" (Fujian University, which does not even exist in real life).

The German word dick roughly translates to fat/obese. And then there is even the German word Dickmilch, which translates to soured milk in English but, for some, triggers rather different interpretations.

Also, it took me a while to understand why English speaking colleagues would pronounce the Prussian philosopher Immanuel Kant rather as "can't". Without feeling ashamed or even noticing the issue, Germans happily pronounce him "cunt".

Saying "Putin" in the proper French pronunciation would sound like the French word for "whore".

Kona (the Hawaiian city) basically means cunt in Portuguese (slightly different spelling, but still). Let's just say that in my Big Island trip this year, where I landed in Kona airport, drank Kona coffee, etc. it was hard not to giggle at some of the signs we saw.

Hyundai also has a small SUV called the Kona, that it sells globally, but luckily enough their importer in Portugal convinced them to change the name of the car, so in the Portuguese market it is called the Hyundai Kauai.

Pyrex wrote:

Hyundai also has a small SUV called the Kona, that it sells globally, but luckily enough their importer in Portugal convinced them to change the name of the car, so in the Portuguese market it is called the Hyundai Kauai.

Oh, I remember the Mitsubishi Pajero to be sold under a different name in Spanish speaking countries for comparable reasons.

"Šlag" in Serbo-Croat always used to give me a laugh. It means "cream"..the stuff from cows.

Mark

The English word mist as in the weather condition translates to manure in German.

A beamer is used in German as an "abbreviation" for a projector. In English it is used as a nickname for a BMW. That led to a funny situation when a former colleague of mine called his English counterparts before a presentation "just to make sure they have a beamer at hand".

1 Billion (German) is 1,000 Billion (or 1 trillion) in English.

When I lived in Spain, I took a class in Arabic. The teacher has us repeat a word that sounde like “ youfahker” over and over.

To this day, I have no idea what it means!

Although it's more a slang term. Trump in Britain means fart.

All hail President Fart.

In China they often use a filler word, I think it’s similar to „well“ in English. I don’t want to mention the word itself here because it’s really offensive.. it’s the word the famous dangerseeker in the Kentucky Fried Movie uses in the middle of the Bronx to show how brave he is...

It’s really strange, they usually repeat the word three times like „well, well, well“.

There is a video somewhere where an African wants to order something at a fast food restaurant in Shanghai but next to him is a Chinese using this really offensive word while making his choice ... funny, but I don’t find it..,

T18 wrote:

The English word mist as in the weather condition translates to manure in German.

I've always wondered if the liqueur "Irish Mist" was rebranded in Germany.

N14AZ wrote:

There is a video somewhere where an African wants to order something at a fast food restaurant in Shanghai but next to him is a Chinese using this really offensive word while making his choice ... funny, but I don’t find it..,

I believe Russell Peters had joked about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrsWp07BwVk

TheFlyingDisk wrote:

N14AZ wrote:

There is a video somewhere where an African wants to order something at a fast food restaurant in Shanghai but next to him is a Chinese using this really offensive word while making his choice ... funny, but I don’t find it..,

I believe Russell Peters had joked about this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrsWp07BwVk

Yapp, that’s what I meant. Thank you very much!

Braybuddy wrote:

T18 wrote:

The English word mist as in the weather condition translates to manure in German.

I've always wondered if the liqueur "Irish Mist" was rebranded in Germany.

No, you can get it here under that name, at least in mail order stores. But if I remember correctly, Rolls Royce changed the name of its Silver Mist model to Silver Cloud in the German market in the 70ies.

You can do a road trip Germany - Austria - Germany, From Petting to Fucking to finally end up in Wedding, takes about 7:15 hours:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Petting ... 560732!3e0

The German word “Pute” (turkey) has a somewhat different meaning (“whore”) when pronounced in French and often makes for funny looks from French-speaking tourists in supermarkets and cafés.

German also has quite a few English loanwords that have taken on a different meaning, such as “Handy”, which is a common term for “mobile phone”.

Braybuddy wrote:

T18 wrote:

The English word mist as in the weather condition translates to manure in German.

I've always wondered if the liqueur "Irish Mist" was rebranded in Germany.

no. We don't really have issues switching DSLs )))))))))))))
In the "Brand" y verse it is just another "Markenname".

zrs70 wrote:

When I lived in Spain, I took a class in Arabic. The teacher has us repeat a word that sounde like “ youfahker” over and over.

To this day, I have no idea what it means!

You are so funny I never would have thought. Youfakher means He is thinking.

One of the largest business blunders of our time was selling the Chevy Nova in Latin America. Although Spanish isn't my language, "nova" in Spanish means "no go" or "doesn't go".

In Indonesian, butuh means need. In Malay it's a slang word for penis.

In Australia the "c" word is often used as a term of endearment. True fact.

RetroRoo wrote:

In Australia the "c" word is often used as a term of endearment. True fact.

Hmmmmm, I've never heard it used like that! And I've lived all of my life in and around Sydney!
Very interesting! What part of Australia did you hear it used like that?
Cheers
Bunumuring

PS My contribution was going to be the Mitsubishi Pajero as well....

"Bra" in Swedish means "good"."Slut" means "End".There also is town called "Slut".

So... "En bra slut" = "A good ending".

VSMUT wrote:

Well you know what they say. "It's not the fart that kills you it's the smell" which is Swenglish for "It's not the speed that kills you, it's the impact."

There is also some anatomic names that have same name but different meaning in Swedish/English.

English: Cheek is the lower part of the side of you face.
Swedish: Käke means jawbone.
English chin is the pointy bone below your moth.
Swedish: Kind is the same as cheek.
Swedish; Haka is the same as chin. Haka is also the Māori dance.

My Portuguese-speaking mother-in-law's accent is such that when she says the word "bom" (good) I often hear the onomatopoeia "boom."

VSMUT wrote:

Similarly, one will see signs that say "Gute fahrt" along the German highway systems.

No one has said this one, though it’s not quite the same word, rather more of a false cognant (whatever they call it).

Embarazado in Spanish doesn’t mean “embarrassed”; it means pregnant .

Where was it that a thumbs up is the same as flipping them off?

Tha's not what Merriam-Webster says

trump noun (1)
\ˈtrəmp
\
Definition of trump

(Entry 1 of 4)

1a : a card of a suit any of whose cards will win over a card that is not of this suit

— called also trump card

b : the suit whose cards are trumps for a particular hand —often used in plural

2 : a decisive overriding factor or final resource

— called also trump card

3 : a dependable and exemplary person

Why do I think that third one might've been added by the Donald himself.....
source - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trump

BartSimpson wrote:

But if I remember correctly, Rolls Royce changed the name of its Silver Mist model to Silver Cloud in the German market in the 70ies.

Imagine a dealer in a posh showroom trying to sell a very expensive Silver Shit limousine to an older, straitlaced German couple.....

TheFlyingDisk wrote:

In Indonesian, butuh means need. In Malay it's a slang word for penis.

Same in Marcos country. As the Philippines have so many dialects, I'd rather not venture down this slippery tunnel to perdition.

A co-worker of mine from Colombia mashes English and Spanish up, so he calls a fire extinguisher a fire extintor. When combined with his accent, it sounds like "fiery sphincter." I think he does it on purpose just to mess with people. I know I would.

Concha means seashell in the Spanish speaking world, apart from Argentina where it refers to the female sexual organ

"Cão" (pronounced "cow") is Portuguese for dog. "Puxe" (pronounced "push") means "pull."

Monday to Friday don't have names per se, and are written as segunda-feira, terça-feira, etc literally second day, third day.. but can be abbreviated to 2ª - 5ª (meaning Monday-Friday.) On my first visit, I really though some shops were only open for 3 hours.

The Japanese word 'mushi' (hello) translates to 'pussy' in German..

I work for a Japanese firm in Germany, and this translational error has definitely led to a few comical encounters between colleagues.

dik909 wrote:

The Japanese word 'mushi' (hello) translates to 'pussy' in German..

I work for a Japanese firm in Germany, and this translational error has definitely led to a few comical encounters between colleagues.

to get/to have ~= "bekommen" in German.

may I become a beefsteak please ( sure, follow me to the kitchen ..

WIederling wrote:

to get/to have ~= "bekommen" in German.

may I become a beefsteak please ( sure, follow me to the kitchen ..

A short story from our english textbook in 6th grade showing the subtleties of false friends:

A German tourist in England: "There's a train in my room. If I don't become another ceiling I will undress!"

Train = Zug = draft
Become = bekommen = get
Ceiling = Decke = blanket
Undress = ausziehen = move out

BartSimpson wrote:

............
Undress = ausziehen = move out

strange translations:
Kein Weltraum links vom Gerät.
from "no space left on device".

German manual for an ARCAII (apple II ~1984) clones keyboard:
"In der Mode der Schnörkelfesselung" not a BDSM term but
translated by some attentive chinese speaker to talk about the equivalent of "Caps Lock".

But gentlemen, you are now posting wrong translations whereas the OP asked for „Words in your language that mean completely different/gross/disgusting things in another language“ ... but never mind, here is my favorite translation. When receiving tender documents for review the cover letter in German language was: Please find attached - in German language and now I quote - „die zärtlichen Dokumente“.

"Fanny" means something very different to brits than what it means to us americans.

Also I loved sophomoric giggling at road signs in sweden.

N14AZ wrote:

But gentlemen, you are now posting wrong translations whereas the OP asked for „Words in your language that mean completely different/gross/disgusting things in another language“ ... but never mind, here is my favorite translation. When receiving tender documents for review the cover letter in German language was: Please find attached - in German language and now I quote - „die zärtlichen Dokumente“.

You're right - I got carried away...

Pool in Tamil (an Indian language) is an offensive term for male genitalia. UBER had to change the name of their cab sharing service when it launched here.

Jouhou wrote:

"Fanny" means something very different to brits than what it means to us americans.

Also I loved sophomoric giggling at road signs in sweden.

Fanny is also a first name for a female, although it's not as popular these days. It can be a contraction of Frances or a name in itself, or as you say just a minge

Thunderboltdrgn wrote:

There is also some anatomic names that have same name but different meaning in Swedish/English.

English: Cheek is the lower part of the side of you face.
Swedish: Käke means jawbone.
English chin is the pointy bone below your moth.
Swedish: Kind is the same as cheek.
Swedish; Haka is the same as chin. Haka is also the Māori dance.

Not to mention the traditional Swedish coffee break, “fika”, which is pronounced basically the same as a very rude word for female genitalia in Italian (spelled with a “c” instead of a “k”).

The Swedish word for a sweater, i.e. “tröja”, might also sound similar to the Italian word for “slut”.

The word "that" (as in that man) in Mandarin, particularly when spoken quickly, sounds quite similar to "n**ger", as I found out to my astonishment when I first moved to an English-speaking country (thankfully NZ not USA!)

Airdolomiti wrote:

Not to mention the traditional Swedish coffee break, “fika”, which is pronounced basically the same as a very rude word for female genitalia in Italian (spelled with a “c” instead of a “k”).

The Swedish word for a sweater, i.e. “tröja”, might also sound similar to the Italian word for “slut”.

Fika also sounds a lot like the German insult "Ficker" which literally means "fucker".

There's also the phrase "vill du fika" which means something along the lines of "do you want to grab some coffee together" but in German
it sounds pretty damn close to a question about casual sex (~ "willst du ficken")

There was an episode of Top Gear some time ago (before the terrible yet brilliant 3 left) that was based in Albania and continuously made light of the fact that:

1.) Peach = gentleman sausage
2.) Car = lady garden

I might have that the wrong way round, but... it's a peach of a car was one of the lines.