mohel

Askedfor slice bread in Finnish...it came out as asking for circumcized bread; not embarassing but worth a chuckle...not every baker is a mohel so you gotta be careful ;-)

David

When I was thirteen I had the privilege of traveling around Europe for a year with my family. While in England we stayed in the area of Crystal Palace for about six weeks. There's a beautiful park there and since they offered activities for kids and it was frequented by children my own age (and above) I spent many days going there.<BR><BR>One day an impromptu game of cricket broke out. The kids who were playing noticed me watching and asked if I wished to join them and try my hand at "batting". I said, "sure, toss me the stick". I had no sooner yelled this out when everyone began laughing. The activites organizer (who was an adult) then ran over to me and told me not ever to use that phrase in England. Apparently, a tosser is a molester of children and the phrase "toss me a stick" is about the worst variation you can use!<BR><BR>Even in England it's easy to say the wrong thing.

zzzzzzzzz

David, 'tosser' is as far as I am aware ( & I'm English ) the equivalent of 'Jerk Off' IE one who masturbates.<BR>'Toss me a stick' would therefore translate into "American" as 'Jerk me off a stick'. This does not mean a lot in any language !

ryan

To show it is not only individuals that make this make, the Chevy Nova was marketed in Latin American countries. Only after sales started off slow, did they realize that it translated into the "Chevy No-Go." <BR><BR>BTW, the story about the translation of of Coca Cola into Chinease is an urban myth.

xxx3

The No-va tale is a myth, too.

Rex

Topping, with all these examples for the "gaffes" thread.<BR>

orlando

thanks Rex for topping this old thread -= cant resist the old chestnut about the Scotsman who thought j'aime la langue francaise, meant I love the tall French girl.

GayW

While I was an American student at the Sorbonne in Paris 20 yrs ago, my Mother came over to visit...i taught her how to say hello, thank you, etc. On a ride up the elevator of the skyscraper , the Tour Montparnasse, my Mother, who is verrrry friendly, looks at all the people in the elevator and says: "Bourjois!"....instead of "Bonjour"...I just lost it!!! She was essentially calling everyone "Middle Class" instead of saying "Hello". <BR>We still laugh at this.

Surlok

Well, English is a foreign language for me, since I'm Brazilian. <BR><BR>I got to know a couple from San Francisco, Ca, in one of my trips to Europe. Since then, we've corresponded a lot using e-mail, and even managed to meet again in Paris. About two years ago, my girlfriend's husband had to go into an operation, and had a stent inserted in his urethra. I wanted to know how was he doing a month after the surgery, and wrote to my friend asking: Does Stewart still have that stench?<BR><BR>Fortunately, my friend was not offended. She wrote me back, explaining I've made a mistake, and telling me they were ROTFL...

lingua

When you want to use the verb "to lower" in a French sentence, and you aren't a Francophone, you've got to watch your pronounciation. Because if you aren't careful, your intended "baisser" may come out as the very slightly different sounding but totally different meaning "baiser". Guaranteed to generate a couple of laughs from your French audience...

Marlena

Friends and I were in Cabo San Lucas at a pool bar and it was happy hour and and we are partying when I asked my waiter for a straw in spanish but instead I asked him if he had a small penis. Priceless on the visual.<BR>Marlena

true

Latin American professor goes to Spain, and holds a class. She wants to tell the students to take out their course-packets, and says: "Saquen sus paquetes" (or I suppose "sacad vuestros paquetes") - "take your packs out", she thought. The entire class is on the floor laughing in tears.<BR>Paquete in Spain is actually just 'package', as in the mid-front part of a human male.

Jean

ttt

Kelly

I am an American currently working in Paris speaking French all day long but still have problems with the darn "u" in French... Last week during a heatwave I announced to my co-workers that at least in the winter when you are cold you can put on 3 or 4 "pulls" or sweaters to get warm, or so I thought... What I really said was "poules" which means chickens and my co-workers had a great laugh imagining me wearing 3 or 4 chickens...

Kelly

I am an American currently working in Paris speaking French all day long but still have problems with the darn "u" in French... Last week during a heatwave I announced to my co-workers that at least in the winter when you are cold you can put on 3 or 4 "pulls" or sweaters to get warm, or so I thought... What I really said was "poules" which means chickens and my co-workers had a great laugh imagining me wearing 3 or 4 of these feathered creatures...

francesca

When I was a student in Paris, I got viol and voile mixed up at a dinner party. Le viol is raping; la voile is sailing...so when I told everyone my brother's passion was "le viol..."

Anos

When I studied abroad in Spain 18 yrs ago, there was the stereotypical big dumb jock along, in Spain for the fun not language nor culture. At the very beginning, in the first class during introductions, the professor asked everyone what their name and age was. Dumbo answers'" Yo llamo John. Me tengo veinte anos." The class and professor erupted in laughter, and the professor walked behind the student, saying "Donde? Donde? Mira la curiosidad!" (Jocko said he had 20 rectums).

xxx

Ford Pinto was not a success in SA. Turns out pinto is slang for tiny penis.

different

A fanny pack in England has a different meaning than it has in US.