False Friends are Dangerous!

If you’ve ever taken a foreign language class, you’ve probably learned about the most deceitful words in any second language: the dreaded false friend. These particular words are especially treacherous because they seem like words you know in your first language, but in another language they mean something very different – and sometimes quite embarrassing. Here are some of the worst English-to-Spanish offenders, so those of you thinking of heading to the Spanish-speaking world, start taking notes…

• During your time abroad, there will be plenty of new experiences to get excited about. Just be sure not to talk about how exitado you are! Unlike enthusiasmado which actually means excited, exitado means sexually aroused…which is something you might not want to share with, say, co-workers asking about your upcoming travel plans.

• You’ve been warned: preservativos are not actually preservatives as you might imagine. So if you want to talk about additives in your food, use the correct word, preservantes. And save preservativos for when you want to talk about what the word actually means: condoms.

• As an English speaker, you probably very rarely use the word molest. But in Spanish, molestar has a much lighter meaning — to bother. So if a Spanish speaker accidentally tells you how a friend was molestando him the other night, you can relax because this friend didn’t commit any serious crime – you can’t put someone in jail for being annoying.

• Pretender is not really to pretend at all, but rather to try to or have the intention of doing something. So if your newly found Spanish speaking boyfriend says that he pretende to get along with your parents, it wasn’t an act – he’s actually making an effort to be nice to your folks! If he had used the verb fingir, well, then he was just pretending and that’s another story.

• You never have to run to the grocería to pick up some snacks, but you might have to run to your local neighborhood almacén. Una grocería refers to something really rude or offensive, or a four-letter word (though in Spanish lots of those type of words often have more than four letters, go figure.)

• And how could we forget the classic case of embarazada? It’s just cruel that this word does not mean embarrassed – it sounds EXACTLY the same. But, ojo! If you say you are embarazada, you’re not ashamed about anything, but you are, well…pregnant.

So while false friends are very frustrating for language learners, they also make for some really funny stories. Do you have any false friends-related horror stories? Share them below so we can all commiserate!