false friends

Euro-English: The New Dialect of Brussels

English is the undisputed lingua franca of the European Union, but without the UK to police the grammar, it is…

5 days ago

The ‘Ə’ Factor: How Azerbaijani Differs from Turkish

While Turkish and Azerbaijani are mutually intelligible linguistic cousins, they are far from identical. This deep dive explores the defining…

6 days ago

Billion vs. Milliard: The Long Scale Confusion

When is a billion not a billion? This article explores the linguistic tug-of-war between the "Short Scale" (used in the…

6 days ago

Why “Mama” Means Father: The Georgian Baby Talk Reversal

In almost every language on Earth, the sound /m/ is universally associated with "mother" due to the biological mechanics of…

6 days ago

Can Slavic Speakers Understand Each Other?

Can a Pole successfully order a beer in Slovakia? We explore the fascinating world of Slavic mutual intelligibility, testing the…

3 months ago

20 German Verbs That Look Like English, But Aren’t

Be careful! Many German verbs look just like English ones but have wildly different meanings, leading to hilarious and embarrassing…

3 months ago

Lost in Translation in Galicia

Ever tried to say you're 'close' in Galicia and ended up implying you're 'tight'? This post explores the hilarious and…

6 months ago

Canali on Mars: The 19th-Century Mistranslation That Invented a World

This post explores how Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli's 1877 description of "canali" (channels) on Mars was translated into English as…

6 months ago

Navigating False Friends in Spanish for English Speakers

As a native English speaker, you may often find yourself at ease with a number of Spanish words due to…

2 years ago

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