Considering travelling to other countries? For pleasure, tourism, family and friends? Here are some English words you want to refrain from using. These words, phonetically, do not work in other countries.
TURKEY
Peach. Going to Turkey? Avoid asking for a peach in the supermarket or anywhere else for that matter. It means ‘bastard’ in Turkish.
GERMANY
Gift. ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth’, we’re told; perhaps more so in Germany where the word means ‘poison’.
FRANCE
Bra. If you’re in France your French colleagues might think you’re talking about ‘arms’.
KOREA
Salsa. Out for a Mexican in Korea? It’s probably best not to ask for salsa: it means ‘diarrhoea’ in Korean.
SWEDEN
Speed. Try not to talk about speed when in the company of others in Sweden. It means ‘fart’.
Bump. If you’ve had the misfortune of a bump on your car, note that the word ‘bump’ in Swedish means ‘dump’.
Speed bump. Put the above two words together and you have the phrase ‘speed bump’, which in Swedish means fart dump.
Kiss. In Swedish, the word means ‘pee’.
PORTUGAL
Pay Day. If you’re in Portugal, refrain from singing with happiness that it’s ‘pay day’. No one will be impressed. In Portuguese it means “I farted”.
Exquisite. Extend a compliment to your Portuguese host by describing something belonging to them as ‘exquisite’ and you might be met with askance looks: ‘esquisito’ in Portuguese means ‘weird’.
JAPAN
Jerry. It’s perhaps a little late for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, but if you’re in Japan, avoid using the word – it means ‘diarrhoea’ over there.
ITALY
Tremendous. Refrain from boasting about the tremendous prices you offer your clients. In this country, ‘tremendo’ is the word for ‘terrible’.
NETHERLANDS
Bill. Asking for the bill might raise a few guffaws in the Netherlands: ‘bil’ means ‘buttocks’ there.
Lager. It might confuse your Dutch colleagues if you were to ask for a ‘lager’ when having a few drinks with them after work. Lager means ‘storage’ in Dutch.
SPAIN
Cool. The word cool is too close for comfort to the Spanish word ‘culo’; a crude term for ‘bum’. Best avoided.
