# English words you’ll find in other languages—and their unexpected meanings

All bets are off when languages borrow from each other!

It can feel satisfying to learn a word in your new language that’s the same as in your first language. What an easy win! 🙌

But sometimes a familiar-seeming word has a totally different meaning. In this post, we are going to look at some of these interesting cases across languages!

## But why do similar words have different meanings across languages?

There are a few reasons words across languages might look familiar but mean different things.

Sometimes words look similar but mean different things purely by coincidence—there are only so many [sounds in the world’s languages](https://blog.duolingo.com/why-do-some-words-sound-the-same/), so it’s no surprise that there’s overlap. For example, Spanish _pregunta_ may look a bit like the English word _pregnant_, but _pregunta_ means “question”!

There’s also the case of [_false cognates_ or _false friends_](https://blog.duolingo.com/false-cognates/), where related words have evolved in different languages to have different meanings. The actual Spanish word for “pregnant” is _embarazada_… which looks a lot like English _embarrassed_! In fact, these very different words share roots in old words for “to block” or “to bar.”

Words can also be borrowed from one language to another, and while their meanings may initially remain similar, their meanings can also diverge, sometimes dramatically.

## Smoking, camping, dancing—oh my!

English is an especially common source of these shape-shifting words since it functions as a [_lingua franca_](https://blog.duolingo.com/what-is-a-lingua-franca/) or common language in many settings. As a result, speakers who know the word’s new meaning may not even realize how much it has changed from the English version! Here are a few dramatic examples.

**Smoking**  
This word was initially borrowed from English into French to refer to a specific type of lounge jacket, which was called a _smoking jacket_, but was shortened to just _smoking_. From there, it got borrowed into other languages such as Czech, German, Italian and Russian.

When words enter other languages like this, they have to adjust to the [sound rules of the language](https://blog.duolingo.com/why-is-pronunciation-hard/), and sometimes their meaning becomes much more specific, or much less. This is how _smoking_ ended up referring to a tuxedo in many languages!

**Homeoffice / home office**  
You likely know what a “home office” is in English, but this meaning was already covered in many languages by existing words or phrases. What often wasn’t covered was _working from home_—which is the exact hole that this phrase has filled!

For example, in German you can say _Ich habe Homeoffice_, which doesn’t mean they have a room to work in at home, but instead means “I am working from home.” Similar expressions can be found in Spanish and Portuguese!

**Camping**  
_Camping_ is used in French, Greek, Polish, and Russian to refer to the location used for camping, which we would call a _campsite_ in English!

For example, in French you could say _Je retourne au camping_ to mean “I am returning to the campsite.”

But this doesn’t stop at camping! Similar _‑ing_ words are used in many languages to refer to the location where the specific activity takes place: You’ll find that _dancing_ means “dancehall” in Dutch, Italian, and Spanish and _sleeping_ can mean _sleeping car of a train_ in French.

## Examples from around the world

| Language | Borrowed word | Probable root | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Brazilian Portuguese | _o_ box | box | shower stall |
| Danish | butterfly | butterfly | bow tie |
| Dutch | _de_ panty | pant + ‑y | tights |
| French | _le_ baby-foot | baby foot(ball) | foosball |
| German | _das_ Handy | hand(held) + ‑y | cellphone |
| Italian | _il_ box auto | box + auto | garage |
| Japanese | サラリーマン (Sararīman) | salary + man | office worker |
| Korean | 핸드폰 (haendeupon) | hand + phone | cellphone |
| Mandarin | 图样图森破 (túyàngtúsēnpò) | too young too simple | naive, nonsensical |
| Polish | dres | dress | tracksuit |
| Spanish | _el_ footing | foot + ‑ing | jogging |
| Swedish | afterwork | after + work | happy hour after work |
| Tagalog | ref | ref(rigerator) | refrigerator |
| Thai | เช็คบิล (chĕkh bil) | check + bill | Check, please / Bill, please |

## Languages make words their own

Language contact works in interesting and sometimes mysterious ways. And don’t worry if you get confused—that’s part of the fun!

If it’s any comfort, this also happens in English, to people learning English. For example, the phrase _double entendre_ is actually not used in French! 😮