Today, Lindsay and Michelle discuss these two words, and how ‘false friends’ from other languages might cause trouble when translating!
False friends are words from two different languages that appear to come from the same source (and thus have the same meaning), but are actually completely different.
A good example is in the Spanish estoy decepcionada, which sounds like it might translate into the English ‘I am/feel deceived’. Decepcionada reads like a Spanish version of the English word ‘deceived’. But the actual meaning is ‘disappointed’. So if you translate this false friend, you’re saying something complete different from your intention.
- To be disappointed means to have an expectation of something, and then it doesn’t happen, so we’re sad.
- To be deceived means we are being tricked or lied to about something.
When was the last time you felt disappointed?
When was the last time you felt deceived?
Share your stories with us in the comments section below!
