Word of the day - moron
The Welsh word moron, which means carrots, is an example of a false friend (cyfaill anwir?). The word for carrot is moronen, one of a small group of Welsh words that become shorter in the plural. Confusingly, the English word moron, which comes from the Greek for ‘foolish, dull’, has been borrowed into Welsh and has the same meaning.
Here are a few more Welsh/English false friends that I’ve noticed recently. Some look the same as English words, but are pronounced differently, so are only false friends in writing.
pan = when (pan is padell)
pant = hollow (to pant is dyhefod)
dim = nothing (dim is pŵl or aneglur)
mud = mute (mud is mwd)
hurt = silly (hurt is dolur (n) or dolurio (vb))
hen = old (hen is iâr)
brain = crows (brain is ymennydd)
nod = aim (nod is amnaid (n) or amneidio (vb))
12 Responses to “Word of the day - moron”
James on 08 Jun 2007 at 1:10 am #
I have never seen a list of amigos falsos en Spanish, but there is one obvious one
actualmente - currently (actually is “en realidad”)
It´s hard to think of the rest as I don´t see them as the same word anymore
Joe DeRose on 08 Jun 2007 at 1:36 am #
James, Thanks! I never knew that “actualmente” means “currently”; I’ve been misusing it.
The one that always trips me up is “embarrasada,” meaning “pregnant.”
– Joe / Atlanta / USA
BG on 08 Jun 2007 at 1:40 am #
The fact that that the plural “moron” is shorter than the singular “moronen” is very interesting. I wonder how many languages have words like this. I don’t think any I am studying do.
Polly on 08 Jun 2007 at 6:16 am #
I don’t know if I’ve done it, yet. But, he has certainly saved me a future “embarazo.” ;-D
Daniel on 08 Jun 2007 at 10:21 am #
Some other interesting false cognates in Spanish are (sorry for not using diacritics, I’m not using my normal computer):
argument= discusion (argumento is scheme or arrangement)
lecture=conferencia (lectura is a selected reading)
notice=aviso (noticia is a piece of news)
policy= politica (policia is the police)
realize= darse cuenta (realizar is to become real (another meaning of the english but not as common))
effective= eficaz (efectivo is cash)
Joseph Staleknight on 08 Jun 2007 at 12:06 pm #
Or how about “Gift” (poison, German), when you really mean “Geschenk”?
James on 08 Jun 2007 at 1:02 pm #
argumento can be the “argument” of a book or essay, but if you mean in the sense of “heated exchange” then you can´t use it
and the rest made mesmile, as I would never dream of using them in the “English” way,,, like realizar for realise! YUK
Josh on 08 Jun 2007 at 2:32 pm #
Some of the french ones I know are similar to the spanish:
actuellement= currently
réaliser= to make manifest (to realize= se rendre compte)
un préservatif= a condom (preservative= un conservateur)
une pipe= something um… not that appropriate (pipe= un tuyau)
un string= a G-string (string= une ficelle)
assister= to attend (to assist= aider)
car= for/because [as a noun it can be a bus] (car= une voiture)
la chance= luck (a chance= a possibility)
There are a lot of these between English and French- I can think of more but I’m tired of writing.
Josh on 08 Jun 2007 at 2:33 pm #
I meant, “une possibilité”
Andrew on 09 Jun 2007 at 7:51 am #
I think what you will find with Welsh is that the original word is the shorter form, which in the history of the language has shifted in its meaning to become a collective noun. In its place, a longer diminutive form has stepped in to become the singular noun. What I haven’t found out is when this happened.
BG on 10 Jun 2007 at 1:53 am #
That’s interesting, thanks.
Sion, Aberystwyth on 22 Jun 2007 at 2:22 pm #
There are quite a few plural words in Welsh which are shorter than the singular.
Torth (loaf) - Tyrth
Porth (entrance, opening) = Pyrth
Postyn (post, as in goal post) = Pyst
Tatws (potato) = Tit … no that’s a Welsh linguistic joke ;-)
When the email came along, the word ‘ebost’ was coined organically. Post mutated to Bost (don’t ask me why, is post feminine or something?). The plural of post (as in mail etc) should be postau, but people decided to ironically pluralise ebost to ebyst, I believe as some kind og an ironic linguistic in-joke. However, ebyst seems to be accepted plural form of ebost now, rather than ebostau.