False friends
False friends or faux amis are words in two or more languages that look or sound similar, but differ significantly in meaning. For example: in English, fear is an emotion; in Irish, fear means “man”.
Selections
False friends in Irish:
- beach
- a bee
- bean
- a woman
- crap
- to contract, to draw in or up
- dear
- to draw, to design
- fear
- a man
- file
- a poet
- focal
- a word
- gin
- birth; to conceive
- long
- a ship
- mall
- slow
- oil
- to nurture, to educate
- poll
- a hole
- rang
- a rank
- seas
- to stand
- sin
- that, those
- teach
- a house
- tit
- to fall
False friends in French:
- affluence
- crowds, abundance
- allure
- appearance; speed, pace
- but
- aim, goal
- fin
- end, finish; thin, fine
- glands
- acorns
- sensible
- sensitive