English words that the English do not understand
Transcript:
Hello!
Today we will look at some words that Italian people have borrowed from English, but which are used in a way that native English speakers would not easily understand. In bold is what you should say if want a native English speaker to understand you:
Basket – The sport is called basketball in English. We use a basket” for picnics. If you say “Do you want to play basket?” We will understand “Do you want to play cestino?” You should say “Do you want to play basketball?“;
Bar – The Italian “bar” is similar to an English “café“. For us a “bar” means a “pub” where coffee and tea are not served. If you say “Let’s go to the bar for breakfast”, I presume we will have beer and fish and chips;
Block-notes or Bloc-notes – In English we call it a notepad;
Body rental – Is a temporary staffing firm when referred to the company offering temporary staff, or temporary staf if referring to the person who is filling a temporary position;
Box – “Box” means “scatola” in English. A car is parked in a garage;
Box doccia – shower cubicle;
Cotton fioc – We say Cotton bud (UK) or cotton swab (USA);
Un discount – A Hard-discount supermarket. “Discount” only means “sconto” in English;
Una fiction – A miniseries. “Fiction” means “storia o racconto di fantasia” in English;
Un talent – A talent show. “Talent” means “talento” in English;
Un golf – A sweater or a jumper or a jersey. “Golf” is a sport in the UK and USA;
Un Mister – A football coach;
Un night – A nightclub. On its own “night” only means notte in English;
Un residence – A residencial hotel, a residency hotel or an extended stay hotel;
Un happy hour – A happy hour is a time when drinks are sold cheaply, or half price, in a bar to encourage drinking and to get the bar full earlier. There is no equivalent for what Italians take to mean as “apericena”. At a Happy Hour in the UK or USA you drink a lot and pay very little. At a Happy Hour in Italy you drink very little and eat a lot!;
Fare footing – Go jogging. “Footing” in English means “appoggio per i piedi“;
Plum cake – Loaf cake. For us a plum cake means “torta di prugne“;
Pullman – Luxury bus or coach;
Pungiball – Punching bag or punching ball;
Sexy shop – Sex Shop. “Sexy shop” to us would mean that the shop, itself, is very sexy (che il negozio stesso è sexy e affascinante);
Social – We say Social network;
Fare un po’ di social – to go onto social networking sites for a while;
lo Smartworking – Working from home or Remote working. We have no idea what you mean if you say “He is in smartworking”. Please say “He is working from home“;
Spot – TV advert. For us “spot” means macchia;
Stage – Internship. “Stage” means “palcoscenico; palco“. Fare uno stage – to do an internship;
Un ticket – pay the cost associated to a National Health Care System service;
Tight – Morning Suit or Morning Dress;
Un trolley – Roller bag or Suitcase with wheels. Trolley means “carrello da supermercato o da trasporto” in English, So if you say “I’ll take a trolley on my trip”, we understand that you will be using a supermarket trolley, like a homeless person;
Tutor – Speed camera or Traffic enforcement camera;
Water – Water closet or W.C. or toilet. “Water” on its own only means “acqua“;
Un Writer – Graffiti writer or Graffiti artist;
Un Babykiller or Baby Killer – Juvenile murderer. If you say “baby killer” an English speaker would understand “a person who kills babies”.
Thank you very much and see you next time for more Peter’s Pills to improve your Legal English!
You might enjoy these 19 cultural differences that English people discover when living in Italy: “The Intrepid Guide“.
Legal English – Sommario delle Lezioni
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 43 – English words that the English do not understand
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 42 – Easement vs Profit à prendre
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 41 -er, -or and -ee names
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 40 – The Objects Clause
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 39 – When is Latin hot, and when is it not?
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 38 – Default
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 37 – Company Agent
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 36 – Injunction (false freind)
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 35 – Mortgage
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 34 – Freehold, Leasehold and Commonhold estates
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 33 – Transferor, Transferee and Transmittee
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 32 – Tax evasion, tax mitigation and tax avoidance
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 31 – Numbers
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 30 – Ordinary resolutions vs special resolutions
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 29 – AGM vs EGM
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 28 – A going concern
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 27 – Collocations: Violate, breach, break, disobey and infringe
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 26 – Company meeting words
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 25 – Mortgagor vs Mortgagee
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 24 – Fixed charges vs Floating charges
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 23 – Doctrine
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 22 – Construe
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 21 – Sign vs Execute
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 20 – The closing statement
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 19 – Writing Business Emails
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 18 – Limited companies
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 17 – Annual Accounts
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 16 – Meetings
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 15 – Attorney-at-law vs Attorney-in-fact
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 14 – Here and there compounds
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 13 – Subject Matter
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 12 – The clear days rule
Legal English – Peter’s Pills – Lesson 11 – Shareholder, Member or Holder of shares?
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 10 – Competition Law
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 9 – Lasting Power of Attorney
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 8 – Guardianship
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 7 – Damage vs Damages
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 6 – Legal Doublets
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 5 – Escrow
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 4 – Memorandum of Association vs Articles of Association
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 3 – Sign legibly
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 2 – Deed poll
Legal English: Peter’s Pills – Lesson 1 – Party, counterparty and counterpart
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