All of us who have studied languages discover words and phrases with more than one meaning. These may have different meanings for native speakers in a single place or have a meaning in one place that is different from the meaning in another. These differences can be difficult and sometimes embarrassing for learners of the new language.
I am a native English speaker and have been surprised in my own language when visiting other English speaking countries. Many years ago my wife used a phrasal verb common in the United States to express to a waitress In South Africa that she did not need any additional food. That moment the restaurant became so quiet you could have heard a pin drop as if someone had said a terrible word in the presence of the families eating their meals.
I will not mention the phrase because it did have a very rude translation into the South African English. I have had similar things happen around the world and always try to learn from my mistakes. I found that from one Spanish speaking country to another in Central America the same noun we learned in Spanish class can have an unintended interpretation. This was an example of "slang" where a common word is given another meaning.
I recently took an English level exam on the site http://www.examenglish.com/ . The exam was to help determine someone's level of speaking. Since I am a fluent English speaker I knew the correct usage, but I did notice a number of incorrect choices that would be difficult for a non-native speaker.
Examples of differences I have seen with the automobile and tools
American - front compartment door above engine = hood
England and many others this = bonnet
American - rear compartment for storage on car = trunk
England and others this = boot
Tool for tightening bolts and nuts in USA = wrench (there are many types of wrench)
the same tool in South Africa, Botswana, and England is usually = spanner
Those are just a few examples of regional differences.
Have you found some words in English that have different meanings and may have confused you or someone you were speaking to? If you can tell of an embarrassing situation of word usage you experienced then please comment here. It may be useful to teachers and students alike. Perhaps you can help others avoid your mistake and if you check back again you may learn some examples to avoid.
Please try to avoid swear words and words you would not want your mother or grandmother hear you say. Those "more sensitive words" may be dealt with later as I get used to this site and come up with a polite way to warn of innocent sounding words which must be very carefully used. If your experience involves more than one country then it will help to tell the country where you were misunderstood.
Thanks for your comments,
Bob
Comments
For the comment by Xkalibur (who is now 05-DAG ).
I answered this 5 years ago and the link I gave to the lesson is no longer any good. So to correct this I will try to describe how to make the "TH" sound in thank, think and thought.
Usually people make the "T" sound by touching the tip of the tongue to the top of the mouth behind the upper front teeth and forcing some air out as they take the tongue away. This air makes the sound for the letter T.
Th is different. The air needs to exit from between the teeth so the tongue must touch the lower part of those top front teeth when you push the air through. The best way to hear the difference is to let the tip of the tongue go beyond those front teeth when you make the sound (stick out your tongue a little). Try it 3 times, th th th. Then go back to the T sound 3 times T T T.
Switch back and forth TH T TH T and you should hear the difference. The word throat has both sounds THroaT.
05-DAG had also wondered about the S sound. The "S" sound is made with the lips open and the teeth closed. So with the top and bottom touching each other and the tongue moved away you can let out air and get the plain "S" sound.
The three sounds use the same air but the tongue and teeth change the sound. Thank you, tank you and sank you will be very different if you try this. Good luck and I'm sure my good friend Xkalibur - 05-DAG doesn't need this help now. I just changed my reply because the link I had given back then was now bad.
When we get here in Australia, I found out that though it is an English speaking country, there is still language barrier. We are using American English as our second language in our country, but never realised that I would have problem when we got here. I felt like I'm silly and sometimes, got embarrassed because I couldn't understand what they were saying. What I did is, I pushed myself to get used to Australian English.I watched Aussie shows and programmes with captions. If I hear new words, I check it to dictionary. Some words are bloke which means man, lift as elevator, evo as evening, arvo as afternoon, and many more. At first, it was annoying, but looking on the bright side I've realised that I have so much more to learn in english language. They are also differences in spelling like amazed, here it spells as amase; and in pronunciation as well. It kinda funny, but then gradually I am getting used to it.
Though, I know this language sometimes I get confused with the proper usage of grammar. I realised, that speaking is different from writing. I want to improve more my writing skills with correct usage of grammar.
I have my blog. In this way, I am able to practice my writing skill. Please check it and make comments about it. My blog is, www.richierich-berichandhappy.blogspot.com.
See you.
I hope it is helpful to others with this problem also. Thank you for your comments.
Thank you so much for your sharing with us.
Young English speaking children have a difficult time with these sounds when they lose their baby teeth in front. These are sounds they learned to make but if the two front teeth are missing they suddenly have trouble still making the "th".
:)