Ich mag Deutsch

Throughout my studies of the Juhrmen language, I've come across several false friends that I find entertaining. The first of which is the word Igel, pronounced like eagle. It does not mean eagle, it means hedgehog. In German class, when we were in a circle playing a game, Frau Boyle was asking us to name examples of things from different categories. When she said Tiere (animals), I was first to respond with my favorite word in the world, Schnabeltier, which means platypus. Austin then said Igel, and Frau Boyle asked him if he knew what it meant. He did. She then asked if anyone knew how to say eagle in German, to which at least one person responded "Hegdehog!" (It's actually der Adler.)

I also like bald (bahlt) meaning soon, fast meaning almost, Roman (roh-MAHN) meaning novel and Rock (a masculine noun) meaning skirt.

Finally, there's das Gift. I first saw this one on a flash card that someone in German 10 had made, and then I confirmed it by asking Phil. Get this: it doesn't mean gift, it means poison. Wikipedia enlightens us:

Gift originally had the same meaning in English and German. About thousand years ago, this word was sometimes used as euphemism for "poison" in German. During the centuries following, by a process of "pejoration", this meaning of "Gift" became predominant. Today, "poison" is the only meaning for German "Gift", except in the word Mitgift ("dowry") which in German means das Mitgegebene, "that which is given with (the wedding)".

That makes sense, I guess. It's still pretty funny though. Click here for more, then click here just for fun.