False Friends - Taschen Guide

this:
Say:
coffer
    Truhe
suitcase
    Koffer
rolls
    Brötchen
wheels
    Rollen
pass
    Bergpass; Eintrittsschein
passport
    Pass
machine
    Maschine/Gerät
plane; flight
    Maschine
start
    beginnen
take off
    Start
handy
    handlich
mobile/cell phone
    Handy
    At a restaurant
    There are some clear winners among the false friends that show up in restaurant talk. At some time or other you will be eating together with English-speaking colleagues or customers, be it lunch, an evening meal or even a business breakfast. Look at the phrases below and see if you can work out the mistakes.
    Typical phrases in restaurants – with false friends
Hello. I reservated a table for four people under my name: Gold.
Could you bring us the cards, please?
What is the menu of the day?
We'd like two bottles of water – one with gas and one without gas.
Excuse me, I have become the wrong beer – I ordered alcohol-free.
Is the Thai curry very sharp? Can I have it with crabs?
I would like my steak English, please.
Could you bring some more sauce for the beef, please?
I would like the ‚warm apple strudel‘ for dessert. Does it come with vanilla sauce?
(And last but not least when paying the bill) Where do I underwrite?
What's not right?
German speakers very often say ‚reservate‘ for reservieren. ‚Reservate‘ was mentioned earlier and does not exist: it is a strange type of false friend that is said automatically by German speakers of English. You need to say ‚reserve‘ . ↓
‚Card‘ has several different uses, but if you mean Speisekarte, say ‚menu‘ . ↓ ↓
That takes us to Menü, which is known as ‚daily special‘ or ‚dish of the day‘ . ↓ ↓
‚With/without gas‘ is understood easily in most countries when you order in English. If you want to sound less like you are asking for water with or without Erdgas, ask for ‚sparkling‘ or ‚still water‘ . ↓
‚I have become the wrong beer‘ – ich bin das falsche Bier geworden. This has the potential to make your waiter or waitress grin widely because it sounds so funny. Could this be the number one false friend? Remember: bekommen is ‚to receive‘ or ‚to get‘ . ↓ ↓ ↓
Krabben are called ‚prawns‘ . Crabs are those large, pink crustaceans with dangerous claws. ↓ ↓
‚Sharp‘ is good for describing things like knives, people's intellect and lemons. If you are talking about curry, you should say ‚spicy‘ or ‚hot‘ . ↓ ↓
‚Sauce‘ is too unspecific in English when it comes to food. If you mean Fleisch- or Bratensoße, say ‚gravy‘ . Warme Vanillesoße is called ‚(hot) custard‘ .
And now to the bill/check: ‚underwriting‘ is the job of insurers; when you receive the credit card printout in a restaurant, you sign it.
Tips for visits to restaurants
Often, it is not so much what you say in a restaurant that is important but how you say it. Although it is accepted in German restaurants to motion to the waiter and discreetly say ‚We'd like to pay‘, in English it is more polite to say ‚We'd like the bill/check now, please‘.
Although this is not really a false friend, Garderobe is translated by some as ‚wardrobe‘ (Kleiderschrank. The correct word for the place you leave your coat is the ‚cloakroom‘, or a ‚coat stand‘ or ‚coat rack‘.
    When shopping
    If you have reached your destination but your luggage has not, perhaps you need to buy a few essentials. Or maybe you have a day or two free in between meetings and have a shopping trip on your to-do list. Read on and take note of potential false friends.
    Better phrases for shopping
    Clothing is a subject in which there are many false friends. Several terms started to appear in German not so long ago that really do not mean the same thing in English. However, as mentioned at the start of this book, some things havebeen accepted into English now, even though they did not exist before. If, in the past, you had said in a clothes shop ‚I'm looking for a red body to go with my outfit‘, the sales assistant's face would have been a picture! Ich suche einen roten Körper, der zu meinem Outfit passt. This piece of underwear used to be called a ‚teddy‘ – and it still is, but nowadays the term ‚body‘ is indeed used.
    ‚Overall‘ is a good false friend: if you say this in English it will be understood as Schutzanzug or Blaumann. The correct name for this, if it is a piece of fashionable clothing that you are talking about, is ‚jumpsuit‘ .
    The word neckholder does