CiaraOct 12

The word 'Vrede' jumped out at me from this 'Peace' installation. 'Vrede' is Danish for anger, fury, wrath. I wondered if it was an artistic provocation. But it seemed too confined to chance, that someone who happens to understand Danish happens to see this German artwork. So I looked it up and learned that 'vrede' is Dutch for 'peace'.

Vrede. Peace in Dutch. Wrath in Danish. I wonder if there's a word for words like these, that mean the opposite in different languages.

https://pixelfed.social/p/Rudini/881293271414254882

Rüdi (@[email protected])

Fotografiert 2018 auf dem Roncalliplatz in Köln.

Pixelfed
Show threadHenk van der EijkOct 12

@CiaraNi The expression that springs to mind is ‘false friends’, but I’m not sure that covers what you mean.

I agree there should be a word for this, in English, Dutch and Danish.

Show threadCiaraOct 12
@HenkvanderEijk I think 'false friends' is when a word look or sounds similar in two different languages, so it 'tricks' people into thinking it must mean the same thing. Like 'eventuelt' in Danish and 'eventually' in English. Danish speakers often get tripped up here, thinking that 'eventually' means 'possibly' (like 'eventuelt'), not 'in the fullness of time, at a later time'.
Show threadJohannes Hentschel
@CiaraNi
Yes, that's what's the case, no? Bcause as a German speaker, Danish "vrede" is a false friend for me because I would have intuited it to mean Frieden (peace)
@HenkvanderEijk
Oct 12 at 8:16amWeb
Show threadCiaraOct 12
@johentsch @HenkvanderEijk It's close, though not quite there to mean the actual opposite of itself in two different languages.