False Friends

False friends in British and American English

“England and America are two countries separated by a common language.”
George Bernard Shaw

What are false friends?
• Words that have a same ortographic form but different meaning • Interlingual
• In cognate languages
– e.g. English and German

• In non-cognate languages
– e.g. English and Portuguese

• Intralingual false friends

Intralingual false friends

• One language
• They won’t cause a major problem or a complete breakdown in communication but can lead to some hilarious situtations

Clothing
• Pants
• Suspenders • Vest

Edward was sure Chuck had said pants and suspenders.

Food and drinks

• • • •

Smarties Biscuit Jelly Cider

Other

dresser

homely

Dennis the Menace

Watch your mouth and thank you for your attention!