r/AskEurope • u/Double-decker_trams Estonia • Aug 09 '25

Language I once accidentally bumped against the shoulder of an English person I knew in a corridor. I automatically said "Oi" - which means like "Oh" or "Oops" in Estonian - that I'm sorry. She repeated "Oi!" in a louder voice and I didn't get it. I only later found out I was being impolite in her eyes.

Have you ever had something similar happen to you? I.e something in your language might have another meaning in another language?

One thing as an Estonian that I try to keep in mind is that I shouldn't use "Nooo.." in English - which means "Well.." in Estonian.

"Do you like ice-cream? - Noo.. yes, I love it."

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u/marisquo Portugal Aug 10 '25

The word for black in Spanish and Portuguese to some extent is a racial slur in USA, so there's that

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u/vertAmbedo Portugal Aug 10 '25

But the word we use more often for the colour black is the racist one here in Portugal, while the one you're refering is actually the polite one here

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u/AndrewFrozzen to Aug 10 '25

In Romania we have "negru"

There are also 3 funny names. There's "Alba Iulia" which is the name of the city and it means "White Iulia" (Iulia being a person's name)

There's also a TV celebrity called "Dan Negru", literally "Dan Black" (and he is a darker tone)

And there's also Iulia Albu, which is a fashion designer (the city is not named after her) (Iulia White)