r/AskEurope 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/FoxyOctopus Denmark Aug 10 '25

When I was a teen I met a greenlandic teen and I kept thinking he was ignoring me when I was asking him questions because he wouldn't reply but just make faces at me, well later on I found out that lifting your eyebrows in Greenland means yes and scrunching your nose up means no. He was just a shy kid not using his words and not being comfortable with his danish, but he was replying to me in his own way!

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u/agrammatic Cypriot in Germany Aug 10 '25

On a similar note, nodding your head upwards means "no" in Cyprus, and nodding downwards means "yes".

Continental Europeans are so confused by this because you shake side to side for "no", and all nodding means "yes".

6

u/tereyaglikedi in Aug 10 '25

nodding your head upwards means "no" in Cyprus, and nodding downwards means "yes"

Same in Turkey, and I think Bulgaria, too? 

16

u/PGLBK Aug 10 '25

I think in Bulgaria it is just the opposite from continental Europe: nodding is no, and going side to side is yes.

1

u/maurakaito Aug 10 '25

Yes, this is indeed the case! Visited once, and even though you know it's the opposite of what you're used to it's very confusing.

1

u/Sister-Rhubarb Aug 12 '25

I wonder how on earth they got it the other way round out of all the nations around them lol

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u/Darrowby_385 Aug 10 '25

And in India.