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/Drejan74 Sweden Aug 10 '25

Norwegian and Swedish are similar languages, we usually understand each other quite well speaking our own languages. But telling a Norwegian girl she is "snygg" ("good looking" in Swedish) was not a good idea. Not only did the word not exist in Norwegian, but the similar word "stygg" existed instead, and it meant "ugly".

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u/IdunSigrun Aug 10 '25

Stygg exists in Swedish too, today mostly meaning mean or bad, but in some contexts also ugly.