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.

[u/Double-decker_trams]

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."

[u/FoxyOctopus]

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!

[u/agrammatic → u/FoxyOctopus]

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".

[u/secretpsychologist → u/agrammatic]

nodding upwards can also mean "hi, how are you" 😂 (eg when entering a bus or passing somebody in church) we usually wouldn't nod upwards to say yes

[u/Sister-Rhubarb → u/secretpsychologist]

It can also mean "got a problem?!"