Day 92 of 365
April 2
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Language False Cognates in Language
False cognates are words in different languages that look similar but have different meanings, creating confusion for language learners. Spanish 'embarazada' means pregnant, not embarrassed. German 'Gift' means poison. English 'actual' and Spanish 'actual' mean different things (real vs. current). These misleading similarities arise from coincidence or divergent evolution from common roots, making them notorious language learning traps.
💡 Did you know?
In English, 'terrific' means wonderful, but in many other languages, related words mean terrible or frightening!
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