5 ms·

Yes! It’s kinda like “hearing voices’. It sounds like English, but if you try and ‘tune in’ you can’t!

ben_w 4y ago
As word games, I like sentences which sound valid in multiple languages, regardless of if the meaning is changed. "Goedemorgen, ik hoop dat je bent goed".
- mcv 4y ago
  Always fun are sentences that sound very similar and are entirely correct in both languages but mean something completely different, like: He was in the war -- Hij was in de war (he was confused) A stiff in the brook -- Een stijve in de broek (a boner in the pants) Those are the two most famous examples I'm familiar with, but I'm sure there are a lot more.
  - ben_w 4y ago
    An ex had the smaller example of incorrectly asking for "un préservatif" when she meant "un préserve". One of her friends was half of a multi-nationality couple, I think it was French and Irish, and the punchline was their kid, at a beach, yelling, in a strong Irish accent "Look mummy! Phoques!"
    - mytailorisrich 4y ago
      If by "un préserve" they meant a preserve/marmalade then in French that's "une confiture" (or "marmelade" but it's less somewhat rare). I don't think "un préserve" is a word...
      - ben_w 4y ago
        Although I may be misremembering the exact word as I have a GCSE grade D from 23 years ago, her French is much better than mine as she lived in Paris for a few years. It was certainly something close to what I wrote.
  - smcl 4y ago
    Oh wow, I've encountered a lot of words in English/Czech that are "false friends" but it's too far away gramatically to construct similar sounding entire sentences. That's brilliant you can do it with English and Dutch :) Also I wonder if there's a connection between trousers being "broek" in Dutch and "breeks" in Scots. edit: wow ok I should've just went to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeks
    - ben_w 4y ago
      At a NATO spy convention, an English spy asks their Estonian, French, Spanish, German, and Bulgarian counterparts if they can see them in the new camouflage they are testing. "Jah" "Oui" "Sí" "Ja" "Da"
bombcar 4y ago
I know some Spanish and hearing Portuguese does this to me every time; it's like I've almost tuned in but there's nothing there.
- pezezin 4y ago
  I'm Spanish and I get that feeling with Romanian. It sounds somewhat familiar, but I have no idea what is going on. Portuguese and Italian on the other hand are much closer, and if spoken slowly enough, somewhat understandable.

As word games, I like sentences which sound valid in multiple languages, regardless of if the meaning is changed. "Goedemorgen, ik hoop dat je bent goed".

mcv 4y ago
Always fun are sentences that sound very similar and are entirely correct in both languages but mean something completely different, like: He was in the war -- Hij was in de war (he was confused) A stiff in the brook -- Een stijve in de broek (a boner in the pants) Those are the two most famous examples I'm familiar with, but I'm sure there are a lot more.
- ben_w 4y ago
  An ex had the smaller example of incorrectly asking for "un préservatif" when she meant "un préserve". One of her friends was half of a multi-nationality couple, I think it was French and Irish, and the punchline was their kid, at a beach, yelling, in a strong Irish accent "Look mummy! Phoques!"
  - mytailorisrich 4y ago
    If by "un préserve" they meant a preserve/marmalade then in French that's "une confiture" (or "marmelade" but it's less somewhat rare). I don't think "un préserve" is a word...
    - ben_w 4y ago
      Although I may be misremembering the exact word as I have a GCSE grade D from 23 years ago, her French is much better than mine as she lived in Paris for a few years. It was certainly something close to what I wrote.
- smcl 4y ago
  Oh wow, I've encountered a lot of words in English/Czech that are "false friends" but it's too far away gramatically to construct similar sounding entire sentences. That's brilliant you can do it with English and Dutch :) Also I wonder if there's a connection between trousers being "broek" in Dutch and "breeks" in Scots. edit: wow ok I should've just went to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeks
  - ben_w 4y ago
    At a NATO spy convention, an English spy asks their Estonian, French, Spanish, German, and Bulgarian counterparts if they can see them in the new camouflage they are testing. "Jah" "Oui" "Sí" "Ja" "Da"

bombcar 4y ago

I know some Spanish and hearing Portuguese does this to me every time; it's like I've almost tuned in but there's nothing there.

pezezin 4y ago
I'm Spanish and I get that feeling with Romanian. It sounds somewhat familiar, but I have no idea what is going on. Portuguese and Italian on the other hand are much closer, and if spoken slowly enough, somewhat understandable.