Monday, August 3, 2009

False cognates


False cognates are always dangerous, but there are some that can be particularly bad news for movement interpreters:

comprometido - certainly not compromised! it's committed

es preciso - not precise! At least not as generally used in Colombia, where it tends to mean appropriate, timely, etc, depending on the context.

integral - please, spare me from integral! Ok, it kind of means the same thing, kind of, but we just don't use it in English and it sounds bizarre. We usually say comprehensive.

Can you think of others that tend to come up in movement settings?