In the series of my language mistakes there hasn’t been a post for a long time. However I keep making them from time to time. read on to see the latest edition.
Penetrating your foot
During a lunch recently I was sitting next to a lady. When I moved my chair I almost put the leg of my chair on her foot. So I apologized and wanted to say sorry for almost piercing her foot. I said: “J’ai presque pénétré ton pied”. This means I almost penetrated your foot. However in French the verb penetrer is only used in a sexual context (there we go again). I should have used something like “percer ton pied” or “perforer ton pied”.
Short lick
I wanted to say that someone had a “short fuse” which in Dutch in an expression for saying someone is short tempered. I said il a un leche court. Which means: “He has a short lick”. This made my colleagues think about all kinds of inappropriate stuff. I should have said Il a un meche tres court. The correct expression is il demare au quart tour. Which means that he already starts (like a car) when you turn the key 25% instead of all the way.
Eating doctors
I wanted to tell someone to take some medicin for something. So I said: “il faut que tu mange des medicins”. This means “You need to eat some doctors”. I should have said “medicaments” instead of medicins.
