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Your say - False friends 2q556j

Bordeaux ice-cream (German/French) 436j58

I normally speak German on a day-to-day basis, so I've become used to asking for ein Glas Rotwein in restaurants, which, rather handily, directly translates from the English 'a glass of red wine'. Now I have a smattering of French knowledge so do try and use it when in . One day I was trying to order my glass of red wine by the phrase un 'Glas' de vin rouge, completely forgetting that 'a glass' should be un verre and not une glace (same pronunciation as 'glass') which is 'ice' or 'ice-cream'. So my simple request ended up causing a great deal of confusion for the waitress, who assumed from my pronunciation that I was asking for red wine flavoured ice-cream. Naturally I pretended I was German after this embarassment!

Sent by: Chloé

Comments 682840

Stephany, US 2009-12-28

Dog is perro (masculine) and perra (feminine).

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Scarlet, Belfast 2009-10-16

And why do the Spanish call a cat GATO when the French eat their gâteau? Mind you that Spanish word stuck when I learnt it in and I can never how to say dog in Spanish.

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Roberto 2009-08-26

I once asked for a glass "pomme de terre" and with a clear picture of the apple juice in mind tried to correct my accent since the waitress didn't have a clue...
Until I suddenly ed it had to be "jus de pomme", something else with "pomme"... what's in a name :-)

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Dea 2009-07-28

I had Cabernet Sauvignon / Chocolat ice-cream in a wine festival in Chile. It was really, really tasty!

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Graham, London 2009-07-28

When in I asked for une boisson fraîche. The waiter thought I was asking for un poisson frais, a cold fish.

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Anonymous 2009-07-21

They actually have a merlot flavoured ice cream in Chicago.

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a, brighton 2009-07-19

In Spain I've tried red wine and lemon (tinto de verano) icecream - v.good.

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Paul, Nottingham 2009-07-13

I once asked for some "burro" with my bread in spain, forgetting that it's not "beurre" or anything like that, its "mantequilla". So I was asking for some "donkey" with my bread! Embarrassment ...

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tegan, york 2009-07-02

It is a good idea I think this should be all around the world, so on hot days you can enjoy ice cream and wine chilled at the same time.

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Bethanial 2009-06-27

LOL! That is so funny. Imagine if the waitress actually brought you some red wine ice-cream. YUM!

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