False Friends (falsos amigos) – a term for words that trip you up, for they have a meaning different to what seems obvious


Decepción – you would think means deception (especially as nearly every word ending in -ción is the same as it’s –tion counterpart in English) In fact it means - disappointment and the Spanish for deception is (un) engaño

Fui la victima de un engaño cruel

¡Qué decepción! What a disappointment!

Estar decepcionado con algo – to be disappointed with something
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Estoy embarazada does not mean I am embarrassed – that would be estoy avergonzado/a

Está avergonzado por lo que hizo anoche – he is embarrassed about what he did last night

Estar embarazada de seis meses – to be six months pregnant

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Agenda is not a part of a business meeting – en el orden del día – on the agenda

It is a diary or notebook - agenda de mesa = desk diary

Suceder is to happen, not to succeed – that would be tener éxito, triunfar, conseguir

Suceso is an incident, event, happening

éxito is success (and an exit is una salida)

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Describing someone as sensible means they are sensitive

Es muy sensible y llora con facilidad She is very sensitive and cries easily

Someone sensible will be sensato/a , prudente

Lo más sensate sería comprobarlo antes – it would be sensible to check first

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La fábrica is a factory, not a fabric which is la tela or el tejido

Your spanish leaves mine in the shade. My wife uses the term
'persona falsos' to mean someone who is 'two faced'

It should be ""Amigos Falsos not "Falsos Amigos"

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Dum de diddly doooooooooo!
www.bitterandtwistedshow.com
- take a look!

The spanish don't say two faced, they say that people have "muchas caras" many faces.

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Dum de diddly doooooooooo!
www.bitterandtwistedshow.com
- take a look!

I wouldn't be so certain ... a book I have taken some of the examples from is entitled Dudas Y Falsos Amigos. It's a term well known in language learning - I first came across Falsi Amici when learning Italian


EDIT PS - pelinor's wife is Canarian - he may just have the spelling wrong - persona falsa

serio / seria catches me out. It can mean serious, but more often than not, it means responsible, reliable, hardworking. I'm reading a book where a couple are waiting for a friend to arrive:

-Oye, ¿tú crees que vendrá?
-Sí, mujer, el Ramón es un chico serio … ya varás cómo viene

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γνωθι σεαυτόν. And on the eighth day, god made the fossils

Inconsecuente- This adjective refers to something that is contradictory.

Something inconsequential is (among other possibilities) de poca importancia.

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Speaking of someone /something familiar, you are more likely to be talking of family, than being recognisable (though it can have that meaning too – tu cara me resulta familiar – your face looks familiar)

Eres familiar mío = You are a relative of mine

Coche familiar = estate car

envase familiar = family (sized) pack

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A carpeta is not something on the floor, rather it is a folder or file

Carpeta de anillas = ring binder

Cerrar la carpeta = to close the file (in an investigation)

Méti mis apuntes en mi carpeta = I put my notes in my folder


A carpet is alfombra (also means mat, rug)

Alfombra mágica should be obvious

alfombra de baño bath mat

When you see the word local, it is more likely to be a place or premises than nearby/not general (but yes, it can have that meaning too: han reducido los servicios locales de tren = local train services have been cut; equipo local = home team)

Local commercial = business premises, shop unit
En el local = on the premises

To say someone is a local (un lugareño)
He’s a local = es de aquí: the locals/the neighbours = los vecinos
Local residents have complained to the council = los residentes del barrio (de la zona) se han quejado al ayuntamiento

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ser (un) gafe = to be jinxed; I am jinxed = soy un gafe

Tengo que reconocerlo, soy un gafe. Y si alguien le encuentra una sola ventaja a ser gafe que me lo haga saber, por favor.
El problema mismo de ser un gafe es que cualquier cosa que se planee, sale mal por definición. Por ello cualquier ventaja que puedas encontrar a ser gafe se convierte automáticamente en un inconveniente. Un ser Gafe


To make a gaffe = meter la pata; tirarse una plancha

Metió la pata hasta el cuello durante la reunión
He made an embarrassing gaffe during the meeting

Depends on how you say it and in what context "muchas caras "can also be used to describe someone who is cheeky, some one who want's their cake and eat it. A bit more light hearted. A term that is used between family members
"Una persona falsa" would be the way my wife wound say it.
Sorry about the spelling.