I am currently writing two books on the topic of false friends.

False friends are words in two languages (in this case English and Swedish) that look and/or sound similar but have different meanings. Such words may of course be misleading, especially to those who think they have some knowledge of the two languages.

Who would think that gift in Swedish means poison or married? Or that konkurrent means competitor? And that a tax is a dog? And that when you spy, you vomit. Not to mention what kiss means in Swedish, or fart…

And you would need to understand false friends when you hear someone ask you, Can you show me your leg? If you have started a new job in Sweden, a trade unionist might ask if you “will join the fuck”. Don’t be shocked, but learn to understand false friends.

My first book explains the differences between a large number of English and Swedish false friends, gives definitions of the words and tells you their origin.

My second book lists between 700 and 800 English words and their Swedish false friends with translations.

Let me know (on my Contact page) if you are interested in these books about false friends. I will announce their publication dates here.

And I’d like to hear if you have ever found yourself in an embarrassing situation because you misunderstood a word in another language.