The English word concurrent means that someone or something works in parallel or in harmony with someone or something else. The Swedish equivalent is samtidig, samverkande. The word comes from Latin CONCURRENTEM, running together. The Latin word also meant clash, fight.
This last meaning is found in Swedish konkurrent, which means competitor, the opposite of people working in harmony. In the early 1500s, the English verb concur meant to collide or clash.
The corresponding nouns are English concurrence and Swedish konkurrens, again with opposite meanings.
A word in one language may be quite innocent but in another language it has an offensive meaning or may even be a taboo word. It is not difficult to find such words in English and Swedish. They are usually about sexuality or body functions. Fart is such a word.
Fart in English is what you do when you let out gas through your anus or the sound of that action. A nicer way to express this is to say break wind, which is what Old English feortan meant. The corresponding Swedish verb is fisa or prutta.
Fart in Swedish comes from Low German faren, to travel.
One type of fart
In Swedish, fart means speed,velocity, or movement. Not surprisingly, traffic signs including the word are popular objects for English-speaking tourists taking photos. Infart means entrance and utfartexit from property premises. Farthållare is Swedish for cruise control, fartkamera is speed camera, and maxfart is top speed. If you are fartblind, speed blind, you don’t realize that you are driving too fast—you have got used to the high speed. Then you may be considered a fartdåre, a speed maniac or a fartsyndare, literally ‘a speed sinner’, a speeder.
Walking pace
Elevators in Denmark often have a sign saying I fart meaning under way. An anecdote says that, during a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, somebody realized just in time what the sign meant in English, and it was rapidly covered up.
At a snail’s pace
Fart is a typical example of a false friend. False friends are words in two languages that look and/or sound similar but whose meanings are completely or partially different. See some more English–Swedish false friends here and examples from a few languages here. You can read about more than 400 English–Swedish false friends in my book (copyeditor.se/books).
Briefly and shortly are easily confused. While brief and short are often synonymous (as you can read here), briefly and shortly have very different meanings.
Briefly means for a short time.
She appeared briefly in an Italian film. In Britain he worked briefly as a veterinarian. We spoke briefly about the weather.
Shortly means soon and indicates a point in time.
Shortly after her exam, she moved to Paris. I’ll be with you shortly.
The following message should not worry you too much:
The landlord will briefly cut off electricity in the building. This means that you will be without electricity for a short time.
However, if you get the following message, you might worry:
The landlord will shortly cut off electricity in the building. This implies that you may not have time to prepare for the power cut.
To sum up:
Briefly tells us that something lasts for a short time. Shortly indicates a short time before or after something.
I’ll see you briefly means that I will see you for a short time. I’ll see you shortly means that I will see you very soon.
They said they’d be back shortly
As I mentioned above, you can read about the words brief and shorthere.
Both brief and short are adjectives that are the opposite of long when we talk about time.
The lecturer gave a brief summary of previous research. There was a brief moment of silence.
We had a short discussion. It happened a short time ago.
Short can also be the opposite of tall as well as the opposite of long when we talk about distance.
The boy was short and chubby. The bus stop is just a short distance from our house.
A short walk with grandpa
Brief is sometimes used as a verb meaning inform and as a noun meaning shortinformation, summary.
The press secretary briefed us about the decision. Our boss gave us a first brief of the negotiations.
Brief can also mean instructions about duties, responsibilities, etc.
Part of the architect’s brief was to design a building that would comply with local environmental regulations.
A briefing is a meeting in which detailed information or instructions are given.
Debriefing has two meanings: A detailed report given by an agent or a soldier after a mission has been carried out or a meeting held after a traumatic event (such as a natural disaster, a hijacking, etc.) to let victims deal with their trauma.
Briefs is another word for underwear, while shorts are trousers (usually for sport or relaxing) that reach only to the thighs or the knees. Shorts can also refer to underwear for men.
Before this text gets too long, I had better remind myself to be brief or to keep it short.
My next blog post takes a look at briefly and shortly, two words with very different meanings.
The endings -ic and -ical may cause confusion. They both have the meaning of related to or characterised by.
The ending -ic is more common. Here are some examples: academic anestethic athletic chaotic episodic linguistic melodic neurotic parodic patriotic poetic rhapsodic sympathetic synthetic
The adjective ending -ical is common with nouns ending in -ology. anthropological biological geological physiological theological
Nouns ending in -ic take the ending -ical as adjectives: clinical musical sceptical
There are adjectives that have different meanings when they end in -ic and -ical:
CLASSIC is used to denote a standard, the highest quality or having lasting worth: Over 200 classic motorcycles are on display at the motor show. She wore a casual but classic outfit.
The Fiat Cinquecento is a classic car.
The Classics refers to the literature of ancient Greece or Rome: I’ve always wanted to read the Classics but I never seem to have time.
CLASSICAL refers to the culture of ancient Greece or Rome or to European music from the 18th and 19th centuries: In Italy a classical education is considered valuable also in business. Beethoven was arguably the greatest composer in the transition between classical and romantic music.
Classical can also refer to established principles in, e.g. physics: Classical mechanics is based on Newton’s general principles.
ECONOMIC refers to economy: Economic growth had never been stronger.
ECONOMICAL means being efficient or careful about spending money: Modern cars are much more economical.
(You can read about the difference between economy and economicshere.)
ELECTRIC refers to machines or instruments powered by electricity: Electric cars are becoming very popular in Norway.
ELECTRICAL means related to electricity: He is an electrical engineer. The fire was started by some electrical fault.
HISTORIC To denote something important in history we use historic: This was a historic moment for our country. You must visit the town’s historic houses and gardens.
HISTORICAL Historical means related to or having to do with history or past events: In my youth I liked to read historical novels.
Adjectives ending in -ic and -ical have the adverbial form -ically (but the word public takes the form publicly).
A language is a living organism that constantly changes. Words often take on another meaning over time.
Let me give you an example:
HOTHOUSE
Originally this word meant a heated building, usually made of glass, used to grow plants.
This is what it still means today, but the word is now also used figuratively referring to a place or situation with intense activity, usually to promote the development of somebody or something.
New York in the 1940s was a hothouse of artists and intellectuals. For decades the palace was a hothouse of intrigue.
Hothouse can also be used as a verb meaning to train a child intensively in sport, music, academic work, etc. This often has a negative connotation.
Some newspaper articles imply that women are hothousing their children when they are simply trying to do the best they can for their families.
Are we hothousing our children?
So here we see a change in meaning from something good – promoting the growth of plants – to something negative – disapproval of the way some parents train their children.
A word related to hothouse is hotbed, which originally also had to do with the growing of plants. When used figuratively, hotbed especially in British English usually refers to an unwanted or unpleasant activity.
The village had turned into a hotbed of disease.
Can you think of other English words that have taken on a completely new and different meaning?
Recent Comments