A false friend is a word or expression that sounds or looks like one in your native language, but has a different meaning.

We all know, for example, that the German word Handy is a mobile or cell phone in English. But what about Schauen Sie auf die Rückseite des PCs?

We don’t use backside here as many people might think. The backside is the Hinterteil or Hintern.

In English we’d say quite simply:

Look at the back of your computer.

A beamer is a BMW. What you probably mean is a projector.

A billion is a Milliarde. And a blackboard is a Schultafel, while a schwarzes Brett is a notice board.

To blame means beschuldigen, while jemanden blamieren means to make someone look foolish or to show someone up.

Do you see how important it is to know these false friends if you want to avoid awkward or unfortunate situations?

Perhaps you have some favourites to add to my list? But don’t worry. We’ll be looking at some more in the future.

Euphemisms have become part of our everyday language to talk about things we would rather avoid saying.

(Just a little reminder … euphemisms are polite expressions that are used in place of words and phrases that are considered to be offensive or displeasing.)

Here is a short list of some euphemisms used today. The first word is the euphemism and the word in brackets is the word or phrase some people might try to avoid!

a little thin on top (bald)
bathroom tissue (toilet paper)
running shoes (sneakers)
adult beverages (alcohol)
to be excused (to go to the toilet)
Excuse my French! (used to apologise for swearing)
to fall off the back of a lorry (to acquire illegally)
a happy event (a birth)
in the family way (pregnant)
Montezuma’s revenge (diarrhoea)
to put to sleep (to kill an animal)
private parts (sexual organs)
the smallest room in the house (the toilet)
to pass away (to die)
to kick the bucket (to die)
to meet your maker (to die)
lose your lunch (to vomit)
well fed (obese)
big boned (obese)

Whether you like euphemisms or not, I feel it’s important to know that they exist.

“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.”
Dale Carnegie

A little food for thought …

When we want to persuade someone to do something, what works best? Logic or emotion or even both together?

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Here are some questions I like to ask myself after having written an email:

Is my first sentence the most important sentence?
Do I have long sentences I can shorten?
Have I avoided complicated words, and used words I think my reader will understand?
Have I used more active verbs (rather than passive)?
Is my email short and to the point?
Have I told my reader what I wanted them to do after reading my message?
Have I checked the correct spelling in order to avoid any mistakes or misunderstandings?

Would you like to add a question or two to my list?

Photo by Stephen Phillips – Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash

Morten Hansen, Professor of Management at the University of California Berkeley, tells us that we need to “do less and obsess” if we want to be great at work.

With “do less’, Morten means we ought to focus on extremely few priorities. With “obsess” he means that we should go all in, pay fanatic attention to detail, go for quality, go the extra mile and do exceptional work.

If you’d like to hear Morten’s 1-minute-long conversation with Dan Pink, listen in here.

Are you doing less and obsessing? Or doing more and obsessing? Or perhaps you’re not obsessing at all? 😉

Something to think about perhaps! 🤔

I wouldn’t be surprised if you were. I know I am sometimes!

Being quick to say “yes” might mean that you attend meetings and events, and take on tasks, projects and other activities that you aren’t at all interested in. 

So what can you do in the future?

Next time someone asks you to do something or to take part in something you’re not fully sure whether you want to, it’s best to create a pause and ask for time to think about it. You can say something like, “Let me get back to you”. 

That should stop you making hasty decisions that you later might regret.

 Or is this a tactic you’ve already been using?

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash