Oops! Did I Just Order the Whole Kitchen?

You’re at a fancy restaurant, and you  exclaim, „I love the Italian kitchen!“ The waiter looks confused. “I’m terrbily sorry, the kitchen is off-limits to guests.“

Wait, what just happened?

Welcome to the wild world of false friends and funny translations.

Today, we’re diving into a classic German-English mix-up that’s guaranteed to make you chuckle.

In German, we use one word—“Küche—for both „kitchen“ and „cuisine.“ Neat, right? But when we try to speak English, our brains sometimes get a bit… well, lost in the sauce.

The result? We end up talking about „foreign kitchens“ when we really mean „foreign food.“ Oops!

Imagine these scenarios:

German tourist: „I can’t wait to try the Mexican kitchen.“
Confused waiter: „Um… our chef might not like that.“

German customer: „I want to go somewhere with a great kitchen.“
Travel agent: „Well, IKEA has a lovely showroom…„

So, what’s the takeaway (pun intended)?

1. When you hear a German friend raving about a foreign „kitchen,“ they probably mean the food, not the room.
2. In English, we usually say „cuisine“ or just „food“ when talking about a country’s dishes.
3. These mix-ups are normal and hilarious—they’re the secret ingredient in the language-learning recipe.

Remember, every language learner has these moments. They’re not just normal—they’re what makes the journey delicious!

So keep practising, keep laughing, and most importantly, keep enjoying all those tasty international dishes.

And next time you’re abroad, why not have some fun? Ask to see the „Italian kitchen“ and see what happens. Just be prepared to explain you’re not actually trying to sneak a peek at the chef’s workspace.