As an American who has lived in Switzerland for 16 years, I still find some German words to be absolutely hilarious in English.
This street, for instance, will never cease to be funny. You can look it up on the map–it’s not AI-generated. It is near the primary school my eldest attended.
Language is a funny thing. Sometimes things said in one language are offensive if the same sound pattern is repeated in another. We learn how to speak and hear as children, and if we grow up speaking one language, we may never learn how to properly pronounce words in another. (German speakers struggle with my name because there is no “za” sound in German, and there is no silent e, as well. So, I get called “Susanna” a lot. Which is fine.)
But what if someone’s name is from a different language and culture than yours, and what if that name is an offensive word in your language?
Do they have to go by a nickname so you aren’t offended?
Over at Reddit, a young woman shared that her Korean name was offensive to a Muslim coworker, who asked her to go by a nickname. The boss backed up the coworker and suggested the original poster should just pick an “English name,” so as not to offend.
Now, you do have to make reasonable accommodations for religious purposes, but (not being a lawyer) I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that having another employee change their actual name so as not to offend is never going to be a reasonable accommodation.
You can read the whole post here: Reddit AITA for Refusing to Use an English Name
And for funsies, tell me words you’ve run across in one language that are absolutely hilarious in another.
