Sunday, October 23, 2011

FALSE FRIENDS : BOKA

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False friend is a word that is the same in two languages but mean two different things.

BOKA in Chamorro means "food" or "to eat."  It seems pretty obvious that we got it from the Spanish word BOCA, which means "mouth."  Boca Raton, Florida is a town named for a rat's mouth.

But if you go to Spain or Mexico and tell someone "boka, boka," instead of eating, they will think you're talking about someone's mouth.

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