12 Anglicisms That Don’t Exist in English

English version: Soccer. Never mention "Baby-foot" to an English speaker, or you'll either make them laugh or completely baffle them.

While the French word is perfectly understandable and logical ("foot" being a contraction of "football") and simply describes a miniature football game, our English-speaking friends will break down the word as it stands and struggle to imagine what you're talking about (a baby's foot...?).

English version: Pinball (machine) - Just like foosball, you can't ask to play "flipper" in English-speaking countries. The word comes from the verb "to flip," but it doesn't refer to the machine on which you play. Instead, play "pinball"!

English version: a car park (UK) / a parking lot (US)

Ask an English speaker where the "parking lots" are in the city, and it will probably take them a few seconds to understand that you're looking for a place to park. The verb "to park" means to park, but the particle -ing indicates the action, not the location.

English version: a goalkeeper. French borrows heavily from English in the field of sports, especially in football.

However, the use of the word "goal" to refer to the person in goal may surprise an English speaker, for whom the use of this word is only ever used to refer to a goal.

English version: a car ferry. While in French one takes the ferry for a cruise, in English one takes the "car ferry". The difference may seem slight, but the word alone doesn't mean much in English.

English version: jeans / a pair of jeans. While in French one wears jeans, in English one says "to wear jeans," in the plural. Indeed, trousers are plural in English...because we are all normally made up of two legs! It is common to say in English "to be wearing a pair of jeans." Note that trousers are also called "trousers," it's the same logic.

English version: a camper Who knows why the word "camping-car" appeared in the French language, but it is not the one used in English!

English version: a tracksuit. Whether it's "faire un jogging" (to go jogging) or "porter un jogging" (to wear jogging clothes), both usages are incorrect in English.

Just like "parking," the word "jogging" comes from the verb "to jog," which means to run. The garment is called a tracksuit in English . As for the act of running, one would say "I'll go jogging" or "I'm off for a run."

English version: sport shoes / trainers. In French, it's common to hear the term "baskets" used to refer to sports shoes. However, in English, this word is either linked to basketball, the sport, or to the word "basket," hence the origin of the sport's name. Avoid using "baskets" in conversations about shoes...

English version: a rugby player You will probably be disappointed to learn that, despite its very English appearance, the word "rugbyman" is not used by English speakers! We will simply say rugby player , just as we should in French, "joueur de rugby".

English version: a walkie-talkie.

Why say that the English always reverse everything? It's actually the French who have mysteriously reversed these two words! The meaning is exactly the same, but you should know that this compound word is reversed in English.

English version: a sweatshirt. Besides the abbreviation of the word, French also makes a pronunciation error: you'll often hear /sw i t/ whereas an English speaker will pronounce it /swet/.

"Sweat" means sweat, so here we have a t-shirt for sweating, originally created for athletes. For more examples, read the following article: False Anglicisms