Explore words and sounds that randomly connect across languages

Fun facts, unexpected word pairs, tiny poems, and a sneak peek into the dataset behind LingPoet. We’re not chasing shared roots — just delightful accidents. As linguists, we are interested in all words, even those that may be considered slang, informal, or vulgar.

Sneak peek: tap to reveal

Click "Go wander" to surface 6 coincident words that appear in three or more languages in the dataset. Tap a tile to reveal IPA and meanings for up to three languages.

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A sign reading 'glad rooster'
The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: Lydia Brosnahan.

A sign, two worlds

This is a classic LingPoet moment: your eyes read a familiar phrase, your brain nods politely, and then another language interprets the same letters as something else entirely.

Our filter: we avoid etymological relatives and loanwords. We keep the pairs that match by coincidence (and comedic timing).

A sign that looks perfectly normal in English — until another language walks in. This sign could either be welcoming you to a happy poultry farm in English, or warning cyclists in Dutch about a grate of metal bars in the path ahead.

Some interesting word pairs in Norwegian and English

Same spelling. Different meanings. Pure coincidence — and occasionally, chaos.

Word
Meaning in English
Meaning in Norwegian
dust
powder of small particles
slang for a jerk
smell
odor
loud sound
karen
woman's name
the guy
bra
woman's undergarment
good
god
deity
good
time
time
hour
her
female pronoun
here
gate
door or portal
street
gift
present
poison or married

A small poem experiment

How do coincidences sound when you let them become a line?

I met you at the gate,
not a door, but a long street
where time stretched -
an hour pretending to be forever.

You smiled; there was a smell in the air,
not perfume, but thunder,
and the world went loud
in the softest way.

You said you lover me -
a promise, carefully wrapped,
a gift held out with both hands:
sweet in one tongue,
poison in another.

Come & Play

Explore coincidences. Make unexpected connections. Find something funny. Write poetry.

Open Words Studio →