Condoms!
I have an allergy to the preservative in medicinal creams. In France, asking a pharmacist for an ointment which didn't contain preservatives, I explained that I had a sunrash around my neck, and didn't want the dreaded préservatif around my throat. It took some time before someone explained to me that préservatif meant condom - around my neck!!!
Sent by: Frances
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The same thing happened to my uncle in a shop in France when he forgot the word for jam: Beurre, pain et préservatif, s'il vous plaît !
I made a similar mistake in one of my early French courses. I was talking about my self-sufficient grandparents who make their own jam. Not knowing the word for "jelly" I went for an American equivalent "preserves". Unfortunately it came out as preservatifs and my class teased me the rest of the the year about my grandparents' home-made contraceptives.
One proper word could have been conservateur. In politics, conservateur means Tory.
I made a similar mistake when I announced at a dinner party, that I loved French bread and that English bread was full of preservatives, there was a silence around the table, but only for a brief moment,as everybody burst in to laughter, with one guest saying "no wonder english bread is so chewy!"
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