Illogical English #2

Another funny word is the musical instrument “Cor Anglais”.

“Cor Anglais” is French for  “English horn”, but it isn’t of English origin! It isn’t even of French origin.

There once was a mistranslation from its German name “Engellisches Horn”.  “Engellisches” means “angels”, so named because the instrument looked like the one played by angels in Christian paintings. So, it really meant “angel’s horn”. However, at that time (early 18th Century) the word “Engellisch” also meant “English”. So it was misunderstood, and translated into French incorrectly.

Feel free to add your own ideas for illogical English below.