Why do you say 'collapse' when you mean 'sink'? 15 Anglicisms that are incorrect in Catalan

BarcelonaEnglish is increasingly present in the daily lives of ordinary people, especially young people. The flood of English-speaking audiovisual content that reaches us through platforms and social media is compounded by growing international mobility, the touristification of our cities, and the widespread knowledge of English: in fifteen years, the number of Catalans who claim to understand it has increased by 60%, and they now represent more than 50% of the population over the age of 1.

All this means that, behind Spanish, English is contaminating our speech. Sometimes, we simply take the English word and adopt it. But other times they have a more mischievous arrival because we take a word that already exists in Catalan, but we attribute to it the meaning of a similar English word, such as apply and applyThe problem? That in Catalan it doesn't have the same meaning according to the standard dictionary, so it's incorrect in formal registers.

We've chosen 15 Catalan words that you may already use in the English sense:

Apply for a job (from the verb apply) in Catalan would be "to present oneself as a candidate" or "to apply" for a job, while to apply in Catalan means "to adhere" or "to put in the effort."

Move instead of moving or relocating (move) of city or home.

Collapse in the sense of collapsing or collapsing (collapse), when in Catalan it only refers to "acute circulatory failure" or "the cessation of economic, political, etc. activity."

Casual instead of colloquial (casual), as when referring to the dress code. In Catalan, casual is "unexpected" or "fortuitous".

Evidence as a synonym for evidence (evidence) of some crime in Carlesport.

Remove instead of withdraw (remove), for example a moisturizer.

Vegetables instead of vegetables (vegetables), when they are not synonyms (vegetable any plant is, while the vegetables they are vegetables).

Replicate instead of copy either reproduce (replicate) when in Catalan it only means "to answer".

Focus and focus They are words that have become popular thanks to focus, but They are not always used correctly (focus It does not make sense to face, nor can it be focus a debate), while one can always "focus attention".

Local is often used instead ofnative, when they are not exactly synonyms.

Domestic It is often used in sports or internationally instead ofstate, inside either national (from English, domestic), when in Catalan domestic It has to do with the house, that is, it is homey.

Severe instead of serious (severe), when in Catalan severe is "hard".

Disorders instead of disorders food or eating behavior (for eating disorders).

Audience (audience) is not the same as the public of a theatrical performance; the audience only has to do with the radio and television results or the courts.

Feel in the sense of seem either perceive (to adapt feel) in phrases like "it doesn't feel as fun as it used to."