I know for instance, between Japanese & Mandarin there are a few words that are written the same despite them being pronounced differently along with having different meanings altogether:
| Word | Japanese Definition | Mandarin Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 手紙 | Letter (mail) | Toilet Paper |
| 先生 | Teacher | Mister (Mr.) |
| 天井 | Ceiling | Atrium |
| 説話 | Folktale | To Speak |
| 新聞 | Newspaper | News (media) |
| 約束 | Promise | Constrain |
| 文句 | Complain | Phrase |
| 怪我 | Injury | Blame me |
| 白鳥 | Swan | White Bird |
| 皮肉 | Irony | Skin & Flesh |
| 王妃 | Queen | Princess |
| 中古 | Used Product | Medieval Times |
| 氷箱 | Ice Box | Refrigerator |
| 手袋 | Gloves | Handbag |
| 邪魔 | Hinderance | Devil |
| 湯 | Hot Water | Soup |
| 猪 | Boar | Pig |
| 腕 | Arm | Wrist |
| 走 | Run | Walk |
| 棚 | Shelf | Shed |
| 首 | Neck | Head |
| 床 | Floor | Bed |
| 吃 | Scold | To Eat |
| 机 | Desk (Furniture) | Machinery |
| 娘 | Daughter | Mother |
In hindsight: if you are bilingual, do you know any false friends between two languages (i.e. English & French) or (i.e. Spanish & Portuguese) that are spelled the same but have different definitions across both languages?


Some of those you listed are closely related for a reason though, or are actually the same, in a sense. So I’m not sure they’re different enough to really be considered false friends? Especially if you look at older shared uses and meanings. Even within Mandarin, you have the same type of differences. 計算機 for calculator or computer, but computers are calculators (compute and calculate are synonymous to begin with).
A Mandarin professor explained in my class that 先生 was used in the past to address teachers. Both Korean and Japanese still use 先生 to address teachers, but they can also use it to address other people in a highly respectful manner too (i.e., like ‘mister’). But mainland Chinese eventually started using 老師 for some reason. Technically, 先生 doesn’t literally mean teacher anyway. The job title in Japan is 教師.
Even if they’re a bit different, most of them are easy to connect the dots. Like
新聞: news -> newspaper 約束: promises bind and constrain us 文句: technically does mean ‘phrase’, but its use as ‘grumbling’ (i.e., complaint) seems to have become more common 白鳥: swans are white birds, yeah? 氷箱: a box of ice is just a primitive method of refrigeration, no? 邪魔: this one comes from Buddhism, so the meaning is actually originally the same, but instead of just wicked spirits that hinder you from reaching enlightenment, it came to mean any hindrance in general 猪: pigs are domesticated subspecies of boars 走: ‘run’ is the original meaning of this character 首: still used for head in some contexts 床: still means bed in some contexts
I think I remember some Cantonese speakers still use 先生 as “teacher”…
I distinctively remember some ABCs (American-Born Chinese) using that term when the teacher told them to translate for me… being born in the Mainland, I never heard it used that way, I just assumed it is supposed to mean teacher by context clues…