I could give you all kinds of astrological reasons for why my flow suddenly choked, but suffice to say that the communication planet Mercury is slowing down to turn around and right itself on Sunday. Until then, I shall amuse myself—and hopefully you, too—by wondering about the “false friends” language has. Things that look related or alike, but do not mean the same thing.
Take “glimmer” for example. A word that means faint or wavering, especially of light. The dying beams of your flashlight are glimmering. Then there’s the Norwegian word “glimmer”, which means brilliant or excellent or brightly shining and flickering. Both the English and the Norwegian word have made the rounds but started with German. At what point did the English version come to mean faint rather than bright?
Anyway, if someone tells you you’re glimmery or something like that in Scandinavia, beam brightly and steadily with pleasure.
A Roll in the Universe 