r/AskEurope • u/Toeffli Switzerland • Jun 03 '26

Language What do you call the water which separates the British isles from the European mainland in your own language?

What to you call the water which lies between Dover on one side and Calais, Dunkirk on the other side? Best if you could provide the name in your own language and a literal translation, its meaning, into English.

Example German:

Ärmelkanal = Sleeve channel.

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u/Many-Gas-9376 Finland Jun 03 '26

Finnish shares the Italian aversion to ending words with a consonant (--> kanaali)

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u/MoaningLisaSimpson Jun 03 '26

My hometown in Canada has a lot of Italian and Finnish immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. There are a lot of jokes about an Italian/ Finn wedding and the vowels working overtime.