Gap or loophole / Lücke

Some words have two different translations.

Lücke in German can mean a gap in a contract that shouldn’t be there – a gap.

It can also mean a situation that has been missed out by some legislation – tax laws, for example and can therefore be exploited – a loophole.

Mixing the two up in translation can be quite amusing.

Nick Freeman is an English solicitor with his own Wikipedia entry. He is famous for getting people off driving charges on technicalities and the press have called him Mr Loophole. He has now registered the name Mr Loophole as a trade mark. More in The Guardian.

Gap, conversely, is a clothing company.

(Via Geeklawyer, who credits the mysterious Blawg Review editor)

One thought on “Gap or loophole / Lücke

  1. Some words have even 3 or more translations. You don’t seem to like the Latin tag ‘lacuna’ but I find it works well in the monotonously repetitive Teilnichtigkeit/Severability end-clause of German-lingo contracts.

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