Coyans in the Czech Republic

LOST IN TRANSLATION
When learning a foreign language there is no shortage of ways to make yourself look like an idiot. One such faux-paus made by foreigners in CZ involves the traditional toast of “na zdravi” (“to your health”) that Czechs like to make before every meal. I responded to one such toast with “nadrazi” – which looks similar but unfortunately means “train station”. I got more laughs than puzzled looks from that. Another time, one friend of ours sent Krista a skirt from the Czech Republic as a gift, and Krista really liked it. I sent our friend an email saying Krista was very “vzruseny” about the skirt – which according to my dictionary was one of several Czech words for "excited”. Our friend could barely contain her laughter in her email reply – it seems “vzruseny” actually means “aroused”, and the correct word was “nadseny”. Now I am very careful to translate words back into English if I am unsure of the meaning. Of course, it can be funny for us to see the reverse, when I see Czech translated back into English. One friend was asking me if Americans like to wear shoes with “dry zip”. I could not figure out what she meant, until she sent an email with a picture of Velcro.