Pseudo-cognates

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 15485
Date: 2002-09-14

It might be instructive to collect a cautionary list of pseudo-cognates, i.e. words so spectacularly similar in form and meaning that anyone but a linguist (who can _prove_ that they are not related) would take a connection for granted. Oft-quoted handbook examples include:
 
Eng. day / Lat. die:s 'day'
Eng. bad / Farsi bad 'bad'
Gk. tHeos 'god' / Lat. deus 'god'
Mod.Gk. máti 'eye'/ Indonesian mata 'eye'
 
 
I'd add things like
 
Eng. much / Sp. mucho
Eng. freeze / Lat. fri:geo: (no, <fridge> and <freezer> aren't cognates)
 
Any ideas? The condition is that the pseudo-cognacy should be due to pure chance (which excludes onomatopoeia, nursery words and the like).
 
Piotr