I am indebted

to Jonathan Grimwood's The Last Banquet for the knowledge that 'condom' was not only (once?) rendered into French as 'redingotes Anglaise', but also that this was itself a wilful mis-'translation' of the English 'riding coats' - an actual fashion item at the time.

Likewise - if rather less exotically - to JM Coetzee('s translation of 'Basho', by Cees Nooteboom) for the fact that 'door' in Dutch translates as 'through' in English.

Well... obv.