A linguistic "false friend" is a word which is spelled or pronounced the same way in two or more languages or dialects of a single language, yet which has a unique meaning in each different language. Similarly, cultural "false friends" occur when people from different cultures think they have concepts and mores in common, yet they actually attach different values and perspectives to these concepts and mores, and the commonality is only superficial. A study of the American-Australian interface is specifically detailed. Linguistic material is drawn from the Australian Macquarie dictionary, and cultural evidence from the work of Hall (1959) and Renwick (1980). With evidence presented by Brena (1980) for example, it is speculated that Australians may share more common perspectives with Egyptians than with North Americans when the concept of "friendship" is considered. Examples given, such as attitude towards work and humour, are those which are reported to cause friction between Americans and Australians. Further difficulty is seen as workers in the field are predominately American and consequently the scholarly work itself has an American perspective. (Author)