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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Seven Danish words that are tough to translate into English

Some words in the Danish language are so culturally specific, they just don't exist in English.

Published: 27 February 2018 13:34 CET
Seven Danish words that are tough to translate into English
A 'træls' situation. Photo: Henning Bagger/Scanpix Denmark

Pålæg

Luncheon meat? Cold cuts? Cheese slices? Danes have a word that does the job for all your favourite sandwich fillings. Pålæg literally means 'overlay' which probably reflects the fact that sandwiches in Scandinavia are often open.

Bonus word: pålægschokolade: a thin piece of chocolate that can be placed on top of warmed bread, melting into a delicious minimum-effort spread.


Photo: Andreas Hagemann Bro/Scanpix Denmark

Altså

A filler-word so useful that we at The Local often find ourselves accidentally dropping it into English sentences. Altså can be used variously to mean 'accordingly', 'thus', 'therefore', 'indeed' or 'I mean', but is also a much more articulate alternative to saying '… er'.

Overskud

Has two meanings. One translates fairly easily to mean economic surplus or profit. The second meaning is to have enough energy or desire to take on a task, and can be used thusly: “I'm not coming to the pub tonight, I just don't have the 'surplus' for it.”

Sympatisk

Although English words such as likeable, friendly and congenial can be used in its place, oftentimes none of these terms manage to truly say what a Danish speaker strives to communicate when using this word. It can also mean something like trusting or having a good gut feeling about someone you have just met.

Incidentally, though there is no exact equivalent to 'sympatisk' in English, there is in German, a language that also has its fair share of words that are impossible to translate.

Jo

Jo — pronounced 'yo' — means yes, but can only be used in response to a negative question or statement.

Examples where it would be used to mean 'yes' (rather than the normal Danish word, 'ja'):

“Did you not wash the dishes last night?” – “Jo, I did it just before I went to bed.”
“You didn't wash the dishes last night.” – “Er, jo I did.”

However, jo can also be used in the middle of a sentence to add emphasis, and this use is near-impossible to translate.


Photo: Lars Hansen/Scanpix Denmark

Træls

This wonderful, stoic word, native to Jutland, is used to describe something which in some way is a nuisance, pain in the backside, disappointing or just somewhat inconvenient.

“My bicycle got a puncture on the way to work.” – “Oh, how træls“.
“I've been fined 600 kroner by the police because my bicycle light wasn't working.” – “Oh, how træls.”
“I was turned down for the job I applied for.” – “Oh, how træls.”

Hygge

We're sure you've heard the word hundreds of times by now, but we had to include 'hygge' on this list, despite the fact that it is technically now also an English word. Often translated to 'cosy' or 'a feeling of conviviality', there is no direct equivalent English word to hygge.

We would argue, though, that hygge is the most translatable word on this list. In the vast majority of contexts in which it is used, it simply means 'having a nice time'.

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BUSINESS

Why mastering English isn’t all good news for Danish workers and their companies

While learning English is clearly an advantage for Danish workers, mastering the language of Shakespeare isn't enough for companies that export to Germany.

Published: 8 July 2021 12:37 CEST
Why mastering English isn't all good news for Danish workers and their companies
English language skills don’t cut it for Danish companies hoping to export to Germany. Photo: Maheshkumar Painam / Unsplash

The Danish business community is facing a major language problem – and it’s not with English.

According to Dansk Industri (DI), an organisation representing approximately 18,500 companies across Denmark, Danish companies are experiencing a shortage of employees with good German skills.

As more Danes opt to master English, fewer are mastering the German language than in the past. This is making it more difficult, DI said, to trade with companies in Germany. 

Although Danes are considered to be the best in the world at speaking English as a second language, DI Deputy Director Mette Fjord Sørensen said speaking English when doing business in Germany isn’t always an option.

“Germany is a big country and not everyone speaks English at a high level, so misunderstandings can occur that could have consequences for a business deal,” Sørensen told The Local. “Speaking in someone’s native tongue, in this case German, can have a positive effect.”

DI said that German skills are in “extremely high demand” in a wide range of professions, from trade graduates to engineers and craftsmen. 

“Our companies demand employees with dual competencies – for example the engineer or electrician who also knows German,” Sørensen said, adding that DI is worried as they see fewer and fewer students choose to study German. 

An analysis by SMV Denmark, an organisation representing small and medium-sized companies in Denmark, shows that the number of high school students graduating German at A-level fell from 11 percent in 2005 to less than 6 percent last year. Additionally, the number of students admitted to a higher German education last year was 30 percent lower than in 2010, according to Avisen Danmark. 

Sørensen thinks the long term solution is to expand German language studies within Denmark’s education system, but there are several solutions available in the meantime.

This includes language courses for working professionals, specific to the work they do. 

“German expats in Denmark could also play a vital role in the need for German language competence,” Sørensen said. “We have to dig into the possibilities expats can contribute.”

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