Danish expression of the day: Det sejler
Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash and Nicolas Raymond/FlickR
When things are falling to pieces all around you and you feel like sailing off into the breeze.
What is det sejler?
The present tense form of the verb at sejle "to sail".
At sejle can mean either "it is sailing" or "it sails" in English, with det being the pronoun. Birgitte sejler hver weekend og bruger mange kræfter på at vedligeholde båden: "Birgitte goes sailing every weekend and spends a lot of energy maintaining the boat".
In noun form, a sejler can mean "a sailor", although the more common term is probable sømand ("seaman"), with sejlere used for people who sail in sporting competitions. Confusingly, a sejler can also mean a boat (provided it has sails).
There are a collection of other ways at sejle can be used as a verb: it can mean to transport something using a ship ("sail the cargo"), to work on a ship ("I sailed for 45 years, man and boy"), to depart from a harbour ("she sailed from Esbjerg at 0800 hours"), or even to wade or float around at your leisure ("he sailed around the swimming pool on a foam mat all morning").
Why do I need to know det sejler?
You may have noticed that all of the above examples have a personal pronoun (I, she, he etc.) rather than "it" (det) in front of the verb.
When you say det sejler, "it's sailing", things take on a different meaning: they are chaotic, out of control, a mess. This slang usage of sejle can be used to describe anything from a messy apartment, to a work project that is falling apart at the seams (if you'll excuse the mixed metaphors), to dizzying or blurry surroundings.
At sejle in this sense can also describe people (so watch out for context if you see or hear it with personal pronouns): han sejler can variously mean "he is staggering", "he is drunk", or "he has lost control".
Examples
Det sejler fuldstændig i det her hus. Vi trænger til en ordentlig forårsrengøring.
This house is a total mess. We need to have a proper spring clean.
Jeg fik alt for mange snaps i går. Da jeg kom hjem efter taxaturen, sejlede det fuldstændig for mig.
I had far too much schnapps last night. When I got home after the taxi journey, everything was spinning.
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See Also
What is det sejler?
The present tense form of the verb at sejle "to sail".
At sejle can mean either "it is sailing" or "it sails" in English, with det being the pronoun. Birgitte sejler hver weekend og bruger mange kræfter på at vedligeholde båden: "Birgitte goes sailing every weekend and spends a lot of energy maintaining the boat".
In noun form, a sejler can mean "a sailor", although the more common term is probable sømand ("seaman"), with sejlere used for people who sail in sporting competitions. Confusingly, a sejler can also mean a boat (provided it has sails).
There are a collection of other ways at sejle can be used as a verb: it can mean to transport something using a ship ("sail the cargo"), to work on a ship ("I sailed for 45 years, man and boy"), to depart from a harbour ("she sailed from Esbjerg at 0800 hours"), or even to wade or float around at your leisure ("he sailed around the swimming pool on a foam mat all morning").
Why do I need to know det sejler?
You may have noticed that all of the above examples have a personal pronoun (I, she, he etc.) rather than "it" (det) in front of the verb.
When you say det sejler, "it's sailing", things take on a different meaning: they are chaotic, out of control, a mess. This slang usage of sejle can be used to describe anything from a messy apartment, to a work project that is falling apart at the seams (if you'll excuse the mixed metaphors), to dizzying or blurry surroundings.
At sejle in this sense can also describe people (so watch out for context if you see or hear it with personal pronouns): han sejler can variously mean "he is staggering", "he is drunk", or "he has lost control".
Examples
Det sejler fuldstændig i det her hus. Vi trænger til en ordentlig forårsrengøring.
This house is a total mess. We need to have a proper spring clean.
Jeg fik alt for mange snaps i går. Da jeg kom hjem efter taxaturen, sejlede det fuldstændig for mig.
I had far too much schnapps last night. When I got home after the taxi journey, everything was spinning.
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