Danish expression of the day: Skud ud
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The Danish expression of the day is all the way up and will never bring you down.
What is skud ud?
A skud ud is a "shot out", which doesn't really make much sense.
In speech and writing, the expression is always followed by the preposition til ("to") and then the object of the "shot out". For example, you could say skud ud til min eks: literally, "shot out to my ex".
Like the English expression "shout out", skud ud means to publicly acknowledge, appreciate or express thanks or respect to somebody.
It's fair to assume that the Danish skud ud was derived from the English expression. It's unclear how "shout out" ended up as the nonsensical "shot out" before getting a Danish translation, but maybe it was to keep the rhyme between the two words from the original.
If you wanted to say "shout out" literally in Danish, you'd say råb ud. Don't do this, though, because ud is not used as a preposition with the verb at råbe (to shout). Depending on the context, you can say råbe til, råbe for and råbe op. The latter is the closest you'll get to a literal equivalent of "shout out" in the sense of actually shouting something out loud.
Why do I need to know skud ud?
Having gained popularity in the last few years, skud ud is a good example of a casual expression which has taken the lead from a similar phrase in English and become established in Danish. Another example of a phrase to have made the same crossover is er det en ting ("is that a thing"), when referring to a new trend or something you didn't know existed or has debatable value.
Skud ud is possibly most common on social media (by my anecdotal observations), but you'll be well understood by younger generations if you ever decide to drop it into a Danish sentence and send out your thanks to somebody.
Example
Skud ud til alle de frivillige, der gjorde arrangementet til en succes.
Shout out to all the volunteers who made the event a success.
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What is skud ud?
A skud ud is a "shot out", which doesn't really make much sense.
In speech and writing, the expression is always followed by the preposition til ("to") and then the object of the "shot out". For example, you could say skud ud til min eks: literally, "shot out to my ex".
Like the English expression "shout out", skud ud means to publicly acknowledge, appreciate or express thanks or respect to somebody.
It's fair to assume that the Danish skud ud was derived from the English expression. It's unclear how "shout out" ended up as the nonsensical "shot out" before getting a Danish translation, but maybe it was to keep the rhyme between the two words from the original.
If you wanted to say "shout out" literally in Danish, you'd say råb ud. Don't do this, though, because ud is not used as a preposition with the verb at råbe (to shout). Depending on the context, you can say råbe til, råbe for and råbe op. The latter is the closest you'll get to a literal equivalent of "shout out" in the sense of actually shouting something out loud.
Why do I need to know skud ud?
Having gained popularity in the last few years, skud ud is a good example of a casual expression which has taken the lead from a similar phrase in English and become established in Danish. Another example of a phrase to have made the same crossover is er det en ting ("is that a thing"), when referring to a new trend or something you didn't know existed or has debatable value.
Skud ud is possibly most common on social media (by my anecdotal observations), but you'll be well understood by younger generations if you ever decide to drop it into a Danish sentence and send out your thanks to somebody.
Example
Skud ud til alle de frivillige, der gjorde arrangementet til en succes.
Shout out to all the volunteers who made the event a success.
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