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Top 10 Danish words the world should use now

Top 10 Danish words the world should use now

Danish is a tough language to learn, no doubt. But it has some words that are just so good that they should be adopted into the English language. Here are ten examples.

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<b>1. Overskud</b><br>
Overskud is a terrific and widely used Danish word. In a financial context overskud means profit, but most Danes use it to describe an excess of energy or the lack thereof. If a Dane isn’t up to coping with a particular challenge, they will say they do not have the 'overskud' for it. But going above and beyond the call of duty? That’s really showing some overskud. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Hey man, can you help me move some boxes on Saturday?” <br>“Hmmm, I’ve got to take the kids swimming and get groceries, so I don’t think I’ll have the overskud.”Photo: Colourbox
<b>2. Overmorgen/forgårs</b><br>
Danish is often simply more effective when it comes to talking about time. What takes an English speaker four words (the day after tomorrow), a Danish speaker can accomplish with one: overmorgen. Same thing with ‘the day before yesterday’. That’s simply forgårs. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Hey, we never heard from Linda - weren’t we supposed to go out with her and Peter i forgårs?” <br>“No silly, our double date isn't until i overmorgen.”Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billward/&quot;">Bill Ward/Flickr</a>
<b>3. Mormor/farmor, etc</b><br>
Describing family members is another area where the Danes have got it down. When an English speaker talks about his/her grandmother, they may be asked: “Now, is that on your mother or your father’s side?” No such confusion in Danish. A maternal grandmother is mormor (literally mum mum), a paternal grandmother is farmor (dad mum), your mom’s dad is morfar and your dad’s dad is farfar. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Did I ever tell you that my farfar fought in WW2?” Photo: Colourbox
<b>4. Hyggelig</b><br>
We’ll just go ahead and admit this now: every list we do on the Danish language will probably include some variation of hygge, perhaps the most famous of all Danish words. Some say it’s untranslatable, other say it just basically means ‘cosy’. Whatever. It’s a good word and once you learn Danish, you’ll use it a lot. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “I tell you, Sam, that was one hyggelig evening.” <br>“Yes indeed, Steve. I must say that you really know how to hygge.”Photo: Colourbox
<b>5. Hils</b><br>
This short little word is a great and effective replacement for “give my regards to so-and-so” or “say hello to so-and-so for me”. A lot of Danish conversations end with both people telling the other to hils someone else. Or if you’re a third party to a conversation (your wife is going to call her sister, for example), you can simply say ‘hils’ to show (or give the illusion) that you care. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Hey, I’m heading over to Susan’s house this evening.” <br>“OK, hils.” Photo: Colourbox
<b>6. Orke</b><br>
This is another word that Danes use a lot. It basically means that you can’t be bothered to do something or that you don’t have the strength for it. Strangely enough, most Danes use it in the exact same phrasing: “Jeg orker det simpelthen ikke” (I simply can’t be bothered).<br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “The baby is crying again – are you going to go in there and check on him?” <br>“I’ve been in there ten times already and I don’t orker going in again!”Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/samstanton/">Sam Stanton/Flickr</a>
<b>7. Politikerleden</b><br>
You’ve got to love this: a word to describe disgust in politics and politicians.<br> 
<b>How to use it:</b> “Hey, did you catch the State of the Union address the other night?”<br> “Nah man, I couldn’t orke seeing John Boehner in the background. I’ve got serious politikerlede.”Photo: Mandel Ngan/Scanpix
<b>8. Stemmesluger</b><br>
Another political term, but this one in a good way. A stemmesluger is literally translated as a “vote swallower”, i.e. a politician who receives a lot of votes in an election. In the European elections last year, Morten Messerschmidt of the Danish People’s Party was a true stemmesluger, receiving the highest number of personal votes in Danish history. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Obama sure was a stemmesluger in 2008.”Photo: News Øresund - Johan Wessman
<b>9. Velbekomme</b><br> 
English has always lacked a good term for telling someone to enjoy their meal. English speakers have adopted ‘bon appetit’, but that’s French. The Danish equivalent is surely just as good. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Here’s your pizza. Velbekomme!Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diekatrin/">Katrin Morenz/Flickr</a>
<b>10. Tanketorsk</b><br>
Literally translated as a “thought cod”, this is a term to describe an inadvertent mistake or gaffe. <br>
<b>How to use it:</b> “Yikes dude, sorry I told your girlfriend that you were out with Marie, that was a real tanketorsk.”Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandongrasley/">Brandon Grasley/Flickr</a>
<b>Want some more fun with Danish? Try these:</b><br>
<a href="http://bit.ly/1nBLYOx">Ten false friends in the Danish language</a><br><a href="http://bit.ly/1yGYF0p">Top 10 mistakes Danes make in English</a><br>


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