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SOCIAL

Top 10 false friends in Danish

Top 10 false friends in Danish

Not everything in the Danish language is how it appears. Here are The Local’s picks for the top ten ‘false friends’.

Back to Ten false friends in the Danish language
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1. Gift <br><br>
If someone wants to give you a ‘gift’ in Denmark, be wary. It may mean that they're trying to poison you, or it could mean that they want to marry you. Yes, ‘gift’ means both ‘poison’ and ‘married’ in Danish. Be careful either way. Photo: Julian Wylegly/Flickr
2. Gang  <br><br>

If a Dane asks you to join him in a gang, don’t worry. He may just be asking you to go for a walk or to get started on something. Or perhaps talking about a hallway (yes, some Danish words have seemingly infinite meanings). If he really wanted you to join a gang, he’d ask you to join his bande, which looks like the word band but has nothing to do with music. Although, Danes do call biker gangs ‘rockers’, so there’s that too. It's a mad language at times, and speaking of mad...Photo: Colourbox
3. Mad <br><br>

What’s all this I see about ‘mad’, you ask yourself. I thought Danes were the happiest people on earth? Well yes, so they say. But ‘mad’ has nothing to do with how the Danes are feeling, it means food. In fact, Denmark’s Noma, the world’s best restaurant, is a play on Nordisk Mad, or Nordic food. And with such delicacies as leverpostej, you might be forgiven for thinking Danish food is indeed mad. Photo: Lara Schneider/Flickr
4. God <br><br>
You may have heard that the Danes are a rather non-religious lot, yet you see the word ‘god’ everywhere. What gives? It’s simple. ‘God’ means ‘good’. So when a Dane wishes you a ‘god weekend’, it is not a subtle suggestion that you should go to church on Sunday. Good god, no. They're just being polite.Photo: Viktor M Vasnetsov/Public domain
5. Fred <br><br>
“Give fred a chance,” a Dane might tell you. You may wonder just who the heck this Fred guy is, but really the Dane is simply channeling their inner John Lennon. ‘Fred’ means peace. Sometime in the not too distant future though, Danes will be giving Fred a chance when Crown Prince Frederik assumes the throne from his mother, Queen Margrethe. Photo: Juanedc/Flickr
6. Fart <br><br>
Even the most mature among us still giggles at the word ‘fart’ (or at real farts, if we are to be honest). But in Danish, ‘fart’ can mean ‘speed’ or ‘service’. So be prepared for road signs warning of ‘Fartkontrol’. There is even an urban legend that on a visit from Queen Elizabeth, signs on an elevator meaning ‘in service’ had to be covered to avoid an awkward photo of the queen standing next to a sign reading ‘I fart’. It’s a story too good to be checked for accuracy.Photo: Seir+Seir/Flickr
7. Slut<br><br>

Get your mind out of the gutters, this word just means ‘the end’. So, a ‘slutstation’ is the final stop on the train line, for example. A ‘slutspurt’, meanwhile, is just the final splurge of a sale in a store. Movies can say Slut at the end. If you really and truly have your mind set on calling a Danish woman a slut (which we absolutely neither encourage or condone), the word is tøjte. Let’s be honest, you won’t be able to pronounce that anyway. Photo: Bjørn Giesenbauer/Flickr
8. Dig<br><br>

‘Dig’ is a very commonly used word in Danish, but that doesn’t mean this is a country of shovel enthusiasts. ‘Dig’ is simply the word for ‘you’. It’s pronounced more like the word ‘die’ though, so if a Dane ever yells ‘Hey, dig!’ at you, they are probably just trying to get your attention rather than wishing death upon you. Well, unless you ignored our advice and called someone a tøjte, that is.Photo: Kelly Sikkema/Flickr
9. Hug<br><br>

Everyone likes a good hug, right? Well, not in Denmark. Here, a ‘hug’ is a stroke with a sharp object like a sword or axe, or a blow like a karate chop. It can also mean severe criticism. But if, for some reason, you actually want to hug a Dane, ask for a kram or a knus, and make sure there are no swords in sight. Photo: Eleazar/Flickr
10. Bad<br><br>

And lastly, if a Dane tells you they are going 'to go bad', they're probably not planning to quit their job as a chemistry teacher to sell crystal meth. Although hey, that sounds like an excellent idea for a TV series. Actually, to ‘gå i bad’ means to take a shower or a bath. All good clean fun, here. Slut. Photo: Jaroh/Flickr


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