Agurketiden (”the cucumber time”) is the time during summer when newspapers have nothing to write about (except cucumbers?) [Free image from Pixabay; no copyright.]

Ej hvor kedeligt! (How boring!) Late summer is a time when some people start feeling bored – kids are tired of their parents dragging them through verden (the world) on a jet-set sommerferie (summer holiday) and just want to go hjem [yem] (home), while the adults probably have started longing for their quiet kontor [konTOHR] (office)! 🙂 Let’s keep the worst apati [apaTEE] at bay by taking a look at kedsomhed (boredom) in Danish!

 Kedelig is the common word for ’boring’, and if you’re into Danish sounds, the word isn’t that dull… It contains the famous blødt d (soft d), that certain learners of Danish walk around the whole day trying to pronounce, making more and more ”pukey” sounds at the back of their tunge (tongue)! 🙂 To untrained ears the rare consonant may sound like an L, but you’ll get far more success if you can pretend it’s exactly the same ’th’ sound as in mother. So, [KETHe-lee] should do the trick! 😉

Kedelig obviously gets the same e- or t- ending as any Danish adjective: Jeg er så træt af nyhederne, de er virkeligt kedelige! (I’m so tired of the news, they’re really boring!)

Gab! (Yawn!) To tell your Danish friends you’re bored, ’I bore myself’ is the expression to use (do take care that you don’t end up being a bore to the others instead!): Jeg keder mig. And if you’re worried about your friend sitting too long i solen (in the sun) saying nothing, perhaps you can ask Keder du dig? (’Do you bore yourself’ = Are you bored?)

Yes, at kede sig (’to bore oneself’ = to be bored) is a reflexive verb in Danish. That means, you’d also say hun keder sig (she…), vi keder os (we…), keder I jer? (are you guys feeling bored?) Sure, you can also use the verb at kede about being boring to someone else, but that’s not so normal. 🙂 Gå din vej, du keder mig! (Go away, you bore me!) is something an eventyr (fairytale) princess would say to a boring frier (suitor). 🙂

Jeg håber det her ikke var for kedeligt! Nyd sommeren og husk at have det sjovt! (I hope this wasn’t too boring! Enjoy the summer and remember to have fun!)