{"id":148,"date":"2011-09-11T23:50:39","date_gmt":"2011-09-11T23:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=148"},"modified":"2014-08-06T18:21:46","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T18:21:46","slug":"talking-about-the-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2011\/09\/11\/talking-about-the-weather\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking about the weather"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danes love talking about vejret<\/strong> (the weather). I recently had a chat with a guy who’d been spending some time down under \u2014 he was really surprised that the Australians he’d met hardly ever talked about the weather! That made him realize, he told me, just how much people \u201dup here\u201d discuss things like regn<\/strong> (rain), sol<\/strong> (sun) og vind<\/strong> (wind). I guess that when you live in Australia and the blue sky is looking down on you every freaking day, you\u2019ve got more interesting conversational topics!<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s not that people in Denmark don\u2019t discuss things like food, or politics, or their love life. It\u2019s just that you have to start the conversation somewhere<\/em> to get to the crunchy bits. For that purpose, the weather is the perfect icebreaker. It is virtually everywhere, and you don\u2019t need any experience or knowledge in order to have your say. Sunny, huh?<\/p>\n

No point in Denmark is more than 100 km away from the sea, which gives the country its wishy-washy climate. Remember those \u201dskyer, der g\u00e5r og kommer\u201d, right<\/a>? Clouds coming and passing\u2026 Even at the height of summer vejrguderne<\/strong> (the weather gods \u2013 I don\u2019t know them, but so\u2019s the saying!) have plenty of surprises. Should I bring my bikini<\/strong> or my regnjakke<\/strong> (raincoat)? Or maybe I\u2019ll need my halst\u00f8rkl\u00e6de<\/strong> (scarf)? That\u2019s the kind of questions that might bother you in Denmark!<\/p>\n

Some weather phrases to keep the conversation aglow:<\/p>\n

Sikke det regner!<\/strong> (polite), Hold da k\u00e6ft hvor det regner!<\/strong> (more vulgar, it literally means Shut mouth indeed how it rains!<\/em>) \u2013 \u201dBy Jove, it\u2019s raining!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hvor er vejret bare dejligt i dag!<\/strong> \u201dThe weather is just lovely today!\u201d<\/p>\n

Det er du ogs\u00e5!<\/strong> \u201dAnd so are you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Har du set vejrudsigten?<\/strong> \u201dHave you seen the weather forecast?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ja, vi f\u00e5r sol p\u00e5 fredag.<\/strong> \u201dYes, we\u2019ll get sun on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hvordan bliver det i morgen?<\/strong> \u201dHow will it be tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

Det er bare en byge!<\/strong> \u201dIt\u2019s just a shower!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bare det ville holde op med at regne\u2026<\/strong> \u201dI wish it would stop raining\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ja\u2026<\/strong> \u201dYeah\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hvad er temperaturen?<\/strong> \u201dWhat\u2019s the temperature?\u201d<\/p>\n

22 grader, tror jeg.<\/strong> \u201d22 degrees of Celsius, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hvordan er vandet?<\/strong> \u201dHow\u2019s the water?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sk\u00f8nt!<\/strong> \u201dGreat!\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00e5 jeg l\u00e5ne din paraply?<\/strong> \u201dMay I borrow your umbrella?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019ll finish once more with a children\u2019s song, this time from the tv classic Bamse og kylling<\/em> (Teddy Bear and Chicken). They know just what to do to oust the bad weather:<\/p>\n

N\u00e5r regnen plasker p\u00e5 vores tage s\u00e5 plasker vi lige p\u00e5 hovedet tilbage med en r\u00f8d haveslange s\u00e5 regnen bli\u2019r bange\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201dWhen the rain\u2019s splashing on our roofs we splash right back at it with a red garden hose so the rain gets scared\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n