{"id":967,"date":"2013-07-31T11:57:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T11:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=967"},"modified":"2013-07-31T11:57:27","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T11:57:27","slug":"danish-oops-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2013\/07\/31\/danish-oops-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"Danish Oops! moments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Oops! in Danish.<\/p><\/div>\n

This month, several of my fellow bloggers here at Transparent Language<\/a> have been writing about funny mistakes they’ve made while trying to communicate in a foreign language. As a native speaker of Danish, I’m afraid the bits I could share with you wouldn’t be very “juicy” \u2013 the few mistakes I can recall are all due to me having lived an “awfully” long time among our Norwegian brothers and sisters! \ud83d\ude09 (Like saying Har alle f\u00e5et sine<\/em> billetter?<\/strong> instead of the correct Har alle f\u00e5et deres<\/span> billeter?<\/strong> when asking if everybody “have got their tickets?”)<\/p>\n

So, I’d rather share with you a few potential pitfalls, small details that you should keep in mind when exploring the flat Danish landscapes and chatting with the hyggelig<\/strong> people.<\/p>\n

Getting the vowels right<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danish has more vowels than any other European language, and it’s therefore a good idea to spend some time making sure you don’t pronounce by<\/strong> (city) as bi<\/strong> (bee) or mene<\/strong> ([to] mean) as mine<\/strong> (mine). There’s a joke about prins Henrik, the Danish Queen<\/a>‘s French-born husband, who likes to go hunting. Once, having returned from a hunting trip, he was supposedly interviewed by a reporter. “Henrik” wanted to say: Vi sk\u00f8d en r\u00e6v<\/strong> (We shot a fox). However, according to the joke, what he actually said was: Vi sked en r\u00f8v<\/strong> (We sh*t an *rse)\u2026<\/p>\n

Be aware of the st\u00f8d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The st\u00f8d<\/a> (thrust) is a kind of small hiccup that is largely responsible for making Danish sound \u2026 Danish. Normally, you can get along very well without it (but everyone will immediately notice you’re a foreigner! \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 ). In a few words, though, it does make a difference.
\nB\u00f8nner<\/strong> (without st\u00f8d) means “prayers” or “beans”, while b\u00f8nder<\/strong> (pronounced in the same way, but with st\u00f8d) means \u2026 “farmers”. And if you want to talk about your mor<\/strong> (mother), make absolutely sure you don’t throw in a st\u00f8d! That would make it sound like mord<\/strong> (murder).<\/p>\n

Turning numbers in your head<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danish numbers are confusing until you get used to the system. In most languages, when you see a two-digit number like 21<\/strong>, you say it in the order it’s written: twenty-one<\/em>. But Danes like to turn things around, and say: “one-and-twenty”: enogtyve<\/strong>. So, take care when sharing your telephone number! When reading aloud, say, 86867272<\/strong>, you have to think “6-and-80, 6-and-80, 2-and-70, 2-and-70”.<\/p>\n

Have you ever made an embarrassing mistake while speaking Danish? Please share in the comments section. Danish is a difficult language, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

This month, several of my fellow bloggers here at Transparent Language have been writing about funny mistakes they’ve made while trying to communicate in a foreign language. As a native speaker of Danish, I’m afraid the bits I could share with you wouldn’t be very “juicy” \u2013 the few mistakes I can recall are all…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2307,238018,3056],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-mistake","tag-stod","tag-vowels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t