Idioms can be difficult to understand, however fun!
Like most languages, also Danes use expressions that can be difficult to understand for non-Danish speakers and often the google translator does not help much.
Did you for example know, that in Denmark the politicians can “get a nose”, if they make a mistake!? If you google “få en næse”you will get that direct translation = “get a nose”, but that doesn’t make much sense does it?
Politicians in Denmark can “få en næse”and it can be both a “lille/small”or a “stor/large”all depending on how big a mistake they have made.
In the headlines last week, you could read that our tax minister Karsten Lauritzen got a nose after giving wrong information to the “Folketinget”:
A so-called political nose, means that a majority of the Folketinget express their criticism of a minister and all depending of the criticism, the nose varies in size!
…and there are so many more that you might find fun to know about. Here are some of my favorites:
| In Danish | Google translate | The real meaning |
Lægge hovedet i blød |
Put your head in soft |
To think |
Ingen ko på isen |
No cow on the ice |
No problem, no danger |
Slå på tråden |
Turn on the thread |
Make a phone call |
Spis brød til |
Eat bread |
Take it easy |
Der ligger hunden begravet |
There lies the dog buried |
There is the problem |
Bide i det sure æble |
Bite into the sour apple |
To do something you don’t really want to do |
Hale torsk i land |
Haul cod in land |
To snore |
Der er ugler i mosen |
There are owls in the bog |
Something is wrong |
Få blod på tanden |
Get blood on your teeth |
Eager to try something new |
For more, check this great site from Copenhagen Language Center for more: https://www.kbh-sprogcenter.dk/en/blog/danish-idioms-expressions/!
I enjoyed reading your blog. Thanks for sharing!
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