I'm danish and it was so interesting hearing all the origins of these! We use these sayings all the time but most of us rarely think about how they came to be :) Thank you!
I'm almost certain someone misheard "ude at sejle" when they wrote the book. "Ude at sejle" is an extremely common expression, that everyone here knows. It means someone is bonkers or out of control and is directly translated as "out sailing". Imagine high waves rocking your boat at sea and losing all control of it - that's when you're out sailing.
@@RobeTrotting One of my favourite passtimes is to make basic misstranslations of English. Like "The man went peaceful and silent around the corner" which of course in Danish means "Manden væltede pissefuld og sidelæns rundt i kornet." The Julekalender was basically 24 days of that :-)
And of course to not confuse too much it doesn't literally mean what I wrote. It would translate in Danish to "Manden gik stille og roligt rundt om hjørnet" while the sentence I translated it to means "The man tumpled piss drunk and sideways around in the grain."
den med rent mel i posen startede med at være en positiv en men efter at der var mange som lige pulselig begyndte at snyde mere for at tjene på en kom den ikke have rent mel i posen bagefter. mener at jeg fandt en kilde om det da jeg skulle skrive om talemåde i en dansk opgave på HF for nogen år siden
@@ageridthesilverdragon4440. Næppe. Der er tale om et modsætningsforhold, hvor det ene ikke giver mening uden det andet. Man taler ikke om, at nogen har rent mel i posen, med mindre andre har urent mel i posen. Hvis man vil sige, at nogen er ærlig, så siger man det bare åbent, men hvis man vil sige, at nogen er uærlig, pakker man det ofte ind. Men jeg vil da gerne se din kilde.
That's such a fun book and as a Dane I'd never heard of it but even I would find it fun to read through and realise just how many saying we have and use every day without realising it.
Hi there! Just wanted to send out appreciation for your material. I was writing a paper that paralleled Denmark with US, and your videos helped me to be enveloped with the way of life for a Dane. I enjoy listening to your shared experiences.
With Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene/the White out of the eyes, there are two similar phrases:" it costs the tip of an Fighter aircraft/det koster spidsen af en jetjager" or "it costs a farm/det koster en bondegård." There is another phrase involving hat and glasses called "Hold på hat og briller/hold on to you hat and glasses" which means, Take care because it's gonna be a wild one/a wild ride so to speak/because something fierce/extreme is going to happen. The closest english phrase I can think of is "Brace yourself". I love when you quiz each other in Danish topics and try your best on the Danish phrases. You could maybe do a video, where you quiz each other in Danish pop culture(music, movies, art, sports etc.) and history, could be fun. 🙂
Ude at Cykle og Leve på en stor fod, never heard them before 😱 My favourites are; Det blæser en halv pelikan-it’s blowing half a pelican, Ikke en rød reje-not a red scrimp, Ikke den hurtigste knallert på molen-not the fasted moped on the pier, Andre boller på suppen-Other balls on the soup 😊🙈
Never heard the one about biking before, someone mentioned that it should be sailing, and the closest translation would be "off your rocker". I like one that is "helt ude at svømme" completely out swimming, witch means in over your head. When something "går op i hat og briller" goes up in hat and glasses, it means that chaos ensues, whatever the plans where, nothing is accomplished. Really great pronunciation of the vowels guys 😁😁
Thank you for all the amazing videos. Mike, I'm very impressed with how well you're nailing the soft D in 'fod' and 'brød'. That's a tricky one, so well done you 💪
@@jesperstoringgaard8367 Actually i would say it's more a Porta potti, but Google translate said toilet, and does it even matter, the saying is "lokum" because it means there's shit everywhere, I was just using a more family friendly term when I wrote "messy"
I like when you try to twist your tongues around the danish language and being very proud of you when I actually understand it. if I can , you nailed it.
A few ones that may or may not have bee posted before: "Ude på Lars Tyndskids mark." Literal translation "out on Lars Thin-Shits' field". Idiom translation: "Out in the boonies." "Hæklefejl i kysen." Literal translation "crochet mistakes in the bonnet". Idiom translation: "Not all there", "a few cards short of a full deck" etc. "For lidt penge har vi nok af. Nyt tøj har vi haft." Literal translation "Not enough money a plenty. New clothes is something we used to have". Idiom translation: "as poor as a church mouse".
As far as I know, the pulling cod to shore, is an (reverse-) onomatopoesi. When you're fishing with a rod, you do the "puuuuuull" and "reel in" - repeat, just like snoring Hope you understand what I mean 😊🎣
yeah I was going to comment that aswell, we use it a lot in my family when we tease each other with coming this like, "hey (insert name)" - "what?" "just come here" walks over "what" "And that is how you drag a cod to shore" :'D
One of my favorite ones which I think isn’t used all that often anymore is “at vande høns(ene)”. Directly translated it means “to water the chickens/hen”. I really wanna know where this originated from lol It means to cry a lot.
So, once again you guys really made my day, thanks! Also you nailed the last of "have rent mel i posen" im danish and I think its complicated and therefor i am proud of you two doing your best! Have a great night!
Ah yes! We learned that one in the first video “Pat the horse” has become part of our English spoken vocabulary too haha. It definitely confused American friends a few times 😂
I love when you are doing these. Some of them are really old and others are just ridiculous when translated. I also think it’s so cute when you guys are pronouncing the words you’re not that familiar with. It must be difficult learning a language like the Danish as adults. -you’re so obviously trying to learn it. Bravo!
I mean its the ø, æ, å and stuff thats teasing you in regards to pronounsiations, but honestly you are doing great. Those letters are tough to learn! Our vocabulary and alphabet is pretty close to the english, but we throw these curvballs in there. You are doing great though! Im impressed!
Thanks Andy! It’s hard for us to say it fast because we have to think in terms of: 1) what letters do I skip 2) å = oa Etc. and it just takes us a bit longer to a point where it seems unnatural 😂 We hope to be back in a classroom this fall and get better. It’s been long to not be improved beyond this point 😃🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting you are doing great! Danish is by no means an easy language to learn, but you are doing really well! Hope you are having fun learning our crazy language 😂
You should go on board in our slang dictionary.. that's next level funny.. And I'm not pulling your legs.. there actually is a slang dictionary by Gyldendals
Actually I believe the phrase is "Det gik op i hat og briller" - "It was about hat and glasses" and is a little different from Haywire. I would use it in specific situation where you are going to discuss something important and everything then ends up discussing something else or the situation is sabotaged. I think it maybe have something to do with people was more interested in just talking about their new hat and glasses instead of the things that was planned and was important for that event/meeting. So everything was about hat and glasses.
I’ve always sensed some ”masquerade” in the ”hat og briller” - and use “the vending” when a meeting starts out in a serious tone, but becomes silly/goofy.
I see a "Det gik op i hat og briller" - situation as something that turned completely unserious, where it should have been serious. Not nesesarily a conciuos sabotage.
As if Danish wasn't hard enough. Here's an ekstra hard one, in sønderjysk dialect. "Sinne mæ æ vinne, æ glas æ dye" in standard Danish "forsigtig med vinduet, glasset er dyrt" in English "careful/slow with the window, the glass is expensive " So the meaning of this is basically to go slow so you get it right the first time and not ruin something because you are in a hurry to get it done. Can maybe also be used to tell people to slow down if they are driving to fast or maybe even if they are stressing, to tell them that it's ok to calm down and take a breath.
The "Hats and glasses" might be translated too literally to English. "Går op i/Gik op i" also means "being very into something" or "Devoting your life/time to something". (Example: "Jeg går op i fodbold" --> "I'm very into soccer") So saying "Går op i hat og briller" means that you probably didn't focus on what was actually important - and therefore everything went to shit.. So... It basically describes most group projects you did in school 😂
It has been so incredible. Since the Young’s did a Euros reaction video we figured we would steer clear and maybe do something a bit broader on sports in Denmark and how we’ve gotten to jump into the spirit with Euros etc 🤔
as a swede, I recognize most of the expressions, but the only one I did not recognize or hear anything similar was the one with the cod. The excuse I want to comment on is with "clean flour in the bag" that it could also mean that if the miller did not keep clean, there could be flour beetles in the flour. and I think the "best" comparison is not to have skeletons in the closet. But very many of such expressions are similar in Swedish as well as Danish
It’s so interesting to hear how many of these are similar across cultures or where the sentiment is the same (but perhaps the wording or the items in the saying are different). Language is really fun that way 😃
Hi i am danish. Thanks for all your amazing videos. I love it. 🥰🥰Just love you guys. You are so spot on. I have one thing to say . the phrase... Ude at cykle. Its more common to say, Ude at skide 😂Or, Det er kørt helt af sporet.... Thanks for all you are sharing.❤
Some pronounciation tips: "Den enes død, den andens brød" --- "Deh'n eenuhs brurth, deh'n AAnuh'ns durth" "At love guld og grønne skove" --- "At luve ghoul ow gruh'ne scorwe" "Have rent mel i posen" --- "hah(ve) raynt meeel ee puh'sun" "Ude og cykle" --- very close, but "u" is pronounced "oo" most od th etime, you pronounce it like the Danish "y". Also, I never heard that phrase used like that. "Ude og køre", i.e. "out driving", might be how I know it. Means more like, too far out, gone off the rails, etc. "Trække torsk i land" --- Very close, but Danish "a" is far more nasal. And I always thought it refres to the noise a fishing rod makes when you reel in fish. Huh. "Leve på (en) stor fod" --- Very close again, but Danish "o" is also more nasal, and deep, like in "Oh no". "Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene" --- "deh custer deh veethuh uth a' oynuh'nuh", means it costs the white OUT of the eyes "Spis nu lige brød til" --- "spees noo lee brurth teh'l" "Han gik under bordet" --- "Haan geek oh'nuh bowarth" "Det gik helt i hat og briller" --- "Deh geek heeelt ee hat ow brellah" Supposedly refers to Venetian style parties with funny hats and silly masks/glasses
A Funny thing about "Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene" is that it's often mangled to "Det koster det hvide ud af ørerne" - which of course makes no sense whatsoever - but since ppl know the "right" idiom, they'll know the meaning anyway :)
Seems I've officially begun a robe trotting binge.. You've won over another danish fan today All except the ude og cykle ones I knew... never heard the cycling one used. oh, same for the leve på en stor fod one...
I guess a Dane would usually say "helt ude at svømme" or "helt ude at sejle" (swimming/sailing) or simply just "det sejler" (it's sailing) about something chaotic or out of control. Maybe you could relate it to "du er ude hvor du ikke kan bunde" or simply just "du/det er langt ude" which means something along the lines of "you're so far out you can't touch the bottom" so something along the lines of "you're (swimming) in deep waters" and the last one is just "you're/it's far out". Thinking about it we Danes really have a lot of sayings related to water or sailing! 🤔
Being disguised, or general cloak and dagger stuff, would be "skæg og blå briller", beard and blue eyeglasses. If you say that someone does not have pure flour in the bag, it is not a description of their character. It means that in this situation, they are hiding somehing, e.g. having an ulterior motive. This expression practically always comes with a "not".
@@RobeTrotting Klaus is completely right. It's usually "he does not have clean flour in the bag". I've only rarely heard it non-negated, but it has happened. But in those situations there was always prior accusation. So it would be "It turned out he did have clean flour in the bag".
As a Swede, I have opinions on the "out biking"- thing. I would say it has nothing to do with either chaos or being bonkers, but rather about taking a wrong turn....either in thought or in life. For example, when someone who is bad at drawing applies to art school, or that you have an argument for something that has nothing to do with that matter. You're not necessarily crazy, but just went out and cycled a little off-trail.
I belive that that's only half the saying. The last bit is often let out. If I remember correctly it goes "There's no cow on the ice when half (of the cow) is on land."... 🤔 And it might be of Swedish origin.
Having clean flour in the bag, it is mostly used as "I doubt he has clean flour in the bag". To show you are suspicious for someone or something not being as it presents to be!
In the internet age, I've come to really appreciate the old "Tomme tønder buldre mest". Drektely translated; Empty barrels thunders most. More correctly translated: Empty barrels makes the most noise. I'm sure you can quess the meaning, but I'll comment it below in case you want to guess before looking it up
My danish grandmother had a counting rhyme she did on baby's toes Like "this little piggy ..." in English. When we asked her to translate it she became embarrassed. Maybe it was off-color or even obscene. I'm afraid I don't remember it now.
Just a small comment to Derek - Don't look at the viewfinder/screen next to the camera. Look directly at the lens as if that is the face of the person you are talking to, even if it feels weird. Right now when you are talking, you are talking to someone standing 3 feet to my right and behind me, and not me. Keep up the good work! 👍
With the idiom "At have rent mel I posen," I feel like the word rent shouldn't have been translated as clean, but as pure. So it should have been translated as "To have pure flour in the bag."
Your Danish is getting better, guys! Well done! How about? ' at gå helt agurk!' 'to go absolutely crazy!' - have no idea where it stems from 🤣 Hello from Hundested 🌸🌱
Hytte sit eget skind. Meaning, thinking of your own progress, not caring about others. Bjørnetjeneste. Meaning, you do something in good intent, but ending up doing more harm than good. Stik en finger i jorden. Meaning basically, taking a knee. Assessing the situation in a realistic light. Could also be used instead of "spis lige brød til"
one of my favorites is “kært barn har mange navne”. A beloved child (or person, or pet) is called many things. Endearments, like Sweetie or darling or other nicknames might be some of the names.
We could also use this phrase "kært barn har mange navne" (beloved child has many names), if my mom called me by my sister's name or vice versa, Not uncommon to accidentally say someone else's name 😊
@@RobeTrotting I just found out that the stableboys actually fartet in a lantern to signal to other stableboys that it was time to gather for cow tilting in the night. This is crazy. Old danish version of smoke signals.
"We might say to promise the moon and the stars" - really? I thought the - rather direct - American version would be to "blow sunshine up ones *ss" 😂😂😂
#2:41 i'm Danish and I cant understand that, though, if thats how other countries hear us, i suddenly understand why they say we're having a stroke- I did understand most of the others though. Protip: when there's a word with Æ and K after each other as for example "trække" from "trække torsk i land" you kind of say it more like "at træjke torsk i land"
about the drinking under the table, have you heard the frasing, vi drikker os i hegnet/hækken? English translation would be,..... well i dont know actually. Cause the translation makes no sense in english. Hegnet would be fence. Drikker, is gettin drunk. so, getting drunk til we end in the fence would be the most direct translation i guess. It means drinking so much you pass out in a hedge or a fence or bush.
@@RobeTrotting Oh don't get me started on stories from the "good ol days". 🤣A buddy and me have had an interesting youth to say the least. We are nice and educated adults now, but one time my buddy got drunk with a stripper, got rammed by a car AND got stuck in a construction site in one evening! I picked him up from a pile of sand and bricks and carried him well over a kilometre or two in my arms, to get him home safe. And that was while I was dating the same girl he was dating and none of us even knew. We have been friends for 15 years now, and we will die together as we have survived life together!
I once had a book with playfull "translation" english to danish, well i was more like a form af sublation twisting it every which weird way, - here is some. have laugh and a good day to you. Sweetheat your wonderful, "svigerfar du er en vandrefugl", (father in law your a migratory bird) South of the border, "sovsen på bordet" - (the gravy on the table) He didn't know the composer, but it was not Cole Porter, "han vidste ikke hvad de kom i poserne, men det var ikke kolde portere", (han kendte ikke komponisten, men det var ikke Cole porter), ( he did not know what they put in the bags, but it was absolutely not cold draft beer(porter))
Rent mel i posen...back in the day the housewife had to check the flour or bread before using it. Not only could there be sawdust in it, but also components to make the flour wheigh more (=more profit for the millar/baker), but toxic to eat.
Did you guys ever watch the Pusher movies? Or learn about the biker Wars in the 90s? Would love you guys take on the darker sides of Denmark. Or even the movie armadillo.
@@GrinddalCPH We think that shit is crazy. But it is absolutely peanuts compared to the war between the Bloods and the Cribs. Certain neighbourhoods in L.A. see more gang related shootings in a week than we saw through the duration of the biker wars.
It is funny how some of these phrases translate. They make no sense anymore. Just started watching your videos. I really enjoy them. I was an exchange student in America in the 90s. And while somethings were the same I could easily do or say something that could be misunderstood. No TH-cam videos to help me.
It was so nice meeting you Mike this morning on the train! I've been watching your channel for a while and I learn how foreigners see the danish culture and I learn so much of my own culture that I don't think about in my day to day - thank you guys for culture us danes about our own culture ❤️🇩🇰🇺🇲
So nice to meet you as well! Sorry I had to run off quickly before the doors closed 😀 . That is exactly what we love to share! Life in Denmark is still new to us so we get to learn everyday - and share that with y'all! Thank you for watching and hope to bump into you again!
The Trække torsk i land was a good pronunciation, and you can be proud of that. The first one with bread and dead was hard to undedstand. And the one with Gold and Green Forests i wouldn't have understood anything at all. But that's the thing with danish. What brits and septic tanks think we cant understand we can. And what they think sounds very danish isn't lost to us. An example would be this New York guy ( i think.) bumming around Denmark and he talks about Denmark a lot and you get all that. But he meets this danish hotdog lady around Rådhuspladsen and he ask what hwr name is.. She says Lone. But he calls her Loon. That was nothing like she said to him. But im guessing that's what he heard? But that's where the hardship is. The little things. Take the Young Family. The Boston guys thats been here 5 years now. I still wouldn't know where they are in Denmark if they didn't write it. Dad calls Odense for OODENSE. A whole different thing altogether. 😊 So it's the minute things that makes danish sound like danish. Also, im a foreigner myself. I just had the fortune to get here from England as a 3 year old. Makes it a very different experience. 😁 I just went the other way and decided to have better English than what we where taught in school as i found it awful to listen to. Still do. I feel English is only beautiful when spoken by Patrick Stewart basically. So im a accent nazi of the worst kind. I cant even stand the Spice Girls talking. I lived in London for 6 years in the 90's and only about 5-6 people with a nice accent. Girls was the worst. But saw one on a show that had the loveliest accent. It was like upper class without the pompous royal family nonsense. No stiff upper lip. Just well spoken and intelligent sounding. People was a bit freaked out as when i went there i still had this BBC English going on. Or Harry Potter English as they say.. But getting that from a guy with a mohawk and with black lipstick and a skirt.. That confused the hell out of them. Being a sponge that went quickly though. It became very cockney and urban pretty fast. You couldn't help it when you're in the middle of it. 😉 Keep it up.. And cheers for the interesting videos. I like to get others take on DK. 😏
At leve på stor fod doesn't imply overspending or flaunting, only big spending (which few can afford, obviously). The true English equivalent is "living large".
- You understand my Danish...
- Well, we do have the same dialect
😂😂😂 always enjoy your videos 🙏
Hahaha I was hoping someone picked that one up 😂 thank you Anne 😃🇩🇰🤩
I'm danish and it was so interesting hearing all the origins of these! We use these sayings all the time but most of us rarely think about how they came to be :) Thank you!
@StormKupo08 Then you are either VERY young and isolated or not Danish.
@@kimtoftjohannsen9099 Hmm... I'm 47 and I didn't know where these sayings/phrases came from. Never thought of it, I just use them on a daily basis.
Ude og cykle: NEVER heard that one before !
Neither have we haha, maybe it’s regional though?
@@RobeTrotting tror det er "ude og sajle"
Haven’t heard either expression
It's prolly norse. I'm sure the norwegian vikings had oil fueled bicycles back in the day 🙃
I'm almost certain someone misheard "ude at sejle" when they wrote the book. "Ude at sejle" is an extremely common expression, that everyone here knows. It means someone is bonkers or out of control and is directly translated as "out sailing". Imagine high waves rocking your boat at sea and losing all control of it - that's when you're out sailing.
Denmark IS just a long history of bread :D
😂 but it’s gotten so good over the years 🇩🇰😃🍞
Bread is pretty good, have tried our Flatbread?
Just a random question. Have you ever seen "the julekalender"? If not i hope you will give it a chance this christmas
Oh yes! We love it Julie, we watched some of it in Danish class. It’s hard to be a nissemand 😃🇩🇰🧑🎄
@@RobeTrotting it's pronounced as a "t" LOL
@@RobeTrotting One of my favourite passtimes is to make basic misstranslations of English. Like "The man went peaceful and silent around the corner" which of course in Danish means "Manden væltede pissefuld og sidelæns rundt i kornet." The Julekalender was basically 24 days of that :-)
And of course to not confuse too much it doesn't literally mean what I wrote. It would translate in Danish to "Manden gik stille og roligt rundt om hjørnet" while the sentence I translated it to means "The man tumpled piss drunk and sideways around in the grain."
😂😂😂
More correctly, it's usually: "Ikke have rent mel i posen", suggesting that someone is trying to cheat you.
den med rent mel i posen startede med at være en positiv en men efter at der var mange som lige pulselig begyndte at snyde mere for at tjene på en kom den ikke have rent mel i posen bagefter. mener at jeg fandt en kilde om det da jeg skulle skrive om talemåde i en dansk opgave på HF for nogen år siden
@@ageridthesilverdragon4440. Næppe. Der er tale om et modsætningsforhold, hvor det ene ikke giver mening uden det andet. Man taler ikke om, at nogen har rent mel i posen, med mindre andre har urent mel i posen.
Hvis man vil sige, at nogen er ærlig, så siger man det bare åbent, men hvis man vil sige, at nogen er uærlig, pakker man det ofte ind.
Men jeg vil da gerne se din kilde.
“Du skal smede, mens jernet er varmt” means that you have to act while you’re in a situation to get something out of it….don’t hesitate
Strike while the iron is hot is an expression in English, too.
That's such a fun book and as a Dane I'd never heard of it but even I would find it fun to read through and realise just how many saying we have and use every day without realising it.
Super fun! And we love history too so learning the background of each phrase adds a layer too 😃🇩🇰
Hi there!
Just wanted to send out appreciation for your material. I was writing a paper that paralleled Denmark with US, and your videos helped me to be enveloped with the way of life for a Dane. I enjoy listening to your shared experiences.
That is really awesome to hear and thank you for letting us know Tara 😊 good luck on the paper 🤩
With Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene/the White out of the eyes, there are two similar phrases:" it costs the tip of an Fighter aircraft/det koster spidsen af en jetjager" or "it costs a farm/det koster en bondegård." There is another phrase involving hat and glasses called "Hold på hat og briller/hold on to you hat and glasses" which means, Take care because it's gonna be a wild one/a wild ride so to speak/because something fierce/extreme is going to happen. The closest english phrase I can think of is "Brace yourself". I love when you quiz each other in Danish topics and try your best on the Danish phrases. You could maybe do a video, where you quiz each other in Danish pop culture(music, movies, art, sports etc.) and history, could be fun. 🙂
And then there is "Det gik op i hat og briller" which means that everything turned into utter pandemonium.
@@andersjjensen They used that in the video, so I didn't include that.
Der er lidt forskellige meninger, men spidsen af en jetjager ligger fra 16-30.000 kr :)
@@Joliie 😆
Ude at Cykle og Leve på en stor fod, never heard them before 😱 My favourites are; Det blæser en halv pelikan-it’s blowing half a pelican, Ikke en rød reje-not a red scrimp, Ikke den hurtigste knallert på molen-not the fasted moped on the pier, Andre boller på suppen-Other balls on the soup 😊🙈
Du er ikke den sprødeste kiks i pakken
Er også god
Maybe it's actually a book of Scandinavian expressions, because Swedes use those. Although perhaps not younger Swedes.
Never heard the one about biking before, someone mentioned that it should be sailing, and the closest translation would be "off your rocker". I like one that is "helt ude at svømme" completely out swimming, witch means in over your head. When something "går op i hat og briller" goes up in hat and glasses, it means that chaos ensues, whatever the plans where, nothing is accomplished. Really great pronunciation of the vowels guys 😁😁
Thank you, we’re still practicing but ready for getting back into classes 😃🇩🇰
Thank you for all the amazing videos. Mike, I'm very impressed with how well you're nailing the soft D in 'fod' and 'brød'. That's a tricky one, so well done you 💪
“Jeg snupper lige en morfar”…..means: I am taking a power nap.
I would say "forty winks"
Thanks for going out of your comfortzone :)
It’s tough sometimes, nervous to do it in front of people but it’s motivating too 😃🇩🇰👍
another one: Det ligner et bombet lokum - directly translated: Looks like a bombet toilet, basically means: it's extremely messy.
Isn't lokum more a shithouse? rather than a toilet?
@@jesperstoringgaard8367 Actually i would say it's more a Porta potti, but Google translate said toilet, and does it even matter, the saying is "lokum" because it means there's shit everywhere, I was just using a more family friendly term when I wrote "messy"
I like when you try to twist your tongues around the danish language and being very proud of you when I actually understand it. if I can , you nailed it.
"Trække torsk i land" was actually perfect Danish. pronounciating Æ, Ø and Å is not easy for people from other countrie too pronounce.
Thank you! We are always self conscious so this is some nice reassurance 😃🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting When snoring, everytime you breath in, you drag in the cod a bit further :)
As a Dane, I can only apologize for our intrusively difficult language! You guys are doing great!
A few ones that may or may not have bee posted before:
"Ude på Lars Tyndskids mark." Literal translation "out on Lars Thin-Shits' field". Idiom translation: "Out in the boonies."
"Hæklefejl i kysen." Literal translation "crochet mistakes in the bonnet". Idiom translation: "Not all there", "a few cards short of a full deck" etc.
"For lidt penge har vi nok af. Nyt tøj har vi haft." Literal translation "Not enough money a plenty. New clothes is something we used to have". Idiom translation: "as poor as a church mouse".
As a Dane living abroad now, i really love your videos... its so interesting to see all the wired thing we do and say in Denmark.
Oh awesome! Thank you for watching and the kind words from abroad, Michael 🇩🇰😃
As far as I know, the pulling cod to shore, is an (reverse-) onomatopoesi. When you're fishing with a rod, you do the "puuuuuull" and "reel in" - repeat, just like snoring
Hope you understand what I mean 😊🎣
We also say "That´s how you pull a cod to shore" meaning that´s how you fool someone, make them take the bite.
Oh, that’s a good one, especially when you picture it.
@@RobeTrotting Idiomatic translation: "That's how you make someone take it hook, line and sinker" (Or is that one only known in British English?).
yeah I was going to comment that aswell, we use it a lot in my family when we tease each other with coming this like, "hey (insert name)" - "what?" "just come here" walks over "what" "And that is how you drag a cod to shore" :'D
Agurketid: When the political season is over and the news media starts writting about silly stories which normally never gets media coverage.
didn't know that one
ude og cykle? hmm never heard that one. would have used "ude og skide" ;-)
Tænkte det samme.
Nope! Never heard "ude at cykle" (out biking) before. "Ude at skide" = "up shit creek".
LOL !! "Det koster spidsen af en Jetjæger" " or "så skal vi op på lakridserne" 😂. Figure those two out 😄 !
One of my favorite ones which I think isn’t used all that often anymore is “at vande høns(ene)”. Directly translated it means “to water the chickens/hen”. I really wanna know where this originated from lol
It means to cry a lot.
Ohhh that’s a funny one 😆 🐓
So, once again you guys really made my day, thanks! Also you nailed the last of "have rent mel i posen" im danish and I think its complicated and therefor i am proud of you two doing your best! Have a great night!
Thank you so much! 😊
This is a great vid! A good alternative to "spis nu brød til" can be " klap lige hesten" which traslates to "just stroke the horse"
Ah yes! We learned that one in the first video “Pat the horse” has become part of our English spoken vocabulary too haha. It definitely confused American friends a few times 😂
Basically you use a lot of the same phrases over in Sweden as well . “Owls in the bog “ is my absolute favourite :)
So many good ones, it seems like there’s a lot of overlap around all the Scandinavian countries (which makes sense) 😃
"det koster spidsen af en jetjager" is the modern version of "det koster det hvide ud af øjnene"
Ahhh, that’s a good one too. Definitely easy to understand haha 🤑
I love when you are doing these. Some of them are really old and others are just ridiculous when translated. I also think it’s so cute when you guys are pronouncing the words you’re not that familiar with. It must be difficult learning a language like the Danish as adults. -you’re so obviously trying to learn it. Bravo!
I mean its the ø, æ, å and stuff thats teasing you in regards to pronounsiations, but honestly you are doing great. Those letters are tough to learn! Our vocabulary and alphabet is pretty close to the english, but we throw these curvballs in there. You are doing great though! Im impressed!
Thanks Andy! It’s hard for us to say it fast because we have to think in terms of:
1) what letters do I skip
2) å = oa
Etc. and it just takes us a bit longer to a point where it seems unnatural 😂
We hope to be back in a classroom this fall and get better. It’s been long to not be improved beyond this point 😃🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting you are doing great! Danish is by no means an easy language to learn, but you are doing really well! Hope you are having fun learning our crazy language 😂
7:19
HA, you threw him under the bus ;)!
😂 only a little bit - okay, majorly 😂
You should go on board in our slang dictionary.. that's next level funny..
And I'm not pulling your legs.. there actually is a slang dictionary by Gyldendals
Actually I believe the phrase is "Det gik op i hat og briller" - "It was about hat and glasses" and is a little different from Haywire.
I would use it in specific situation where you are going to discuss something important and everything then ends up discussing something else or the situation is sabotaged. I think it maybe have something to do with people was more interested in just talking about their new hat and glasses instead of the things that was planned and was important for that event/meeting. So everything was about hat and glasses.
I’ve always sensed some ”masquerade” in the ”hat og briller” - and use “the vending” when a meeting starts out in a serious tone, but becomes silly/goofy.
I see a "Det gik op i hat og briller" - situation as something that turned completely unserious, where it should have been serious.
Not nesesarily a conciuos sabotage.
As if Danish wasn't hard enough. Here's an ekstra hard one, in sønderjysk dialect.
"Sinne mæ æ vinne, æ glas æ dye" in standard Danish "forsigtig med vinduet, glasset er dyrt" in English "careful/slow with the window, the glass is expensive "
So the meaning of this is basically to go slow so you get it right the first time and not ruin something because you are in a hurry to get it done.
Can maybe also be used to tell people to slow down if they are driving to fast or maybe even if they are stressing, to tell them that it's ok to calm down and take a breath.
The "Hats and glasses" might be translated too literally to English.
"Går op i/Gik op i" also means "being very into something" or "Devoting your life/time to something". (Example: "Jeg går op i fodbold" --> "I'm very into soccer")
So saying "Går op i hat og briller" means that you probably didn't focus on what was actually important - and therefore everything went to shit..
So... It basically describes most group projects you did in school 😂
Ah, that makes sense. Thank you for explaining it a bit better - and knowing how our group project went 😂 😃🇩🇰
I always smile through out your videos :)) Love to hear you speaking danish **~~** it must be very difficult w all the crazy vocals
I would love to see a video about Danes and "soccer"! The vibe in copenhagen for this Euros has been off the charts! 🇩🇰⚽
It has been so incredible. Since the Young’s did a Euros reaction video we figured we would steer clear and maybe do something a bit broader on sports in Denmark and how we’ve gotten to jump into the spirit with Euros etc 🤔
as a swede, I recognize most of the expressions, but the only one I did not recognize or hear anything similar was the one with the cod.
The excuse I want to comment on is with "clean flour in the bag" that it could also mean that if the miller did not keep clean, there could be flour beetles in the flour. and I think the "best" comparison is not to have skeletons in the closet.
But very many of such expressions are similar in Swedish as well as Danish
It’s so interesting to hear how many of these are similar across cultures or where the sentiment is the same (but perhaps the wording or the items in the saying are different). Language is really fun that way 😃
Hi i am danish. Thanks for all your amazing videos. I love it. 🥰🥰Just love you guys. You are so spot on. I have one thing to say . the phrase... Ude at cykle. Its more common to say, Ude at skide 😂Or, Det er kørt helt af sporet.... Thanks for all you are sharing.❤
Your videos are getting better and better!
Thank you so much and thanks for watching 😃🇩🇰
I really enjoy Danish Mastery channel.... It's a great language channel.
I ❤️ your videos about Danish sayings. 👍 Maybe you could make one with the Young family at some point…? 😉
Some pronounciation tips:
"Den enes død, den andens brød" --- "Deh'n eenuhs brurth, deh'n AAnuh'ns durth"
"At love guld og grønne skove" --- "At luve ghoul ow gruh'ne scorwe"
"Have rent mel i posen" --- "hah(ve) raynt meeel ee puh'sun"
"Ude og cykle" --- very close, but "u" is pronounced "oo" most od th etime, you pronounce it like the Danish "y". Also, I never heard that phrase used like that. "Ude og køre", i.e. "out driving", might be how I know it. Means more like, too far out, gone off the rails, etc.
"Trække torsk i land" --- Very close, but Danish "a" is far more nasal. And I always thought it refres to the noise a fishing rod makes when you reel in fish. Huh.
"Leve på (en) stor fod" --- Very close again, but Danish "o" is also more nasal, and deep, like in "Oh no".
"Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene" --- "deh custer deh veethuh uth a' oynuh'nuh", means it costs the white OUT of the eyes
"Spis nu lige brød til" --- "spees noo lee brurth teh'l"
"Han gik under bordet" --- "Haan geek oh'nuh bowarth"
"Det gik helt i hat og briller" --- "Deh geek heeelt ee hat ow brellah" Supposedly refers to Venetian style parties with funny hats and silly masks/glasses
A Funny thing about "Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene" is that it's often mangled to "Det koster det hvide ud af ørerne" - which of course makes no sense whatsoever - but since ppl know the "right" idiom, they'll know the meaning anyway :)
Seems I've officially begun a robe trotting binge.. You've won over another danish fan today
All except the ude og cykle ones I knew... never heard the cycling one used.
oh, same for the leve på en stor fod one...
Welcome aboard Tobias! 😃🇩🇰
So glad to have you and thank you for watching and being here!
I guess a Dane would usually say "helt ude at svømme" or "helt ude at sejle" (swimming/sailing) or simply just "det sejler" (it's sailing) about something chaotic or out of control. Maybe you could relate it to "du er ude hvor du ikke kan bunde" or simply just "du/det er langt ude" which means something along the lines of "you're so far out you can't touch the bottom" so something along the lines of "you're (swimming) in deep waters" and the last one is just "you're/it's far out". Thinking about it we Danes really have a lot of sayings related to water or sailing! 🤔
Being disguised, or general cloak and dagger stuff, would be "skæg og blå briller", beard and blue eyeglasses.
If you say that someone does not have pure flour in the bag, it is not a description of their character. It means that in this situation, they are hiding somehing, e.g. having an ulterior motive. This expression practically always comes with a "not".
Ah, okay. Thank you Klaus. We always still have a little confusion with these haha. Language is always interesting that way 😃🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting Klaus is completely right. It's usually "he does not have clean flour in the bag". I've only rarely heard it non-negated, but it has happened. But in those situations there was always prior accusation. So it would be "It turned out he did have clean flour in the bag".
I have only heard it as "han har ikke rent mel i posen" (he doesn't have pure flour in the bag) - a person that can't be trusted / he's up to no good.
you guys are really controlling Æ, really good :D now you just need Ø and Å :) keep up the good work
Hi Mike and Derek. I think your Danish have improved a lot 🤗
Thank you Finn, we still need some work haha - but practice does help 🇩🇰😀.
As a Swede, I have opinions on the "out biking"- thing. I would say it has nothing to do with either chaos or being bonkers, but rather about taking a wrong turn....either in thought or in life. For example, when someone who is bad at drawing applies to art school, or that you have an argument for something that has nothing to do with that matter. You're not necessarily crazy, but just went out and cycled a little off-trail.
I guess "promising gold and green forests" came to Sweden from Denmark, because we DO have mountains but we still call it that.
One that is realy weird is "der er ingen ko på isen" there is no cow on the ice.
I belive that that's only half the saying. The last bit is often let out. If I remember correctly it goes "There's no cow on the ice when half (of the cow) is on land."... 🤔 And it might be of Swedish origin.
Peter Mathiesen red på grisen
Over isen, med avisen
Først gik isen, så gik grisen
Så gik lille Peter Mathiesen
both of you should be so proud of your danish !!!!! you are doing great !!!
Having clean flour in the bag, it is mostly used as "I doubt he has clean flour in the bag". To show you are suspicious for someone or something not being as it presents to be!
Never heard ude og cykle before
Apparently it’s a bit obscure 🤷🏻♂️
I think you Guys are doing wonderful with the pronunciation!!! This was fun
"Det er hestens fødselsdag idag" the birthday of the Horse....you say that if someone cut a thick slize of bread...since Horses really like bread....
One shouldn't excuse for not pronouncing foreign words correctly. I don't speak French fluently, either. It's only natural that it sounds funny. 😊
In the internet age, I've come to really appreciate the old "Tomme tønder buldre mest". Drektely translated; Empty barrels thunders most. More correctly translated: Empty barrels makes the most noise. I'm sure you can quess the meaning, but I'll comment it below in case you want to guess before looking it up
Usually means that the ones who yells loudest, have the least meaningful arguments.
That’s a great saying! And what we figured it meant. Totally brilliant 😃🇩🇰
@@Kar4ever3 Or rather: empty heads are the loudest :P
Seeing this video, makes me realize that danish sayings, makes no sense at all😂😂😂
So many English expressions are the same 😂 it’s fun having these odd phrases though.
Idiomatic expressions is the hardest part of learning any foreign language.
I knew 3/10 and i was born here and lived and breathed in Denmark in 22 years
Ah, okay - so there were some deep dives for these phrases 😃🇩🇰
Speaking of cod, you can also say _torskedum_ (lit. 'cod stupid') which means 'very stupid.'
Haha, that’s a good one. Definitely going into the vocabulary 😃🇩🇰
My danish grandmother had a counting rhyme she did on baby's toes Like "this little piggy ..." in English. When we asked her to translate it she became embarrassed. Maybe it was off-color or even obscene. I'm afraid I don't remember it now.
Just a small comment to Derek - Don't look at the viewfinder/screen next to the camera. Look directly at the lens as if that is the face of the person you are talking to, even if it feels weird. Right now when you are talking, you are talking to someone standing 3 feet to my right and behind me, and not me.
Keep up the good work! 👍
With the idiom "At have rent mel I posen," I feel like the word rent shouldn't have been translated as clean, but as pure. So it should have been translated as "To have pure flour in the bag."
Your Danish is getting better, guys!
Well done!
How about?
' at gå helt agurk!'
'to go absolutely crazy!'
- have no idea where it stems from 🤣
Hello from Hundested 🌸🌱
Shu Bi Du a
Hytte sit eget skind. Meaning, thinking of your own progress, not caring about others. Bjørnetjeneste. Meaning, you do something in good intent, but ending up doing more harm than good. Stik en finger i jorden. Meaning basically, taking a knee. Assessing the situation in a realistic light. Could also be used instead of "spis lige brød til"
Ahhh, okay - that's a good one and it makes sense for the meaning too 😀🇩🇰
one of my favorites is “kært barn har mange navne”. A beloved child (or person, or pet) is called many things. Endearments, like Sweetie or darling or other nicknames might be some of the names.
We could also use this phrase "kært barn har mange navne" (beloved child has many names), if my mom called me by my sister's name or vice versa, Not uncommon to accidentally say someone else's name 😊
"Helt ude i hampen"
😂😂😂
Did you hear about the fart in the Lanterna? Fis i en hornlygte.
No, we haven’t heard that one but will have to look it up. Too funny 😁 🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting I just found out that the stableboys actually fartet in a lantern to signal to other stableboys that it was time to gather for cow tilting in the night. This is crazy. Old danish version of smoke signals.
Never heard that one about cycling either
“Flyv ikke højere end vingerne bærer” Means: Only do what you are able to do
"We might say to promise the moon and the stars" - really? I thought the - rather direct - American version would be to "blow sunshine up ones *ss" 😂😂😂
#2:41 i'm Danish and I cant understand that, though, if thats how other countries hear us, i suddenly understand why they say we're having a stroke-
I did understand most of the others though.
Protip: when there's a word with Æ and K after each other as for example "trække" from "trække torsk i land" you kind of say it more like "at træjke torsk i land"
about the drinking under the table, have you heard the frasing, vi drikker os i hegnet/hækken? English translation would be,..... well i dont know actually. Cause the translation makes no sense in english. Hegnet would be fence. Drikker, is gettin drunk. so, getting drunk til we end in the fence would be the most direct translation i guess. It means drinking so much you pass out in a hedge or a fence or bush.
Ohhhh that’s even better and sounds like a really funny origin story (and a bit too relatable from some nights back in the day haha).
@@RobeTrotting Oh don't get me started on stories from the "good ol days". 🤣A buddy and me have had an interesting youth to say the least. We are nice and educated adults now, but one time my buddy got drunk with a stripper, got rammed by a car AND got stuck in a construction site in one evening! I picked him up from a pile of sand and bricks and carried him well over a kilometre or two in my arms, to get him home safe. And that was while I was dating the same girl he was dating and none of us even knew. We have been friends for 15 years now, and we will die together as we have survived life together!
I once had a book with playfull "translation" english to danish, well i was more like a form af sublation twisting it every which weird way, - here is some. have laugh and a good day to you.
Sweetheat your wonderful, "svigerfar du er en vandrefugl", (father in law your a migratory bird)
South of the border, "sovsen på bordet" - (the gravy on the table)
He didn't know the composer, but it was not Cole Porter, "han vidste ikke hvad de kom i poserne, men det var ikke kolde portere", (han kendte ikke komponisten, men det var ikke Cole porter), (
he did not know what they put in the bags, but it was absolutely not cold draft beer(porter))
Ude og cykle. That is a new one for me.
"Det står ned i stænger"
Or
"It's standing down in poles"
Is basically another way of saying that it is raining a lot :)
"pure not clean, flower in the bag"
Rent mel i posen...back in the day the housewife had to check the flour or bread before using it. Not only could there be sawdust in it, but also components to make the flour wheigh more (=more profit for the millar/baker), but toxic to eat.
Did you guys ever watch the Pusher movies? Or learn about the biker Wars in the 90s? Would love you guys take on the darker sides of Denmark.
Or even the movie armadillo.
Oh this is the first we heard of it. Would be cool to look into, we would like to do some more reaction-type content too 😃🇩🇰
@@RobeTrotting I could always point you guys towards it - So much crazy stuff has happened in this little “fairytale” country.
@@GrinddalCPH We think that shit is crazy. But it is absolutely peanuts compared to the war between the Bloods and the Cribs. Certain neighbourhoods in L.A. see more gang related shootings in a week than we saw through the duration of the biker wars.
@@andersjjensen For sure, but thats not my point tho :)
It is funny how some of these phrases translate. They make no sense anymore.
Just started watching your videos. I really enjoy them. I was an exchange student in America in the 90s. And while somethings were the same I could easily do or say something that could be misunderstood. No TH-cam videos to help me.
Im from denmark an it is so funny to heir You guies talk danish
It was so nice meeting you Mike this morning on the train! I've been watching your channel for a while and I learn how foreigners see the danish culture and I learn so much of my own culture that I don't think about in my day to day - thank you guys for culture us danes about our own culture ❤️🇩🇰🇺🇲
So nice to meet you as well! Sorry I had to run off quickly before the doors closed 😀 . That is exactly what we love to share! Life in Denmark is still new to us so we get to learn everyday - and share that with y'all! Thank you for watching and hope to bump into you again!
The Trække torsk i land was a good pronunciation, and you can be proud of that. The first one with bread and dead was hard to undedstand. And the one with Gold and Green Forests i wouldn't have understood anything at all. But that's the thing with danish. What brits and septic tanks think we cant understand we can. And what they think sounds very danish isn't lost to us. An example would be this New York guy ( i think.) bumming around Denmark and he talks about Denmark a lot and you get all that. But he meets this danish hotdog lady around Rådhuspladsen and he ask what hwr name is.. She says Lone. But he calls her Loon. That was nothing like she said to him. But im guessing that's what he heard? But that's where the hardship is. The little things. Take the Young Family. The Boston guys thats been here 5 years now. I still wouldn't know where they are in Denmark if they didn't write it. Dad calls Odense for OODENSE. A whole different thing altogether. 😊
So it's the minute things that makes danish sound like danish.
Also, im a foreigner myself. I just had the fortune to get here from England as a 3 year old. Makes it a very different experience. 😁 I just went the other way and decided to have better English than what we where taught in school as i found it awful to listen to. Still do. I feel English is only beautiful when spoken by Patrick Stewart basically. So im a accent nazi of the worst kind. I cant even stand the Spice Girls talking. I lived in London for 6 years in the 90's and only about 5-6 people with a nice accent. Girls was the worst. But saw one on a show that had the loveliest accent. It was like upper class without the pompous royal family nonsense. No stiff upper lip. Just well spoken and intelligent sounding. People was a bit freaked out as when i went there i still had this BBC English going on. Or Harry Potter English as they say..
But getting that from a guy with a mohawk and with black lipstick and a skirt.. That confused the hell out of them. Being a sponge that went quickly though. It became very cockney and urban pretty fast. You couldn't help it when you're in the middle of it. 😉
Keep it up.. And cheers for the interesting videos. I like to get others take on DK. 😏
Getting better at danish pronunciations 😉greetings from a dane 👍
Danish and Swedish have simular frases and spells god job Danish is not easy to learn! 👍😀🇸🇪
Tak Stefan - it's tough but we are sticking with it 🇩🇰😀
@@RobeTrotting Good luck i love Danmark ❤️
whas fun vidoe hope you do more like that. maby try and do one wiht travlings youngs
Det koster spidsen af en jetjæger, = it costs the nose cone of a jet fighter = it something that very expensive.. :)
At leve på stor fod doesn't imply overspending or flaunting, only big spending (which few can afford, obviously). The true English equivalent is "living large".
5:42
I've never heard about "ude og cykle" and chaos. Today it's called "ude og skide"
Noone uses "ude og cykle" but we use "ude og skide" (out shitting) All the time which is indeed when someone is bonkers
Strange, that I as a Dane did not know all of them.
“Man kan ikke se skoven for bare træer” - You can’t see the forest due to the trees. Means: You are a bit confused.
Or focusing too much on the detail to see the full picture.
So fun
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it 😃🇩🇰
Dont say "spis lige brød til" to your boss 😂😂😂🙈🙈🙈 it's extremely rude in that context. Among friends it's funny.
I use: Det koster en hel bondegård,, (It cost a whole farm) instead of: Det koster det hvide ud af øjnene..
I would say, Spis lige brød til!