I learned early on that some words in Danish have double meanings. “Skat, the Danish word for darling, also means taxes, the kind you pay.
The Danish Tax Authority is called Skat. Now, that’s a bit odd for someone from the U.S. where many people have a less than favorable opinion about paying taxes and even more problematic associations about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which is the U.S. version of Skat.
I’ve been going to Danish language classes in an attempt to learn enough Danish to watch the news. I have learned something though not enough yet to hold a real conversation.
Part of what we learned yesterday was to ask and answer the question, “are you married?” Of course, that’s a big part of why I relocated to Denmark. The Danish word for married is “gift,” which for English speakers seems pretty reasonable – marriage is a gift of sorts. Unfortunately the English meaning for “gift” translates to the Danish word “gave.” There is however a double meaning for the Danish word, “gift.” Gift means both married and poison.
There’s another word with a double meaning that raises issues. “Boller” means buns (what Americans’ call rolls), the kind you eat and in Danish slang it also means the US equivalent of boff, boink, or bone. Yes that’s right buns and sex.
I’ll let that sink in for a while. Darling and taxes. Buns and sex. Married and poison. It does make you wonder about Danes’ attitudes towards love, sex, and marriage. I’m sure there are more of these words because the humor here can be as dark as the winter outside.
Omoshiroi – which is Japanese for roughly “interesting” but with a deeper meaning. How difficult is it to learn conversational Danish? Since I plan on visiting you early summer, I was thinking I’d take a Babel course to learn pidgeon Danish. Of course, you’ll tell me there’s no need because everyone speaks English. But let me know anyway.
Also, please consider creating a share to button here, as would have liked to share your post on Facebook, our private Diversity and Spirituality Network group.
Language has always fascinated me. Next time we talk, ask me to tell you the story about the late Sanai Odano or Odano-sensei. When I first encountered her in Boston, where I was taking a so-called spiritual seminar in Boston with Michio Kushi, Kushi billed her as someone who had Supreme Judgement, which was quite a complement, as that was the highest of seven levels and he put Christ, I think on the third level.
Anyway, her specialty was language. She spoke no English and we gave her a phrase. She broke down the syllables using her original Kototama system and came up with a precise poetic definition of the word.
I’ve never forgotten this.
thanks for the suggestion. Sharing is now on all the posts. Learning languages is hard for me so I’m no judge. Get Duolingo and try to learn Danish. Of course nearly everyone here speaks English so language is rarely a problem. I want to hear more about Sanai Odano when you visit.
I’m excited to be visiting you. It will likely be June 3-7 or 8. More when it comes into focus.