I swear
I must admit I’m quite fond of cursing, though I try and avoid using the ‘f-word’ during business meetings.
Danes, though, seem to positively relish a spot of profanity, particularly the Anglo-Saxon variety. And they’re not shy about swearing during formal occasions either.
Even the textbooks they use in my Danish lessons are full of English swearwords. Personally, I find this a little strange. While it’s fascinating to me how Danish has adopted words from other languages - just yesterday I learnt that the Danes use the word ‘budget’, albeit pronounced in a quasi-French way - it also strikes me that blithely adopting the worst words of another language is not the wisest course of action.
I’ll sign off with one example. I have heard many Danes use a particularly unsavoury word when talking about black people. Apparently it was even used on a prime-time TV programme recently.
Now, I know the vast majority of these people are not racist, but they are nevertheless unwittingly perpetuating an extremely negative stereotype.
I know there are many ongoing debates about the future of the Danish language with some fearing its dilution as ever more English words enter common usage.
All languages evolve, and Danish is no different. Still, there are several words I would like to see Denmark throw off.
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Spot on, Aaron!
I first noted this trend when I head Anna David’s (Danish) pop hit “F** dig“. And although I’m usually pleased to understand Danish lyrics, this one didn’t do me much good: I couldn’t stroll around London bursting into that particular song.
Last week, I spotted a trendy-looking hair salon in Østerbro with a rather unusual tagline: “F***ing good hairdressers”. The American 7-year old I was with was thrilled - and took this as license to start reciting every curse word he knew. His parents, however, were a bit less thrilled.
And earlier this month, in a fairly serious business meeting, a Danish middle finger went up to emphasize a point. We got the point and giggled, but this wouldn’t have gone over so well in the US.
I remember testing out the middle finger when I first moved to the US at the age of ten. I stopped that experiment quickly: no one wanted to talk to me.
That particular gesture is extremely powerful - in a way that’s difficult to understand unless you’ve lived in an Anglo-Saxon environment. I suppose we should all remember to stay away from excessive gesturing and exclamations - both at home and abroad. You just never know how others might interpret our sense of humor….
July 16th, 2007 at 9:30 am
After 15 years of living in Denmark, one of the lasting impressions I have is the adoption of English swear words into everyday Danish. I find it as offensive now as I did when I first moved to the country.
As Anastasya points out, it’s embarassing when you have to explain to English-speaking visitors how Danes don’t take offense at these words in the same way as we do.
Or do they? That’s an excuse we’ve made up as try to find reasons for the popularity of these words. But perhaps swearing is a much more integral part of language in Denmark, also in a business context.
Can anyone comment on that?
July 21st, 2007 at 11:49 pm
“I’ll sign off with one example. I have heard many Danes use a particularly unsavoury word when talking about black people. Apparently it was even used on a prime-time TV programme recently.”
The Danish word “neger” which I’m sure is what you’re alluding to, is not comparable to the word English word “nigger” - it translates to “negro”. There is nothing racist about saying negro in Denmark. Since we don’t have a history of racism against the black race we haven’t developed specific politically “correct” terms such as African-American to replace the racial designation. Afro-Dansker sounds stupid anyway. We do call blacks “sorte” (black), but I think that’s mostly because of influence from American television. Please understand that not every language translates directly into English terms, you have to consider cultural norms as well.
August 11th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Although I understand Simon’s point, I think there can be a difference between the semantics of the word and the way it’s actually used by many people today. Just the other day, I was sitting with my six-year-old daughter in a local pizza restaurant and I couldn’t help overhear the group at the next table bandying the word around as they talked about a particular individual. The word was not being used in a neutral way at all! Overhearing conversations like this, it would be easy for my daughter to grow up with a sense that this is not an acceptable word to use.