I was an exchange student in Massachusetts in 85/86. I talked to a friend, and complained about something. To which he replied "Tell me about it". After about a minute, he started laughing. Then he explained to me that it meant "I know" 😃
dane here, we have there is not a boucket full but a country full, sound better in danish but ist the same thing as your "more fish in the world" in danish it is "der er ikke en spand fuld men et land fyldt, barking up the wrong tree, you can translate to the same thing, gør op af det forkerte træ, but the meaning is dont mess with me,us or i dont wanna be a part of this, side note bacon is the best spice in the wolrd :) the tiniest violin is also a thing in Denmark, lipstick on a pig is like dont tell me its a farie tell, love you vids.
Not a Dane - just an American from the south who stopped the video when you said “fittin’ to”. I had to look at the spelling. In my family and with everyone else I’ve heard say it, it’s even shorter - fit’na or finna. I suppose we just ran out of time for more than two syllables or the almost but-not-quite two syllable version. 🤣 Thanks for the fun content. I’m now going to scour the comments and see what funny Danish expressions have come up.
@@tt9660 It’s funny that you mention what I consider the full form - “fixin’ to”. I realized I only say that when I’m trying to emphasize what I’m gonna do or I feel like I’m talking to someone who won’t understand “finna”…
@@jamesdavis-ford6882 Yeah "fixin' to" definitely isn't something you would hear around here, it's definitely a Southern and rural thing, and possibly dated/older generation.
@@tt9660 I definitely got it from my grandparents but I still hear it from people younger than me. However, that probably just shows how far in the sticks my relatives are. I’d fall over if I heard it on the street in Chicago.
The closest to the can of whoopass I can think of is "der er øretæver i fuften". Øretæve, ear thrashing, is litterally a slap to the face, but can be used for beating in general. So there is a beating in the air, the situation is very tense and a fight might be about to start.
Regarding the "can of whoop-ass" saying: In Danish, there's the "håndmad". A "håndmad" would be making a quick rye bread sandwich that you could take with you as you hurry out the door. It's also slang for smacking someone!
I was outside Houston a few years ago. Here I got the explanation on the term "sleep tight and dont let the bedbugs bite". It was dated back to when you used robes to place a form of mattress on the robes. Sleep tight was a refrence to the tightness of the ropes.. and the matress was grass and hay which could contain bugs.. nice 😒
The fact that I knew virtually every one of those expressions, but never set foot in the US, tells a lot about how much I've been exposed to American culture through media
"When pigs fly" would be phrased as the Danish "når der er/kommer to torsdage i en uge"... Which translates into "when there's 2 thursdays in a week" 😊
I heard a good one yesterday. It was a British politician, criticizing the government party that have been in charge 13 years. He said:" It is the same as soiling yourself and change shirt". It was on live TV, BBC I think. I laughed really hard, never heard that one before. EDIT. Now it is koldskål weather. Nobody wants to cook hot meals in the kitchen, and we need something to cool down. I can recommend koldskål with corn flakes and maybe some fresh strawberries as garnish.
“Barking up the wrong tree”, is probably my favourite english phrase, I just always understood it as something you would say, if someone is wrong about the opinion/stance of another person My favourite danish one is “Der er ingen ko på isen” (there’s no cow on the ice), which means don’t worry I got this/there’s no problems. It’s funny, because it makes me think how that originalt came about and if it’s less of an issue if it’s really cold
As a native New York well in my senior years, I’ve never heard some of these. I’m assuming it’s because of Miranda’s southern roots. But some of my favorites are, Did someone step on a duck?, You can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, When pigs fly, A penny for your thoughts, & you can’t kiss too many frogs.
Can you make a video about how much you learn in Danish like cultural and the language. Or it could be really cool if you make a Danish episode of travelling young.
More fish in the ocean is also used in danish, proberbly we have translated it from english, but you have a lot of great sayings that i will try to remember ;P
Using names in a reference was/is common in Denmark to. I specifically remember names like "Johnny" and "Søren" as they were used in some commercials back then (I think it was some kind of Don´t drink and drive infomercials). It´s like the "Karen" and "Chad"/"Tyrone" references in the US today that we all know (and love to hate).
I always figured "cut the cheese" meant quit grinning, as in "say cheese" when posing for a photo :) One of my favourite idioms is "one foot in the river", as it's so obvious, but still references old (or universal) times, at least in my mind.
Some I think I would like to add... "On thin ice" means you're in big trouble and you need to be careful. "Don't have a leg to stand on" means that your argument isn't very good or is made up. "No Man's Land" is far away, middle of nowhere. "Hearing crickets" means a conversation stopped so suddenly and became quiet enough to hear the crickets.
My host family in Oregon found it surprising that I knew the word "Dork" and I thank Gilmore Girls for already knowing what they meant when they asked if I wanted a Pop 😛 In general I think we're "lucky" in Denmark to have so much American TV so we either know a lot of the sayings and slang or we at least know enough to guess what it means.
Also regarding names: Brian - someone obnoxious...usually with a very loud car driving up and down the street annoying the neighbours Connie - the female version of above And my favourite saying is: Whatever floats your goat (boat)
I've always thought "baloney" was a reference to the sausage "bologna", in which case a bunch of baloney would be the equivalent til "pølsesnak" in danish (sausage talk).
The name thing is something ive heard alot.... well my name atleast: there's "Heavy Brian" which was a character on the radio, in Denmark who wanted to hear some heavy metal. Or "hold kæft en Brian" which basiclly means a show-off in a Car. And then there's a movie that im never going to se "The Life of Brian" simply because of the name.
"Fittin' to open a can of whoopass".. would probably translate to: "Så er det kraftedderme nok" or: "To split fra at samle dine fortænder op fra fortovet" or maybe even: "Et fjæs som dit, kan kun en mor elske". :D Either way, it's kind of an aggressive statement in Danish.
I think it’s funny, how many sayings and words you immediately know the meaning of, when they’re usedin sentences and general conversation, but kinda have a hard time explaining what means. Also … howmany of them are based on foods. 😂
One problem is that we will often pick up these weird and funny expressions and sayings from movies and TV series from the US and the UK etc. and then add them to and mix them into our version of "English" - or Danglish rather 😂 - naively thinking that they will apply everywhere, where English is being spoken. And then we also borrow many English words from various types of English (!) into Danish and create our own new "E." (Danglish) words and expressions with them, often not realising that they are not proper English anywhere. Have you guys come across any of those weird Danglish words and expressions and then been wondering what on Earth these weird Danes mean? Another problem is when we think that we can just translate Danish compound words and expressions uncritically into "English" word for similar word and then end up saying very strange or even rude things in English. For instance: D "skrue op" [ skroo-e up ] does NOT mean "screw up" 😂 - but to "turn up" ( the volume etc.) D overdrive = exaggerate, NOT "overdrive"! D overtage = take over, NOT "overtake"! But D overhale = overtake & overhaul (!) Have you come across any weird Danish words, expressions and slang yet that have been really puzzling to you? How about "glorie-pudser" ( = "halo polisher" )? 😉 "weekend-kriger" (weekend warrior)? "skabsidiot" (closet idiot)? "Der er ingen ko på isen...." ( There is no cow on the ice ...) "Uden for pædagogisk rækkevidde..." ( Beyond pedagogical reach (width) ... ) "babylift"? "Gods-elevator"?😂 "flyvende rotter"? ( flying rats ) More funny and weird stuff here: 😂 www.thelocal.dk/20190207/essential-danglish-words-youll-end-up-using/
The closest Danish equivalent to whoop ass, I can think of, is when I was being unreasonable and demanding something, my grandad would tell me I could have “En kasse øretæver”
Another one that might not be so close, but definitely in the same spirit of being jokingly used 'Ka' du li' hospitalsmad?' / 'Do you like hospital food?' - indicating that you might be about to try some soon.
There are more fish in the sea than ever came out of it. Danish: Der er andre røde køer end præstens. I have not heard that for a long time. By the skin of his teeth. Danish: med det yderste af neglene. Or med det sorte af neglene. When hell freezes over: Danish: Når der er to torsdage i én uge.
Open a can of whoopass, can be "nu brænder lokummet snart" ,, i did know about 70%, may have seen to much tv/films from US :D My Scottish friend learn'd me a fun one,,, that's the dog's bollocks - something or someone that you think is extremely good.
Padding myself on the back for knowing most of these. Is that something to be proud of? I dunno, but here we are. Meanwhile I cannot hear "baloney" without thinking Judge Judy and subsequently Bianca Del Rio and I am not even mad about it.
What does "chad" mean? I see it online all the time. "He's a chad". It's said in a denigrating way. Merriam-Webster doesn't know this meaning of this use.
🤣😂 yep ther is many funny thing too say i have a big brother with amerikanske friend an ziting on the terrasse with a cold beard try say thing from Danish to amerikan nov grammatik free fantasi eks a bumper will be come from Danish a cov Cather en kofanger hæ hæ
Maybe we should just translate it into "English" to give these poor Young folks a fighting chance? "can't see the (his) ass (" for") behind (all) the (his) shoe soles"
It might be a musical reference? In music if the time signature is, say, 4/8 time where there are 8 notes per measure and 1/4 note gets the beat, we say “8 beats to the bar.” - M
Now that you don’t live in the states any more, can you still keep up with new expressions and slang? Like “woke” that has been introduced in the resent years.
I was an exchange student in Massachusetts in 85/86. I talked to a friend, and complained about something. To which he replied "Tell me about it". After about a minute, he started laughing. Then he explained to me that it meant "I know" 😃
dane here, we have there is not a boucket full but a country full, sound better in danish but ist the same thing as your "more fish in the world" in danish it is "der er ikke en spand fuld men et land fyldt, barking up the wrong tree, you can translate to the same thing, gør op af det forkerte træ, but the meaning is dont mess with me,us or i dont wanna be a part of this, side note bacon is the best spice in the wolrd :) the tiniest violin is also a thing in Denmark, lipstick on a pig is like dont tell me its a farie tell, love you vids.
Not a Dane - just an American from the south who stopped the video when you said “fittin’ to”. I had to look at the spelling. In my family and with everyone else I’ve heard say it, it’s even shorter - fit’na or finna. I suppose we just ran out of time for more than two syllables or the almost but-not-quite two syllable version. 🤣 Thanks for the fun content. I’m now going to scour the comments and see what funny Danish expressions have come up.
Yeah, Chicagoan here. I know "fixin' to" and "finna", never heard of "fittin' to".
@@tt9660 It’s funny that you mention what I consider the full form - “fixin’ to”. I realized I only say that when I’m trying to emphasize what I’m gonna do or I feel like I’m talking to someone who won’t understand “finna”…
@@jamesdavis-ford6882 Yeah "fixin' to" definitely isn't something you would hear around here, it's definitely a Southern and rural thing, and possibly dated/older generation.
@@tt9660 I definitely got it from my grandparents but I still hear it from people younger than me. However, that probably just shows how far in the sticks my relatives are. I’d fall over if I heard it on the street in Chicago.
I have always thought that "bent out of shape" meant that I have done far more than possible, oftem when doing something to help someone.
In English, we would say “Bent/Bending over backwards” in the situation you’ve described. - M
The closest to the can of whoopass I can think of is "der er øretæver i fuften". Øretæve, ear thrashing, is litterally a slap to the face, but can be used for beating in general. So there is a beating in the air, the situation is very tense and a fight might be about to start.
Et par på bæret is another slang of that phrase
Regarding the "can of whoop-ass" saying: In Danish, there's the "håndmad". A "håndmad" would be making a quick rye bread sandwich that you could take with you as you hurry out the door. It's also slang for smacking someone!
I was outside Houston a few years ago. Here I got the explanation on the term "sleep tight and dont let the bedbugs bite". It was dated back to when you used robes to place a form of mattress on the robes. Sleep tight was a refrence to the tightness of the ropes.. and the matress was grass and hay which could contain bugs.. nice 😒
Oh that is a good one! We used to hear that a lot as kids.
Bed bugs (danish: Væggelus) are a real thing, also today. No need to bring in hay or grass to for a house to be infested with those menaces.
Good video 😊👍
Maybe try do the same thing about Danish sayings, and you can pick 3-4 each, and let the other try to guess the meaning of the saying 😊
yes, Carla sands was ,barking up the wrong tree,haha
Well played!
The fact that I knew virtually every one of those expressions, but never set foot in the US, tells a lot about how much I've been exposed to American culture through media
"When pigs fly" would be phrased as the Danish "når der er/kommer to torsdage i en uge"... Which translates into "when there's 2 thursdays in a week" 😊
True, but we have/use the direct translation aswell, "Når grise kan flyve". Not sure which came first
It’s time to kick ass and chew bubble gum...and I’m all outta gum!
Duke Nukem 😂
They live
I heard a good one yesterday.
It was a British politician, criticizing the government party that have been in charge 13 years.
He said:" It is the same as soiling yourself and change shirt".
It was on live TV, BBC I think. I laughed really hard, never heard that one before.
EDIT.
Now it is koldskål weather. Nobody wants to cook hot meals in the kitchen, and we need something to cool down.
I can recommend koldskål with corn flakes and maybe some fresh strawberries as garnish.
“Barking up the wrong tree”, is probably my favourite english phrase, I just always understood it as something you would say, if someone is wrong about the opinion/stance of another person
My favourite danish one is “Der er ingen ko på isen” (there’s no cow on the ice), which means don’t worry I got this/there’s no problems.
It’s funny, because it makes me think how that originalt came about and if it’s less of an issue if it’s really cold
As a native New York well in my senior years, I’ve never heard some of these. I’m assuming it’s because of Miranda’s southern roots. But some of my favorites are, Did someone step on a duck?, You can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, When pigs fly, A penny for your thoughts, & you can’t kiss too many frogs.
The world is your oyster, In a pinch, Let sleeping dogs lie, It’s raining cats & dogs, Come hell or high water.
Can you make a video about how much you learn in Danish like cultural and the language. Or it could be really cool if you make a Danish episode of travelling young.
5 were new to me. Super cool this was fun
More fish in the ocean is also used in danish, proberbly we have translated it from english, but you have a lot of great sayings that i will try to remember ;P
As a Dane, I knew all but "Kiss My Feet". Interesting where that came from.
Using names in a reference was/is common in Denmark to. I specifically remember names like "Johnny" and "Søren" as they were used in some commercials back then (I think it was some kind of Don´t drink and drive infomercials). It´s like the "Karen" and "Chad"/"Tyrone" references in the US today that we all know (and love to hate).
I always figured "cut the cheese" meant quit grinning, as in "say cheese" when posing for a photo :)
One of my favourite idioms is "one foot in the river", as it's so obvious, but still references old (or universal) times, at least in my mind.
Maybe because of "cut to the chase", which means something like "get to the point", or "stop boring me, get on with it".
Some I think I would like to add...
"On thin ice" means you're in big trouble and you need to be careful.
"Don't have a leg to stand on" means that your argument isn't very good or is made up.
"No Man's Land" is far away, middle of nowhere.
"Hearing crickets" means a conversation stopped so suddenly and became quiet enough to hear the crickets.
My host family in Oregon found it surprising that I knew the word "Dork" and I thank Gilmore Girls for already knowing what they meant when they asked if I wanted a Pop 😛
In general I think we're "lucky" in Denmark to have so much American TV so we either know a lot of the sayings and slang or we at least know enough to guess what it means.
Also regarding names:
Brian - someone obnoxious...usually with a very loud car driving up and down the street annoying the neighbours
Connie - the female version of above
And my favourite saying is: Whatever floats your goat (boat)
I've always thought "baloney" was a reference to the sausage "bologna", in which case a bunch of baloney would be the equivalent til "pølsesnak" in danish (sausage talk).
The wierdest one gotta be “Hi, how are you?”.. being used as a greeting and not an actual question 🤔
Yep, hi would be enough talking. 😂
"How do you do? " always makes me think "Do what?!?" 😂
It is an actual question though
@@jimmybaldbird3853 Mostly retorical though, nobody expects a real answer?
@@assepa everyone expects an answer
The name thing is something ive heard alot.... well my name atleast: there's "Heavy Brian" which was a character on the radio, in Denmark who wanted to hear some heavy metal. Or "hold kæft en Brian" which basiclly means a show-off in a Car. And then there's a movie that im never going to se "The Life of Brian" simply because of the name.
As a Dane it probably says a lot about my media consumption, that I knew all of them except for 2 southern ones... :D
I knew all of these, the reason being, that my Dad had a 'colorful' selection of descriptive cornucopia! 🤣
hello from Hundested 🌸🌱
Some common sayings here in Ontario, Canada include:
Pulling my leg
Plenty of fish in the sea
In a jam
Bread winner
No, no, no!!! "Bent out of shape" is when I haven't exercised for several months.
I like the saying "I don't have a dog in the fight"
I totally forgot one of my favorites “close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.”
Fittin to reminded me of an old Jeff Foxworthy show “You might be a redneck” where he talks about words in the south. Like yo’nt to.
"En Skrædder i Helvede!"
"In a pickle" could probably translate to "på røven" or "malet sig op i et hjørne". If it is difficult, let Maya translate it ;-)
Cuting the cheese- en ting af gangen- maybe!
"Fittin' to open a can of whoopass".. would probably translate to: "Så er det kraftedderme nok" or: "To split fra at samle dine fortænder op fra fortovet" or maybe even: "Et fjæs som dit, kan kun en mor elske". :D Either way, it's kind of an aggressive statement in Danish.
Have you ever seen the poster with danishs sayings translated to english.. and then it makes no sense at all..
yeah, direct translations makes some weird sentences
I really like it when people talk about some solution that will do, but is nothing special and refers to it as “Close enough for government work”
I think it’s funny, how many sayings and words you immediately know the meaning of, when they’re usedin sentences and general conversation, but kinda have a hard time explaining what means.
Also … howmany of them are based on foods. 😂
Talking with my friend, I can tell where in the country he is :)
If you watch US Tv shows and movies and generally follow US culture, you should know 90 % of these, as I did,
I still find the weirdest to be : Y'all. Like someonetimes it would sound: How is all y'all :D
Ha, oh I say y'all a lot :). I should have included that one.
@@TravelinYoung you would have made half of Denmark sound like southerners in their international conference calls 😀
One problem is that we will often pick up these weird and funny expressions and sayings from movies and TV series from the US and the UK etc. and then add them to and mix them into our version of "English" - or Danglish rather 😂 - naively thinking that they will apply everywhere, where English is being spoken.
And then we also borrow many English words from various types of English (!) into Danish and create our own new "E." (Danglish) words and expressions with them, often not realising that they are not proper English anywhere.
Have you guys come across any of those weird Danglish words and expressions and then been wondering what on Earth these weird Danes mean?
Another problem is when we think that we can just translate Danish compound words and expressions uncritically into "English" word for similar word and then end up saying very strange or even rude things in English.
For instance:
D "skrue op" [ skroo-e up ] does NOT mean "screw up" 😂 - but to "turn up" ( the volume etc.)
D overdrive = exaggerate, NOT "overdrive"!
D overtage = take over, NOT "overtake"!
But D overhale = overtake & overhaul (!)
Have you come across any weird Danish words, expressions and slang yet that have been really puzzling to you?
How about "glorie-pudser" ( = "halo polisher" )? 😉
"weekend-kriger" (weekend warrior)?
"skabsidiot" (closet idiot)?
"Der er ingen ko på isen...."
( There is no cow on the ice ...)
"Uden for pædagogisk rækkevidde..."
( Beyond pedagogical reach (width) ... )
"babylift"?
"Gods-elevator"?😂
"flyvende rotter"?
( flying rats )
More funny and weird stuff here: 😂
www.thelocal.dk/20190207/essential-danglish-words-youll-end-up-using/
I haven't heard "cutting the cheese" since the mid-'90s.
The closest Danish equivalent to whoop ass, I can think of, is when I was being unreasonable and demanding something, my grandad would tell me I could have “En kasse øretæver”
Det var et godt bud.
Another one that might not be so close, but definitely in the same spirit of being jokingly used 'Ka' du li' hospitalsmad?' / 'Do you like hospital food?' - indicating that you might be about to try some soon.
I would say it sounds more like this du får snart en røvfuld or skal du have en omgang rockerbank
Der kommer altid en sporvogn og en pige til = more fish in the ocean
I like "don't rub it in" witch i think is like the danish "gnide salt i såret"
There are more fish in the sea than ever came out of it. Danish: Der er andre røde køer end præstens. I have not heard that for a long time.
By the skin of his teeth. Danish: med det yderste af neglene. Or med det sorte af neglene.
When hell freezes over: Danish: Når der er to torsdage i én uge.
Open a can of whoopass, can be "nu brænder lokummet snart" ,, i did know about 70%, may have seen to much tv/films from US :D
My Scottish friend learn'd me a fun one,,, that's the dog's bollocks - something or someone that you think is extremely good.
You should try Havarti cheese. :)
Padding myself on the back for knowing most of these. Is that something to be proud of? I dunno, but here we are.
Meanwhile I cannot hear "baloney" without thinking Judge Judy and subsequently Bianca Del Rio and I am not even mad about it.
Megadeth made a song called "Skin o' my teeth". And since we all love Megadeth, everyone knows about that one ;)
. . and Bob's your uncle.
Cutting The Cheese=Fart California Barking Spider= Fart ;-)
Oh man, my dad always used to blame his farts on barking spiders 😂 - M
9:58 You can't polish a turd...
Or trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.
What does "chad" mean? I see it online all the time. "He's a chad". It's said in a denigrating way. Merriam-Webster doesn't know this meaning of this use.
En fyr der ved alt bedre og er glad for sig selv.. et irriterende røvhul 🤣🤣
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_(slang)
🤣😂 yep ther is many funny thing too say i have a big brother with amerikanske friend an ziting on the terrasse with a cold beard try say thing from Danish to amerikan nov grammatik free fantasi eks a bumper will be come from Danish a cov Cather en kofanger hæ hæ
Så må i heller få et dansk udtryk: “Kan ikke se røven for bare skosåler.” Hvad betyder det så?
Det er et godt udtryk😀
Maybe we should just translate it into "English" to give these poor Young folks a fighting chance?
"can't see the (his) ass (" for") behind (all) the (his) shoe soles"
@@Bjowolf2 Nu var det netop for at se hvor meget the Youngs har lært af det danske sprog. Nu har de jo efter hånden opholdt sig i Danmark i en del år.
@@jeanricard918 Ja ja, men måske lidt for specielt for normale danskkurser 😂
I would like you two nice people to explain "Beat me, Daddy, eight to the bar", Google translate is no help at all
It might be a musical reference? In music if the time signature is, say, 4/8 time where there are 8 notes per measure and 1/4 note gets the beat, we say “8 beats to the bar.” - M
when in Rome.... ;-)
Man må hyle med de ulve man er iblandt/
skik følge eller land fly
Now that you don’t live in the states any more, can you still keep up with new expressions and slang? Like “woke” that has been introduced in the resent years.
Don't worry - it's already over here as well 🙄
Ugh 😫 now I'm imagining teeth with skin 🙈😆
Most of your "american" phrases are in fact english in origin.