Drop Dit Danglish: Thinking a Sparring Partner is a Friend

Thinking a sparring partner is a friend. When Danes want someone to join in a brainstorming session, they often seek out a sparring partner. A sparring partner helps a boxer train for a fight. In this case, though, it's used to imply a friendly situation in which 2 equals bounce ideas around. Yet to a native English speaker, a sparring partner is not a friend. It's someone with whom you are constantly arguing, someone who needles and annoys you, a thorn in your side. Very few English speakers are looking for a sparring partner, although sometimes they're trying to get rid of one. A sounding board is a more peaceful nickname for someone who helps you out with creative thinking. In other boxing metaphors, the phrase fit for fight has inexplicably taken root in Danish. Although it is unknown among English speakers. Fighting fit can be used instead. And if your fists connect with an unlucky opponent, he will get a black eye, not a blue eye.