In this episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish explores the phenomenon of false friends—words that look identical in Danish and English but have very different meanings. After noting historical linguistic ties like "sky" and "øl," Mellish introduces the concept of false friends (faux amis) and shares personal anecdotes about four particularly confusing words: "slut" (meaning "finished" in Danish, but a vulgar term in English), "hug" (a painful karate‑chop in Danish versus an affectionate embrace in English), "student" (in Danish, a person who has passed the final school exam, not anyone learning), and "gift" (meaning "poison" or "marriage" in Danish, versus a present in English). These examples illustrate how misinterpretations can arise for language learners and professionals. The episode concludes with a brief sponsor plug for perfectenglish.dk, a music credit, and a reminder to check out Mellish’s How to Live in Denmark book on Amazon.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. When you're just starting to learn Danish, some people may tell you that Danish and English are very much alike. Now, in some ways they are. The Vikings invaded England several times and left behind their language as well as their genes. The Danish word sky, for example, cloud, became the English word sky, and they're written exactly the same. Øl, Danish beer, is ale in English. But in some ways, English and Danish are not alike, and that can cause problems. Back in the days when I was learning French, they called them false friends, faux amis, words that look identical but mean entirely different things. The one I noticed first when I arrived in Denmark was slut. Slut means finished in Danish, but the same 4 letters in English, S-L-U-T, spell slut, which is not a very nice name for someone, usually a lady. Who is very friendly in a naked kind of way. When I first arrived, I remember seeing magazines with the woman's name and face on the COVID and it would say in big letters, Slut! I thought, wow, that's harsh. That's a nasty thing to call that poor lady. But of course, it was in Danish, just saying slut. That lady was finished with something— with her relationship, with her TV show, with her handball tournament. Slut. Not slut, but slut. Slut still gets me sometimes, and so does hug. H-U-G in English spells hug. It's a nice thing you get from your sweetheart or your grandma. But in Danish, H-U-G spells hug. A hug is a karate chop. If you get a hug from someone, it hurts. Nobody wants that kind of hug. Another one that drives me crazy is student, or student in Danish. In English, a student is anybody who goes to school, anybody who's learning something. You could be 5 years old, you could be 85 years old. That's not true in Danish. A student is someone who has finished studying, or at least has finished the big student exam that 18-year-olds take before going on to higher education. You're not a student until you've taken that exam. Gift in English, like a birthday present. In Danish, gift is gift, poison. So if you see a package with the word gift and a skull and crossbones, it doesn't mean there's been a birthday party for a pirate. Gift, poison, will kill you. Coincidentally, gift is also the Danish word for getting married. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. This week's podcast is sponsored by perfectenglish.dk. If you're a Danish company or a Dane doing business abroad, perfectenglish.dk can help you avoid the kind of mistakes we talk about in this podcast. Check them out at perfectenglish.dk. Music arranged by George Garvis. See you next week. Remember, the How to Live in Denmark book is available for download on amazon.com. You can read it on any phone or tablet. All you need is the Kindle app, and the Kindle app is free. The book's not free, but it's not very expensive either. If you read the book and enjoy it, please leave a review on your local version of amazon.com. It helps other people find the book and find the podcast.
