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LIFE IN DENMARK

VOTE: Which of these 10 finalists is the best word in the Danish language?

The Local's readers nominated more than 45 Danish words to our competition. Here's a final shortlist – it's now time to pick a winner.

Published: 24 July 2020 16:59 CEST
Updated: 29 July 2020 08:58 CEST
VOTE: Which of these 10 finalists is the best word in the Danish language?
Photo: Marek Studzinski/Unsplash

Thanks to everyone who took part in the first round of voting. The final shortlist is based on the number of nominations the words received, with our jury given the final say whenever a tiebreaker was needed.

 

Click below to upvote your favourite.

 

VOTE: What's the best word in the Danish language?

Upvote your favourite word and help The Local pick the best word in the Danish language.

 

Kæreste

Translating literally to 'dearest', kæreste “can be anyone who you love regardless of sex or gender, instead of calling (them) boyfriend or girlfriend in English. How lovely to say 'min kæreste' without any hesitation or boundary” explains Helen in Copenhagen, one of the readers who nominated it.

 

Ø

No man or woman should be an island, but the Danish word for 'island' is just that in a visual sense, consisting as it does of a single letter: the aesthetically pleasing Ø.

 

Overspringshandling

An activity used to kill time or avoid doing work or other chores which you really should be getting on with. Overspringshandling is “very descriptive”, Caroline in Copenhagen noted.

 

Flodhest

The Danish word for 'hippopotamus' translates literally to 'river horse'. Hippopotamus is a common word in many languages, but “Denmark stands apart with its gracious translation of these gentle giants”, writes Monica in Copenhagen, and we're inclined to agree.

 

Lykke

One of the most popular nominations we received, lykke can mean both 'happiness' or 'luck' and is also a girl's name. “Sometimes to be happy you need to be lucky”, as Valeria from Frederiksberg eloquently puts it.

 

Skat

We were surprised to see this word nominated, given it means 'tax'. It is also a term of endearment, though, which probably explains it. But can you imagine calling your sweetheart 'Tax'?!

 

Forelsket

The theme of love is strong in our readers' nominations. Forelsket translates to 'in love'. Its connotations are “deep and romantic”, wrote one of our readers in nominating it.

 

Pyt

This word was a popular choice for nominees, and is used as a comment to mean something like 'never mind': 'I forgot to wash my coffee cup before I went out this morning. Pyt!' It's “important to choose your battles wisely and sometimes the best response is just to shrug your shoulders and say 'pyt!',” writes reader Anita.

 

Tak

The Danish word for 'thank you' received several nominations. Heard “every day several times”, according to Abhay in Vanløse, it received praise for being short and polite.

 

Hygge

Yes, the most famous Danish word of them all is amongst our nominations, evidence that readers are yet to tire of it. So what does it actually mean? More on that here.

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FEATURE

What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?

Coronavirus rules, travel restrictions and car registration fees are among the areas set to see announcements, updates or rule changes in Denmark in June.

Published: 31 May 2021 13:28 CEST
What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?
An electric-powered harbour bus operating in Copenhagen in June 2020. Photo: Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

Changes to coronavirus restrictions

Denmark initially outlined a phased plan to lift its coronavirus restrictions back in March. The plan has been updated (and accelerated) on a number of occasions, with politicians meeting regularly to discuss adjustments based on the status and progression of the epidemic.

Initially, the government said it would lift the majority of restrictions by the end of May, when it expected to have vaccinated everyone over the age of 50 (apart from those who choose not to be vaccinated). Although the vaccination calendar was pushed back, restrictions are still being lifted, with the government citing progress with vaccinations and general good control of the epidemic.

In an agreement reached earlier this month, the government said rules requiring the use of face masks and corona passports will be revoked when all people over 16 in Denmark have been offered vaccination. The end-stage of the vaccination programme is currently scheduled to be reached at the end of August. But more detail on the plans for phased lifting of these rules is expected to surface in June.

READ ALSO: When will Denmark stop requiring corona passports and face masks?

A return to offices and shared workspaces, already set out to occur in three steps, will continue. In the first phase, which began on May 21st, 20 percent capacity were allowed back at physical workplaces. Remaining staff must continue to work from home where possible. This proportion will increase to 50 percent on June 14th (and 100 percent on August 1st).

Public assembly limit to be raised indoors, lifted outdoors

The current phase of reopening, which has been in place since May 21st, limits gatherings indoors to 50 people. This is scheduled to increase to 100 on June 11th.

Outdoors gatherings, currently limited to 100 people, will be completely revoked on June 11th.

August 11th will see the end of any form of assembly limit, indoors or outdoors, according to the scheduled reopening.

Unfortunately, this does not mean festivals such as Roskilde Festival – which would normally start at the end of June – can go ahead. Large scale events are still significantly restricted, meaning Roskilde and the majority of Denmark’s other summer festivals have already been cancelled.

Eased travel restrictions could be extended to non-EU countries

Earlier this month, Denmark moved into the third phase of lifting travel restrictions , meaning tourists from the EU and Schengen countries can enter the country.

The current rules mean that foreigners resident in EU and Schengen countries rated orange on the country’s traffic light classification (yellow, orange and red) for Covid-19 levels in the relevant countries, will no longer need a worthy purpose to enter Denmark, opening the way for tourists to come to Denmark from across the region.

Denmark raised the threshold for qualifying as a yellow country from 20-30 to 50-60 cases per 100,000 people over the past week.  

However, the lower threshold only applies to EU and Schengen countries, which means that, for example, the UK does not qualify as a yellow country despite falling within the incidence threshold.

READ ALSO:

But the 27 member states of the European Union recently announced they had agreed to allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter the bloc.

A Ministry of Justice text which sets out the plan for Denmark’s phased easing of travel restrictions suggests that the fourth phase, scheduled to take effect on June 26th, will see Denmark adopt the EU’s common rules on entry for persons from outside the bloc, meaning non-EU countries could qualify for the more lenient rules for yellow regions.

New car registration fees come into effect

New rules for registration fees for new vehicles, adopted in February, take effect on June 1st.

The laws, which will be applied retroactively from December 18th 2020, mean that different criteria will be used to calculate the registrations fees applied to cars based on their carbon dioxide emissions, replacing the existing rules which used fuel consumption as the main emissions criteria.

New rules will also be introduced offering more advantages for registering electric and hybrid vehicles.

You can find detailed information via the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

READ ALSO: Why is it so expensive to buy a car in Denmark?

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