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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Myrepatter

If you want to describe the sensation of a tingle down your spine or are feeling unseasonably cold, you'll be needing today's word of the day.

What are myrepatter?

Myre is the Danish word for ants. 

Patter needs a slightly longer explanation. While its original meaning is the nipple on animals’ udders, it has also become a (now outdated and politically incorrect) slang term for breasts. It’s also worth noting that the Danish word for mammal is pattedyr, literally meaning animals that can secrete milk to feed their young.

An ant is, of course, an insect and not a mammal, so the word myrepatter in itself is an oxymoron. As such, it’s unsurprising to hear that it doesn’t have a literal meaning, but is the equivalent of the English ‘goosebumps’: the feeling of raised hairs or tiny bumps on your skin in response to an exciting experience or feeling particularly cold.

Why do I need to know myrepatter?

‘Goosebumps’ in fact has a closer Danish counterpart than myrepatter. Gåsehud, literally ‘goose skin’ is used in the same contexts — experiencing tiny bumps on the skin when experiencing a breathtaking or surprising moment, or when very cold.

The two Danish words are exact synonyms as far as we can tell, but given that myrepatter is less recognisable from English, you might impress a little more with your Danish knowledge if you use it.

You might come across patter and connected words like yver, meaning udder and (bryst)vorte, which means nipple but also wart, in an agricultural context, but are less likely to do so in general conversation.

Examples

Jeg fik myrepatter over hele kroppen, da Nick Cave gik på Orange Scene på Roskilde Festival.

I had goosebumps all over when Nick Cave went on the main stage at the Roskilde Festival.

Det var en kæmpe fejl at gå en tur uden jakke, selvom det er august. Det var så iskoldt, at jeg fik myrepatter.

It was a huge mistake to go for a walk without my jacket on, even though it’s August. It was so freezing cold out that I got goosebumps.

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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Varmebølge

Here's a Danish word to use when complaining about the hot weather.

Danish word of the day: Varmebølge

What is varmebølge?

Varmebølge means “heatwave” in Danish.

Varme means “heat” or “warmth”, and bølge means “wave”, so it’s an easy translation. You’ll sometimes hear hedebølge used too, using another Danish word for “heat”. The word varme is the more common of the two, and can be used in situations where you might say either “heat” or “warmth” in English. Hede, on the other hand, implies a more extreme type of heat.

For example, the Danish words for “hot water bottle” and “central heating” both use varme rather than heat (varmedunk and centralvarme or just varmen, respectively) and “hot weather” is varmt vejr but the phrase i kampens hede means “in the heat of the battle”. 

Why do I need to know varmebølge?

While the above terms – varmebølge and hedebølge – are synonyms on first glance, there’s an important difference.

Denmark’s national meteorological agency, DMI, defines a varmebølge as a three-day period on which the average highest temperature is over 25 degrees Celsius.

For a hot spell to qualify as a hedebølge, on the other hand, the average highest temperature for the three days in question must exceed 28 degrees Celsius

People from southern parts of Europe might consider either type of Danish heatwave to feel more like regular summer weather – and perhaps this helps explain why extreme weather in southern regions in recent years, related to climate change, has led to speculation Denmark could become an increasingly popular summer destination for foreign holidaymakers.

The phrases also reveal a little about how Denmark’s climate influences language and the way Danes talk about the weather.

READ ALSO: Five Danish phrases you only hear in summer

While almost everyone gets quickly tired of long spells of cool, wet summer weather – like those seen during most of June 2024 – it also doesn’t take much for Danes to begin longing for more moderate temperatures to return once it heats up.

Anything over around 24-25 degrees Celsius is likely to be considered for meget (“too much”) what I would consider a regulation summer temperature of 26 degrees might be described as denne forfærdelige varme (“this dreadful heat”).

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