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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish expression of the day: At få blod på tanden

Why do Danes compare painting their apartments to tasting blood?

Published: 12 May 2022 17:46 CEST

What is at få blod på tanden?

At få blod på tanden literally means ‘to get blood on your tooth’.

The blood in question refers to a predator’s prey, although the expression itself is figurative and has little to do with actual teeth and blood, but is rather about being motivated. 

Specifically, at få blod på tanden refers to the special kind of determination that a wild animal gets after smelling blood.

Why do I need to know at få blod på tanden?

A Dane saying jeg fik blod på tanden (“I got blood on my tooth”) is really saying that they really got into something and couldn’t stop until it was finished: Det var planen, at vi skulle male ude på badeværelset, men så fik vi blod på tanden og endte med at male hele lejligheden (“We meant to paint the bathroom, but then we got carried away and ended up painting the whole apartment”).

At få blod på tanden is not something you say if you indulged or splurged, however.

A Dane would not, for example, say Jeg tog én lille chip, fik blod på tanden og spiste hele pakken (“I had one small crisp, got my teeth into it and ate the whole bag”). That is because at få blod på tanden is not really about excess.

As well as passively getting “blood on your teeth” a person or thing can also give someone else blood on their teeth.

For example, if you try out rock climbing for the first time and the experience gives you such as taste for the sport that it becomes your biggest hobby. Or if your best friend encourages you to try writing that short story you’ve been talking about, and you listen to them and throw yourself into the task: they gave you “blood on your teeth”.

At få blod tanden, then, expresses determination and drive. Like when you start cleaning your apartment, realise how filthy it is and keep on going until it’s all bright and shiny.

Example

Jeg løb mit første 10-kilometers løb i København i 2017. Det gav mig blod på tanden og jeg begyndte at træne til marathon.

I ran in a 10-kilometre race for the first time in Copenhagen in 2017. It gave me a passion for the sport and I started training for a marathon.

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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.

Published: 24 June 2024 15:52 CEST
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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