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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish expression of the day: At trække sig

If you're thinking of making a dignified exit, today's word might come in handy.

What is at trække sig?

From the verb at trække (“to pull”) and the reflexive pronoun sig (his/herself or themselves), at trække sig literally means “to pull out”.

Without the reflexive element, the verb at trække has a scale of meanings depending on context. For example, you can say that a car or driver trækker ud, trækker ind or trækker over (“pulls out”, “pulls in” or “pulls over”) when changing lanes on a motorway. 

At trække op (“to pull up”) can be used about clothing: han trækker bukserne op is “he is pulling up his trousers”. It can also be used more figuratively. Hjemmeholdet trak niveauet op væsentligt efter pausen means “the home team improved their performance level significantly after half-time”.

When used to refer reflexively to a person, at trække sig, literally “to pull oneself” means to withdraw, pull out or resign. As such, it is sometimes also used with tilbage, which can mean “return” or “(come) back”. So han trækker sig tilbage means “he is resigning” or “he is quitting”.

Why do I need to know at trække sig?

At trække sig is usually used to refer to voluntarily deciding to quit or resign from a certain activity, according to the Danish dictionary. So the action is contrary to what might have been planned by the individual who decides to then withdraw from that activity.

A related expression which has a slightly different nuance is at gå af — literally “to go off” meaning “go away” and also used in relation to resignations. This carries slightly stronger undertones of the decision being forced. So a politician who loses the confidence of his colleagues, his party members and the general public to such an extent he has to step down might be said to gå af rather than trække sig tilbage. 

Although you could use trække sig tilbage to describe someone being væltet (“toppled”) politically, it is also appropriate if they decide to leave having competently served out a full term but chosen not to run for reelection.

Examples

Han trækker sig som partiets leder med øjeblikkelig virkning, men afviser at gå af som premierminister, indtil en ny leder er valgt.

He is stepping down as the leader of the party with immediate effect but refuses to quit as prime minister until a new leader has been elected.

Hun trækker sig til december efter 20 år som firmaets direktør.

She is leaving in December after 20 years as the company’s director.

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For members

DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Kværn

This unassuming little word pops up surprisingly often in Danish, so it's a very good one to have in your vocabulary.

Danish word of the day: Kværn

What is kværn?

Kværn is a noun meaning “mill” or “grinder”, used to refer to any kind of tool or machine that breaks a substance down into smaller pieces.

kværn can be small, for example a peberkværn (pepper mill) or kaffekværn (coffee grinder).

There’s some overlap between kværn and mølle, the Danish word for “mill”. In the past, mølle might have been used to refer to household items like the coffee grinder. It’s now become the reserve of larger pieces of machinery like windmills (vindmølle), but there is stills a bit of interchangeability in Swedish, a sister tongue of Danish.

If you’re in Skåne – the Swedish province closet to Denmark — the word for “mill” in the local dialect is not kvarn but mölla.

Why do I need to know kværn?

The above describes how to use kværn as a noun, but it’s also a verb, at kværne, meaning “to grind” or “to mill”.

Apart from everyday uses like jeg kværner kaffebønnerne (”I’ll grind some coffee beans”), you won’t hear it too often in its literal sense, but it has a lot of figurative meanings too.

For example jeg var så sulten, at jeg kværnede maden uden at sige et ord means ”I was so hungry I gobbled down (literally ’crushed’ or ’ground’) the food without saying a word”.

This can also apply to drinking: han sad og kværnede bajere hele aftenen (“he sat there downing beers all evening”).

It can also be used to describe working very hard, as in jeg skal bare kværne, indtil projektet er færdig (“I have to keep grafting until the project is finished”).

Finally if someone kværner bare løs, it probably means they are talking non-stop.

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