Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Omstridt

We hope you’ll agree this is a word worth knowing.

Published: 4 January 2023 17:17 CET

What is omstridt? 

Omstridt is an adjective meaning something around which there prevails a lot of disagreement or conflict. This could be a topical discussion related to politics, or a physical conflict.

The word is made up of the adverb om, which usually means something similar to “around” or sometimes “again”; and the verb at stride, meaning to fight a battle or be in conflict.

Examples of these two components individually are at lave noget om, meaning to “start something again from the beginning”; and at vende om, which is “to turn around”. The latter is more important in omstridt.

If something is said to stride imod something else, the two sides contradict each other. Det strider imod min moral means “that goes against my morals”.

Two opposing sides can strides against each other: Frankrig og Argentina strides om VM-pokalen (”France and Argentina are battling each other for the World Cup trophy”).

In this last sentence strides and om are next to each other, giving the same effect as the composite word omstridt.

Why do I need to know omstridt?

It’s a word you might commonly see in print, particularly news coverage. This is because it describes something around which there is an ongoing conflict where there are two (or more) clearly defined, opposing camps.

The conflict maybe over an idea or it may also be a physical one, thus omstridt is also used in war reporting.

In the context of a debate, the disagreement or discussion is more likely to be described as omstridt the longer it has gone on for.

Examples

Stort flertal vedtager omstridt ghettoplan

Large parliamentary majority passes divisive ghetto bill

Sydkorea udvider luftforsvarszone i omstridt område

South Korea extends no-fly zone in disputed region

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
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.

Published: 13 June 2024 17:08 CEST
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.

A 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.

SHOW COMMENTS