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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Pant

This Danish false friend means something quite different from the English but is a crucial word for living in Denmark.

What is pant? 

Pant has nothing to do with trousers or underpants, or being out of breath. It refers to money paid as security for something. In English it could be translated as “refundable deposit” or “security”.

For example, if you buy property in Denmark, a pantebrev is the document which means a mortgage has been taken out against it (this should be resolved on the day the property changes hands). You can also pay money in pant as security against other kinds of debts.

But in everyday life, the more common usage is the pant fee you pay when you buy recyclable bottles and cans.

This is listed as a separate amount on your receipt, so a drink in a plastic bottle or can may cost you 20 kroner and anything between extra 1 and 3 kroner extra in pant, depending on the type of bottle or can.

You get the pant back by recycling the bottles at flaskeautomater (bottle and can recycling stations) which can be found in almost all Danish supermarkets. The money is paid out by the machine in the form of a receipt, which you can hand in at the checkout for cash or have it deducted from the cost of your food shopping.

READ ALSO: ‘Pant’: Denmark recycles more cans and bottles than ever before

Why do I need to know pant?

In Denmark, the pant system was introduced for glass bottles way back in 1942, with the system extended to cans and plastic bottles in 2002 and for juice cartons in 2019.

Dansk Retursystem, the company operating the pantsystem, says that for every 100 bottles and cans sold with the ‘pant’ mark on it, 92 were returned in Denmark in 2022.

A return percentage of 92 percent is one of the highest of the world for recycling of drinks packaging, and gives an idea of how established pant is in everyday life in the country.

The verb at pante means to hand something in and get money in return, but usually it refers simply to the act of recycling bottles. You can also use pant to talk about other similar recycling schemes, for example at music festivals which might charge a pant fee for their plastic or paper cups, which is returned if you bring them for recycling.

Examples

Vi har utrolige mange flasker og dåser efter festen i går. Jeg går ned i supermarkedet og panter det hele.

We’ve got loads of bottles and cans after the party yesterday. I’m going to the supermarket to cash them in.

Jeg fik 75 kroner tilbage i pant, så det var relativt billigt at handle.

I got 75 kroner from returning bottles and cans, so the food shopping was relatively cheap.

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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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