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DANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Danish word of the day: Fisefornem

If you act a little high and mighty in Denmark, you risk being described as 'fisefornem'.

What is fisefornem? 

Fisefornem is a composition of the two words fis, an outmoded slang word meaning “fart”, and fornem, which means something like “distinguished” or “classy”.

The combination is a slight slur for someone who is considered stuck up, ‘cocky’, or thinks themselves better than others, but who in actuality is not better at all. This is perhaps comparable to the expression of ​​“thinking the sun shines out of one’s own backside” or the more simple “self-important” or “pompous”.

As an aside, the word fis has a number of other meanings. It can also mean something like “fun and games” or “high jinks”, particularly in contexts where children are playing. For example, you might hear someone say hvad er det for noget fis?, meaning “what’s all this silliness?”

In verb form, at fise, as well as “to fart” can mean to move quickly or hurry. It’s sometimes used negatively, as in fis af! (“get lost!”), but might also be descriptive: han fiser bare rundt og gør rent inden gæsterne kommer (“he’s flying around the place doing the cleaning before the guests arrive”).

Why do I need to know fisefornem?

It’s a word that in a way is quintessentially Danish, because of Janteloven.

If you’ve lived in Denmark then you might be familiar with Janteloven or the Law of Jante, a concept originally coined by Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose.

Briefly, Janteloven is a set of rules or attitudes that many Danes, as well as Swedes and Norwegians supposedly espouse. It means that it’s frowned upon to have too high an opinion of yourself and that if you do this, others will probably bring you down a peg or two.

The nearest expression in English is probably “tall poppy syndrome”, meaning a community that doesn’t let one “poppy” stand taller than the others.

If you act superior to your peers, then, Janteloven dictates that someone might bring you back to Earth by telling you there’s no need to be quite so fisefornem. It’s an insult, but not a bad one, and might even be used a bit jokingly.

A very popular imported TV show in Denmark (by my anecdotal observations) is 1990s BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, starring Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket. Every Dane I mention this show to seems to love it, and sometimes it gets brought up unprompted in conversations about my British background. I get the sense that the middle-class aspirations of Mrs. Bucket make her fisefornem to the point of absurdity to Danes, and that they can’t help but find this hilarious.

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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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