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Dating an American I have often laughed to myself when stumbling upon an English word with a really funny literal meaning in Danish. We tend to name things exactly what they are to the point of ridiculous. Here are some examples!
While most Danish words are fairly straightforward, the below examples stand out for their double-meanings in English. If you’re struggling to learn Danish, I highly recommend you check out this incredible vocabulary workbook. It’s the same one my boyfriend used and now he’s cracking jokes over the Christmas table!
Format: Literal meaning = English word (Danish word)
Sock-Pants = Pantyhose (Strømpebukser)
Clipping-Machine = Stapler (Klipsemaskine)
Roll-Stairs = Escalator (Rulletrappe)
Silver-Paper = Tinfoil (Sølvpapir)
Christmas-Man = Santa Claus (Julemand)
Egg-Cake = Omelet (Æggekage)
Inside-Spraying = Injection (Indsprøjtning)
Child-Cart = Stroller (Barnevogn)
Day-Book = Journal (Dagbog)
Flying-Machine = Airplane (Flyvemaskine)
Sun-Down-Walk = Sunset (Solnedgang)
Smurf-Kick = Flicking (Smølfespark)
