Kevin AyersMar 7
Randahl Fink

Examples that Danish is the most confusing language for English speakers:

In Denmark, when washing machines are done, their displays write, "Slut!", which means "Finished".

When someone enters an elevator, the display changes to "I fart", which means "On the move".

Tourists have difficulty finding a nice WC, because the signs often say "Bad toilet", meaning "Bathroom and toilet".

In lobbies with multiple elevators, one sign may say, "Gods elevator", which means "Freight elevator".

#offtopic

Mar 7 at 5:41amIvory for iOS
Show threadrhempelMar 7
@randahl ... and of course the always hilarious signs on the high street for the final sale - Slut Spurt!
Show threadRandahl FinkMar 7
@rhempel nowadays were have the opposite problem, as window signs will often say "Sale!", which is confusing to Danes, as that means "Halls!", as if there is some big rooms inside the building.
Show threadToni M.Mar 7

@randahl @rhempel

Same here in Germany. Some people believe "Sale" is a brand.

Show threadHraban (fiëé visuëlle)Mar 7
@mad @randahl @rhempel
No, no, that only hints at salted prices!
(In German that means overly expensive, dunno if it works in English.)
Show threadC++ Wage SlaveMar 7

@fiee @mad @randahl @rhempel

A Frenchman I know always laughs when he visits the UK and sees the words "for sale". In French, "fort sale" (in which the T is silent) means "really dirty".

Show threadClic 🌱 ↙↙↙Mar 7
@CppGuy I am always pleased to see a “Garage sale” sign.
@fiee @mad @randahl @rhempel
Show threadHraban (fiëé visuëlle)Mar 7

@CppGuy
Oh right, sale is dirty (while salé is salted).

@mad @randahl @rhempel

Show threadC++ Wage SlaveMar 7

@fiee @mad @randahl @rhempel

Yes — but salt isn't "sal", it's "sel", and that makes me get the word for "salted" wrong every time. Natural languages are rarely simple or consistent!

Show threadHarald Hannelius Mar 7
@mad @randahl @rhempel Sale! is a chain of grocery stores here in Finland
Show threadDesatyrMar 7

@mad @randahl @rhempel

Like a former Colleague of mine has thought, that Coffee ToGo is a new Coffee Company from Africa. 😂

Show threadRiley S. FaelanMar 7
@randahl "Here, you can get your halls decked! (Gay apparel sold separately.)" @rhempel
Show threadMarcos DioneMar 7
@randahl @rhempel in French, "sale" means dirty (feminine), but it can be used as short for "dirty whore".
Show threadslotosMar 7

@randahl @rhempel And now I know etymology of Polish „sala” and Ukrainian „зал”.

#adhdmoment

Show threadSchneckbert 🐌Mar 7
@randahl Please explain the idea behind "your" numbers! It's fun, but in the most complicated way possible
Show threadPascal d'HermillyMar 7
@waldschnecke @randahl yeah its insane. Basically you divide all the numbers into 20 (snes, a score in english) like the french but then somebody got the brilliant idea to count half snes, so when you say 50 you say halvtres (deduce: half three snes) meaning 2.5 snes.
Yeah its just insane 😂
Show threadPetra van CronenburgMar 7
@Pascal_dher 😱 from France. 😅 @waldschnecke @randahl
Show threadDawn AhukannaMar 7

@NatureMC

@Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl

I’m learning Danish as an English and French speaker and the “half of score(20) or 2 hands plus a number” mental model took some time to get used to - 😬!

Show threadPetra van CronenburgMar 7
@dahukanna It is interesting to observe that most people who work in the gastronomy sector often count in their native language, even if they are completely fluent in the other language.
@Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl
Show threadDawn AhukannaMar 7
@NatureMC @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl
Instinctual, no cognitive effort to recall and time-effective system 1 vs deliberate, brain cognitive effort required to recall and slower system 2.
Show threadPetra van CronenburgMar 7

@dahukanna I have now mastered the French numbering system sufficiently to write cheques, but I always count in my head in German to save my brain for more important things. 🤭 Or I use the Belgian French ...

@Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl

Show threadDawn AhukannaMar 7

@NatureMC @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl

From practice and lived experience:
- More than 100 - can count with no effort in English
- less than 100 - can count with no effort in English and French.
- less than 50 - can count with no effort in English, French, Danish and German.

Show threadPetra van CronenburgMar 7
@dahukanna Great! @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl
Show threadWhiteHotaruMar 7
@dahukanna that is a lot of languages. German is pretty consistent above 30. Just take the single number and add a „zig/ßig“ drei(3)ßig, vier(4)zig, fünf(5)zig, sech(s 6)zig, sieb(en 7)zig, ach(t 8)zig, neun(9)zig. The weirdness of first saying the ones and adding „and“ is consistent as well. 71 is ein(1)und(&)siebzig(70) @NatureMC @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl
Show threadDawn AhukannaMar 7

@whitehotaru thanks for sharing.
In Danish 71 is en(1) og (and) halv(half of a score-20=10) fjerds(subtracted from 80).

Enoghalvfjerds

@NatureMC @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl

Show threadSecret SquirrelMar 7
@NatureMC @dahukanna @Pascal_dher @waldschnecke @randahl I see something similar in science. I use Celsius for anything science-y with no problem. But ask me what it's like outside and I have to think to convert from my native Fahrenheit. Code switching is fun.
Show threadFrancescaJMar 7
@randahl we liked to take visitors to the room at Den Gamle By in Aarhus playing an old silent movie version of Red Riding Hood just for the visitors reaction to the word ‘slut’ appearing on screen just after a final shot of the heroine.
Show threadMichael KnudsenMar 7
@FrancescaJ @randahl that's probably very much in line with the original story which was about a young woman losing her virginity.
Show threadC.Suthorn Mar 7
@[email protected] (irgendwo im Hinterzimmer einer Kneipe in Dänemark sitzt noch heute eine Gruppe dänischer Ingenieure mit exzellenten Englischkenntnissen und kann sich vor lachen nicht einkriegen, weil es ihnen gelungen ist für jede Menge Hinweisschilder jeweils die dänische Formulierung zu etablieren, die auch für Engländer besonders verständlich ist. An der wand hängt ein Ölgemälde von Egon Olsen.)
Show threadRustMar 7
@randahl Another reason to love the country 😎
Show threadchrokakiMar 7
@randahl
Wonderful! Jeg elsker dansk.
Show threadJochen ZilskeMar 7
@randahl “Knallert forbudt“ always has me grinning - „Knaller” is German for “banger”
Show threadCynthiaMar 7
@randahl @cookingroffa in The Netherlands, Nutricia, a producer of a wide variety of foodstuff, including baby food, confused English speakers with this gem. Translation: mama, this/that one, that one, that one… Please
Show threadLotte Is Antifa-scist 🚩Mar 7
@pointysticksncoffee 😂😂😂😂 @randahl
Show threadJean Luc am GrimmstenMar 7

@pointysticksncoffee
"Die Muppets"

😅

(W: "Looks like they put the reviews up early!"
S: "Yeah. Or is that the suggestion box?"
-- Muppets Most Wanted (2014))
@randahl @cookingroffa

Show threadpublictorstenMar 7
@pointysticksncoffee @randahl @cookingroffa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXigSu72A4
The Simpsons - Die Bart Die (English)

Please like and subscribe :D

YouTube
Show threadKnut 🏳️‍🌈 🇳🇴🧸Mar 7
@pointysticksncoffee @randahl @cookingroffa I'm an American, as you know, and I live in a VERY Latino apartment buildiing. And they think it's all strange that I know Norwegian, but not Spanish. It's fun. And I was outside cleaning pillows. Fluffing them. And my neighbor is like "What you doing?" And I said "Beating my pute", and he's like "WHAT?!", because puta in Spanish is whore, but in Norwegian (and i believe in Danish) pute mean pillow. Which has now become an inside joke of the complex.
Show threadJēkabs BalodisMar 7
@randahl I once heard foreigners where looking for Shrek's and other ogres' city in my country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogre%2C_Latvia
Ogre, Latvia - Wikipedia

Show threadPascal d'HermillyMar 7
@randahl
Haha. Never thought about the God elevator 😂
But i've heard remarks from tourist entering busses with words containing "Turistfart"
Show threadGulfofMexicoMar 7

@randahl I love linguistic crossover words and phrases with different meanings! I remember my high school German class when our rather jaded teacher was ready to teach a room full of adolescents how to conjugate the verb fahren. He told us to go ahead and get the guffaws and belly laughs out of the way so we could continue our lesson. He was right.

When visiting Denmark, I’ll take the stairs. I do wonder if those elevators go both to the basement and the top floor. Just don’t ever hit the down button.

Show threadMarcos DioneMar 7
@CAman @randahl so, the god lift takes to to heaven and hell? :)
Show threadGulfofMexicoMar 7
@mdione @randahl I’m not anxious to get on board to find out!
Show threadCat Head EagleMar 7
@CAman @randahl there might be a "stairway to Heaven" near the Gods Elevator :D
Show threadGulfofMexicoMar 7
@randahl and I guess I’m just an old washing machine that’s finished.
Show threadGupperduckMar 7

@randahl

Or the evergreen road signs "Fart kontrol" :-)

Show threadToni M.Mar 7

@Gupperduck @randahl

Maybe I misinterpreted and need to reconsider my profile picture?

Asking for myself.

Show threadHraban (fiëé visuëlle)Mar 7
@Gupperduck @randahl
WRT street signs, I love the French “Rappel” (remember the speed limit), which means about “tantrum“ or “to rattle” in German.
Show threadjowodoMar 7
@fiee @Gupperduck @randahl well this reminds me of French street signs "SAUF" which translates to "except(ion)" and in German it could be interpretation as "you, drink/booze!"
Show threadLisa 🦔Mar 7
@Gupperduck and the German parking exit wishing drivers to have a „Gute Fahrt“. @randahl
Show threadEggs now in different baskets.Mar 7

@randahl I remember being amused by the services that the Norwegian Railways offered.

We encountered "Gods transport" and assumed that, while Norway was forcibly moved over to Christianity a long time ago the old Norse Gods must still be there, lurking in the background and still needing to go places.

Like grumpy employees that have been moved sideways to roles that cause the business less damage, in charge of time and motion studies or health and safety audits.

#norge #norsegods

Show threadSammiMar 7
@randahl Pretty much the same here in Sweden. Personally i like a good infart.
Show threadPetra van CronenburgMar 7
@randahl 🤣
Show threadcanleaf08✅ 加拿大葉子 🏳️‍🌈⚧️🇪🇺🍁Mar 7
@randahl I do not know what is so bad about Bad Odesloe… Or Bad Salzungen. When you learn German, Bad means healing termal spring.
Show threadtools for commensality 🧿Mar 7

@randahl

i see your Gods elevator and raise you a God's Carwash (Southern California, ofc)

Show threadBård H. (lvl 49 🇳🇴)Mar 7

@inquiline @randahl

I see your carwash, and raise you
Hell train station in the middle of Norway!

The photo shows the entrance to the office of Gods Expedition

(It's nice there in the summer, but it tend to freeze over during winter)

Show threadCiaraMar 7
@randahl One day, Middelfart is going to open an art museum and the sign pointing to Middelfart Kunst is going to make visitors so happy.
Show threadLeelooMar 7
@randahl
I would translate "i fart" to "at speed", but the meaning gets across either way.
Show threadEggs now in different baskets.Mar 7

@randahl I also have to admit that although I am fluent in Norwegian, having lived here for more than a decade and can read Danish and Swedish, most spoken Danish is still incomprehensible to me.

I have speak to Danes in English.

https://youtu.be/ykj3Kpm3O0g

Uti Vår Hage - Kamelåså(HD) Dansk språk Med Atle Antonsen, Bård Tufte Johansen & Harald Eia

YouTube
Show threadAndresimousMar 7
@randahl
Hihi,
i was giving away some cans of Jule øl for chrismas here in Germany, wich leads to confusion, because the german word Öl means oil.
Show threadEggs now in different baskets.Mar 7

@andresimous @randahl That's easier for English speakers as we use the words "beer" and "ale" interchangably.

So we have both the Germanic and Norse derived words for beer in the language.