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Danish to English: Article Published in Danish Newspaper General field: Art/Literary Detailed field: Advertising / Public Relations
Source text - Danish A connoisseur of English profanity
As an American who has lived in Denmark for more than a decade – now a Danish citizen – I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur of English profanity as used by the Danes.
I’ve photographed a housewares shop in Aalborg called Busy Bitch (Was the name Travlt Kælling already taken by a competitor?), marveled at posters advertising clean young rappers called the Shit Kids, and shook my head at shared photos of a banner in Aarhus that read “Museums are awesome, because everyone shuts the fuck up.”
While do understand the Danish love of slightly risqué humor, it seems significant that they’re much more willing to be risqué in somebody else’s language. I don’t see any giant posters saying “SLIK MIG I RØVEN!” when somebody’s washing machine breaks down.
To be fair, Danes can’t help but be misled by English-language pop culture, particularly rap songs, where it seems like every other word is a profanity. But just like not everyone in English-speaking countries drinks cognac from the bottle or wears large gold chains to work, a cascade of bad language doesn’t necessarily reflect life as it is actually lived.
In fact, English-language profanity is taken much more seriously in countries where English is the native language. For example, most telephone customer service representatives are trained to hang up if a customer begins using harsh language.
And last year, I watched an angry Dane ask a harassed gate agent at Gatwick Airport in London when “this fucking plane” would take off. She made it clear that if he did not tone down his language, he would not be getting on the plane at all.
Translation - English En bandeordsconnaisseur
Som amerikaner, der har levet i Danmark i mere en 10 år nu, – og er dansk statsborger – ser jeg mig selv som lidt af en connaisseur, når det kommer til danskernes brug af engelske bandeord.
Jeg har taget et billede af en genbrugsbutik i Aalborg med navnet Busy Bitch (Var Den Travle Kælling taget?), jeg har måbet af reklameskiltene for MGP-stjernen Shit Kid og jeg har rystet på hovedet af et banner fra Aarhus med teksten ”Museums are awesome, because everyone shuts the fuck up.”
Jeg kan forstå at danskere elsker vovet humor men åbenbart helst på fremmedsprog. Jeg ser f.eks. ingen skilte med sloganet ”SLIK MIG I RØVEN” hen over ødelagte vaskemaskiner.
Det er forståeligt nok at I danskere bliver vildledte når man lytter til den engelske popkulturs rapsange. Det er jo som om, at hvert andet ord ud af rappernes munde er bandeord. Men ligesom det ikke er alle fra de engelsksprogede lander, der drikker cognac fra flasken og går med store guldkæder, så reflekterer denne kaskade af grimt sprog heller ikke vores hverdagsliv.
Faktum er, at banderi bliver taget meget mere seriøst i engelsksprogede lande. De fleste telefonsupportere bliver f.eks. trænet i at lægge på, hvis en kunde begynder at bruge hårde ord.
Sidste år så jeg endda en dansker spørge en forjaget medarbejder i Gatwick lufthavn vredt, hvornår ”this fucking plane” ville tage og lette. Hun forklarede meget tydeligt, at hvis han ikke begyndte at tale ordentligt, så kom han slet ikke med det.
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Bachelor's degree - University of Copenhagen
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Years of experience: 6. Registered at ProZ.com: May 2018.
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