Fart, 20 mp/h

It doesn’t always have to be serious here, so today we’re doing something a bit different. Something we’ve noticed quite often, and another blog has made it clear to us: Danish is a remarkable language.

At least to German ears and eyes.

Much of it sounds familiar, as if English and German had at some point decided to raise a child together, only to fall out over the pronunciation and leave the rest to chance.

After a few months, our family now recognises a surprising number of words. Not necessarily correctly. But a surprising number nonetheless.

One of the earliest posts was about the danger of name jokes. We actually wanted to avoid those. Because, as we all know, by the third pun at the latest, humour turns into second-hand embarrassment with a vengeance.

However, there is another category of unintentional humour: words that are completely harmless in one language but, in another, sound as though a pubescent linguist had played a prank.

One of the finest examples was brought to our attention by the wonderful blog Danesplained, which for months has been reliably ensuring that we either gain a better understanding of Denmark’s cultural quirks or end up even more confused.

Din Fart

Anyone driving through Copenhagen regularly comes across electronic display boards at the side of the road. These show your current speed. Above that, it says: Din Fart

In Danish, this simply means:

Your speed.

Perfectly normal.

For Danes, at any rate.

For English speakers, however, it very clearly reads:

Your fart.

And suddenly, a picture emerges of a highly developed transport society that publicly records the current fart speed on every other street.

Road safety education in Danish

What’s particularly impressive is the discipline.

Whilst German debates on road traffic regularly get bogged down in speed limits, freedom, paternalism and the question of whether 130 km/h is already socialism, the Danes simply display their speed.

29 km/h.

31 km/h.

32 km/h.

All very orderly.

All strictly by the book.

Anyone who spends a few months here will realise, in any case, that many Danes really do see speed limits as rules to be obeyed rather than as a creative challenge.

This leads to a situation that is probably unique in Europe:

Most farts reliably travel at between 30 and 50 kilometres per hour.

The real surprise

The most astonishing thing, however, is something else entirely.

After a few months, the brain now reads ‘Din Fart’ as ‘speed’ without a second thought.

The confusion disappears.

The translation happens automatically.

The integration is progressing.

And then it happens again.

Out of the corner of my eye, one of those display boards appears.

My inner child rears its head again.

For a brief moment.

and thinks:

Impressive. He’s really keeping his fart under control today.

And yes, that was a bit adolescent today. Sorry about that. But we could have described other things as well, such as the use of abbreviations. Hej, it is very hot these days.