5 English words Danes misuse

English and Danish share common roots, but not every word works the same.

Yet some words catch the Danes out time and time again. Here are five of the most common.

Sparring
Put sparring into google.dk and nearly every entry is related to business consultancy. Put it into google.co.uk and the first 30 entries are for martial arts and boxing schools. There’s a difference. The entry for spar in the Oxford Dictionary says:

spar (1)
  • noun, a thick, strong pole such as is used for a mast or yard on a ship.
spar (2)
  • verb (sparred, sparring), 1. Make the motions of boxing without landing heavy blows, as a form of training. 2. Engage in argument without marked hostility.

In English, we can use sparring to mean discuss to produce and evaluate ideas (as in entry 2.2 above) so most native English speakers will understand the term. But we very rarely use it ourselves.

Instead use giving advice, acting as a sounding board, knocking ideas around, brainstorming.
 
Fired
When Danes say that they’ve lost their jobs, they usually say they were fired. This may be the case, but remember that in English to be fired is very negative, suggesting you lost your job because you did something wrong. It gives a bad impression and it certainly isn’t advisable to tell a potential employer that you were fired from your last job.

Instead use to be made redundant (meaning to lose your job because of company cutbacks, reorganisations or takeovers).
“I was made redundant from my job at the airport.”

Rent
Talk about loans, and Danes sometimes refer to rent. And most native speakers of English will have no idea what they are talking about. Rent is the money you pay to your landlord and not the money you pay on a loan.

Instead use interest
“I pay 3.75% interest on my car loan.”

Backside
This is often used by Danes to refer to the reverse side of a piece of paper. Unfortunately, in English it means numse and so sounds very odd in the wrong context. Try replacing it with the word ‘buttocks’ (which has the same meaning) and think how strange it sounds.

Instead use the reverse
“My address is on the reverse.”
[When talking about a coin, use flipside]

F***
The “F” word is becoming more commonly used in Danish, and not just in the street. However, Danes generally don’t use it in the same way that English people do. In English, the “F” word can be extremely offensive

Although it seems as if most English people swear a lot, it is unusual to swear if there is the slightest risk that the people around you will be offended. This includes every business meeting!

Instead use…nothing, don’t say it!