Ten Danish towns with hilarious literal translations
Most native English speakers in Denmark have probably laughed at words like ‘fartkontrol’, ‘slut’ and ‘skat’, but what about names of towns and villages?
A closer look at the map reveals several gems that had us giggling away. Here are our favourites.
1. Sæd
A tiny village down by the border with Germany, ‘Sæd’ translates literally to ‘sperm’.
2. Voldby
On the surface an innocuous town near Aarhus with a population of under 500, Voldby sounds a little more sinister if it is translated literally, since vold is the Danish word for violence and and by means town. Would you dare take a trip there?
3. Helved
Quite literally, Hell (ok, almost – the spelling of the Danish word is one letter different from the town name). A small village on the southern island of Als, ‘Hell’ boasts a private school and a now-inactive water mill. And yes, there is a road that goes there.
4. Tarm
Intestine, bowel, gut. We couldn’t stomach leaving this West Jutland town off our list.
Photo: Iris/Scanpix
5. Bækager
The word ‘bae’ recently entered the English lexicon and should have positive connotations, given its use to mean boyfriend, girlfriend or loved one. Turn the ‘ae’ into the Danish letter æ, though, and you end up with something quite different. Bækager translates literally to ‘crap cakes’.
6. Boller
Boller is the present tense of a colloquial and somewhat 1980s Danish slang word for having sex. ‘Shagging’, if you will. The village of Boller near Horsens has both a forest and a country manor named after it.
7. Odder
We fear we’re getting a bit carried away with the toilet humour in this list, so here’s something a bit cuter. Odder does not in fact translate to ‘more odd’, but is the Danish word for otter.
The town of Odder, a few kilometres south of Aarhus, did not have an unusually high population of semiaquatic carnivorous mammals last time we passed through.
Photo: Iris/Scanpix
8. Hundested
Ever heard the expression ‘this place has gone to the dogs’? Head to the coast of northern Zealand and you can actually visit the Place of Dogs, if Hundested’s name is to be taken literally.
With its pleasant harbour, sometime sand sculpture festival and charming ferry across the Isefjord bay, we can’t imagine what this friendly coastal town could have done to deserve such a bad reputation.
Photo: Peter Karlsson/Flickr
9. Snave
Snogging, making out, necking, smooching. The name of this small town on Funen appears to have a similar effect to standing under the mistletoe.
10. Lolland
It’s an island, not a town. But LOL-land sounds like a pretty funny place. Amirite?
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A closer look at the map reveals several gems that had us giggling away. Here are our favourites.
1. Sæd
A tiny village down by the border with Germany, ‘Sæd’ translates literally to ‘sperm’.
2. Voldby
On the surface an innocuous town near Aarhus with a population of under 500, Voldby sounds a little more sinister if it is translated literally, since vold is the Danish word for violence and and by means town. Would you dare take a trip there?
3. Helved
Quite literally, Hell (ok, almost – the spelling of the Danish word is one letter different from the town name). A small village on the southern island of Als, ‘Hell’ boasts a private school and a now-inactive water mill. And yes, there is a road that goes there.
4. Tarm
Intestine, bowel, gut. We couldn’t stomach leaving this West Jutland town off our list.
Photo: Iris/Scanpix
5. Bækager
The word ‘bae’ recently entered the English lexicon and should have positive connotations, given its use to mean boyfriend, girlfriend or loved one. Turn the ‘ae’ into the Danish letter æ, though, and you end up with something quite different. Bækager translates literally to ‘crap cakes’.
6. Boller
Boller is the present tense of a colloquial and somewhat 1980s Danish slang word for having sex. ‘Shagging’, if you will. The village of Boller near Horsens has both a forest and a country manor named after it.
7. Odder
We fear we’re getting a bit carried away with the toilet humour in this list, so here’s something a bit cuter. Odder does not in fact translate to ‘more odd’, but is the Danish word for otter.
The town of Odder, a few kilometres south of Aarhus, did not have an unusually high population of semiaquatic carnivorous mammals last time we passed through.
Photo: Iris/Scanpix
8. Hundested
Ever heard the expression ‘this place has gone to the dogs’? Head to the coast of northern Zealand and you can actually visit the Place of Dogs, if Hundested’s name is to be taken literally.
With its pleasant harbour, sometime sand sculpture festival and charming ferry across the Isefjord bay, we can’t imagine what this friendly coastal town could have done to deserve such a bad reputation.
Photo: Peter Karlsson/Flickr
9. Snave
Snogging, making out, necking, smooching. The name of this small town on Funen appears to have a similar effect to standing under the mistletoe.
10. Lolland
It’s an island, not a town. But LOL-land sounds like a pretty funny place. Amirite?
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