# Mutual intelligibility of Scandinavian Languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745 "2008-11-27T22:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/41 "2008-11-28T17:31:12Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Rolig: > Danish: Calm > Swedish: Fun Hmm, maybe for the Swedes the idea of fun _is_ calm. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/42 "2008-11-28T17:37:23Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Örngott - which word for word (ETA: in its present meaning) would be Eaglegood 😃 Hee hee! That is funny. I think I’ll call my pillowcases Örngotter from now on. (Wait, did I get that plural right? I only speak Danish
and I can sing the Pippi song
) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/43 "2008-11-28T18:55:08Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Hee hee! That is funny. I think I’ll call my pillowcases Örngotter from now on. (Wait, did I get that plural right? I only speak Danish
and I can sing the Pippi song
) The plural is örngott. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/44 "2008-11-28T18:56:19Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Hee hee! That is funny. I think I’ll call my pillowcases Örngotter from now on. (Wait, did I get that plural right? I only speak Danish
and I can sing the Pippi song
) The plural form of this word is the same as the singular. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/45 "2008-11-28T19:31:24Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Örngott - which word for word (ETA: in its present meaning) would be Eaglegood 😃 So it doesn’t mean “ear candy”? Clearly my Swedish isn’t as good as I thought 😃 My boss says _putetrekk_ in Svorsk. I think the dictionary would disagree with him but it’s a lot easier to understand than örngott. And if you’re wondering why I talk about bedclothes with my boss, recall that I work at a kindergarten, and the littlest kids still need afternoon naps, so I’m afraid it’s a lot more boring than it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/46 "2008-11-28T19:40:10Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/s-mOy8VUEBk/hqdefault.jpg "Danish language") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk) hilarious sketch about danes not being able to understand each other. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/47 "2008-11-28T21:03:42Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > > [@Originally Posted by Oslo Ostragoth](#): > > > > I am reminded of a line in National Lampoon many years ago: Swedish is the silliest-sounding language east of the Urals. Any truth to that? > > Well, considering that we are west of the Urals, I don’t see how that works ;). Secondly, after changing east to west, I am certain that Norwegian is sillier, but doubtfully the silliest in that hemisphere relative to the Urals. Finnish should rank higher on the silliness scale also, but I am too tired to do any detailed analysis of language silliness right now, which is required to find the definitely silliest. Any such analysis must address [Cymraeg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZQLbjRdnog), or Welsh. You gotta love a language whose name is pronounced, more or less, “cum rag.” And which is frequently inflected so that it sounds like English played backwards. ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/48 "2008-11-28T21:43:57Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Any such analysis must address [Cymraeg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZQLbjRdnog), or Welsh. You gotta love a language whose name is pronounced, more or less, “cum rag.” And which is frequently inflected so that it sounds like English played backwards. and also the language (sorry, no site or anything, but it’s TRUE) that utilises a sound I hope don’t have an IPA notation, and come to think of it, I don’t even know if there’s a word for it either, but here goes: stick your tongue out, press lips together, and blow. Now consider this sound occuring frequently in speech. swedish, by the way, sounds childish to some norwegians (or probably all
 damn swedes) ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/49 "2008-11-28T21:53:13Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > So it doesn’t mean “ear candy”? Clearly my Swedish isn’t as good as I thought 😃 > > My boss says _putetrekk_ in Svorsk. I think the dictionary would disagree with him but it’s a lot easier to understand than örngott. And if you’re wondering why I talk about bedclothes with my boss, recall that I work at a kindergarten, and the littlest kids still need afternoon naps, so I’m afraid it’s a lot more boring than it sounds. I think your etymology is closer to the truth, even if the spelling today is closer to eagle than ear (örn - öron). Putetrekk is Norwegian, but we also say putevar. ‘pute’ is Norwegian for pillow. According to the Swedish wikipedia, örngott is limited to pillow covers as bed linen, while non-bed pillows are covered by kuddvar. ‘Kudde’ being Swedish for pillow. Kuddvar is also the cloth part of the actual pillow. Again acording to wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/50 "2008-11-28T23:36:40Z")
> [@yelimS](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-mOy8VUEBk) > > hilarious sketch about danes not being able to understand each other. 😃 That was really funny! ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/51 "2008-11-28T23:48:22Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I also messed up my example sentences for pula/pulla/pule, as Swedish for a garden is different from Norwegian. “Hage” does have a meaning in Swedish, though: it means “pasture”. > [@flodnak](#): > > So it doesn’t mean “ear candy”? Clearly my Swedish isn’t as good as I thought 😃 > [@naita](#): > > I think your etymology is closer to the truth, even if the spelling today is closer to eagle than ear (örn - öron). > > Putetrekk is Norwegian, but we also say putevar. ‘pute’ is Norwegian for pillow. According to the Swedish wikipedia, örngott is limited to pillow covers as bed linen, while non-bed pillows are covered by kuddvar. ‘Kudde’ being Swedish for pillow. Kuddvar is also the cloth part of the actual pillow. Again acording to wikipedia. The etymology I alluded to earlier is that â€œĂ¶rn” indeed comes from â€œĂ¶ra”, and “gott” is from a now-archaic verb meaning something like “recieve” (I’m guessing it’s related to the English “get”). So the word esentially means “something that recieves the ear”, which also explains why it is limited to bed pillows. ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/52 "2008-11-29T00:25:17Z")
Slightly unrelated, but I would suggest anyone try speaking German with Norwegian intonation. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/53 "2008-11-29T00:34:45Z")
Zey vill be schott as partisans!!1! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/54 "2008-11-29T00:53:38Z")
> [@Sofis](#): > > So the word essentially means “something that recieves the ear” Wasn’t Van Gogh’s girlfriend named Örngott? ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/55 "2008-11-29T00:58:07Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > Well, considering that we are west of the Urals, I don’t see how that works. :smack: Of course I would screw up the quote. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/56 "2008-11-29T01:08:35Z")
> [@yelimS](#): > > and [Welsh / Cymraeg is] also the language (sorry, no site or anything, but it’s TRUE) that utilises a sound I hope don’t have an IPA notation, and come to think of it, I don’t even know if there’s a word for it either, but here goes: stick your tongue out, press lips together, and blow. Now consider this sound occuring frequently in speech. It’s a voiceless lateral fricative, and the IPA sign is an l with a little curlicue in the middle. To make the sound you put your mouth in the position to say “L” as in “lamp” but hiss instead. Americans usually hear it as a “sh” sound for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/57 "2008-11-29T10:35:15Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > It’s a voiceless lateral fricative, and the IPA sign is an l with a little curlicue in the middle. To make the sound you put your mouth in the position to say “L” as in “lamp” but hiss instead. Americans usually hear it as a “sh” sound for some reason. I tried, but it’s hard to know if I’m making the right sound or if I’m just biased towards making the sound I’m thinking of. Anyway, better try: it’s the kind of sound you make when emulating a fart. I don’t think anyone would hear that as an “sh”? ETA: listened to your sound on wikipedia (supposing it’s a voiceless **alveolar** lateral fricative), and it’s not that one. It’s way more bizzarre) ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/58 "2008-11-29T12:13:35Z")
Adding my voice to the pile. As somone who learned swedish as an adult I have no particular problem speaking with norwegians and danes as long as they try to speak “scandinavian”. I had a boss from Oslo who refused on principle to adjust her way of speaking , and I understood about 85% (going up to 90% after I had a moment or two to process it). She was amazed that I could understand everything our colleague from Tromsö (very much northern Norway) without a problem. I explained that it was because he made an effort to be understood. Anyhoo, another funny mix-up is the word _tös_ which means little girl in swedish, but apparantly, prostitute/harlot in norwegian. Then you have _balle_ which in danish means a bale or a pile of things, whereas in southern sweden it means yer bum-cheeks, and in the rest of sweden means dick. It’s possible that kneppe in danish and knĂ€ppa in swedish could be confused. One means to fuck and the other means to button or click (click your fingers etc). ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/59 "2008-11-29T13:16:14Z")
Danish and Norwegian are very close. Especially written (in bokmĂ„l) but also spoken. Perhaps like Russian and Ukrainian. Danish and Swedish is a bit further. But still mutually understandable with a bit of effort and most Danes knows a number of Swedish words to help them carry over. The big hick is numbers. Where Danish use a different numbering system than Swedish. Danes usually understand Swedish numbers, but the rest of Scandinavia have a hard time understanding why the Danish numbering system is superior to all others. That’s because they are stupid. I mean, all the others of course. Faroese and Icelandic are a different issue. Faroese is sort of halfway between Danish and Icelandic. You can understand most Faroese sentences when you read it, but hearing is much more difficult. I make a point of never switching to English when speaking to other Nordic speaking people. For some reason people who learn Danish as a second language, don’t seem to pick up understanding the other Nordic languages. We all make fun of each other. Norwegians have some really funny words because they construct them out of other words instead of importing (like Icelandic and Faroese) and Swedish speak like they are singing while Danes talk like they are mumbling with a potatoes in the mouth. Of course the last is a dirty slanderous lie only fools would believe. ---
**Author:** ![Henrichek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5daacb/32.png) [@Henrichek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Henrichek)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745/60 "2008-11-29T13:39:23Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > .. the Danish numbering system is superior to all others. All right, please enlighten us how that seemingly absurd numbering system is superior. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mutual-intelligibility-of-scandinavian-languages/474745.md?page=4)