Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World
Still a long way satwcomic.com

Still a long way


Not a month goes by without someone confusing Sweden/Switzerland or Denmark/Netherlands. With Sweden/Switzerland it's because of the names of the countries, but with Denmark/Netherlands it's because people from Denmark are called Danish and people from Netherlands are called Dutch.

It's usually Americans who make those mistakes, but the first time I encountered it in real life was actually in England when I got in the wrong line to get into the country. I was supposed to stand in the Europe line but ended up in the Rest of The World line, and one of the women there could apparently tell something was wrong and asked me, "Are you Dutch?" I said no and handed her my passport which said Denmark and she responded with, "That's what I said: Dutch. Why are you lying about where you're from?" :XD:


Switzerland Norway America Netherlands
3rd February 2012
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1236 Comments:
 
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8 years ago #9466739        
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Im a Dane that recently moved to USA for 2 years. And when they asked "where are you from?" I of course said Denmark. Every time after I told them that I came from Denmark they asked me questions about my country: " Do you eat a lot of fish in Norway?" , "Is it cold in Sweden?", "Do you ever miss your Dutch friends?", "What kind of sports do you play in... where did you say you came from?".

And once a guy thought he was smart because he knew that Danes is NOT called Dutch, but "Denmarkeans".

GETTING REALLY TIRED OF YOUR SHIT AMERICA.


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8 years ago #9467972        
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Don't forget Austria/Australia... -.-


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7 years ago #9602434        
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I don't get it - looks like the normal crew: Swissland, Nethermark, and Norwegia.


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8 years ago #9503241        
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A good deal of people also mix up the Germans and the Dutch because the Germans call themselves Deutsche, which sounds similar to Dutch. That's why some things that are German in origin are referred to as Dutch.

Rayati

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6 years ago #9770334        
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So, I'm currently learning German on Duolingo, and the hardest sentence I ever had to learn to pronounce so far is "Schweden ist nicht die Schweiz", which means "Sweden is not Switzerland", and this comic reminded me of it :D

7 years ago #9605581        
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So recently, while visiting the U.S, this happened:
"Where do you come from?"
"Sénégal"
"What?"
"Sénégal"
"What?"
"I come from Africa"
"Ohh, why didn't you say so sooner"
At this point, I was already sick of it, so I got ready to leave when:
"So that 'Senegal' you're talking about (yes she put Senegal in quotations as if it didn't exist) it's a city in Africa right, since Africa is the biggest country in the world"
Too tired and annoyed to come up with an elaborate response to explain that Africa isn't a country I just answered yes to everything she said.
"Is it next to Egypt?"
"Yes"
"Oh, so it's next to Cairo"
"Yes"
"And the Mediterranean Ocean"
"Yes"
"How cool, you must be a surfer then"
"Yup"
If I can name every single one of your states, the only thing I ask for in return is for you not to think Africa is a country.


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txag70

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8 years ago #9448954        
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Interesting sidenote: The initial settlers to Pennsylvania in the early 1800s were called the "Pennsylvania Dutch." In reality, there were all Germans, and "Deutsch" had been mistranslated.

9 years ago #9392837        
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An elder Norwegian man said to me: "So you're Dutch? I so appreciate how you apologized for the war, unlike the Japanese. German people are good people!"


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4 years ago #9831299        
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I have NO clue how

but when I was younger, I somehow got into thinking Netherlands was Philippines.


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6 years ago #9747729        
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none of your stories are as bad as one I experienced with my best friend. I was telling her about Russia and all she was saying was 'what the hell are you talking about' and 'Russia sounds stupid'. I showed her Russia on a world map and she still didn't believe it existed

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