Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World

Comments #9620760:


Klaus

63
Icelandic place names may sound exotic, but they're usu 10 4, 4:03pm

@Karen #9489319

One Danish word for ejaculation is sædafgang, litterally semen-off-going or semen-departure.

The word bil was the winning entry in a competition in the Danish paper Politiken for a better word for automobil. Politiken has held several such competitions, but as far as I know this was the only word that came into common use. It has even spread to the other Scandinavian languages. Doesn't bil mean axe in old Norse?

Danish has several words used only for Nordic terrain features. The common word for glacier is gletsjer. If it is called bræ, it is most likely in the North. (Bræ has no other meaning.) If it is called jøkel, it is certainly in Iceland.

Similarly the common word for river is flod. If it is called elv, you can be sure it is in the North. Neither is used for Danish watercourses. Here we have nothing larger than an å, though Gudenå and Suså would certainly be called rivers anywhere else in the world.

Similarly for mountain. The usual word is bjerg, but for Nordic mountains fjeld is often used.