Scandinavia and the World
Scandinavia and the World
Here's a thought satwcomic.com

Here's a thought


According to a fair few Swedes I've talked to this is a thing about Danes that really pisses them off, and it's even funnier because few Danes know about it.

Finland Demoncat Denmark Norway Iceland Sweden
25th October 2019
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5 years ago #9823531        
25
 
0
 

The reaction meter
Subjects: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
Reason for situation: Denmark has angered Sweden with a weak counter

Denmark: Active asphyxiation, reaction score: 10/10
Finland: Complete apathy, reaction score: 0/10
Iceland: Mild surprise, reaction score: 4/10
Norway: High horror and surprise, reaction score: 8/10
Sweden: Committing ongoing strangulation, reaction score: 20/10

Summary: aw shit, here we go again


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5 years ago #9823788        
21
 
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In Finland it's considered rude to strangle someone. You should use a knife or a gun.

BGMan

40
5 years ago #9824042        
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So, is that how Denmark got his accent? Because Sweden keeps doing that to him?

minando

51
5 years ago #9823750        
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Finland's thoughts on this: 'For gods sake, Sweden! Table manners! Here, you can borrow my knife.'


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5 years ago #9823864        
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Danes also have a hard time realizing there's a difference between "I don't mind" and "I don't care", and how rude the second one can sound.
- What should we eat for dinner?
- I don't care.
In this situation, the average Dane would be trying to say "It's all good to me", but in English it comes out more as "Why the fuck are you even asking?".
Then a comment about my post could be "I don't mind the way they say it", but then again, they would say "I don't care about the way they say it", which means the opposite.


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5 years ago #9823698        
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Maybe it has to do with Danes often wanting to avoid starting arguments? When you're hanging out with you family and you know people might have very different opinions on religion or politics, people might be more tempted to just go 'I don't think so' and then basically use that as a 'Okay, let us move on to another subject. We disagree and I do not want to argue about this'. Basically, a way of making it known that you don't agree, but that you're also not interested in starting a huge argument about the topic

JudasFm

35
5 years ago #9823958        
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Well, it still sounds politer than us. In Japanese, we say, "Uso!" (oo-so), which literally means, "Lie!" or "Lies!" (we don't have a plural form, so it could be either ;) The nuance is slightly different though; it means more along the lines of, "Are you kidding me with that?")
There are ways to soften it - on TV shows, hosts will usually add some words either side - but this still essentially translates to them asking the guest, "You're lying, right?" "Isn't that a lie?" and so on.


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5 years ago #9823807        
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I'm not a native speaker of Swedish, but if Danes really say "det tror jeg ikke", as just-a-Nugget did, it means in Swedisch "I don't BELIEVE that". "I don't think so" would be "det tycker inte jag", where "tycka" is an expression of opinion rather than trust (as in "believe"). Maybe the missunderstanding is based on that Swedes hear "I don't believe/trust you" rather than "I have a different opinion".


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5 years ago #9823752        
3
 
12
 

Saying "I don't think so" is a perfect and ligitimate way to indicate you don't agree with the other person and in the same instance - and this is very important so pay attention - in the same instance say it is best if we find something else to talk about before things get out of hand and we end up in a huge fight.

I am not suprised that it pisses of swedes. People in Swedenstan get offended about almost everything, they were among the first to adopt this whole crappy modern "I'm offended culture".

Anywhoo ... I am off to track down that climate nutter Greta Tunafish or whatever her name is and tell her a few "I don't think so"


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ryttyr

25
5 years ago #9823751        
3
 
1
 

Well, disagreeing with someone is okay as long as you back your argument up with reason or facts instead of just saying "I don't think so". You could say "I don't agree with you because" and then back it up with valid counter arguments however I think it's even more polite to skip the "I don't think so" part and instead show your disagreement in the form of a validated counterargument without having to directly say that you disagree with them. Ofcourse the most polite way would be to not say anything at all, however then your opinion wouldn't be heard obviously which could cause other problems in the long run so I wouldn't recommend that approach.


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