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An interesting aspect in Denmark is that English profanities don't really raise eyebrows in professional settings (or at least "fuck" and "shit" don't), but swe
by mjn 14y ago
An interesting aspect in Denmark is that English profanities don't really raise eyebrows in professional settings (or at least "fuck" and "shit" don't), but swearing in Danish in a workplace or university has to be done much more carefully, and can come off as either offensive or crude or both. By swearing primarily with loanwords, it seems to come off as somehow softer or less "really" swearing.
edit: Was googling to see if I could find a good link on the subject. I didn't, but did find this event I'm now sad that I missed, http://nordisksprogkoordination.org/dokumenter-til-download/Symposium%20on%20Swearing%20in%20the%20Nordic%20Countries.pdf http://nordisksprogkoordination.org/dokumenter-til-download/...
- dsr_ 14y agoThat's interesting because so many Danes speak English. It's less interesting to swear in Danish in the USA, where to a first approximation nobody within earshot will speak Danish. (Circumstances will vary wildly, of course.)
- ptaipale 14y agoOn the other hand, you can swear by saying things like "Ravioli di prosciutto e mortadella" and sound like you are really quite mad, if you just make the consonants hard enough. Particularly the R's need to cut like a chainsaw.
- TeMPOraL 14y agoIt's similar in Poland; you can talk dirty in English all day long, but if you actually swear in Polish, you're likely gonna to raise some eyebrows. My guess is it's because throughout the years people got used to profanities in TV and music, which is mostly American.