Is Danish summer the best day of the year?
Summer seems to have returned to Denmark, so the Danes are naturally melting away. One thing is for sure, Danes are not used to surviving long periods with temperatures over 21 degrees. Their irritability threshold decreasses considerabily, during these "heat waves". Weekends are excluded, of course.
Since, for the past couple of years, we have been blessed with nice and warm summers in Denmark, we have prepared some useful Danish summer vocabulary. Please keep in mind that Danes always like to complain about the weather. It is either too cold ( for koldt), too hot (for varmt), or rainy (regnvejr) all the time. So put on your flip-flops and complain about how unbearably hot this summer is.
Summer Danish vocabulary
Just to get you started, we have put together this brief list with Danish summer vocabulary.
The 'don't take it literally' Danish vocabulary
Slikke sol ... [lick sun] To soak up the sun
Solbrændt ... [sun burnt] Tanned
Solskoldet ... [sun scalded] Sunburnt
Strandløve ... [beach lion] A muscular and tanned man at the beach.
Some practical danish vocabulary
Festivalsæson (festival season)
Sommerferie (summer holiday)
Klipklappere (flip-flops)
To kugler is (two scoops of ice cream)
Solen skinner (the sun is shining)
Havnebad (harbour bath)
Solskin (sunshine)
Solcreme (sunscreen)
Badetøj (bathing suit)
Solbriller (sunglasses)
Afbudsrejse (cancellation holiday)
Danish expressions to use on a hot summer day
| Jeg sveder som en svin ... [I am sweating like a hog] This expression is basically the same as the English to sweat like a pig. | |
| Jeg sveder tran ... [I am sweating whale oil] It means that it's extremely hot and you are sweating like there is no tomorrow. | |
| Det er varmt som en bageovn ... [It's warm as a baking oven] Well ... this metaphor is quite clear - it's extremely hot. | |
| Gå til i varmen ... [Go to in the heat] It's so hot that you have lost faith in humanity, and believe that the heat is going to kill us all! | |
| Jeg er ved at smelte ... [I am about to melt] It's melting hot out there. | |
| Skal vi tage ud og bade? ... [Should we take out and bath?] Do you want to go for a swim? | |
| Skal vi grille i aften? ... [Should we grill tonight?] Do you want to have a barbeque tonight? | |
| Skal vi tage på stranden? ... [Should we take on the beach?] Do you want to go to the beach? |
From warm to burning hot in Danish
On a temperature scale from warm to burning hot, you can use the following to describe the sweet Danish summer weather.
Det er lunt ... It's moderately warm.
Det er varmt ... It's hot.
Det er meget varmt ... It's very hot.
Det er stegende hedt ... [It's frying steamy] It's extremely hot.
Back to you
Looking for more ways to talk about the Danish weather? Check out our post with vocabulary for winter and for a rainy day.
By the way, did you know that FVU Reading is a free Danish course that focuses on improving your writing, reading and spelling skills in Danish? Just putting it out there 🙂
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