Caterina.net: Hygge & Lort, more fun with language

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{ Wednesday, November 1, 2006 }

Hygge & Lort, more fun with language

hygge is a danish concept that is hard to describe, let alone make a direct translation for. it means a lot of things, but its essence lies in the gestures and rituals that are performed to create a mood or setting that is convivial, warm, cosy, comfortable, generous -- an act of hospitality directed towards friends, strangers or oneself. the cliche is that you light candles even on banal occasions, just to make it a bit more special. of course, it's more than candles, but everyone here agrees that things are just a bit more hyggelig, if you fire up the tea lights.

lort, on the other hand, is in everything we see and touch, and as danes are obsessed with all things scatological (they use a variation of the word lort, skidt, shit, sheiss in more or less every fifth or sixth sentence), it's only fitting that a name for a shop includes the word lort, which literally means crap or shit.

danes use the word shit (skide) as an amplifier for many adjectives -- one might exclaim "det smager skide godt!" (that tastes shitty good!) and mean it as a compliment, or one might say "skide laekkert" (shitty beautiful) or "skide ulaekkert" (shitty gross), and one might say "der er penge i lortet" (there's money in that shit) or "sikke noget lort!" (what a mess!) or say lort to suggest bad luck or tough luck, and one might "sta i lort til halsen" (stand up to your neck in shit) meaning that one faces enormous problems.

Via xtian

LINK | 4:19 PM | TB

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{ COMMENTS }

'hygge' rather sounds like the great Dutch concept of 'gezellig'. I'll investigate some more soonish to see whether that idea is correct...

Also: you've got spell check on comments! Cool!

marrije | November 2, 2006 12:31 AM

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As a Danish girl who grew up in Denmark, then France then England and now resies in America, I miss hygge and, yes it's hard to explain if you're outside of Europe. I've actually started a site called Hygge House to try to incorporate hygge living into American homes because the idea of living well has such a different meaning on this side.

alex | November 2, 2006 10:54 AM

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interesting that the English intensifier is "fucking," as in "fucking good." if Danes are scat-obsessed, does that make us sex obsessed? i'd say so.

tim | November 2, 2006 1:19 PM

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I'm going OT here for a bit (sorry!) but I saw a great word today on Jeff Masters' weatherblog: thingamabobbercane, a type of storm they've never seen before. Made me homesick for you-know-what :-)

marrije | November 3, 2006 12:30 AM

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As a Dane, I'd like to ad a couple of peculiarities to the list like "stå op klokken lort om morgenen" (getting up at shit o'clock) wich means getting up at an ureasonably early hour and then the Double International Intensfier used by the widely english speaking Danes: Fucking Lort - well I guess you get the point :-)
Actually the english F-word is now used by younger generations a not only an intesifier but also a general swearword. Does that mean we have changed focus?

Christian Schade | November 3, 2006 9:24 AM

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danish "hygge" is derived from an Old Norsk word that originally meant "nurturing, safety" etc., especially, it seems, in a maternal sense.
hence, it can also help explain why our word in english - "hug" - is derived from the same Old Norsk root.
for danes, "hygge" certainly has a strong, vital psychological component, and is implicit to the danes' sense of 'well-being,' both on an individual and cultural level. danes do "hygge" with the same determination and attention that way we americans do shopping-malls, which probably explains why we have more 'things' and they're always rated as much happier...

bob | November 3, 2006 5:23 PM

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and the Germans have gemuetlich

Shannon | November 6, 2006 5:00 AM

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hey! as a dane and part-time norwegian (and the writer of the hygge and lort commentary), i'm pleased to see other scandihoovians respond (as well as you non-scandihoovians). how unusual it is to wintess this thread being picked up over here. skide godt! tak, soot.

XTIAN | November 10, 2006 1:49 AM

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Good link here on other "untranslatable" words from various languages: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1137782

Shazz | November 12, 2006 8:33 PM

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You talk too much, baby. Afraid of dying? What's the use of it? Much better when we keep silent.

Boboloni | November 13, 2006 10:05 AM

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You talk too much, baby. Afraid of dying? What's the use of it? Much better when we keep silent.

Boboloni | November 13, 2006 10:06 AM

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You talk too much, baby. Afraid of dying? What's the use of it? Much better when we keep silent.

Boboloni | November 13, 2006 10:07 AM

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What I meant was that wisdom and words hardly go together. And you're a bit of a word-waster (typically neurotic female, I mean).

Boboloni | November 13, 2006 10:10 AM

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More "untranslatable words" here:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/columns/untranslatable.jsp

Sarah | November 14, 2006 9:42 AM

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This is amazing! I can't believe you're writing about hygge...I learned that word when I was in Denmark, and have forever tried to explain it here in America. I usually say that it means cosy on the inside, like not the way you physically feel wrapped up in a blanket, but the way you feel inside.

Incredible! I'm so excited that other people love hygge as much as me.

amber | December 6, 2006 7:58 PM

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