Language board wants to protect Danish from English loanwords, police warn against use of weed burners and Liberal Party leader returns to politics after eye operation. Here’s Denmark’s news on Thursday.
Danish language board wants to battle English loanwords
It’s hard not to notice the fact that many Danes ‒ particularly younger Danes ‒ regularly use English words when speaking Danish.
Dansk Sprognævn, Denmark’s national language board, has launched a nationwide campaign to study Danes’ use of English words and phrases, including finding out which commonly-used English words can be replaced by their Danish alternatives.
The campaign, titled Are we good at Danish? roughly ‘Can we say it in Danish?’, is the first of its kind from the language board, according to director Thomas Hestbæk Andersen.
“We want to take the temperature of Danes’ perception of English influence on Danish, and find words which annoy the Danes,” he told the Ritzau newswire.
The board’s campaign will run until the end of the year, with members of the public able to submit English words and phrases during that time which they want to eliminate from the Danish language.
The campaign is also a way to future-proof the Danish language, Andersen said.
“So that we can have a chance to influence how things develop, so we can make sure that Danish is also a fully functional language in all areas of society for many years to come.”
Danish vocabulary: the English influence ‒ (the) influence of English
Police warn against the use of weed burners in dry conditions
On Wednesday alone, police in Funen had to respond to four fires which started due to the use of weed burners. That brings the total number of fires started by weed burners up to 14 in April as a whole.
This has led police in the region to issue a warning against using the burners, which use a gas-powered flame to burn away troublesome weeds.
“It’s dry out there, so be careful with open flames,” police wrote via the Police Update message service on Wednesday evening.
“Then you won’t inconvenience the good forces in the emergency services any more than necessary,” they added, warning that anyone caught starting a fire despite the warning will be “repaid with a charge for violating the Emergency Services Act.”
The total fine for causing minor damage is DKK 1,500, rising to DKK 3,000 for major damage.
According to two Emergency Management Agency, Denmark’s Emergency Management Agency, careless use of weed burners causes more than 375 fires a year. It recommends that people using the burners are prepared to put out a potential fire, for example with a bucket of water, a hose or a fire extinguisher close at hand.
Local municipalities can also issue partial or total fire bans during dry periods.
Danish vocabulary: weed burner ‒ weed burner
Yet another pony killed by a wolf in Jutland
A pony has been found dead, believed to be killed by a wolf, near a property in Egtved, southern Jutland. This is the second time in two weeks wolves are suspected of killing a pony at the property.
“There’s no doubt this is a wolf,” the pony’s owner, Anna Marie Dahl, told public broadcaster DR on Wednesday.
Denmark’s Nature Agency confirmed on Wednesday to news wire Ritzau that the pony was killed by a wolf, based on “major bites to the back legs and throat, and tooth marks on the corpse”, as well as paw prints found near the site.
After the first kill, Dahl moved the ponies closer to the property, hoping that would deter further attacks.
Anders Kjær, the vice chair of the Danish Food and Agricultural Organisation, called the second attack a “worrying development”.
“We’ve recently seen several attacks on horses and dogs, as well as a man who was followed by a pack of six wolves who had two warning shots to scare them away.”
He called for action in areas where wolves are present “to restore security to citizens and animals.”
Danish vocabulary: the wolf areas ‒ the wolf areas
Liberal Party leader back in parliament after eye operation
Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen has been out of action for weeks after an acute retinal detachment on April 4th.
Doctors have now given him the green light to return to politics, four weeks later.
“Not knowing what will happen, as well as the fear of losing my eyesight, has of course been a difficult experience,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. “Since the operation I have been resting and looking after my health, and thankfully it worked.”
“All my tests look good and therefore the doctors have given me the green light to return to work at (the Danish parliament) Christiansborg,” he added, expressing his thanks to staff at Glostrup Hospital.
The eye operation meant that Poulsen was unable to attend ongoing government negotiations with Social Democrat leader Mette Frederiksen, who was appointed to lead discussions after the election.
Danish vocabulary: eye ‒ eye
