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April Fool's in Denmark, and the rough game of Danish humor
How to Live in Denmark
English - March 31, 2019 22:01 - 7 minutes - 13.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 61 ratingsPlaces & Travel Society & Culture Education danish denmark nordic scandinavia danmark dansk expat expatriate Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
April 1st is April Fool’s Day – Aprilsnar in Danish – and each Danish newspaper will feature a clever but false story for the unwary to be fooled by.
To some extent every day is April Fool’s Day in Denmark, because Danish humor is a rough humor. Danes show affection by making fun of each other. And, as an international, they might make fun of you too.
This is a good thing: that means they have accepted you into the circle of Danishness.
But it doesn’t mean that the intersection of non-Danes and Danish humor is entirely painless. If you come from a culture where you are easily offended – and that, unfortunately, includes the American culture these days – you may spend a lot of time with your feelings hurt.
If you come from a culture where honor or face is prized, the Danish insistence on taking nothing seriously and taking everyone down a peg can be shocking.