What stories/jokes do each country tell about the other?Do they generally look up to or down at one another?Do they look at any one country as a "leader"?What is "typically [norwegian,danish,swedish]"?I look forward to an intersting thread...Regards,
--
Thor Legvold | Tlf: +47 90 05 58 68
Presently in exile in Croatia | PGP: finger tleg...@public.srce.hr
"Where I'm from is far less | WWW: http://www.geopages.com/Paris/1964/
relevant than where I've been." -me | NeXT/MIME mail accepted
TL> 'm interested in how the scandinavian countries view each
TL> other,i.e. what stereotypes exist, especially how Swedwn and
TL> Denmarkview Norway and how Norwegians characterize themselves.
Norwegians are almost as bad as Finns when it comes to trying to get
attention and ask everyone "What do you think of us?". Some Americans
are pretty bad, too. Swedes and particularly Danes are much more
relaxed in this respect.
TL> What stories/jokes do each country tell about the other?Do
TL> they generally look up to or down at one another?
Intra-Nordic Superiority/Inferiority Complexes
==============================================
Scale:
-10 is massive inferiority complex
+10 is massive superiority complex
Source of | Target of complex:
Complex: | Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden
_____________|_______________________________________________________
Denmark | +2 +1 +1 0
Finland | -1 -2 -1 -3 -7
Iceland | -1 0 0 0
Norway | 0 +2 0 -1
Sweden | +1 +7 +1 +3
(Note: The values related to Finland are higly influence by Jarmo
and Jyrki. Thus, they feel inferior even to themeselves).
TL> Do they look at any one country as a "leader"?
Finns have a word on them for doing whatever Sweden does.
To compensate, they do everything Sweden doesn't.
TL> What is "typically [norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
Danish: Open, lazy, dope-smoking, sometimes rowdy
Swedish: Moralizing, humorless, methodical, formal
Norwegian: Cheerful, naive, nationalist, rural
Finnish: Depressed, naive, nationalist, rural
-tor
> TL> What is "typically [norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
>
> Danish: Open, lazy, dope-smoking, sometimes rowdy
> Swedish: Moralizing, humorless, methodical, formal
> Norwegian: Cheerful, naive, nationalist, rural
> Finnish: Depressed, naive, nationalist, rural
This Transitional-American doesn't have a clue! The following is the objective
rendering of Nordic stereotypes as authorized in my household, which is a
representative sample:
Danish: A tendency to be pretentious farts with no reason for it
Swedish: A tendency to be pretentious farts with no reason for it, and not
listening to friendly critique
Norwegian: A tendency to be jovial, broad minded, reflective and cultivated
sportsmen, even though their neighbours do not deserve it
Finnish: A tendency to glow in the dark, speak with with uncommonly sharp "-r"s,
and believe that things like oversize spectacles are the latest hit
Bonus:
Icelandic: A tendency to forget what is my herring and what is your herring,
too few to count and therefore fun to watch when they are angry
Arne Kolstad
--
- Foundation for Health Services Research
>> TL> What is "typically [norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
I give you the standard definition:
The Danes are the Latins of Scandinavia.
The Swedes are the Prussians of Scandinavia.
The Norwegians are the Norwegians of Scandinavia.
Better transitional-American than a for banned little goat with a
satan's big mouth. Your devil's horse cook, that's what you are.
Nice layout, though. Can't argue with that.
-tor
Devoutly, Iceland thinks that God
Gave it the right to every cod.
Stylish Norwegians think the whale
Looks chic with harpoons in its tail.
The urbane Swede's training begins
With lessons in oppressing Finns.
Finns are concerned that elephants
May not approve of Finns' events.
Enthusiastically, Danes think
It's always time to have a drink.
Americans post lots of poop
Unrelated to the group.
Increasingly, the raris avia
Are posts concerning Scandinavia,
While futilely, in s.c.n.
We Scan for news 'dinavian.
[Being American, I had to use 3 times as many lines stereotyping
Americans as I used for any other nationality.]
--
Bob Hall | "Know thyself? Absurd direction!
rha...@gl.umbc.edu | Bubbles bear no introspection." -Khushhal Khan Khatak
> I give you the standard definition:
>
> The Danes are the Latins of Scandinavia.
> The Swedes are the Prussians of Scandinavia.
> The Norwegians are the Norwegians of Scandinavia.
>
I have heard a variation on that:
The Danes are the Greeks of Scandinavia.
The Swedes are the Romans of Scandinavia.
The Norwegians are the Hebrews of Scandinavia.
--
* Hans Kr. Ruud The noble art *
* Kristine Bonnevies vei 15 of losing face *
* 0592 ÅRVOLL may one day save *
* Tlf. 22 65 22 34 (hjemme) 22 77 05 35 (jobb) the human race *
> TL> What stories/jokes do each country tell about the other?Do
> TL> they generally look up to or down at one another?
I could not resist posting H. C. Andersens tale about two rags,
a Danish and a Norwegian, illustrating his perception of the
respective stereotyped national-characters:
Udenfor Fabrikken stode i Stakke høit opstablede Kludbunker, samlede
vidt og bredt fra; hver
Las havde sin Historie, hver førte sin Tale, men man kan ikke høre dem
Allesammen. Nogle Laser
vare indenlandske, andre vare fra fremmede Lande. Her laa nu en dansk
Las op til en norsk Las;
pæredansk var den ene, og ravnorsk var den anden, og det var det
Morsomme ved de to, vil hver
fornuftig Norsk og Dansk sige.
De kjendte nu hinanden paa Sproget, uagtet hvert af disse, sagde den
Norske, var saa
forskjelligt, som Fransk og Hebraisk. "Vi gaae til Aas for at faae det
raat og oprindeligt og
Dansken laver sig sin suttesøde fade Brage-Snak."
Laserne talte og Las er Las i ethvert Land, de gjælde kun Noget i
Kludebunken.
"Jeg er norsk!" sagde den Norske, "og naar jeg siger, at jeg er
norsk, saa troer jeg at have sagt
nok! jeg er fast i Trevlerne, som Urfjeldene i gamle Norge, Landet, der
har en Constitution, som
det frie Amerika! det kildrer mig i Trevlerne at tænke hvad jeg er og
lade Tanken malmklinge i
Granit-Ord!"
"Men vi har en Literatur!" sagde den danske Las. "Forstaaer De hvad
det er?"
"Forstaaer!" gjentog den Norske, "Fladelands Beboer, skal jeg løfte
ham tilfjelds og nordlyse
ham, Klud som han er! Naar Isen tøer for den norske Sol, da komme danske
Pæreskuder op til os
med Smør og Ost, ret ædelige Varer! og der følger til Ballast dansk
Literatur. Vi behøve den ikke!
man undværer helst dovent Øl, der hvor det friske Væld sprudler, og her
er det en Brønd, der ikke
er boret, ikke sqvaldret europæisk kjendt ved Aviser, Kammeratskab og
Forfatteres Reiser i
Udlandet. Frit taler jeg fra Lungen, og Dansken maa vænne sig til den
frie Lyd, og det vil han i sin
skandinaviske Klamren til vort stolte Klippeland, Verdens Urknold!"
"Saaledes kunde nu aldrig en dansk Las tale!" sagde den Danske. "Det
er ikke vor Natur. Jeg
kjender mig selv, og som jeg ere alle vore Laser, vi ere saa godmodige,
saa beskedne, vi troe for
Lidet om os selv, og det vinder man rigtignok ikke Noget ved, men jeg
kan saa godt lide det, jeg
finder det saa yndigt! Forresten, det kan jeg forsikkre Dem, kjender jeg
tilfulde min egen gode
Bonitet, men jeg taler ikke om den, saadan Feil skal ingen kunne
beskylde mig for. Jeg er blød og
bøielig, taaler Alt, misunder Ingen, taler godt om Alle, uagtet der er
ikke meget Godt at sige om de
fleste Andre, men lad dem om det! jeg gjør nu altid Grin af det, for jeg
er saa begavet!"
"Tal mig ikke dette Fladelandets bløde Klistersprog, jeg vamles ved
det!" sagde den Norske og
løste sig i Vinden fra Bunken og kom over i en anden.
Papir bleve de begge to, og Tilfældet vilde, at den norske Las blev
et Papir, hvorpaa en
Nordmand skrev et trofast Elskovsbrev til en dansk Pige, og den danske
Las blev Manuskript for
en dansk Ode til Priis for Norges Kraft og Herlighed.
Der kan ogsaa komme noget godt ud af Laserne, naar de først ere af
Kludebunken og
Forvandlingen er skeet til Sandhed og Skjønhed, de lyse i god
Forstaaelse og i den er Velsignelse.
Det er Historien, den er ganske fornøielig og fornærmer aldeles Ingen
uden - Laserne.
Defines the exact meaning of "pretentious farts". Thank you very much,
Henrik.
Arne Kolstad
--
- Foundation for Health Services Research
> Henrik Ernoe wrote:
> >
> > >> TL> What is "typically [norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
> >
> > I give you the standard definition:
> >
> > The Danes are the Latins of Scandinavia.
> > The Swedes are the Prussians of Scandinavia.
> > The Norwegians are the Norwegians of Scandinavia.
>
> Defines the exact meaning of "pretentious farts". Thank you very much,
> Henrik.
Ingen aarsag. Een ren fornöjelse, skulle der vaere en anden gang?
But who are the "pretentious farts"? If, as I would guess, it refers
to us Danes, then how do you get to that conclusion. I don`t see
anything desirable in being labelled latin! Or did I, being a
"pretentious fart", misunderstand the "jovial, broad minded, reflective
and cultivated sportsman" totally?
Hm. The Danes lazy? This is a silly Swedish prejudice. Denmark has
a higher BNP per capita than Sweden. How has it attained that? By being
lazy?
--
Ole Kreiberg http://login.dknet.dk/~olk
Six Scandinavians were in a cave, when a cave-in occurred. Two Danes were
trapped in one part of the cave, two Norwegians in another part of the
cave, and two Swedes in a third part of the cave. A few days later they
were dug out and rescued.
During the time they were trapped, the two Danes had formed three
cooperatives.
The two Norwegians were fighting.
The two Swedes were not speaking to each other, since they had not been
properly introduced.
------------------
Second stereotype:
There was an international conference on the subject of elephants.
The Americans wrote a pamphlet called "Raising Elephants for Fun and
Profit".
The Russians ... "The Class Struggle among the Elephants".
The French ... [you can figure out what goes here].
The Germans ... [you can figure out what goes here].
Etc, etc.
Then, when I first heard the joke, long ago, the final line was: The Jew
wrote about "The Elephant and the Jewish Problem". [I'm Jewish, and I
interpret this as follows: When you come home from school and tell your
old grandmother some piece of news, she would always reply "Is it good for
the Jews or bad for the Jews?" That is, everything was interpreted in
relation to the Jews.]
Now I know that the _real_ end of the joke is: The Norwegian wrote about
"Norway and the Norwegians". [Interpretation: the Elephant has sunk out
of sight.]
-----------------------------------
David Golber dgo...@aol.com
7 White Street, Arlington MA 02174 USA
(617) 646-7339
When I heard this joke first time, it ended:
The Finns ... "What the Elephants know about Finland?"
Jorma Kyppo
Laukaa
Finland
> > > >> TL> What is "typically[norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
I once asked a non Scandinavian in Stockholm
about his perception of the Nordic character
He replied with the following joke:
8 strangers found themselves marooned on a desert island,
2 Norwegians, 2 Danes, 2 Finns and 2 Swedes...
A year later most of the 8 had got together in national
groupings
The Finns had founded a succesful home-brew distillery...
The Norwegians had got cracking and formed a Co-operative
that sold the home-brew...
The two Danes had formed a social club that bought
and consumed the home-brew...
The two Swedes however were still waiting to be introduced...
Hope no-one takes any offence...
doug
I am BTW not in the least bit Nordic...
but *ahem* some of my best friends....
Speaking of whom....
Anyone in this NG know about any of the following people :
Fusao Ariga - formerly of Stockholm
Thomas Hahn - formerly of Gothenburg
Eine kurze Einfuerung das Seksuallebens des Elephantes.
(berl. 1967 1300p ill.)
--
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Salesdroids, Illuminati, Israel, NSA, Kill, USA, Cosa Nostra, ( v )
Mafia, Tits, Beavers, Scientology, Future employers: hi there! \|/
> When I heard this joke first time, it ended:
>
> The Finns ... "What the Elephants know about Finland?"
No no no... It's "Elephants and sauna". (Also the version "What the
elephants think of Finland" has been heard.) And for the Swedish:
"Elephants and Carl XII".
Anetta
--
"Where is the human nature so weak as in the bookstore?" - Henry Ward
Beecher
> Second stereotype:
>
> There was an international conference on the subject of elephants.
>
> The Americans wrote a pamphlet called "Raising Elephants for Fun and
> Profit".
>
> The Russians ... "The Class Struggle among the Elephants".
>
> The French ... [you can figure out what goes here].
>
> The Germans ... [you can figure out what goes here].
When I heard the story the German person (it was only one person from each
country in that version) wrote a brick-thick book called "The Elephant. Left
foot. First part."
> The Jew wrote about "The Elephant and the Jewish Problem".
anders
------------------------------
http://www.algonet.se/~anders/
As we say in Denmark: "Sverige er fantastisk - et helt land af idioter!"
The Swedes are too stupid to be anything but Social-Democrats, and thats
the main reason why their economy and currency is crap!
--
Jens Printz Madsen | Phone:+45 98154211-dialtone-4981
Center for PersonKommunikation | FAX: +45 9815 1583
Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 | E-mail: j...@cpk.auc.dk
room A4-201 |
DK-9220 Aalborg OE, DENMARK _ _
{ | { |
m===~( \ m===~( \
\ /^\\ \ \ /^\\ \
,_________/---\----------\------------/_____________o
===============\==========\=======================
\ \
\ \
<<<>>> <<<>>> <<<>>> <<<>>>
The one I remember is more appropriate, I think: "What do Elephants Think
of Finns?"
Miriam Leino Eldridge
---
"It is almost impossible, after middle age has done its grisly work of
destroying the child within, to remember how much suffering and fear must
be endured in a typical youth." -- Russell Baker
Miriam Eldridge <eldr...@alc.com> wrote in article
<1996Nov22.2...@alc.com>...
> In article 3...@mordred.cc.jyu.fi, jo...@jytko.jyu.fi (Jorma Kypp|)
writes:
> > dgo...@aol.com wrote:
> > > Second stereotype:
> > > There was an international conference on the subject of elephants.
>Cut
When I heard the joke it ended:
The Norwegians: "Norway and the Norwegians".
Anne Hildrum
>
>
: > Hm. The Danes lazy? This is a silly Swedish prejudice. Denmark has
: > a higher BNP per capita than Sweden. How has it attained that? By being
: > lazy?
: > --
: As we say in Denmark: "Sverige er fantastisk - et helt land af idioter!"
: The Swedes are too stupid to be anything but Social-Democrats, and thats
: the main reason why their economy and currency is crap!
Someone stated earlier that Danes have a great sense of humor, and I
guess Jens och Ole are two excellent examples of humoristic Danes. ;-)
--
Anders Bondensson mailto:and...@uh.edu
http://www.egr.uh.edu/~anders/Welcome.html
>>>>> "Anne" == Anne Hildrum <an...@sn.no>
Anne> The Norwegians: "Norway and the Norwegians".
Danish: 'Elephant: Probably the best beer in the world'
/Lars
--
Lars P. Fischer, fis...@dina.kvl.dk, http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~fischer
Those who do understand VMS are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
>: > Hm. The Danes lazy? This is a silly Swedish prejudice. Denmark has
>: > a higher BNP per capita than Sweden. How has it attained that? By being
>: > lazy?
>: > --
>: As we say in Denmark: "Sverige er fantastisk - et helt land af idioter!"
>: The Swedes are too stupid to be anything but Social-Democrats, and thats
>: the main reason why their economy and currency is crap!
>Someone stated earlier that Danes have a great sense of humor, and I
>guess Jens och Ole are two excellent examples of humoristic Danes. ;-)
No, it is the other way round: you need a great sense of humour
to accept those two as Danes. And it certainly is taxing it to
the limit.
henrik
> >>>>> "Anne" == Anne Hildrum <an...@sn.no>
> Anne> The Norwegians: "Norway and the Norwegians".
> Danish: 'Elephant: Probably the best beer in the world'
Such a typically Scandinavian style in this jingle of Carlsberg's. I
wonder if they even use it in the land of superlatives - or do the
modify it to "Quite obviously the best beer in the world!"? I thought
it quite funny when I first arrived in Sweden, walking around Lund,
seeing signs "Billigast i stan?" ("Cheapest in town?"). I thought to
myself, "well, if they don't know, I'd better shop around..."
--
Kurt Swanson, Department of Computer Science, Lund University.
Kurt.S...@dna.lth.se (http://www.dna.lth.se/home/kurt/)
Sorry! maybe I was a bit to undiplomatic, but at least 60% of the Swedes
are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
"free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
Jens
That's putting it mildly.
> but at least 60% of the Swedes
> are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
> the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
> with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
> "free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
> like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
> war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
Almost as funny as the Danes coming back from Germany loaded down with
beer?
-- Aron
I liked Morgenavisen Jyllandsposten's examination of Swedish humour -
someone sent in a blank piece of paper. A few days later a Swede wrote
in wanting to know if the blank piece of paper was supposed to be funny.
--
Martin
York, UK
"From hell, Hull, and Halifax, good Lord deliver us!"
The altogether funniest has to be Norwegians loaded down with beer -
bought in Sweden!
>Aron Felix Gurski <agu...@sn.no> writes:
>> Jens Printz Madsen wrote:
>> > Sorry! maybe I was a bit to undiplomatic,
>> That's putting it mildly.
>> > but at least 60% of the Swedes
>> > are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
>> > the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
>> > with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
>> > "free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
>> > like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
>> > war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
>> Almost as funny as the Danes coming back from Germany loaded down with
>> beer?
>The altogether funniest has to be Norwegians loaded down with beer -
>bought in Sweden!
Somehow I fail to see anything funny in these examples (probably since I'm
dead serious and lack all sense of humour). However, I'm at least mildly
surprised when I see a Norwegian travel advertisement: "In Denmark it is not a
shame to sit in a pub all day" (Stena Lines).
--- Jari Oksanen Tromssa, Ruija / Romsa, Norga / Tromsø, Norge
"What am I doing here?" Arthur Rambo, stranded in Ethiopia
: >>Jens Printz Madsen (j...@kom.auc.dk) wrote:
: >>: As we say in Denmark: "Sverige er fantastisk - et helt land af idioter!"
: Sorry! maybe I was a bit to undiplomatic,
Hehehe. Your're not a Dane: You're an Englishman! :-)
> >Aron Felix Gurski <agu...@sn.no> writes:
> >> Jens Printz Madsen wrote:
> >> > Sorry! maybe I was a bit to undiplomatic,
> >> That's putting it mildly.
> >> > but at least 60% of the Swedes
> >> > are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
> >> > the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
> >> > with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
> >> > "free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
> >> > like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
> >> > war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
> >> Almost as funny as the Danes coming back from Germany loaded down with
> >> beer?
> >The altogether funniest has to be Norwegians loaded down with beer -
> >bought in Sweden!
> Somehow I fail to see anything funny in these examples (probably since I'm
> dead serious and lack all sense of humour).
You must be Swedish.
> However, I'm at least mildly surprised when I see a Norwegian travel
> advertisement: "In Denmark it is not a shame to sit in a pub all
> day" (Stena Lines).
No, it's quite nice.
> Sorry! maybe I was a bit to undiplomatic,but at least 60% of the Swedes
> are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
> the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
> with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
> "free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
> like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
> war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
Isn't it funny when someone who can't even spell calls over 5000000
people
"idiots"?
>ja...@ibg.uit.no (Jari Oksanen) writes:
>> Somehow I fail to see anything funny in these examples (probably since I'm
>> dead serious and lack all sense of humour).
>You must be Swedish.
I think that is intended as an insult. I take it like that. Cheers,
doug <ols...@morgan.com> skrev i inlägg <3291C0...@morgan.com>...
> Henrik Ernoe wrote:
> >
> > In article <328FD4...@sn.no>, Foundation for Health Services
Research
>
> > > > >> TL> What is "typically[norwegian,danish,swedish]"?
>
>
You seem to lack essential knowledge. Norway is the most thoroughly
socialised country, at least in terms of economics; and thus it would not
be surprising to find the model Socialist Man in Norway, but I do not
know as fact, whether the case is such.
/Pahlman
> > You must be Swedish.
Uhh, yeah, whatever...
I can understand that. It must be hard to read such words.
"You must be Swedish." - a horrible insult.
My original post was not meant as an insult. I just wrote what I
believed should be common knowledge.
Cheers
Jens
> > >> > but at least 60% of the Swedes
> > >> > are idiots - the socialist block. And then offcourse I have to admit that
> > >> > the same is the situation in Denmark. Sweden is a very restricted country,
> > >> > with allmost no individual freedom. You see the result when the come to a
> > >> > "free" country like Denmark - they get extremely drunk and buy weird stuff
> > >> > like bacon in cans and "spege-poelse". It is allmost like after 2nd world
> > >> > war where there still was ration cards. Isnt that funny?
Gee, I'd love to get bacon in cans. Now why did they
laugh at me for eating peanut butter?
> > >> Almost as funny as the Danes coming back from Germany loaded down with
> > >> beer?
>
> > >The altogether funniest has to be Norwegians loaded down with beer -
> > >bought in Sweden!
If only Sweden had more instant bacon products and
legalized drunk driving it'd be a great country. But
no.
--
Cheers!