If you’re visiting Denmark or learning Danish, a favourite activity (especially after a few beers) is when people try to get you to say “rødgrød med fløde”. (It’s a classic dessert. If you want to see it or the recipe, look it up.).

Personally, I don’t find this one too challenging to say (which is NOT to say that I pronounce it correctly… I just don’t get the laughs that other people get when I say it). “Røget ørred” (smoked trout) was my nemesis until this week when I learned a new word at lunch last week: “smergellærred” (a roll of sandpaper).

What has been interesting about learning this word is how few Danes know what it is (even when I show it written out).

So, if you’re a Dane, and you’re at a party, and you want to get a good laugh at the expense of the foreigner (say, me, for example…) forget about the rødgrød med fløde and bring out the smergellærred. However, I’ll warn you that I suspect that I might be able to pronounce that word better after a couple of beers.