Why did this sweedish girl say this?

[El Chahusitle]

I was at a store in Houston, and a girl with two kids was there. i was shopping and I overheard her telling her kids to get down from some bikes displayed there, and she said really loud: -Nei, Det er godt!. I turned around, and I friendly asked: Wow, are you Danish!. She smirked, exhaled softly and -I guess friendly- said: Don't insult me please, I am sweedish.. I replied. Oh sory, It sounded the same, and then she really got upset, and said: No! They don't sound the same at all. and walked away.


Jees, I was just trying to be friendly. What's going on here, what is it that i don't know?? So that I am more careful in the future?


ps: I am studing danish, that's why my curiosity and excitement.
2nd PS. Thansk for all your answers. Yeah, I love the danish language and Danes too, they are cool. (without demeaning sweedes or norwegians, at all). I am actually Mexican, not American. Hey, I don't get offended, LOL. I have lived in the States for many years( yes, legally) ;-)

 

[Voelven]

Well, there is a friendly rivalry between Denmark and Sweden. There is a saying among the Norwegian and Danes that at a family party, Sweden would be the cousin that no-one really wants to sit next to, and of course we have loads of jokes about the Swedes, but yeah...still "family", though.

If someone would mistake Danish for Swedish, I'd probably give a gasp of mock outrage, but no, I would not be upset. They are similar languages and I would be impressed if a foreigner recognized it as a Scandinavian language in the first place. I'm guessing that she was probably joking, but if she truly did become upset then she was being way too uptight about it.

I have to admit though, that it was difficult to keep my smile plastered on my face when someone last week said that Danish and German were more or less the same language...heh

 

[ChristelW]

Lol ya i can see why he got upset( a little too much maybe but) im a dane living abroad in SA TX and since we are so few scandinavians here i hold my culture very dear hahaha so calling me swedish would not be a hit with me ;0) and from what you asked i Guess she told her child No..and then .. (Thanks for listing ) that is good.

 

[ol' dirty bingo caller!]

psshh shes jealous!

held og lykke med dit danske

 

[bl? bl?]

Ouch!

Now I'm not Swedish or Danish, but it's kind of obvious why she got upset and that's because of the "It sounded the same"

People are proud of their countries, nationalities and then of course languages. Being told that it's all the same is not really a complimentary way of putting it and I guess it's something she heard before. Norway, Denmark & Sweden are often grouped together and many generalisations are made assuming they are all the same culture, speak the same language etc when it's not the case.

For example I have lost count of the amount of times that I have heard or seen questions on here saying that German and Dutch are the same when they are so not! Whilst a German person might not be so bothered, you can probably understand why a Dutch person might not appreciate it?

So if you want to be careful, then of course you can explain, but I would it differently, more like "Oh sorry, my mistake. I know it's a different language, and I'm actually learning Danish, but it looks like I still have to improve a lot!" (a bit of a light response always helps in these kind of situations)

 

[William]

Im from Denmark, an here in denmark we have a very old tradition about really hating swedish people, making fun of them and that kind of stuff. personally i dintt, but people who are up to soccer (which is like 98% of the total population are), often does. ofcourse, swedish people are the same to danes.

 

[Brian]

How wonderful that an American is learning a Scandinavian language! Bravo for you! However, as you learn more about the culture of Denmark, and by extension, other Scandinavian countries, you will learn that there is a friendly rivalry between all of them that just a few centuries ago was not so friendly. Sweden, in particular, invaded and occupied parts of modern-day Denmark and Finland, and there is still a lot of resentment that, as you discovered, can easily be brought to the surface by an innocent non-Scandinavian's comments. When the Swede said, "Don't insult me, please, I am Swedish," she was, in a light-hearted way, letting you know you touched a sore spot. You probably shouldn't have said the languages sound the same, as it was culturally insensitive. I made the same mistake when traveling with a Swedish friend in Norway. I suggested he ask an elderly lady the way to the train station when we got disoriented. He said, "What if she doesn't speak Swedish?" I replied, "It doesn't matter, they all sound the same." Oops. The languages may have the same Viking roots (purist is Icelandic), but each has evolved into its own language over the centuries, and is a source of national pride. Good luck with your Danish studies. I hope you get to visit Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia soon!